FLCL
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Template:Infobox animanga/Header Template:Infobox animanga/OVA Template:Infobox animanga/Manga Template:Infobox animanga/Footer FLCL (Japanese フリクリ Furi Kuri, pronounced and officially romanized as Fooly Cooly) is a six episode Japanese animation OVA series, the brainchild of director Kazuya Tsurumaki of Gainax and released by Gainax and Production I.G. The series has been broadcast on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block numerous times.
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Style
FLCL is a unique and somewhat esoteric production whose myriad oddities are often bewildering. This is compounded by the suckerpunch pace at which the plot progresses. Its hyperactive, occasionally juvenile, and seemingly illogical style can be misinterpreted, generally causing strongly polarized opinions of its value. There are many hidden meanings underneath its surface. FLCL could be categorized as a comedy, drama, soap opera, and/or science fiction. Its comedic side is most noticeable, as it satirizes pop culture icons such as John Woo and South Park, not to mention other anime such as Neon Genesis Evangelion (which was also produced by Gainax), Lupin III, and Hamtaro. FLCL also brings up minor but notable pop references such as the Tomino Hammer which is referring to Yoshiyuki Tomino's original Mobile Suit Gundam series including an unrealistic hammer weapon in a relatively plausible Real Robot Universe. FLCL also parodies slightly nostalgic Japanese culture itself, by switching styles to traditional kabuki at one point, presenting now defunct brands of drinks, Japanese style bread, and nostalgic 3-wheeled automobiles that were prominent in Post-war Japan. Puns and sexually suggestive metaphors fly freely. However, its comedic elements at times overshadow what is, at its core, a coming of age story. The stranger elements often reflect the confusion and awkwardness of puberty (or possibly of life in general).
The characters are all highly eccentric: Mamimi obsesses on the past, Haruko's mood changes with the moment; Kamon actually dresses up as a Nazi and challenges his son to a shootout for Haruko's love. Naota is the least erratic of the cast, but constantly finds himself at the center of attention. His complaints of hatred for his boring town are in stark contrast to the surreal shenanigans that escalate throughout the series.
FLCL is an exercise in unconventional, self-referential anime. To appreciate the series, one has to first become acquainted with many anime conventions, and be able to see a second layer in the production. Otherwise, a viewer who is new to anime will simply be overwhelmed with the amount of unfamiliar content that the series presents in the very limited timeframe of two-and-a-half hours.
A significant element of FLCL's appeal is its music. Most of the background music was written and performed by the band "the pillows," which has generated mass success and appreciation since the anime's release abroad. Shinkichi Mitsumune wrote the rest of the music, but only one track made it into the show itself, the others are on the soundtracks. Two soundtrack CDs and a one-CD "best-of" compilation were released in Japan and later America. Another interesting note is that the action sequences were choreographed around the individual tracks used and not the other way around. There is also a significant amount of reference to guitars which are used symbolically throughout the series.
Story
The series focuses on Nandaba Naota, a twelve-year-old boy just starting puberty, living in the fictional, strange, and yet ordinary Japanese suburb of Mabase. Naota lives with his lecherous father Kamon and his baseball-coaching grandfather Shigekuni at their family bakery. He greatly admired his older brother Tasuku—a baseball phenomenon who has gone to the United States to play the game. Note that Tasuku, though often referenced, never appears in the series (though he can be seen in one flashback scene wearing his baseball uniform, and he is partially visible in a photograph never entirely shown). Naota seems to be very frustrated with his life, and in the opening episode is musing about how uneventful and boring Mabase is.
Events kick off when a strange and mischievous girl named Haruhara Haruko runs him over with her Vespa and then whacks him in the forehead with a left-handed Rickenbacker bass guitar with a pull cord start motor. Soon afterwards, Naota discovers that being hit with Haruko's bass left more than just a bump — it opened an N.O. portal (see below) in his head and things are starting to come out of it. Later that day Naota finds Haruko in his house, hired by his father as a live-in maid. It is gradually revealed that Haruko is in a confrontation with a company named Medical Mechanica (whose factory building looks like a giant clothing iron) located on the outskirts of Mabase which is holding a being named "Atomsk" which she is after, and she's using Naota as a means to her own ends, which are revealed in the final episode.
