Customer Reviews

FLCL: Fooly Cooly, Vol. 1

5 star:		(76)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Anime can be pretty weird -- just look at series like "Paranoia Agent" and "Boogiepop Phantom." Total confusion.

But for sheer strangeness and kookiness, the one on top has got to be "Fooly Cooly (FLCL)." As it pokes fun at anime conventions, the first volume tells the weird story of an atypical coming-of-age -- surreal storytelling, oddball characters, and robots sprouting out of a young boy's head.

Naota is a twelve-year-old boy living what he sees as an oppressively dull existance, in a quiet city dominated by the Medical Mechanica building. The closest thing to excitement is fending off the advances of his brother's troubled girlfriend Mamimi.

Then sudenly a girl on a Vespa runs him over, resuscitates him with a smooch, and then bashes him over the head with a bass guitar. That evening, Naota finds that instead of a bump, he has a horn growing out of his head, and no idea what it is or how to get rid of it.

Despite his efforts to avoid her, Naoto's kooky father has hired the crazy Vespa girl, Haruko, as a housekeeper. To make matters worse, his "horn" turns out to be a robot and a giant mechanical hand -- springing out of his head.

Things don't improve much in the second episode, where the now-tamed robot is being used for household duties and errands, including fetching Hustler and moving boxes. Naoto isn't pleased with this weird twist -- or with Haruko's continued presence -- but he's powerless to stop either one.

Then the troubled Mamimi sees the robot (wearing a pair of dark wings), and mistakes it for the Dark Flame god Cantide from her favorite pyromaniacal video game. And Naoto finds that he's got some new horns -- and they're about to set off a massive robot battle.

For newbies, "FLCL" is probably the WORST anime to start with. It's a parodic mishmash of anime in-jokes -- giant robots, fanservice, boy falls for kooky abusive alien girl -- and a storyline that is bizarre to the point where you may not be able to understand what's going on. But oh, is it a fun ride.

Even the animation is done in an exaggerated, crazy way, full of distorted faces and crazy robot battles. Lots of hyperactive action and overdramatic dialogue ("OH NO.... OOOOOOOOO... an American GIRLFRIEND!"). And it's sprinkled with hysterical little metafictional moments, like the characters griping to the audience about doing "slow motion" shots.

And the characters are as bizarre and spoofy as the story itself -- Naoto is a typical bored preteen, who idolizes his big brother and wants a quasi-normal life, while Haruko is a completely off-the-wall kook who says she's an alien. And Mamimi makes the story even more bizarre -- and a little poignant -- as a lonely pyromaniac.

The first two episodes of "FLCL" are enough to blow the top off of your head, with the strange characters and wildly surrealist plot. Fooly Cooly!

[Buy it now] Fooly Cooly is my favorite anime series, from the funny comic strip animation to the intense and beautiful carachters(literally), to the pychological twists, This has to be the best anime ever made, and best of all the most original and fun one yet.
Other anime i like:
Inuyasha
Cowboy Bebop
Trigun
FLCL
Big O
Outlaw Star
Escalflowne
Blue Submarine
Samurai Jack
Hellsing
.. im too tired to list the rest (*o*) -- Yawn

Whew. Gainax really outdid themselves with FLCL. This is one of the most random and completely Dadaist things I've ever witnessed. Seriously. This makes other off-the-wall anime I've seen (Elf Princess Rane, Excel Saga) seem downright pedestrian by comparison. Okay, maybe not Excel Saga, since that's pretty insane in of itself, but FLCL is quite different from that, and still pretty "wha?" inducing.

Beyond that claim, pinning an accurate description to this anime is extremely difficult, but I'll give it my best shot anyway. Is FLCL a comedy? At its core, I think it is--there are a lot of humourous sight gags, one-liners, and a conucopia of inside jokes (many of which even I haven't deciphered yet) along with a lot of stuff that's just plain incomprehensible. But there's more to it than comedy. It's initiation story, drama, parody, and action all rolled into one package...and then promptly injected with some seriously psychotropic substances.

Just when you think it's going to start making sense, FLCL laughs in your face and throws enough bizarre dialogue and imagery at you to make your brain hurt for days. And yet, there IS a story, and some sense of logic...though an alien one. I've seen all six episodes three times (once with a serious caffiene bender), and I'm still trying make sense of it all.

Needless to say, the characters are a little more than slightly off the beaten path. The boy Naota is the most normal of the lot; he acts much like an average small-town prepubescent boy...until giant robots start sprouting out of his head for no apparent reason. Mamimi, girlfriend to Naota's older brother (who we never see in the series), is just your typical homeless chain-smoking teenage girl with a facination for fire. But the most inspired character is Haruko--a pink-haired alien woman with a penchant for whacking things with her bass guitar/chainsaw hybrid, generating mass carnage with her Vespa scooter, and alternating between cute and completely deranged in a split second. The two women act as a sort of foil to Naota, influencing his development and character (it relates to the initiation story aspect). Freud would have a field day with some of the psychological symbolism on display here.

If that wasn't enough to chew on, also add a giant factory that looks like a clothing iron; Naota's bizarre dad and hentai grandfather; giant monster battles; a school play; gobs of fan service and innuendo; a walking TV set; and enough pop culture references and in-jokes to make Quentin Tarantino green with envy.

