(L) FLCL Discussion

[Fronzel]

Well, she is supposed to be an alien.

[Tofusensei]

Originally Posted by ClancyDamon

I'm sure everyone can attest to noticing dozens of new things every time they watch FLCL through. Well, just yesterday, a friend and I were watching the 2nd episode, and in the beginning, when Haruko is looking at an X-ray of Naota while wearing that Nurses outfit, I saw she had a nametag. Having taken a couple of classes in Japanese, I was able to read her name, but the spelling has me confused. The first 2 syllables of her name, HA and RU were spelled in Katakana: ハ and ル. The last syllable, KO, was the Kanji for Child: 子. I'm just wondering if this has some kind of signifigance. I thought I recalled from my teacher that you never mixed up words between the two character sets, meaning writing one word in both Katakana and Hirigana. Kanji obviously denotes a Hirigana spelling, so I'm wondering why this combination is. Why is her name spelled half foreign, with Katakana, and half native, with Kanji?

It doesn't really matter. It's just an extra quirk for the show. Lots of japanese people write their names in katakana to be "cool" and the ko is an uber-common ending for japanese female names. Some japanese people have names that are only written in katakana, believe it or not ^^ The more japanese you study the more you realize that classroom japanese and real japanese have very little in common Especially in basic levels.

-Tofu

[Sh1ka9on]

huff... I still have no clue on what this series is basically about. Everyone says that you just have to watch it over a couple of times and somehow it'll miraculously bounce into my head. 4rth time and i'm still lost on this magical meaning. Here is what i have concluded so far...>>

*spoiler?*****
Naota head = Transmitter
Haruko = Alien trying to capture Atomsk(sp?) Unsure about the in-love thing. But she's chasin' him. The being travels through the transmitters(heads) across planets and Naota is like the chosen-head. That is marked by the signals on his forhead. Thats why Haruko is around him but she begins to grow found of him a little...? She is apart of an org named Medical Mechanica which destroy planets. The org. wants Atomsk because he has a lot of power so they can use him.
Naota = Ends up loving Haruko? Even though he's a kid, He thought that Mamimi liked him but actually it's because he's the bro of her ex who used to take care of her. So he's depressed there but thats why he likes Haruko even more.
Ninamori = Kinda likes Naota? Don't think she has much to do with anything.
Mamimi = Crazy pyro..? Obsessed with Naota's bro and wants things her way. Biggg.. pycho i guess IMO though innocent?

My own main meaning :: umm.... Naota should be himself? and that his life is just messed up, but he's just a kid though so it's all right? Don't think about too many things and that theres life on other planets in his world..?

**end**

You see... This is all i have gathered and i don't think my conclusion is anything close to correct. I might have interpreted some wrong info as well but my brains are cluttered. Plz correct me if i've said something wrong but I have no clue. Help......?? PM..?

[Mr_Paper]

Hmm...

I'll use spoiler tags since this will effectively ruin the entire story.

Spoiler:

Haruko is actually a member of the Galaxy Police (or something like that), she wasn't lying when she said that in episode two. Her job was actually to arrest Atmosk and she chased him across the galaxy for many years. Atmosk is a criminal with so much NO that he steals entire planets through his own head and can even send himself through his own head. Due to his immense power, there were many people and organizations after him. Now this is where the story diverges, there are two ways to interpet Haruko's relationship with Atmosk.

1) After many years of chasing him she actually fell in love with him. Eventually she was able to arrest him but refused to turn him in to the Galaxy Police and became a criminal as a result. You'll notice that Haruko's bracelet is actually part of a set of handcuffs and Atmosk is wearing the other half of them, the two links of the handcuffs always point to each other. However, shortly after her capture of him, the Medical Mechanica organization stole Atmosk from her. Haruko, acting out of love, declared war against Medical Mechanica and began causing disturbences with them in her pursuit of an NO channel that she could use to regain Atmosk.