In addition to being hounded by Haruko, who uses the portal she opened in his head for her own selfish purposes, he is being watched by a man named Commander Amarao. He and his assistant, Lt. Kitsurubami, are monitoring Haruko and Medical Mechanica for intergalactic legal reasons and are attempting to save the Earth as the conflict between Haruko and Medical Mechanica (MM) escalates.
The plot also involves Mamimi, a delinquent girl who fancied herself to be Tasuku's girlfriend. Alone and friendless, she leans on other things, such as Naota, her pet cat, or the terminal core, all of whom she calls "Ta-kun" (referring to both Tasuku and Naota), and cigarettes. Japanese adolescents often add the suffix "-kun" to the names of their classmates and friends their age or younger. She calls Tasuku "Tasuku sempai" because he is older, but is likely using Naota as a substitute, whom she would call "Naota-kun," or "Ta-kun" for short (which would also be suspiciously close to referencing Tasuku.) There is also a girl named Ninamori who goes to school with Naota and seems to have romantic interests in him.
The power of N.O. is what lets items be pulled out of characters' foreheads. N.O. comes from the cooperation of the right and left sides of the brain. When it is activated (usually from extreme scenarios including stress and duty) things can be pulled from anywhere in the universe. After the activation of his N.O., an x-ray of Naota's head shows that his brain is seemingly missing, but this is actually due to the x-rays being pulled into the vortex created by N.O., though Haruko uses it as a joke at Naota's expense. Naota's N.O. is responsible for the appearance of Canti (pronounced "Kanchi"), Naota's Flying V, Atomsk's Gibson EB-0, three other MM robots, and in the end, Atomsk himself.
The main story plot revolves around Naota's exploits with Haruko, and are more an exploration of Naota's adolescent sexual coming of age. Each episode (6 in all), not only have a different animation style, but also have a different experience in Naota's coming of age. Throughout the course of the series, he gets close to several characters, Haruko, Ninamori, and Mamimi. He becomes infatuated with them all in his own way, and even kisses Haruko in the end.
Characters
Main article: Characters of FLCL
The plot revolves (mainly) around Naota as he interacts with several groups of people, including his schoolmates, his relatives and the government, as well as rogue individuals, such as Haruko and Mamimi.
Notes/Trivia
Further trivia is also available on the FLCL page at the IMDb.
Translation
To try to make the dialogue easier to understand in the English translation, there are some places where dialogue is different from the Japanese version. Some examples are:
- In episode 2 references to the Japanese swimsuit magazine Delabe are replaced with references to the American porno magazine Hustler. Also in the same scene reference to a Japanese swimsuit idol were replaced by a reference to Anna Nicole Smith. In the subtitled version the refrences are "Jugs" and "My favorite pop-idol", respectivly.
- In the episode 3 a boy dressed like a mouse keeps asking Naota about the "chu-lady"; in Japanese, chu is the onomatopoeia for both a kiss and a mouse's squeak. (This is translated to English by having the character repeatedly yelling "Smooch!" while practicing for the play.) Also in episode 3 references to a drink called "Cherio" were replaced with references to Crystal Pepsi, a similarly discontinued product from America.
- In episode 5, Kitsurubami yells about the similarity between the kanji for Mackerel and Blue in the Japanese version. This was changed to the differences between "Cyborg" and "Robot" in the English version.
- In episode 6 in the English dub, Naota's friend talks about sporks and refers to them in a perverted way. This is because the word for "sporks" (literally "split-fronts") also refers to cleavage. This was left out in the English version because of the pun-translation barrier.
- In episode 1, Haruko uses the english word "Death" in place of the japanese "desu" ("is").
- In the same manga scene the japanese version uses the term "kuri kuri" repeatedly. Kuri literally means "chestnut" but is slang for clitoris, "kuri kuri" means to "feel up" a woman.
- Haruko uses the term "mouth to mouth" repeatedly throughout the series, though the "th" sound does not exist in Japanese so it sounds like "mouse to mouse". This is used in a pun in Full Swing while she crawls out of the Kamon puppets mouth wearing a mouse suit.