The character designs and art are gorgeous, and the animation quality and production values are consistently high (not to mention as schizophrenic as the storyline). FLCL is one of the most beautiful anime I've seen in quite awhile; it compares favorably with other recent high-quality productions, and surpasses a good deal of them. And to top it all off, it's got great music courtesy of J-Rock band The Pillows, who are kind of like a Japanese version of The Pixies (I am searching for the soundtrack as of the typing of this review). Gainax put a ton of work into this and it shows. The dub acting is great, and I actually prefer it to the subtitles. The liner notes even elaborate on some of the more peculiarly Japanese in-jokes, which eases the "WTF?!?" factor slightly.

Too bad that the cost per DVD is somewhat exorbitant (25 bucks for two episodes--ouch), and the whole thing only lasts 3 hours, though I doubt you will find a more action-packed and thought-provoking 3 hours anywhere. All and all, any experienced anime viewer (if your only previous anime experience is Dragonball Z, you may not want to jump into this right away) needs to check out FLCL. It's one of the most original viewing experiences ever, and deserves my highest reccommendation.

Okay some of the people that have given this a bad rating and made comments about the show evidently don't understand how it is laid out, or it has been a long time since they were a teen.
The show takes place over about one week. ONE WEEK!!! that doesn't leave much plot to go over. Most of the plot is in the story behind the situation they are in. Mostly I mean the story about Naota.
Haruko is insane and adds most of the action (other than the stuff coming out of Naota's head). Haruko is on an eternal sugar-high (if you don't know what that is like I feel very sorry for you) thus making the show really funny.
As a side note, IT IS SIX EPISODES!!! YOU DO NOT NEED 3 DVD'S FOR SIX-30MINUTE EPISODES! that is just a way to make money.

The below review refering to a DVD copy of this series on One DVD for $17 is refering to a bootleg version of the series. It's lower in quality and buying bootlegs of anime that is already released in America only serves to jack up the price of the official releases. Trust me, supply and demand, if people are willing to pay for the official releases the prices will go down, but if they keep bootlegging released material it never will.

BTW, the series is great, and if you don't want to or aren't willing to pop for the $75 for the series, either wait for it to air on Cartoon Network again, find an anime rental store (they do exist), or pester Netflix to carry them.

If you are about to click that order button...
STOP!!!
This is a VERY good series but this is RIDICULOUSLY (sp?) overpriced! I would go to an anime store, such as http://www.anime247.com/ where you can buy the ENTIRE series (all 6 episodes, not just 2 like on these DVDs) for $10.99 plus $6.00 S&H. So...
$75 for all 3 dvds...
or
about $17?

GREAT SERIES, but I wouldn't pay this for them. No way.
Correct anything I said which is wrong, but as far as I know, the above is correct.

I reccomend this for anyone ages 13+

a left-handed Rickenbacker bass that can be started like a chain saw, a motor scooter that can fly, snapshots, gameboys, bunk beds, baseball, overweight cats, and preteen angst.

12-year-old Naota leads a very strange life surrounded by some very strange people. His brother's ex-girlfriend is a chain-smoking arsonist, his father is a mudslinging propagandist, and his grandfather has a habit of sending the family robot down to the corner store to purchase "adult literature". Situations constantly waver between psychotic and surreal, quickly unfolding beneath the gaze of a factory shaped like an iron. Add enough puberty related symbolism to make Freud's head explode and you have a truly original, if not linear, anime.

The quality of the artwork, including both backgrounds and animation, is topnotch. The soundtrack is equally good, scored by the underrated J-rock band, The Pillows.

The only reason I'm giving FLCL four out of five stars is because I think the two episodes per disc in a three volume series is a total rip-off. Here's an idea: release all six episodes on one dvd with an additional cd containing the soundtrack and various audio promo clips. Just an idea.

If you haven't seen FLCL, you are missing the best anime show ever made (despite its short six episodes). If you have only seen it once, you're probably thinking "That made absolutely no sense" and you're not far off. It can take a few viewings to catch all the details and random jokes. It's worth it. Even if you don't like anime, don't knock it without seeing it thrice (once to view it, once to catch what you missed and once to enjoy it). I hate most anime, but this is my favorite show.
If you haven't seen it and are interested but don't know what its about, FLCL is the story of a normal boy (Naota) who has loads of chicks all over him and robots coming out of his head. One of the females seemingly interested in this twelve year old is an alien who hit him periodically in the head with a Rickenbacker bass. It is a great, funny, short show. It's also got a great soundtrack featuring the pillows. Check it out, you won't regret it.

FLCL(Fooly Cooly)- The first disc is phenomenal, some of the best animation you will find. This series had me from the first time they had it on Adult Swim. It looked kind of stupid when i first saw it, but after i started to watch it i saw something i've never seen before (the way anime's should be). If you've never seen this series before i recomend you go to Best Buy, Sam Goody's or wherever you can get movies and pick it up (trust me you will not be disapointed). It is a great series for anime lovers of all kind's, and for the people that are just starting out. Some people will not like this series, they might find it stupid or pointless but take it from me you will end up wanting more after you've seen it.

FLCL is one of the coolest animes I've ever seen.
The story is good, though some parts confused me.
The animation is excellent. And the series just flat out rocks.

But I have to agree with the other reviewer. 25 dollars is way to much especially when each episode is half and hour. But still this series is great.

I don't have any money to get volume 2, but I'm working on it.
Man I want volume 2 so bad!!!
Overall this is a must see series.

FLCL rules......