FLCL: A Chaotic Classic

FLCL, or Fooly Cooly, is a 6 episode Original Video Animation (OVA) anime series created by the Gainax studio in 2000.  It is well known for its insane characters and comedic sequences, as well as being one of the earlier anime series shown on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim block.  FLCL is regarded as a classic, and solidified Gainax’s reputation as one of modern innovators of anime.  Not to mention I’ve watched it a ton myself.  Let’s get into it.

First Impressions

I’ve watched this series so many times that it may be hard for me to give an unbiased first impression, but I’ll attempt to anyway.  FLCL quickly introduces us to the main protagonist, 12-year old Naota Nandaba.  The story is mainly told through his eyes: setting a surreal mood for the series as his bored-sounding monologues clash with the strange reality of the happenings in the Japanese town of Mabase.  Naota already has an awkward relationship with his brother’s ex-girlfriend Mamimi and his own family, but his life takes a turn for the bizarre when Haruko Haruharu arrives on the scene.  This pink-haired beauty proceeds to smash Naota’s head in with a guitar, creating a huge mark on his forehead that ends up making an even bigger mess of Naota’s life.  And by bigger mess I mean HIS HEAD BECOMES A PORTAL FOR CRAZY SPACE ROBOTS TO COME OUT OF.  They don’t explain exactly why this happens until later episodes, so don’t expect to understand it right away.

Not shown: crazy space robots

Until then, the focus is put on Naota’s awkward adolescent problems and his attempts to act indifferent and “mature” in the face of increasingly crazy situations, mostly involving Haruko and her obsession with him.  This is interspersed with moments of insane screwball comedy and countless pop culture references, which oddly seem to fit among the surrealist nature of the series and the occasional giant robot fights.  FLCL is certainly not a plot-centric series – it works because of the insane situations and the comparatively low-key character development.  It’s mostly due to the first part, though, that keeps viewers watching.

Characters and Development

Naota Nandaba is the main protagonist of the series.  He is obsessed with being mature, and often acts cynical and indifferent.  His monologues, which occur on a frequent basis, lack emotion and describe insane happenings as if they were mundane.  He insists that “nothing exciting ever happens here (Mabase)”, despite crazy things ALWAYS happening in Mabase.  Naota hates anything that he sees as immature, from school plays to most of the adults in his life.  The behavior of his own family (consisting of his widowed father and grandfather) doesn’t help matters.  Naota tries very hard to be mature, but he usually fails when upset, not to mention how picky of an eater he is.  He idolizes his older brother, who moved to the U.S. to play professional baseball.  This seems to be the primary reason he hangs out with Mamimi, at least at first.  He develops over the course of the series, gaining confidence and figuring what maturity truly means thanks to Haruko and the chaos that follows her arrival.

Mamimi Samejima is a presumably homeless 17-year old and high school truant, Mamimi is the ex-girlfriend of Naota’s brother.  She doesn’t exactly handle his absence well:  the especially clingy girl latches onto Naota, and even calls him “Takkun”, her nickname for his brother.  Mamimi has an air of depression about her, and is prone to self-destructive activities like smoking.  She also has trouble separating reality from fiction at times, leading her further down a dangerous path.  Mamimi has an interest in photography as well: she carries around a camera and is prone to catching pictures of Naota in embarrassing situations.  The ever-changing and always-awkward relationship between her and Naota is the key thing to watch as the series progresses: it’s a good indicator of Naota’s character development.

Haruko Haruharu is a mysterious character that is usually the catalyst of the series’ insanity, and provides plenty of comedy as she teases and obsesses over Naota, much to his chagrin.  She has a secret agenda that somehow has to do with the portal on Naota’s head and the Medical Mechanica company, which has a large factory near Mabase.  She claims to be both an alien and a “Space Patrol Officer”, both of which Naota refuses to believe.  Naota, Mamimi and Haruko are the 3 most prominent characters in FLCL, with Haruko being the driving force behind most of the strange happenings in the city.

