FLCL (Fooly Cooly)

“FLCL” revolves around Naota Nandaba, a 12-year-old, living at home with his widower father and grandfather, with a detached attitude fitting most teenagers on the verge of puberty. His life in the city of Mabase is interrupted by the arrival of Haruko Haruhara, who runs over Naota with her scooter; shocked at what she’s done, she gives him CPR, and then hits him on the head with a blue vintage Rickenbacker 4001 left-handed electric bass guitar. Naota discovers that the blow to his head created a giant puncture in his forehead which turns out to be a N.O. portal, an inter-dimensional gateway from which giant robots produced by a company known as Medical Mechanica emerge periodically. Naota later finds Haruko working in his house as a live-in maid and reveals to Naota that she is an investigator for the Galactic Space Police Brotherhood. Haruko uses Naota for her search for the Pirate King, Atomsk. Naota is being watched by Commander Amarao, who believes that Medical Mechanica is out to conquer the galaxy; leaving Naota pulled into a three-way battle between Haruko, Amarao, and Medical Mechanica.

From what I’ve written so far about this show, you may have already guessed that this show is how should I put it…..bat sh!t insane, when watching “FLCL” you quickly realize that you are watching something that is completely ridiculous and your brain would explode if you tried to make any sense out of it. The story takes a giant right turn as everything seems calm and normal, just an average teen with average problems, but then BAM!! you’re getting run over and your head slammed in by a guitar wielding outer space cop and you know what, it’s hilarious. Whimsy is something that you need to love when digging into this and “FLCL” has plenty of it, delving into a fever pitch of different styles and tones that makes the series a real visual feast of incredible action sequences and chaos. The cast of characters in “FLCL” are as varied as the artistic style of the series. The main character, Naota, is the one who tries to keep the story in the realm of reality, but it doesn’t go to well. This fact becomes ever clearer with Haruko; who steals the show with her selfish, headstrong, hilarious and relentless attitude.  Plus, she wields a bass guitar as a weapon, how awesome is that?

“FLCL” is definitely one for the record books for its insane level of madness and crazy tone; this however is what makes the show great, with insane action sequences and unbelievably fun characters you can’t help but fall in love with the show. If anything can be said in the shows defense for those who don’t enjoy what it brings to the table, it’s that the anime requires a suspension of disbelief and many viewers may not be able to appreciate its off-kilter style of storytelling. For anyone who is able to approach “FLCL” with an open mind, they will be pleasantly surprised as Naota comes out of his shell while his worlds invaded by robots and aliens, along with plenty of humor thrown in.

Good:
-Incredible characters
-Unique, out of this world story
-Aliens, robots, and lots of laughs

Bad:
-Only 6 episodes
-Won’t reach those looking for a more serious and not so out there anime

Scully Rating: 9 out of 10

Watch "Fooly Cooly" here (As in click the this text. You can do it, you have my permission).