Nice review, FLCL was cool show, I think you did it justice well.
FLCL tv Review
Story & Characters
I love Fooly Cooly's plot. There are those who say it's just random non-sense but if you watch it through a
couple times and look around at what others have to say about it you'll start to understand that there's a
reason for almost everything. Though of course I realize that there are many people out there who say they like it
because it's random. Please note that I do not wish to ruin these people's perception of it. At first I
thought it was all random too and that's OK.
Now when I first watched it I knew almost nothing about it. One of my friends had seen some of it, but he sucks at
explaining things so when I rented it (This was before it showed on Adult Swim) I was completely surprised by the plot.
Apparently this 6th grader (Or somewhere around that age) name Naota lives in a town where nothing interesting happens
(...Wasn't that a high-school girl who just totally hit on him?) when suddenly out of nowhere this crazy
motor-scooter riding chick comes out of nowhere and nails this poor kid (...Wasn't that a high-school girl who just
totally hit on him?) in the head with a bass guitar and performs mouth-to-mouth. And trust me, it just gets crazier from
there unless you've seen it before and understand what's happening.
I love stuff with deeper meaning. I love that moment when suddenly you understand what everything means. You know. When
that lightbulb finnaly decides to come on and you feel really smart. There's an order to the madness and for those
who love to figure stuff out, Fooly Cooly has got you covered. (Though it is technically a comedy.)
Rating:
Art
Studio GAINAX pulled out all the stops for Fooly Cooly's art. Apparently they didn't use animation cells like
most animes do. Instead it was done mostly on the computer but in a way that looks hand-drawn. Boy, did this work out.
FLCL is stunning visually. I'm not saying it has the best-animation ever but it has some of the most original.
First of all the art style changes. Everything from a manga-sequence to the infamous "South Park" sequence,
the art-style doesn't stay constant for more than 5 minutes, and you'll never know what you'll see next.
I remember being stunned with the chibi-esque 3-D rotation scenes and shocked when I found out about all the non-drawn
objects, An actual cockroach, scans of nori seaweed, and they even used an actual hand for one part (Which is why it
looks so 3-D. Of course you won't know what I'm talking about until you watch it but trust me, it's
obvious.)
In short, Fooly Cooly's art is well-done and lots of fun. Maybe not the best but still excellent.
Rating:
Sound
FLCL was just as enjoyable audibly as it was visually. The Japanese and Amerian voice-actors both fit the their characters like a glove and the music by the J-Pop band "The Pillows" adds to the secenes greatly. In fact the only music in Fooly Cooly not done by The Pillows is "Gallop" by Kabalevsky which is an orchestra piece which fits the semi-chase scene it's attached to. The sound fx are decent though none are memorable (Though considering all the sound fx I remember are cheesy and laughable, this may not be such a bad thing). Rock on!!
Rating:
Presentation
Well if you haven't already guessed it, I love FLCL. The plot, the animation, and the music are all treasures to
me. From my experience I'd never seen anything as original as Fooly Cooly before and I probably never will in the
future. As I've mentioned the series clocks in at a short and sweet 6 episodes. Besides that there are two volumes
of manga (Which strays quite a bit from the anime's plot, but I still think it's worth getting), two CDs
(Which of course are mostly music, however the second one has like script readings or something and contain original
mini-adventures. Of course that's just what I've heard. I still need to buy those), and two novelizations
(Though I have no idea how they compare to the anime or even where to get them). Even with all this the series feels
like it ended too soon, though I think more happens in it then some other animes of considerably longer length. I'm
locked in an inner struggle for whether I think it would be better to make an FLCL sequel or movie and risk it's
integrity or leave it as it is. Though the latter seems to be the destined route you can never tell. FLCL has only been
rising in popularity and I'm sure most of those fans would love to see more. Fooly Cooly is enjoyable to watch by
the way. Sometimes I find myself watching anime just to understand what my friends are talking about (So much time
wasted on DBZ trying to figure out the plot before realizing there was none). Anyway, FLCL is fun to watch, very funny
(It is a comdey after all, though I often forget that), and the DVD cases even have gorgeous reversible covers.
Sweet!
Now, before I bring my petty review to a close I should mention something: As wonderful as I make it sound, Fooly Cooly
ain't for everybody. Everyone I know either loves it or hates it. With stuff this out there, middle-ground can be
impossible to find. So I urge you at least to give it a try, eh? Because you might just like what you see. Later.
Rating:
Final Verdict
8.3333 (good)
Reviewed by Monkzup, Dec 05, 2004
Comments
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Stenbuck Dec 05, 2004
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DayBreak Dec 05, 2004
The rates you did is quite fair, but on the sound part >>
i would give it a 8.5 XD -
MadWiz Dec 05, 2004
o.O from what you say especially about the story.. it makes me pretty interested about this haha
think I will probably get my hands onto a copy of this anime some time soon =p thanks for the review! -
Push Dec 05, 2004
If you understand all jokes in FLCL you looked too much anime )).
i don't...
But i want! -
finiteyoda Dec 06, 2004
Cool review... personally, I'd of given the art an 8 and the story a 9, seeing as how I'm not that much into the story... I thought the computer techniques Gainax used were pretty innovative for their time. Now you see that stuff a lot in newer animes, but Gainax was sorta the trendsetter there.
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ni-chan Dec 06, 2004
good review ...i think this series really rocks...heheh i reqall laughed a lot..and the art is really good to ^^
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ani-obi-wan Dec 24, 2004
nods* i think FLCL's sound should deserve a higher grade.. considering... HOW MUCH I LIKE THE bands music! (pulls out guitar and plays hardcore music)
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mellowdownbelow Oct 13, 2005
Yes... I completely agree about the story. The first time watching it, I got some of it. Then I watched it again and again and each time I got something more out of it..... The plot was just insane. There's so much broken logic, parodies, symbols, ridicules... and everything comes together so well. In terms of plot and humor, it's probably my fave so far..... awesome review.
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gudoyski Sep 14, 2007
I love FLCL. I want a sequel for it as well. It feels like the 6 episodes aren't enough for me. I want to see who's going to be together in the future. If it' Naota - Ninamori, Naota - Haruko, or Naota - Mamimi. I beg of you make a sequel of FLCL! That show is awesome!
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nainoi Oct 19, 2009
nice review.
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UberDog Mar 23, 2015
I probably wouldn't argue with your stats for this review and I find you did a great job capturing things nicely out of this random and short anime.
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