Haruko is the number one cause of guitar-related injuries

Kamon Nandaba is Naota’s perverted father: a bakery owner and writer of a self-published trashy tabloid that he sells at the store.  He is essentric and acts far more childish than Naota, to the point where Naota is the one that has to keep him in line.  Kamon is the source of a large number of pop culture references and the series’ trademark “Fooly Cooly” jokes (in Japanese the term is used to describe a fondling motion).  These are only made more effective by his motor mouth delivery.

Kanti is a Medical Mechanica robot with abilities ranging from flight to transformation and taking x-rays with its television-like head.  He ends up living with Naota’s family as a servant of sorts, and to no one’s surprise, only Naota seems to be at all concerned about the situation.  Despite being incapable of speech, Canti expresses plenty of emotion and often wanders around town aimlessly.  The people of the city pay him no mind; either they’re familiar with Medical Mechanica robots, or it is simply a case of the show’s surreal nature winning out over common sense.  Haruko passes him off as useless, but he ends up playing a big role in the plot of the series.

Did I mention he kicks ass on other robots? Because he does that.

Eri Ninamori is one of Naota’s classmates and the daughter of Mabase’s mayor.  Eri acts even more mature than Naota, and is very intelligent for her age.  She is rarely phased by anything ever, and finds rather indirect ways of channeling her frustrations with her family, keeping her feelings restrained to an unhealthy degree.  One of her emotional outlets happens to be a school play, which leads to her clashing with Naota, who views them as childish and stupid.  Despite this, she shows hints of having a crush on him.

Amarao initially appears as a mysterious foil to Haruko: he warns Naota not to get close to her in his first appearance.  His dignified way of speaking and aura of wisdom is only a mask – he is actually quite immature and engages in less than respectable behavior at times.  This makes him more comparable to Naota or Eri than any adult in the series.  Nonetheless, Amarao is a commander with the Department of Interstellar Immigration who seeks to put an end to Haruko’s plans.  Amarao’s most distinctive feature are his giant fake eyebrows, which he wears to appear more manly (he has a bit of a complex about manliness).  In sharp contrast is Amarao’s Lieutenant Kitsurubami, an attractive young woman who is the only “mature” adult in the series.

Plot Development

It is difficult to determine exactly what the “main” plot of FLCL is: Haruko’s true identity and goals, and the role that the robots coming out of Naota’s head play in them, form the biggest mysteries in the series.  At the beginning of the series, the mysterious Medical Mechanica company is introduced as a presumed antagonist.  They build a huge iron-shaped plant in Mabase, which regularly releases huge amounts of steam (this also helps the setting seem more surreal).  Their true goals and role in the series plot however, aren’t shown until practically the final episode.

There’s probably a giant ironing board somewhere too. . .

But the majority of the series is focused on character development, specifically the development of Naota, Mamimi and Eri, while the other characters and the situation with Naota’s head add in some comic relief.  Actual “plot” moments tend to be quick, only giving subtle hints as to what’s really going on.  The mysteries surrounding Haruko, the robots and Medical Mechanica are rapidly revealed later on when Amarao and the Department of Interstellar Immigration appear to combat Haruko and Kanti.

The ending is truly epic: the title of the final episode, “FLCLimax”, is very much an appropriate way to describe it.  All the hanging plot ends are brought to a close: Medical Mechanica remains as mysterious as ever despite their major part in the plot, though.  Again, it is the characters that this series cares about, not the antagonistic faceless company that advances the plot.

Art Style and Animation

FLCL’s art style beautifully fuses high-quality visuals and a more super-deformed style, often using both in the same scenes to exaggerate characters’ expressions during tense moments.  While the series in general leans towards realistic, the super-deformed style is used a lot during fast-paced comedic scenes, turning them into over-the-top chaotic action sequences.  That said, the usage of mostly subdued colors and the (possibly intentional) lack of background or facial details at dramatic turns play a large role in establishing the surreal mood of the series in general.

The most detailed animation is reserved for fight scenes, which are very well choreographed and feature some really good-looking scenes of Kanti transforming and beating the crap out of much bigger robots.  On the other hand, Haruko’s weapon of choice gives her a unique fighting style (bashing in heads with a guitar), and she’s more prone to go beyond the impossible with her evasive maneuvers, inserting a bit of comedy into many fights.