2) After many years of following Atmosk and witnessing his power, Haruko was able to capture him. However, Haruko had decided to make his power her own and refused to turn in Atmosk making herself a criminal too. Shortly before she was able to steal his powers Medical Mechanica stole Atmosk from her. This drove her mad and she declared war against them. She travelled the galaxy searching for people with powerful enough NO channels that she could use to bring Atmosk back through and caused as much trouble for Medical Mechanica as she could along the way.

(In some twisted way the anime makes use of both of these plot directions...)

Medical mechanica planned to use Atmosk to accelerate their plans to flatten out the wrinkles in the galaxy (strange people...) but was never able to make him fully co-operate with them. Eventually Haruko arrived on Earth and came accross 'weird eyebrow guy' while he was still a child. After much effort and failure she came to the conclusion that his head could not generate enough NO for her purposes and left him to look for a better channel. After many years she came back to Mabase looking for Noata's older brother. She accidently mistook Noata for him and opened the NO channel in Noata's head instead. This is where the series picks up...

As it turned out, Noata's head could generate more than enough NO for her purposes, but Noata's unco-operative personality prevented him from being of any real use to her. As the series progresses we get to see Noata becoming more and more honest with his own feelings and his impressions of his brother. Characters like Ninamori and Mamimi show him the importance of being honest with his own feelings and he grows because of it.

[Timon]

Originally Posted by Komataguri

I wouldn't buy the DVDs tho, 25-30 dollars a DVD is outrage for only 2 episodes a disk. [ 3DVD total, 75+ bucks for 6 episodes? HA! ]

Plus they have director's commentary, that's like the holy grail of DVD's

[Token-Blackguy]

It's not as weird as Revolutionary Girl Utena. Geez!

damn straight, at lease flcl had a vague and obcure plot to grab onto, utena was just insane shojo-soap opera madness

[Sh1ka9on]

Originally Posted by Mr_Paper

Hmm...

I'll use spoiler tags since this will effectively ruin the entire story.

Spoiler:

Haruko is actually a member of the Galaxy Police (or something like that), she wasn't lying when she said that in episode two. Her job was actually to arrest Atmosk and she chased him across the galaxy for many years. Atmosk is a criminal with so much NO that he steals entire planets through his own head and can even send himself through his own head. Due to his immense power, there were many people and organizations after him. Now this is where the story diverges, there are two ways to interpet Haruko's relationship with Atmosk.

1) After many years of chasing him she actually fell in love with him. Eventually she was able to arrest him but refused to turn him in to the Galaxy Police and became a criminal as a result. You'll notice that Haruko's bracelet is actually part of a set of handcuffs and Atmosk is wearing the other half of them, the two links of the handcuffs always point to each other. However, shortly after her capture of him, the Medical Mechanica organization stole Atmosk from her. Haruko, acting out of love, declared war against Medical Mechanica and began causing disturbences with them in her pursuit of an NO channel that she could use to regain Atmosk.

2) After many years of following Atmosk and witnessing his power, Haruko was able to capture him. However, Haruko had decided to make his power her own and refused to turn in Atmosk making herself a criminal too. Shortly before she was able to steal his powers Medical Mechanica stole Atmosk from her. This drove her mad and she declared war against them. She travelled the galaxy searching for people with powerful enough NO channels that she could use to bring Atmosk back through and caused as much trouble for Medical Mechanica as she could along the way.

(In some twisted way the anime makes use of both of these plot directions...)

Medical mechanica planned to use Atmosk to accelerate their plans to flatten out the wrinkles in the galaxy (strange people...) but was never able to make him fully co-operate with them. Eventually Haruko arrived on Earth and came accross 'weird eyebrow guy' while he was still a child. After much effort and failure she came to the conclusion that his head could not generate enough NO for her purposes and left him to look for a better channel. After many years she came back to Mabase looking for Noata's older brother. She accidently mistook Noata for him and opened the NO channel in Noata's head instead. This is where the series picks up...

