FLCL

 

フリクリ (Furi Kuri)
Demographic	Seinen
Genre	Science Fiction, Surreal comedy
OVA
Director	Kazuya Tsurumaki
Studio	Gainax, Production I.G.
Licensor	Synch-Point Madman Entertainment
Episodes	6
Released	April 26, 2000 (Episode 1: Fooly Cooly) June 21, 2000 (Episode 2: FireStarter) August 23, 2000 (Episode 3: Marquis de Carabas) October 25, 2000 (Episode 4: Full Swing) December 21, 2000 (Episode 5: Brittle Bullet) March 16, 2001 (Episode 6: FLCLimax)
Manga
Author	Hajime Ueda
Publisher	Kodansha
Other publishers: Tokyopop Pika Édition Selecta Visión Carlsen Comics
Serialized in	Magazine Z
Original run	October 23, 2000 – August 23, 2001
Volumes	2

FLCL (フリクリ, Furi Kuri^?, also Fooly Cooly) is an anime OVA series co-produced by Gainax and Production I.G.. The series was created and directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki, and written by Yōji Enokido.

Furi Kuri follows Naota Nandaba, a twelve-year-old boy living in the fictional Japanese suburb of Mabase. The industrial town houses the Medical Mechanica building, the reason for Haruko Haruhara's visit to the usually quiet suburb.

Plot

Naota's life is confined to going to school and living with his father and grandfather. The usually tranquil life in Mabase is rudely interrupted by the arrival of Haruko Haruhara, who burst on the scene by running Naota over with her Vespa motor scooter and hitting him on the head with a Rickenbacker bass guitar. Later, Naota finds Haruko working in his house as a live-in maid.

Haruko's search for Atomsk puts her at odds with Medical Mechanica. At the same time, Naota is being watched by Commander Amarao. The Commander believes Haruko is in love with Atomsk and Medical Mechanica is out to conquer the galaxy. The fortuitous circumstances get Naota involved in a three way battle between Haruko, Amarao and Medical Mechanica.

Characters

Main article: List of FLCL characters

Naota Nandaba is obsessed with appearing mature and attempts to act nonchalant. He idolizes his older brother Tasuku, who represents for Naota what it means to be an "adult", to the point he carries around his baseball bat and hangs out with Tasuku's former girlfriend.

Haruko Haruhara is Masabe's newest resident, an extraterrestial investigator for the Galactic Space Patrol Brotherhood. She becomes the Nandaba household maid while working to find Atomsk, the most powerful space pirate in the galaxy.

Canti is a Medical Mechanica robot with a television set for a head. Haruko recruits it as her assistant, but Canti does nothing more than washing dishes and fetching drinks in the Nandaba household.

Design

FLCL's odd style, hyperactive pace, convoluted, esoteric plot, and tendency to break the fourth wall sets it apart from other contemporary anime. It can be categorized as a work of comedy, drama, science fiction, and a parody of contemporary culture in general.

Style

Although most of the series is done in the standard "anime" style, the animation frequently veers off into other realms, including bullet time, black and white, stills, two elaborate sequences drawn as semi-animated manga and a couple of shots in episode five that recreate the look of South Park.

Cultural references

Haruko flying on her Bass Guitar in a bunny outfit is a reference to the promotional video of Daicon IV (an anime convention that took place in Osaka in the 80's). Haruko announces, "Daicon five!" as she rides in, in a satirical reference to the show. This animation, along with the promo video for Daicon III, were some of Gainax's very first works.

The series also references such pop culture icons as Anna Nicole Smith ,John Woo and South Park, not to mention Neon Genesis Evangelion (Gainax's most famous production), Lupin III, Gundam, Tank Girl and Hamtaro. As well as showing reference to popular Japanese anime shows such as in Haruko's eyeless smiles(a subtle nod to the way the titular character of the anime Crayon Shin-Chan smiles), the English-dubbed FLCL also shows references to "The Red Hot Chili Peppers," "Rage Against the Machine," "Filter," "Slash," "Naked Lunch", and Paul McCartney, Elvis Presley, and Jimi Hendrix.

Language

There are some places where dialogue is different from the Japanese version, an attempt to make the dialogue easier to understand in the English translation. (Example: Haruko uses the term "mouth to mouth" repeatedly throughout the series, though the "Th" sound does not exist in Japanese, making it sound like "mouse to mouse". This is used in a pun in "Full Swing," when she crawls out of the Kamon puppet's mouth wearing a mouse suit.)