The art style is occasionally changed completely in order to parody various things, something that Gainax is fond of doing in their more comedic series.  Two scenes feature a fast-paced and very amusing “manga” art style, while another scene has Naota drawn like a South Park character in a direct parody of the show.

Music and Voice Acting

All the music in FLCL was written and performed by the Japanese rock band The Pillows, who provide a good mix of low-key tunes and loud guitar and vocal songs for fight scenes.  Their “Little Busters” song, which usually plays at the climax of each episode, could be considered the main theme of the series, along with the awesome ending theme “Ride on Shooting Star”.  Aside from fight themes, the more restrained tunes do a great job of setting a surreal mood for most of the series, and matches up with the cynical indifference displayed by Naota in most of his monologues.  Although, the fact that the music isn’t used that much and often played softly may have more to do with that.

As for the voice acting, I admit that I have a lot of bias in favor of English dub, as I’ve watched dubbed episodes of this show many, many times.  I did watch the subtitled version to give it a fair chance though.  The Japanese voices are quite good, but I would still strongly recommend the dub over it.  Haruko’s Japanese actor in-particular sounds a bit too silly for my tastes – it’s fine for comedic scenes but lacks the depth to make the more dramatic scenes believable.  On the other hand, Haruko is voiced by one of my personal favorite voice actresses, Keri Wahlgreen, in English.  She really has a nack for portraying both serious and more comedic characters like Haruko with a surprising amount of depth: she does a terrific job with Haruko.   Also, the episodes tend to move quickly, especially during comedic moments, so I find it easier to watch in English as opposed to having to read subtitles.

Overall

If you’re looking for a series with a deep plot that’ll make you think about the meaning of life and all that, you won’t find it in FLCL.  What you will find is a short, charming anime about finding the confidence to overcome adolescent difficulties and mature, mixed in with chaotic comedy and an insane, over-the-top plot involving giant robot fights and cosmic entities.  FLCL is one of the most surreal series out there, switching between super-deformed action comedy, low-key character development scenes and (mostly) realistic fights between robots tearing each other’s insides out.  It’ll make you laugh, think and possibly cry: FLCL is an infinitely entertaining series that is short enough for me to recommend MULTIPLE viewings of.  If you even slightly enjoy comedic anime, giant robots or surreal drama, FLCL is the perfect way to spend 3 hours.

The eyebrows demand it!

Soul Eater – Tim Burton does Anime

Soul Eater is a 51 episode shonen anime from the animation studio Bones, released in 2008.  It is adapted from the 2003 manga series of the same name by Atsushi Ōkubo, which is still ongoing.  This unfortunately means that the anime suffers from some Adaptation Decay, which becomes very apparent in the later episodes.  But this series has an interesting look to it and has become quite popular in its own right, so let’s get into my first anime review.

First Impressions

The first few episodes give a very, very brief background on the concept of the series that can leave first-time viewers a bit lost at first.  The main protagonists are some of the many students that attend the Death Weapon Meister Academy (DWMA), a training facility and school for humans that can take the form of magical weapons (referred to as Weapons; so original I know) and their wielders, who are called “Meisters”.  Once a Meister and a Weapon team up, they must capture the souls of 99 demonic entities and the soul of a powerful Witch.  These souls are needed to transform a Weapon into a Death Scythe, a personal weapon for Lord Death himself, who actually runs the DWMA.

Unfortunately, Soul Eater starts off on the wrong foot with the first few episodes, dedicating a full episode to each of the 3 main protagonists: Maka Albarn, Black Star, and Death the Kid.  The first episode, which introduces Maka Albarn and her Weapon, Soul Eater, seems very stretched out.  The major events of the episode could be covered in half the time, and it also tells us next to nothing about Maka’s history and day-to-day interactions with Soul.  What it does manage to establish is that Maka’s father, Spirit, is Lord Death’s current Death Scythe, and is separated from Maka’s mom.  He also has a reputation as a womanizer, something Maka despises him for.  For an episode that is supposed to focus on Maka, it devotes plenty of time to showing Spirit dramatically crying and screaming over Maka’s dislike of him (played for laughs of course).  This complicated daughter-father relationship should have been saved for a later episode, in my opinion.