Cultural
- In episode 5, a scene is drawn in an animation style parodying South Park. The decision to do so was made once again by the art team. Much of the Japanese audience, according to the director, was unable to understand the reference; South Park never caught on in Japan due to too many American pop culture references. In the American release of FLCL, however, it was easily recognized and greeted with both applause and groans. Later in the same episode Naota pulls on the hood of his sweatshirt very tightly, giving him an appearance similar to that of South Park character Kenny. In episode 3 Miyaji Junko's car has a Kenny key chain in it.
- Daicon IV opening (also produced by Gainax) makes an appearance in Episode 5 as well. Similarities include Haruko dressing in the same attire (playboy bunny-ish attire with earrings), Haruko riding her guitar (as opposed to the Daicon girl riding a sword), and most obvious, Haruko's entering the scene saying "Daicon V".
- Episode 5 contains a reference to the opening credits of Lupin III, as Naota's dad pounces out of his red suit and into Haruko's bed (who pulls a blanket over her chest as a spring-loaded boxing glove flies out and hits him). Lupin III coincidentally started its run on Adult Swim around the same time.
- In late 2003, one of the Adult Swim bumper sequences listed some of the favorite shows of Adult Swim's staff. FLCL was among them.
- While the sour drink in the black can that appears in the series seems to be a drink called "Lemon Squash" (レモンスカッシュ remon sukasshu), an actual lemon-flavored brand of soft drink in Japan, the pamphlet accompanying the third DVD of the series explains that the drink is named "KaraC" as a pun on the Japanese word "karashi", which means "mustard" or something spicy, and beverages that end in "C", like Hi-C.
- Naota and Ninamori drink "Vitamin In" in Episode 3 because of proposed product placement. However, the scenes with the drinks were completed before negotiations finished, and the deal never went through. The studio decided to keep the beverages in the scene anyway.
- In the English dub of episode 5, when Haruko was dressed up as Elvis, she mentioned some American bands and guitarists instead of the original Japanese references.
Title
- In the very end of episode 6, Fooly Cooly was misspelled Fooly Coolly in a magazine. The magazine showed a picture of Naota holding a guitar. This is presumably the shot that Samejima Mamimi took after the battle between Haruko and Naota.
- The title, Furi Kuri/Fooly Cooly, meaning is unknown even to the characters in the show, even though they use the phrase repeatedly. One explanation for the title is explained in the manga-style scene in Episode 1, though many people did not understand this explanation. One theory maintains it to be a Japanese shortening of "Flictonic Clipple Waver Syndrome," a fictional medical condition used as a plot device in the show. However, considering the phonetic structure of the Japanese language, it is far more logical to assume that "Flictonic Clipple Waver Syndrome" (フリークトニック・クリップル・ウエーブー症 "Furiikutonikku Kurippuru Uebaa Shou") is actually born from the term Furi Kuri/Fooly Cooly, rather than vice versa. The unknown origin of the title is one of many quirks pointed out by even the characters, who frequently use the term, but its meaning is never specifically explained. This is important because it plays a strong role in the puberty theme that continues through out the series. This may also be why in episode six, Naota is not aware of the word's meaning, because he is still unaware of the pre-pubescent changes in his own life.
- In some manga, the onomatopoeia written in as the sound effect heard when a male character gropes a female character's breasts is "fu-ri-ku-ri" hence the name of the anime.
- The Title "Fooly Cooly" actually comes from a song the director had heard, liking the sound and meaning of the lyrics. To quote Synch-point producer Shizloo from the synchpoint forums "The official title is "FLCL." He may have shortened it to this to make it easier to read the title.
- FLCL was referred to with "furi kuri" in Japan for several reasons: Director & creator Kazuya Tsurumaki wanted a title that was a contraction of words... like Pocket Monsters becoming Pokémon, Family Computer becoming Famicom, air conditioner becoming EaKon. (there's a rumor that Square Enix named themselves Square Enix instead of Enix Square, because SukuEni rolls better on the tongue than EniSuku, even though the English shortening would be SquEnix.) He liked the way furi kuri sounded, and put together letters that became FLCL. Fooly Cooly pronounced in Japanese would be Furi Kuri, afterall.
