Life seems to drift by for Kana Koumoto and her friends in their small Japanese town. Every day is just like the last, and it feels like every new day will be the same. Kana goes to school, hangs out with her friends, and likes to paint her nails and listen to music, but it feels like nothing special is ever going to happen.
As a change of pace, Kana and her friends decide to design a bottle rocket and launch it into space, even though it might not get there at all. However, just when the rocket is completed, a robot suddenly crashes into and destroys it, shortly followed by a pink-haired woman claiming to be a "Galactic Investigator." Kana's life quickly becomes more exciting than she ever imagined, dealing with new feelings, changing friends, and even boy troubles. It turns out life can go by in the blink of an eye, fast enough to even miss it, so what's with these weird robots that seem to show up at the worst times?!
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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CodeBlazeFate
FLCL Alternative is an interesting show. Accidentally brought early for April Fool’s day, FLCL’s lax cousin was forced to bear the burden Progressive was supposed to have, that being the weight of being the sequel to a legendary piece of animated passion. It was stuck with that again after Progressive turned out the way it did and paid the piper for it in terms of reception. For bearing such a Herculean task, this show was oddly calm, even nostalgic in some ways. It’s a miracle it worked at all given its approach. One obvious point in this show’s favor is that it actually tries to tacklesomething different from the original. Progressive focused more on adding intrusive lore elements to Haruko while providing unnecessary and flawed critique for the sake of a character arc. It sidelined its own protagonist’s role, leaving its core messages and delivery half-baked. Alternative takes a new angle entirely, focusing on a group of four teenage girls on the verge of adulthood rather than the beginning of adolescence. From there, it begins studying our main leads one by one in the first half, while sandwiching them with the style and structure of FLCL.
What makes this work is the sense of chemistry our main leads have. Each interaction feels as lovey and genuine as these girls’ distinct personalities. This makes studying them individually and what makes them a part of this group so rewarding. It shows off all their jobs, passions, and struggles, which make each girl feel almost real. Adding onto this genuine feeling is how organically the show taps into teenage culture. These girls hang out at restaurants and malls, text each other, and visit each other’s houses to learn about each other and hang out more. Kana, Hijiri, and Mossan are particularly fun to watch and explore, and even Tomomi -the character who often just blends in while making humorous jabs- gets her time to feel like a true member of this lively cast. Seeing Mossan’s little siblings draw food to “pretend feed” her, and how tired she is while she works, tells us more about her than the exposition her mom gives to Kana. Kana’s bookbag charms and cracked phone screen tell us about her character better than any thankfully non-existent exposition dump does. Hijiri’s forlorn sigh after her break up tells more than any exposition dump does. Most refreshingly, some of the scenes of characters talking about each other reveal more about themselves and their dynamic than the people they’re referring to. It all melds together to forge this small community of girls to get attached to.
The fact that even with this, Haruko trumps all, is easily the most astounding part. She is what ties everything together in the nicest of bows. Her absurd occupations are as glorious as the fact that as long as she gets her job done, she legally has jurisdiction —in universe— to do whatever the fuck she wants. As such, she can go from being a nurse and a food truck vendor to someone slaying Bumblebee while shouting “Michael Bay” in a 3D action sequence! She’s every bit the force of nature she once was, now with an entirely different purpose and even more insight. The monumental performance by Kari Wahlgren truly exemplifies what a joy this incarnation of Haruko is to watch. Her main redesign also reflects this wonderfully while being as great as her original design. Not every appearance feels necessary, but they are generally some of the highlights of any given episode.
This isn’t to say Alternative’s writing is perfect, even in terms of living up to its predecessor. The writing can be a bit too blunt, even if it doesn’t always spell out each episode’s message. It doesn’t have the sense of subtlety the original had. At times, some dramatic scenes can feel boilerplate, as if they did it just to have one. The same also applies to some of their attempts at incredibly weird and visually varied sequences that really drag on and feel more awkward than bombastic. Another, more important issue is that for 2/3 of the show, there’s no real sense of escalation or reason to care about the grander narrative. What makes matters worse is that the middle section feels more undercooked and wasteful than anything else, especially since a short 6-episode series should have no reason to buy time. On top of that, the main reasoning behind the conflict of episode 5 really doesn't add up when you think about it, which is criminal considering that episode 5 is the turning point for the show. Thankfully most of these writing issues aren’t deal-breakers, especially compared to the more damning flaws in Progressive. It does further solidify how the original was the most solid installment.