Black Star and Death the Kid do have very obvious quirks to introduce the audience to, but Black Star’s giant ego and Kid’s obsession with symmetry grow irritating when each has an entire episode devoted to them.  Black Star in particular comes off as incredibly annoying (due to his ego being THE focus of his episode), though he does grow more interesting over time.  Kid’s entire deal with symmetry is a rather sensitive quirk that is not fit to be used as often as it is in his first appearance.  I’d say that while the first episodes establish an interesting feel for the series and are animated very nicely, they ultimately fail to make the plot or characters look all that interesting.  When a show starts as slow as Soul Eater does, it’s hard to make the audience stick around for the story to pick up.

Characters and Development

Maka and Soul seem to be the de facto main pairing of Weapon and Meister in Soul Eater.  At her core, Maka is a rather sweet girl who is dedicated to Soul and matching her mother’s accomplishment of creating a Death Scythe.  But she also has a tsundere streak, which shows itself when Soul gets into trouble or when her father is around.  Maka is quite an emotional character in general, despite her efforts to stay calm.  Soul on the other hand generally stays cool and collected, but is no less dedicated to his partner.  He often comments on whether or not things are cool and reminds himself to keep his cool in every situation, which hints that his “coolness” is a façade of sorts.  Especially considering he’s close friends with Black Star and is capable of matching his energy and impulsiveness.  Maka and Soul are not that interesting on their own, but their relationship is put at the forefront of the series and is repeatedly tested: it’s interesting to see how the pair reacts to certain plot developments.

Apparently scythes are illogical as weapons in reality.

Black Star’s insane ego can get annoying sometimes, but it also allows him to pull off impressive moves when he gets motivated.  While maybe just a little delusional with his stated goal of surpassing the gods, his dedication and sheer willpower are unrivaled.  Black Star can shut out anything that’s unimportant, and focus only on his own (and Tsubaki’s) fights.  Despite his constant boasting, Black Star won’t allow himself to be greedy or dishonest: he’s not really a bad guy all things considered, putting a lot of trust in his partner and friends.  Tsubaki is the one sane man of the main protagonists: a self-less young woman who is the only person capable of handling Black Star’s tremendous ego.  Normally very reserved, she becomes very forceful in battle when teamed up with Black Star.

Kid’s neurotic behavior in many ways parodies typical shonen protagonists that look “cool” all the time, as he desperately tries to be cool, collected and perfectly symmetrical in all situations.  Which he is most of the time, but his perfectionist nature always manages to get in the way in some fashion.  His weapons often get caught in the middle of his neurotic breakdowns, and have to frantically lure him out of his stupor or continue the fight for themselves.  Liz is by far the most amusing of the pair, with her emotional disposition often being played for laughs when she tries to keep Kid on-track.  This is the complete opposite of Patty, who is a stereotypical clueless scatterbrain who Liz ALSO has to constantly keep on-track.  Kid and Black Star have a mutual respect for each other as characters who always want to look as badass as possible.  Though Kid does tend to get frustrated with the latter’s impulsiveness (and personal hygiene).

Lord Death himself, the founder of DWMA, is Kid’s father (shocking I know) and a fairly comedic character despite his role as the school’s headmaster.  His non-threatening appearance and personality, however, serve as a mask for his true plans and motivations.  Lord Death’s tendency to keep others in the dark, including his own son and DWMA staff, leads to plenty of mystery and conflict to keep viewers interested.  Plus he makes a great comedic foil to more serious characters like his current Death Scythe, Spirit.

The witch Medusa is one of the major antagonists, and she is quite effective in that role.  She has a snake motif in her appearance and powers, as well as her personality.  She is sly and manipulative, and takes care to never show fear to anyone.  Unlike many shounen anime villains, Medusa doesn’t shy away from fighting directly, often putting herself in harms’ way to accomplish her goals.  Other witches fear Medusa, thinking that her relentless pursuit of her goals puts them at risk to be exterminated by the DWMA (There seems to be a witch organization of sorts that governs their actions, but very little is made of this).  Another thing that sets Medusa apart from the typical villain is her pure fighting prowess.  While she is still quite strong, she cannot overwhelm every single character in the series, nor does she run from battle without accomplishing her goals.  It is Medusa’s manipulative nature and her ability to alter her plans on the fly that are her greatest assets, not her power.

