So TOONAMI turned 25 last week, and Adult Swim is celebrating with MORE ANIME! Since TOONAMI’s launch in the ‘90s, it’s programming block has become more and more anime-centric to the glee of fans. And one of the most successful runs on the programming block has been the anime, FLCL. It was so successful on the network it’s been played repeatedly, and the network even ordered 2 original sequels from some of the creators of the show, PROGRESSIVE and ALTERNATIVE.
BUT what does this have to do turning 25 and more anime? Well, FLCL has been so loved on the network, it’s getting TWO MORE sequels, FLCL: GRUNGE & FLCL: SHOELACE.
This news is coming my way from Gizmodo, specifically Rob Bricken and I have to agree with Rob in that I don’t know if I’m ready or want more FLCL. Don’t get me wrong, LOVED the original. The OAV came out when Suncoast was the place you went to for your anime.
I feel like Rob and I are very much of the same mind when it comes to FLCL, in that, we LOVED the absolute bonkers nature of the original. Whatever confluence of events in life, themes in the anime & the energy in it (rumor has it, Gainax made it because they were bored & had nothing on the schedule), it just all came together in an anime that has resonated with me all these years. And let’s not forget the soundtrack provided by the J-POP band, The Pillows. The music complements the original so well, it’s hard to imagine FLCL without them. Not unlike COWBOY BEBOP and Yoko Kanno & the Seatbelts. Just can’t have one without the other, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Though with the original holding a special place, after PROGRESSIVE and ALTERNATIVE, I just don’t know if I want more FLCL…
If you haven’t seen it (which, really, treat yourself), the original FLCL was a coming-of-age story centering around 12-year-old boy, Naota, and the strange things that start happening around him. What strange things? Well, how about an interdimensional gateway opening in his forehead when, well, he’s hit with a guitar in said forehead by a Vespa riding alien named Haruko. But the first thing to come out of Naota’s head when the gate is open? A robot named Canti, who becomes his family’s housekeeper in a way.
From here, Naota, Haruko, Canti and more battle aliens that come through Naota’s head, but all the while he’s dealing with girls, hormones, building confidence, and just all that puberty goodness we all went through.
The show is crazy in the best way possible. It’s filled with energetic madness that shouldn’t work together, but in the end, just does, and it’s so good! So, with this love for the original, why the disregard for PROGRESSIVE & ALTERNATIVE, the sequels commissioned by Adult Swim… well, first, they had nothing to do with the original series. We don’t continue Naota’s story, or anyone else’s from the original. If memory serves, even PROGRESSIVE and ALTERNATIVE had nothing to do with one another either. The only constant had been Haruko, the Vespa riding alien, running as a through line through the seasons. But short of that, though PROGRESSIVE and ALTERNATIVE had the look of the original… just seemed an echo of guts that made the original resonate so much.
So, when it comes to new FLCL, I just don’t know if I’m feeling it. Especially with GRUNGE being CG, and not only CG, but dated CG that looks like it’s something out of PS1 cutscene… yea, just don’t know if I’m feeling this announcement.
As an added bonus, here’s a teaser for FLCL: GRUDGE.
But how about you? Are you a fan of FLCL? What did you think of PROGRESSIVE and ALTERNATIVE? What do you think about the news of the upcoming follow-ups? Drop your thoughts on the Fuzzybug Twitter Page today!
Source: Gizmodo