- Synch-Point and Production I.G. decided to subtitle FLCL as Fooly Cooly in the US. They wanted to make sure fans knew how to read FLCL. The producer says he still has people come up to me and say how much they like "eff-el-see-el." here.
- Haruko's definition of FLCL, or "Flictonic Klipple Waver Syndrome", is: "An adolescent psychological skin hardening syndrome. A common affliction where children grow horns from trying too hard."
Characters
- There are examples of scenes in which Naota yells out "Tasuk--"; the Japanese audience, at first assuming that he will exclaim "Tasukete" (help!), may be surprised when he instead says "Tasuku," the name of Naota's older brother.
- The name of the company Haruko is fighting is spelled Medical Mechanica. It was misspelled in a scene in episode 2 as Medical Meccanica.
- Atomsk is named after a novel by Carmichael Smith. And in the director commentary on the third DVD, the director states that he is unsure as to how its really pronounced (in FLCL it is pronounced atom-isk or atomos'ku)
- Amarao refers to Kitsurubami as "Kitsurubami-kun", indicating a possibly non-professionally friendly relationship. Naota calls Haruko "Haruko-kun", Kamon calls her "Haruko-san", and Mamimi refers to her as "Haru-san".
- In the planner book Mamimi reads/makes notes in during the final episode, the week it is open to is Monday, December 3rd. Unless the series is set in the year 2001 (not likely; there are no other indicators suggesting a future setting and it doesn't even look like December) this means that Mamimi has somehow gotten hold of a long out-of-date planner book from 1990, the last year before FLCL's production year of 2000 that December 3rd fell on a Monday.
Production
- In episode 5, Bura Bure (Brittle Bullet), there are numerous innuendos notable by freeze-frame action only. For instance, toward the beginning of the episode, Kamon Nandaba walks in on Naota and Haruko kissing (while Haruko's rear-end is clearly shown, showing she doesn't wear underwear) and his face begins to turn several different shades of color. He finally screams at the top of his lungs, at which if the animation is paused splitsecond, a small demonic / mischievous character can be seen darting around in the back molars of his mouth.
- In episode 3, Naota's face changes briefly into the "Scream" mask from the movies of the same name.(10:01)
- In episode 2, the viewer can clearly see Naota's blood type on his X-ray: A positive [+]. (2:37)
- In episode 5, a small face can be seen inside Kitsurubami's mouth as she screams. (12:31)
- With a smile on her face, Kitsurubami kicks Amaro in the back of the head with her bare foot towards the end of episode 5 (19:54)
- Most of the vehicles in the series (such as Haruko's Vespa, Miya-Jun's Volkswagen Beetle, Amarao's Fiat 126 and Kamon's Citroën) are European.
- Many of the important characters are left-handed due to the director's belief that southpaws have more outgoing personalities than right-handed individuals. The same distinction is shown in the difference between those characters who enjoy spicy food or sour drinks, and those who don't, as well as those who swing the bat or don't. Note that both Haruko and Mamimi are left handed.
- It was rumored that the whole series was merely an experiment by Gainax to test out new techniques (such as perhaps, bullet time), and they used a 26-episodes worth of budget to produce the high quality animation. The IMDb says the series was created as a break from regular anime. More information can be found on the director's audio commentary on the DVDs.
- the pillows did much of the soundtrack, with Shinkichi Mitsumune doing one remaining track for the dinner scene in Episode 3. His unused incidental music appears on the soundtracks for the show.
- The show contains numerous sexual innuendoes which were the lead artist's ideas, contrary to that of the director, though some innuendos were written into the script (the 'split fronts' is one of the most thinly veiled examples).
- The Vespa shown in the ending credits actually belongs to the director and at the time of the Japanese DVD release was not in working condition.
- In episode 5, Kamon and Kitsurabami are seen thrashing about in the river. When this scene is put in slow-motion, it is obvious that Kitsurabami is actually pressing her exposed rear-end against Kamon with apparent pleasure.
- During episodes 1 and 6 the show temporarily uses a unique manga-like animation style. Due to uniqueness of the style, it required much time and effort to create, and the two scenes became the most expensive in the entire anime. An inside joke in episode 6 is that Naota's dad says that they were told to never do that again, which is true - the CG artist had complained to the director about the complexity of the first "manga" scene, and initially refused to believe it could be done at all.