The appropriately-named Franken Stein was DWMA’s greatest meister, and Spirit’s first partner.  He is a rather mysterious character who calmly helps the meisters and weapons get stronger, but struggles with his own demons behind closed doors.  The madness of his past comes back to haunt him, however, thanks mostly to Medusa.  The theme of madness, which comes up often in Soul Eater, and certain artistic motifs serve to link Stein to the villain.

Crona is an enigma: a character whose GENDER is not revealed to the viewers (though I think Crona’s male).  Crona behaves quite erratically and has a relationship with his weapon that is questionable at best.  He/she is quite fond of the phrase “I don’t know how to interact with ____”, which is proven to be more than a catchphrase when his incredibly depressing backstory is covered.

Excalibur kind of exists in his own vacuum, creating hilarious situations and driving others to wits end whenever he appears.  Most of the time Excalibur is restricted to comic relief episodes that feature him, a wise decision for such a deliberately irritating character.  Though at times the episodes seem to be trying too hard with Excalibur’s over-the-top stories that parody specific genres or films.

“Fool! My legend begins in the 12th century!”

There are plenty of other characters introduced later on, adding plenty of uniqueness to the cast without expanding it beyond the viewers’ ability to keep track of them all.

Plot Development

It is eventually revealed that the monsters that the Miesters hunt were former humans who lost their humanity after they began devouring human souls.  If they are not killed, they will eventually transform into a Kishin, an extremely powerful demon god who threatens the stability of the entire world.  Medusa, the series’ most active antagonist, seeks to reawaken the first and most powerful Kishin of them all.

While it’s true that the first few episodes drag along without revealing all that much about the Soul Eater universe, the story develops quite quickly afterwards.  Battles are rarely dragged out, and all the major characters get their time in the spotlight.  The villains’ plans are put into action without an obscene amount of build-up, and said plans actually SUCCEED much of the time, a shocking development from a shonen anime series.  Rarely is there a lack of action or plot development to be found in Soul Eater.

There’s certainly plenty of comedy in the series between the eccentric personalities of Kid and Black Star, Maka’s relationship with her father and general randomness.  Beyond the first few episodes, the comedy is presented in bursts and kept fresh, and the show is quite good at switching from comedy to seriousness and back again.

While many shonen series either shy away from more mature issues or ignore them in favor of fanservice, Soul Eater does neither.  Sexual themes, madness, child abuse, attempted suicide and plenty of disturbing images. . . all key parts of Soul Eater’s narrative.  Madness in particular plays a large role in the story, serving as the basis of the villains’ schemes and affecting the majority of the main characters in some fashion.  Especially after a certain powerful antagonist shows its face.

Unfortunately, the series’ quick pace turns into a negative later on as the story rushes to the finish, bringing up many plot points and dropping each one within minutes.  This is part of the Adaptation Decay that the series suffers for the last 10 episodes or so, as the manga the series was based off of is still running.  It doesn’t help that most of those 10 episodes embrace the shonen plot elements that the series previously avoided (or parodied) for the most part.  Personally, I would have preferred it if the series simply didn’t have an ending, and just left the door open to be continued with a second season.

Art Style and Animation

Soul Eater’s art style is probably the best thing about the series, and certainly its most unique feature.  The series was designed with darker American animation in mind, and thus ends up giving the environments and characters a very gothic influence.  The backgrounds and scenery shots are very well-done, drawn in a greatly realistic style despite the otherworldliness of the series in general.  That is excluding the sun and moon, which, amusingly, sport goofy faces and a wide grin.  The nighttime scenes and the darker environments are reminiscent of some older 90s cartoons, such as Batman: The Animated Series, that used black canvas as a base for their backgrounds.  Soul Eater also utilizes the classic gothic horror technique of off-balance camera angles, adding to the darker atmosphere.

