You cant win the game until you swing the bat. maxim Theres not much a point to summarizing FLCLpronounced Fooly Cooly. Either you have seen it are going to see it or have decided its not of interest to you. Besides that what literally happens in FLCL is only half the story and the series is famously obtuse. FLCL has been since its release read as everything from a parody of Ganaix own Neon Genesis Evangelion to a critique of Japans low age of consent yes really look it up. FLCL is probably best understood as an anime that looks how puberty feels and indeed on the longtail the show hasnt persisted in cultural memory entire episodes or chunks at a time the way many more narratively straightforward anime have. What burns into the brain about FLCL is fragmented imagesa yellow vespa Lunchtime never knows best scribbled in pencil on a cigarette a Rickenbacker bass the giant iron resting on the hillside Naotas horn protrusions eyebrows just to name a few examplesplus knotty fan theories and the soundtrackcourtesy of Japanese pop punk group The Pillows and one of the best of its kind. That second point is especially funny given that the character of Kamon seems like something of a jab at the very sort of person whod dream up complex explanations for FLCL and to tell the truth the idea of trying to solve the show does seem a bit like a lost cause not because FLCL is devoid of meaning but for the exact opposite reason. In a way its a Rorschach Blot FLCL has so much meaningsymbolism allusion and so onthat its possible to read it in just about any way you want. Far from detracting from the series quality this is arguably whats let FLCL have such persistence. Turn it one way its the story that happens on the other side of a space opera the natives of a planet being disrupted by the presence of Haruko that hypothetical series hero bringing her fantastical weirdness to Earth. Turn it another its a psychosexual examination of Naotas coming of age all the colorful gonzo nonsense merely being the medium through which that confusion is conveyed. Turn it a third its a surprisingly tragic story about a young boy whos manipulated into doing a pinkhaired femme fatales bidding in her quest to capture Atomsk for her own nefarious purposes. FLCL is all of these things simultaneously. Fiction is interpretive in general but FLCL opens itself so willingly to so many possible interpretations it has ended up meaning a lot to many people. Even in the official realm the manga adaptation takes one tack stripping away much of the comedy and altering some key events leaving a much bleaker story and the novel another. Even if you strip all that away though youre left with a truly bizarre actioncomedy romp that really has no peers. To say that the animation in FLCL is excellent is underselling it. FLCLs visual style draws from a plethora of influences both Japanese and western check the Looney Tunesesque slapstick and the South Park homage in the penultimate episode and plays with them for all theyre worth. The soundtrack too as mentioned is just great stuff. Singleartist soundtracks are hard to pull off at the best of times but The Pillows straightahead rock n roll works well with the series more experimental visuals. The voice actingboth the original and the English dubare great and the latter in particular is often held up as one of the best of its kind. Reworking gags that relied on obscure Japanese pop cultural knowledge and replacing them with American ones a reference to Cherio Pop becoming a gag about Crystal Pepsi is probably the most wellknown of these and choosing pitchperfect VAs with Kari Wahlgren as Haruko in particular being outstanding though in a rarity for dubs there really arent any weak links at all. Like a lot of people I was fairly young when I first saw FLCL and its tempting toby turnseither try to strip all of its possible meanings away and present it as purely an aesthetic work of art or to force it into a single interpretation a single box. Again to risk repeating the obvious this is a show that has meant a lot to a lot of people. But even more than its sheer fun and make no mistake it is a real treat to watch even now it is FLCLs openness to interpretation thats let it have such a legacy. For a show that never hit the same level of popularity as that other strange Gainax show people like to argue about FLCLs fingerprints are all over modern anime. Detectable on everything from Gainax own later Diebuster Gurren Lagann and Panty Stocking. To Studio TRIGGERs grand debut Kill la Kill to PUNCHLINEs whackedout conspiracy rambling to Flip Flappers more polished but no less weird serial dimensionjumping take on the world story genre. And of course because history repeats we come to the thing Ive been tiptoeing around this entire review. At the time of this writing we are just months away from FLCL Alternative and FLCL Progressive. Two sequel seriesofsorts that sees Harukobut no other charactersreturn and to judge by the trailers and by the episode of Progressive aired early as an April Fools prank these series lean again heavily on the same trick the manga pulled. Less definitive continuation more alternate interpretation and I have a feeling that this is why the initial branding of FLCL2 and FLCL3 has been downplayed since the subtitles have been adopted an effort to recontextualize FLCL to turn it insideout or to bring it into the present day. There is a frustrating and yet entirely understandable fog of anxiety cast over these continuations of the franchise name. FLCL is a lot like Haruko herself it will enter your life for a brief time fuck everything up and then leave leaving you to wonder just what happened and what to make of it. People from the standard anime fan on up have been sifting through FLCLs rubble for years. That sifting has led to plenty of great art in its own right and its for that reason that speaking solely for myself I look forward to Alternative and Progressive. But one things for sure no matter how they turn out the series renaissance ensures a single very simple thing: the future is fooly cooly.