As it turned out, Noata's head could generate more than enough NO for her purposes, but Noata's unco-operative personality prevented him from being of any real use to her. As the series progresses we get to see Noata becoming more and more honest with his own feelings and his impressions of his brother. Characters like Ninamori and Mamimi show him the importance of being honest with his own feelings and he grows because of it.

uh... Was all of this from just the 6 episodes...? I have no idea where most of this was picked up. From the DVD? Mistaking Naota for his brother, and the weird eyebrow eye being a baby, creating NO channels in Naota's head... when did all that happen..?

[Mr_Paper]

Originally Posted by Sh1ka9on

uh... Was all of this from just the 6 episodes...? I have no idea where most of this was picked up. From the DVD? Mistaking Naota for his brother, and the weird eyebrow eye being a baby, creating NO channels in Naota's head... when did all that happen..?

Some of it comes from the director's commentary and the rest is common sense and taken from character's statements during the series. For the most part, it's the back story that happened before the 6 episodes.

[Sh1ka9on]

oh ic, thanks a lot for the info. Though i have to ask, what backstory before the 6 episodes?

[Imazul]

Sorry if this is an old thead ressurection but, I just watched FLCL with 1 of my friends (im never trusting him again). I usually like this kind of stuff but I didnt laugh even 1 time watching FLCL, its the first anime in all history that actually creeped me out.

I think the story is ok and that the way of showing it is pretty bad (flowing the watchers with tons of informations that are irrevelant at first but become understandable later). My brain hurts just thinking about it.

[Keitaro]

Originally Posted by Imazul

Sorry if this is an old thead ressurection but, I just watched FLCL with 1 of my friends (im never trusting him again). I usually like this kind of stuff but I didnt laugh even 1 time watching FLCL, its the first anime in all history that actually creeped me out.

I think the story is ok and that the way of showing it is pretty bad (flowing the watchers with tons of informations that are irrevelant at first but become understandable later). My brain hurts just thinking about it.

Well this was no comedy for sure and I think was never meant to be one either. I truly enjoyed this series the only negative comment I got for it is the shortness of it. This could have been easily been a few OVA's longer or even a short 13 episode series.

[Imazul]

In the end, what the hell did furi-kuri mean?

[Keitaro]

Originally Posted by Imazul

In the end, what the hell did furi-kuri mean?

Hm...I think it was sort've explained by Haruhara but she might've been just messing around with him. I'll have to watch it over again. It's been so long since I last seen it. So I guess I can't answer your question.

[FriedBunny]

Furi-Kuri, FLCL, Fooly Cooly, et al: They mean nothing.

In the final episode Naota's father asks the same question ("It's time to lay it on the line, Naota... you're the main character; you have to know!") and gets no answer.

Kuri is supposedly slang onomatopoeia for "breast-tweaking". Furi/fura/kura are onomatopoeia for being dizzy, trembling, wobbling, yawning, and a few other things.

FLCL is a shortening of FooLy CooLy, which just sounds, well, cool. One of the main themes being Naota's (and other cast members) false-maturity, a title that suggests unsubstanciated and worthless style is appropriate. (Incidentally, FLCL is, on the surface, style over substance.)

But, if anything, FLCL is subjective, so you'd best find your own answers.

Anyway, an interesting site for (bewildered) fans is Over-Analyzing FLCL. OAF tries to lay out the facts and mentions many of the smaller details one might have missed on their first, second, third, and so on, viewings (like Mamimi losing her panties a few times and a lot of the untranslated on-screen text).

[Harogenki]

Originally Posted by Orchunter226

Well i was watching T.V. and discovered an anime named FLCL, i watched the first episode. It is by far the starngest anime i have ever seen, its so weird and hard to follow, other than that its is decent artistry (other than intentional bad parts) and has a very cool soundtrack. Has anyone else seen it? and what did they think of it?

hey hey hey, dont diss fooly cooly, god why haven't they invented the virtual-slap yet, so many people to slap.

[Keitaro]

Originally Posted by Harogenki

hey hey hey, dont diss fooly cooly, god why haven't they invented the virtual-slap yet, so many people to slap.

He's not dissing it. This just shows Furi Kuri may not be for everyone. I on the other hand truly enjoyed it. I loved the music and characters, wish there was more of it.