A common mistake by English-speaking fans is to say that the meaning of "Furi Kuri" in Japanese is "Breast Fondling." This mistake arises from the fact that "kuri kuri" is occasionally used by manga artists as a sound effect for breast fondling. In the anime itself, they make references to "kuri kuri" during the first manga scene, when Shigekuni describes kneading bread by making hand gestures that unmistakably resemble groping motions. Due to incredibly fast pacing of the scene, many fans mistake his statement as referring to "furi kuri" instead of "kuri kuri." Much Japanese onomatopoeia follows a pattern of being four kana long and having a sound repeated twice. "Furi furi" is also used as a sound effect in a later episode when Haruko is petting Naota's cat ears.

Regarding the Japanese that is left in and often misunderstood, the above case is further clarified by referring to the translation notes for episode one from the 25 page book with DVD one released by Synch-Point:

9. Chi-chi o kuri-kuri - Chi-chi means "breasts" or "boobs" in Japanese. Kuri-kuri is a twisting noise. Chi-chi also means "father."

12. Kuri - A homonym for a twisting noise and "chestnut". Kamon says "Like twisting..." Haruko hears, "like chestnuts".

Further comments in the booklets discuss the severe loss in translation of the plays made in Japanese via homonyms, synonyms, and so on. One example of trying to preserve this in English is the "empty", "MTV" and various homonyms in English during the Kamon/Haruko manga sequence.

Media

FLCL was originally released in Japan as an OVA anime on six DVDs. The story 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. The first of the three novels will be released in America on March 11, 2008. All were released in Japan starting in 2000, and in 2003 in the United States. The series is sporadically run on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim.

The manga is a much darker and more violent take on the story (Naota purposely kills his actual father with the baseball bat in a rather grisly scene because he thought Haruko and his father were sleeping together; Shinguki and an unnamed war buddy later suicide-bombed the Medical Mechanica building).^[1]

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, of which were six volumes containing one episode each. The manga was released by TOKYOPOP in two volumes (ISBN 1-59182-396-X and ISBN 1-59182-397-8). All soundtrack discs - Addict, King of Pirates and FLCL No. 3 - were released by Geneon. The CD for King of Pirates also contains '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 5 (as part of the late night line-up for the 4th) and continuing on four days a week for three weeks, the entire series aired twice.

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. On January 24, 2007, Synch-Point re-released the series in an Ultimate Edition DVD box set. The box includes all 6 episodes on 3 discs, a bonus disc containing music and extras, sticker sheet, 6 postcards, and an Ultimate Edition Collector's booklet.

Music

Most of the background music was written and performed by The Pillows, which has generated mass success and appreciation since the series' release abroad. The ending theme is The Pillows' "Ride on Shooting Star". Shinkichi Mitsumune wrote the rest of the music; one track was used for the dinner scene in Episode 3, and the others are on the soundtracks. Two soundtrack CDs — Addict and King of Pirates — and a one-CD "best-of" compilation (FLCL No. 3) were released in Japan and later in America.

Another interesting note is that the action sequences were choreographed around the individual tracks used, and not the other way around. The song Little Busters plays when Canti taps into Atomsk's power. There are also many references to guitars, which are used symbolically and physically (though rarely musically) throughout the series.

Reception

The American reception for the series, although not widespread, has been enthusiastic following its release on Adult Swim in the summer of 2003. Anime.com also gave the series an enthusiastic review in October of that year,^[2] although there was also a minor reference to it in the September "issue". In 2003, it also went on to win third place for Best Animation Film at the Fantasia Festival.^[3]

FLCL has garnered both positive and negative reception among reviewers, sometimes diverging to extremes in both directions. Christopher McDonald of Anime News Network called it "downright hilarious" and "visually superb" with great music, citing the packaging of 2 episodes per DVD as the only weakness of Synch-Point's original release.^[4] Eric Gaede of T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews praised the animation, but described the characters as unsympathetic, the plot as incoherent, and the merger of Gainax's stylistic elements as incompatible.^[5]

It was also a success from a corporate standpoint. A Time Warner press release from August 12, 2003 lauds the success of Cartoon Network, and mentions FLCL:

Animé series FLCL (Monday-Thursday, 12 a.m.) premiered with impressive numbers. [...] The Monday, Aug. 4 telecast of FLCL ranked #42 among all shows on ad-supported cable among adults 18-34.^[6]

On February 24, 2007, FLCL was nominated for "Best Cast", and won "Best Comedy Series" and "Best Short Series" at the first American Anime Awards show.^[7]

References

External links

• FLCL Synch-Point's official site

• FLCL in the Anime News Network encyclopedia
• FLCL in the AnimeNfo.com encyclopedia
• FLCL in the Internet Movie Database
• FLCL in the TV.com database

FLCL
Series
Characters of FLCL
Episodes
"Fooly Cooly" (フリクリ) "FireStarter" (ファイスタ) "Marquis de Carabas" (マルラバ) "Full Swing" (フリキリ) "Brittle Bullet" (ブラブレ) "FLCLimax" (フリクラ)
Soundtracks
Addict - King of Pirates - FLCL No. 3

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