Plot:

The story is pretty normal; it revolves around an elementary student named Naota Nandaba. Naota is a 12-year-old student that must deal with the burden of adolescence on top of his unexciting life that he wishes had something more to it. Just like most little brothers, he idolizes his older brother, Tasuku, who left for the United States to play Baseball. Of course, this didn’t sit well with Naota. The fact that Tasuku’s girlfriend, high school student Mamimi Semijima, who was once dependent on Naota’s older brother seems to use Naota as the next best thing.

This is where pretty normal ends… Unless you call being able to pull giant fighting robots out of your forehead normal. After Naota is pummeled in the head with a Gibson bass guitar by the Vespa driving, pink-haired, bass guitar welding, not really a nurse, Haruhara Haruko; giant robots are the least of his worries. Now, in-between fighting robots, guitar pummelings, his brother’s crazy girlfriend, getting run over by a yellow Vespa, and secret government agencies, Naota wishes they would just go away.

Review:

FLCL (pronounced FuriKuri) is a very interesting anime, it switches from genre to genre so easily I can’t figure out where to place it; sci-fi, action, and comedy. There are so many comedic elements in it you can’t stop laughing long enough to catch the serious, plot developing points before the next thing that makes you bust your gut. It seems like it will be a normal anime, Naota lives in a suburb, above his family’s bakery with his dad and grandpa. His brother left for America to play baseball, and his brother’s high school-aged girlfriend is stuck to Naota like a fly to flypaper. With a giant factory in the shape of a clothing iron in the distance, everything seems normal and uninteresting to Naota which is just what he doesn’t want, at least until he sees the yellow Vespa (driven by Haruhara Haruko) that is knocked off course by a harmless can of juice promptly running over him. After a brief mouth to mouth resuscitation (cough… cough… Kiss), then savage beating with a bass guitar by Haruko, Naota finally makes it home just to find not a bump, but a horn-like-bump on his forehead.OK, its weird is an understatement, but that is what makes it so good. The fact that is very hard to guess what is next keeping you coming back for more. I just got one real complaint, it is short. Six episodes just don’t seem to give it enough time to explain everything. You are often left saying “What just happened?” or “How does that fit in?”, and the ending, don’t get me started, it seems like you were just beginning to understand it then “BOOM!” the end. But you got to realize, it was done by the same company that did the brain stir-fry “Neon Genesis Evangelion”, Gainax. Now if you have watched the last episode of Eva you will know what I mean, if you keep that in mind it is easier to watch. Don’t get me wrong, I really liked the show. There was enough over the top humor to break up the serious parts to a point that the story didn’t matter as much as seeing what the next thing that was going to get pummeled by a blue and white, gas-powered Gibson bass. This is one of my favorite anime, the witty humor that refers to many other anime, as well as pop culture references (Lupon III and South Park to name a few) is what put this title on my DVD rack. That and the image of Haruko in a bath towel…