On the subjects of improving, let’s address the visuals. The animation feels livelier, more fluid than the often stiff and awkward-feeling animation presented in Progressive’s action sequences. It isn’t as fluid as the original, and there are some rough moments —both in the animation and CGI department-- but the visuals are far more vibrant and less awkwardly restrained as they were previously for the most part. Additionally, the character expressions are far more lively here to boot. Combine this with Haruko’s numerous hairstyles and clothes this time around, and some more interesting designs for the one-off enemies of each episode, and it’s not hard to see how this was a step above the previous entry.
Finally, we arrive at the audio improvements. The dubbing here was even better than before. This includes both the main and/or returning characters, and with the glorious additions of Steve Blum and Patrick Seitz. However, the biggest step up is in the music. Where Progressive only really had one track of note —that being “Thank You, My Twilight” by The Pillows— Alternative doubles that with two of the best tracks in the franchise. “White Summer and Green Bicycle, Red Hair and Black Guitar” is easily my favorite insert song in the franchise, with a wonderfully nostalgic feeling to it that makes reflecting on a walk or bus ride a marvelous experience. None of the other tracks match up, but they are at least serviceable. The absolute splendor of these two tracks by The Pillows is already enough to show how much more effective this show was than its predecessor.
FLCL Alternative may not match the original’s sheer passion, subtlety, skill, or visual splendor, but it keeps the spirit moving in a new direction. It switches gears organically, embracing itself as its own justified identity while keeping true to its roots, even if it isn’t always successful at that. This laidback alternative is as unnecessary as it is welcome, and welcome's all it ever needed to be.
Written and edited by: CodeBlazeFate
Proofread by: Peregrine
Shrabster
*Potential Spoilers You know the one thing I wanted in an FLCL sequel? A Kardashian reference because that will surely age well. FLCL Progressive and Alternative tell the familiar story of being a teen and the all the troubles that come along with it… except without any of the subtly or charm of the original. Sequels are usually a bad idea to begin with, but sometimes they are tragedies with both Progressive and Alternative unsurprisingly falling head first into the latter. It is not so much because they are outright terrible, but how heartless they and mediocre they are as they go through the motions. I know itis not completely fair to judge things by comparison, but I’m about to do a lot of judgement by comparison. The original FLCL is truly one of a kind. It balanced over the top wackiness with heart felt drama making for an entertaining and surprisingly touching coming of age story. It shouldn’t have worked as well as it did but here we are with FLCL cemented as a cult classic which is impressive in its own right. It was unique and refreshing, even if flawed, and it’s hard to argue it didn’t stand out regardless of how one felt about it. FLCL Progressive(ly Shit) and Alternative(ly Shit) on the other hand soullessly copy certain aspects from the original in an attempt to recreate the magic and fail grandly, ending up with no identity or personality of their own and worse yet forgetting basic elements of storytelling in the process.
There are no interesting characters in either Progressive or Alternative. Hidomi, the main character of Progressive, seems to have the most interesting if not familiar story out of all the new cast yet this is blundered by lack of focus making for a less than satisfying ending. Instead, focus is shifted to Haruko who has now been reduced to nothing but a prop with her crazy antics taken to an obnoxious level as if that was what made her interesting in the original series and not her interactions with Naota. Worse is Kana, the main character of Alternative, who is so generic and uninspired in every way it makes one appreciate Progressive’s characters. While Hidomi’s story of an absent father at least had potential Kana’s story resorts to your typical power of friendship clichés which feel so forced I wanted to throw up.
The other issue Nu-FLCL suffers from is the terrible pacing. The original FLCL was quite effective at conveying a lot of information succinctly and by the end of the first episode we understand Naota’s troubles and motivations. By comparison Progressive opens with nonsensical dream sequences while Alternative opens with narrations similar to the original except without the nuance. From there both are so disjointed and poorly structured that only the last two episodes seem to matter. While Progressive’s ending is serviceable at best Alternative’s ending is so contrived and out of left field that it works against it.