[dreamless]

well, I think FLCL's length is just right, like Gunbuster, so that it tells a good story with a good pace (in FLCL's case, a wacky story in wacky pace), no more and no less, and the ending just comes at the right moment for a great conclusion. However it'd be interesting if they make a second season with a new story (the story between the boy and the class rep girl?) but then I guess I'll just take Gunbuster 2nd season for now

[junko]

Originally Posted by Mr_Paper

Hmm...

I'll use spoiler tags since this will effectively ruin the entire story.

Spoiler:

Haruko is actually a member of the Galaxy Police (or something like that), she wasn't lying when she said that in episode two. Her job was actually to arrest Atmosk and she chased him across the galaxy for many years. Atmosk is a criminal with so much NO that he steals entire planets through his own head and can even send himself through his own head. Due to his immense power, there were many people and organizations after him. Now this is where the story diverges, there are two ways to interpet Haruko's relationship with Atmosk.

1) After many years of chasing him she actually fell in love with him. Eventually she was able to arrest him but refused to turn him in to the Galaxy Police and became a criminal as a result. You'll notice that Haruko's bracelet is actually part of a set of handcuffs and Atmosk is wearing the other half of them, the two links of the handcuffs always point to each other. However, shortly after her capture of him, the Medical Mechanica organization stole Atmosk from her. Haruko, acting out of love, declared war against Medical Mechanica and began causing disturbences with them in her pursuit of an NO channel that she could use to regain Atmosk.

2) After many years of following Atmosk and witnessing his power, Haruko was able to capture him. However, Haruko had decided to make his power her own and refused to turn in Atmosk making herself a criminal too. Shortly before she was able to steal his powers Medical Mechanica stole Atmosk from her. This drove her mad and she declared war against them. She travelled the galaxy searching for people with powerful enough NO channels that she could use to bring Atmosk back through and caused as much trouble for Medical Mechanica as she could along the way.

(In some twisted way the anime makes use of both of these plot directions...)

Medical mechanica planned to use Atmosk to accelerate their plans to flatten out the wrinkles in the galaxy (strange people...) but was never able to make him fully co-operate with them. Eventually Haruko arrived on Earth and came accross 'weird eyebrow guy' while he was still a child. After much effort and failure she came to the conclusion that his head could not generate enough NO for her purposes and left him to look for a better channel. After many years she came back to Mabase looking for Noata's older brother. She accidently mistook Noata for him and opened the NO channel in Noata's head instead. This is where the series picks up...

As it turned out, Noata's head could generate more than enough NO for her purposes, but Noata's unco-operative personality prevented him from being of any real use to her. As the series progresses we get to see Noata becoming more and more honest with his own feelings and his impressions of his brother. Characters like Ninamori and Mamimi show him the importance of being honest with his own feelings and he grows because of it.

You got all of this from that pile of drivel?

And, hey, don't be baggin on Utena. At least it was semi coherant.

[Harogenki]

Originally Posted by dreamless

well, I think FLCL's length is just right, like Gunbuster, so that it tells a good story with a good pace (in FLCL's case, a wacky story in wacky pace), no more and no less, and the ending just comes at the right moment for a great conclusion. However it'd be interesting if they make a second season with a new story (the story between the boy and the class rep girl?) but then I guess I'll just take Gunbuster 2nd season for now

A second season sounds good but if you look at it a second season would ruin the original and it wouldn't be the same. Then you'd have Manga Video licensing it. I don't mean to put down anyone's taste, but is it just me or does Manga Video have the rights to all the cheapo anime? The only stuff they have I like is Devilman and vintage Dominion Tank Police.

[Keitaro]

Originally Posted by Harogenki

I don't mean to put down anyone's taste, but is it just me or does Manga Video have the rights to all the cheapo anime? The only stuff they have I like is Devilman and vintage Dominion Tank Police.

Heh cheapo...:/ I assume they couldn't get the rights to the bigger more popular anime because of costs or maybe just poor judgment on the company's behalf.