- The hand shown in episodes 5 and 6 is actually the hand of the director. The movement was captured on film and then spliced digitally into the animation.
- In episode 4 the original idea was for Naota to hit his father in the head with the bat instead of the TV. But due to a string of kids beating their parents to death with metal baseball bats hitting Japanese news around production time, Naota attacks the TV instead.
- Upon initially airing FLCL Adult Swim announced that, of all six episodes, only one edit was made in episode 6. In fact, episode 6 contained two edits (a penis, which was blurred in the original footage, was further blurred for TV, and the credits, which contained a short extra scene, was cut for time), and a spoken obscenity was blanked out of the soundtrack in episode 2.
- In episode 1, "Nurse" Haruko tells Naota that his horn is caused by Flictonic Clipple Webber Syndrome, which is a refrence not only to Furi Kuri but to "Klippel Weber syndrome" - which is a real disease that can cause skin abnormalities (though not horns).
- Amarao's eyebrows are real pieces of nori that were scanned.
- The voice of miyu miyu is listed as ??? in the credits, but it is actually Gainax co-founder Hideaki Anno.
Episodes
The total run-time for this show is three hours with commercials. The episodes are:
- Fooly Cooly (Japanese title: Furi Kuri (フリクリ))
- FireStarter (Japanese title: FiSta (ファイスタ))
- Marquis de Carabas (Japanese title: Maru-Raba (マルラバ))
- Full Swing (Japanese title: Furi Kiri (フリキリ))
- Brittle Bullet (Japanese title: Bura-Bure (ブラブレ))
- FLCLimax (Japanese title: Furi Kura (フリクラ))
Reception
The reception for the series, although not widespread in the United States, has been enthusiastic. As of April 2006, the shoes has cleared the 1,250 vote barrier on the IMDb (which classifies it as an OVA rather than a TV show) with a rating of 8.8 out of 10. If it qualified for the IMDb Top 250 (which it does not: despite having enough votes, miniseries, TV shows and video releases do not qualify) it would place between fourth and sixth on the list.
Releases
The episodes were originally released in Japan on six DVDs. It was also released as a two-volume manga by artist Hajime Ueda, and a three-volume novel serialization by Yoji Enokido, who also wrote the script for the show. All were released in Japan starting in 2000. The manga is a much darker and more violent take on the story (Naota accidentially kills his father with the baseball bat in a rather grisly scene; Shinguki has a war buddy who helps him suicide-bomb the Medical Mechanica building), while the novels are a more straight adaptation. The anime has subsequently been released on DVD in North America in three volumes by Synch-Point which feature exclusive extras not on the original Japanese DVDs, while the manga was released by TOKYOPOP in two volumes (ISBN 159182396X and ISBN 1591823978). All soundtrack discs, Addict, King of Pirates and FLCL No. 3 were released by Geneon. The CDs also contain 'drama tracks' which continue the story in the usual joking manner, such as one segment that has Naota meeting girls with similar names to Haruko and Mamimi.
FLCL has also been seen on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block in North America, starting in August 2003. Starting on August 4 and continuing for three weeks, the entire series aired twice. This was the first time it had been aired in the United States on network television, and from there it quickly ballooned in popularity. It also occasionally aired throughout 2005, usually during the Saturday night "ACTN" (action) lineup. From the start of 2006 through February 5, the series ran once through on Monday nights until being replaced by Fullmetal Alchemist. It has gained a cult following in the U.S. thanks to the exposure on Adult Swim and the popularity of the DVD release.
The original releases of the Region 1 FLCL DVDs contained booklets with interviews and insight into the series. Later releases of these DVDs did not include the booklets.
External links
- {{{2|{{{title|FLCL}}}}}} at The Internet Movie Database
- Synch-Point, North American distributors of FLCL
- Open Directory links for FLCLde:FLCL
es:FLCL fr:FLCL is:FLCL it:FLCL ja:フリクリ pl:FLCL pt:FLCL sv:FLCL ru:FLCL Template:FLCL