Against the realistic scenery, the off-the-wall character designs really stand out, both during fights and when just standing around.  The humanoid characters are slim, and most of them incorporate white, gray and/or black into their designs, closely resembling the art style of The Nightmare Before Christmas and basically any animated movie Tim Burton has worked on.  Every character has very distinctive features to set them apart from everyone else, from Maka’s huge black coat to the huge bolt in Stein’s head to Excalibur’s. . . Excalibur-ness.  The only real flaw of Soul Eater’s art style is the fact that some of the full-featured females, mostly Liz Thompson and the walking fanservice machine Blair, are occasionally drawn disproportionate in an exaggeration of the slim character designs.  Even the minor villains that are killed in their first appearance look quite awesome, resembling over-the-top Tim Burton movie villains like Oogie Boogie and Beetlejuice in both appearance and hammy personalities.

Like this guy.

Out of all the settings in the series, Stein’s laboratory is one of strangest.  It’s a mismash of cartoonish mad scientist items, Frankenstein-like stitches holding everything together and black vectors pointing in every direction.  All this perfectly represents Stein’s inner turmoil, and even serves to connect him to a certain snake-themed villain.  Medusa utilizes black vectors in the vast majority of her attacks and, as their art-based connection suggests, shows a rather creepy-sexy interest in the scientist.  The resourceful ways Medusa uses her vectors in battle makes her one of the most exciting characters to see in battle as well.

Just a little creepy.

The other most interesting character to watch in battle is Maka, though Black Star and Kid are certainly not without their awesome moments.  She swings Soul (a scythe weapon) around expertly, and even uses him as a source of momentum to put more force into her punches and kicks.  Maka doesn’t simply rely on Soul’s blade to get the job done, flipping around like an acrobat and contorting her thin frame to dodge attacks and counter from different angles.  Her flexibility and in-your-face style of fighting is a huge departure from main characters in most shonen series, not relying on power alone to beat everyone up.

Soul Eater places importance not only on the souls of monsters and humans, but on the souls of meisters and their weapons as well.  The size of one’s soul (which can only be seen by Maka or other skilled meisters) represents the power of the individual, and the “soul resonance” technique allows meisters and weapons to combine their souls to unlock greater powers.  When matters of the soul are discussed, short illustrations are often used to literally show the viewers how that kind of stuff works.  Most of the concepts aren’t that difficult to grasp, but the unique visualizations of the souls themselves (which resemble their owners) and the sometimes comical ways the concepts are explained are definitely worth seeing.

Sound and Other Factors

The music isn’t really much to remember, a bit disappointing since it could add a lot to the overall feel of the series.  The villain and madness-oriented motifs set an appropriate mood despite this, as do most of the comedic tunes.  What is somewhat annoying is how songs that feature hip-hop vocals tend to pop up at tense moments, getting in the way of the scenes’ emotion.  The most recognizable songs are Excalibur’s theme (one of few genuinely great songs in the series) and a jazz tune with incredibly horrible vocals that I suspect may have been intentionally bad.  The series’ 2 opening themes and 3 ending themes are of high quality though.  The Japanese voice acting is quite impressive, with each character’s voice being very distinct and immediately recognizable.  Maka’s actor can produce an impressive scream with Maka’s normally sickeningly cute voice, and Kid’s actor can effortlessly portray him as both the coolest guy ever and a babbling idiot when his neurotic nature kicks in.  Even Black Star’s enthusiastic voice (Yahooooo!!) is quite infectious.  Medusa in particular has an impressive voice that can switch from friendly to chaotic and evil in a flash.  This is without mentioning the comedic performances of Lord Death and Excalibur, or the terrific portrayals of Crona and Stein.  I would highly recommend to stay away from the English dub of the series though: many of the characters are miscast and show a complete lack of emotion in their acting to boot.

Overall

Soul Eater seems to have found a balance between comedy and serious drama, and rarely steps over itself to include either.  Surprising considering how often Black Star and Kid are over-the-top.  The series strays away from the stereotypes that bind most shonen anime and does its own thing, both with the art style and the mature themes woven into its plot.  Soul Eater is ultimately a very enjoyable and action-packed series that is nearly ruined in the last 10 episodes where the plot takes a huge turn away from its source material, and it’s forgettable and sometimes flat-out horrible soundtrack.  But it survives these flaws in the end: I would highly recommend this series to general action fans and fans of darker American animation alike.

If you don’t watch it, Stein will find you.