If there is one thing Nu-FLCL is guilty of it is being absolutely forgettable, which despite its flaws, the original wasn’t. Equal in mediocrity I can’t say Progressive is ultimately better than Alternative or vice versa. I guess if I had to choose I would choose Progressive because it wasn't as on the nose as Alternative and Hidomi is cute, but neither cute hime cut grils nor The Pillows could save either of these two messes in the end. So, unsurprisingly, another unplanned sequel that never needed to exist to begin with flops and everyone moves on with their lives. I guess the only thing to do now is to wait for when they announce the timed Toonami exclusive sequel to Cowboy Bebop featuring a new multicultural cast of all female characters so I can finally hang myself.
Karhu
"One of the hardest things in life is to be average." - The MC who blushes a lot Conveniently - or was it ironically - the easiest thing in the anime industry is to be average, but that is not what FLCL Alternative is. After the disaster that Progressive was, no one could have expected this, but Alternative manages to leave the common mediocrity level and surprise with its quality positively. As an FLCL sequel, this series is still a shameful and embarrassing piece, but when viewed as a franchise reboot / spinoff starred by Haruhara Haruko's downgraded clone, we can't complain too much. In fact, wecan go praising it for its achievements.
Our story centers around a group of 4 girl friends called blushes a lot, kinda fatso, really normal and the pretty one. This is unarguably what every female friend group looks like except on average there are only 3 of them - needless to say the normal one is missing. Their outlook is not the only painfully accurate thing about these girls. They are also living pretty much the most normal and assumably well-adjusted life of a teenage girl, fitting the mold, being like everyone else. That kind of awesomely average stuff, hence the quote seen in the beginning. However!!!
Pretty much exaggerating up there in the end with that last word and the !!!^, but there is a catch to it, which pretty much everyone who has seen the original FLCL could have come up with whilst writing fanfiction. Work, date, school, boys and hanging out with the sis sets its sails towards real space ships, robots, brain flowers and more abstract coming of age stuff because aliens and chainsaw-guitars. Logic can't be found from this narrative, but it does contain beauty, and at the end of the day, any reasonable person can be logical, but it takes much more to be beautiful, so it is easy to appreciate what FLCL Alternative does.
"The days flew by even though nothing took off."
-One character, probably really normal or blushes a lot (forgot)
To talk about the production, we have 3 directors here who all are doing their best. Some shots are polished with some creativity and effort was put in the editing and making department. Stuff such as live action on-stage type of music video playing while the life and important events from the cast's daily life is told in the forms of fast-paced visuals, is unarguably a decent idea and well-executed scene as a whole. It would be fair to say that lots of love is put in the making of this 3rd part, and this time around, it feels much more like a tribute to FLCL than an insult which the 2nd part represents. Not to be confused with "a good sequel" which I still think this isn't, but a successful tribute it is.
The animation and overall style in art is bit closer to the original FLCL than last time around. It gets a plus mark if not two in today's industry for sure. It managed to occasionally even remind me of the coolio that Punch Line was with its amount of animation detail, which I guess is explained by one of the directors directing that series. Either way FLCL Alternative has style and it deserves credit for it.
The OST is extra neato, but I am still not completely satisfied with the sounds, mainly because the English voice acting sounded rather monotonous and bland at times, even out of place occasionally. This is a downgrade from Progressive (the downgrade actually since it's the one and only) where the seiyuu work was decent as a whole. Perhaps the Japanese version will be superior this time around(?).
As a conclusion: I genuinely enjoyed watching this one. While it was mainly just a momentary experience with no long-lasting impact, and its biggest achievement is lessening the negative after taste caused by Progressive, it surely is a noteworthy piece from its production year if not all that much more. I wholeheartedly recommend this to people who hated Progressive because this one is a major improvement. As for die-hard FLCL fans, I can't promise you will like what you see. As an anime, Alternative achieves more in 6 episodes than most shows from currently industry achieve with 12.
I hear people like numbers so here are some,
Story 5/10
Characters 6/10
Voice acting 5/10 (English)
Art and animation 7/10
Directing 7/10
OST 8/10
Enjoyment 5-9/10
Besto curl: 3 (I said numbers)
Overall 6/10
As a bottom line, judging this based to Progressive and prejudices caused by it, is not cool, nibbas. This better by a landslide or two.
*Please note that I saw the 6 episode long OVA series that was broadcasted on Adultswim, and not the original Japanese full length movie. In case this entry will be changed from Movie to OVA in the future claiming I only saw part 1 of 6, that is not correct: I saw all the parts*
hiltonhead
This latest incarnation in the FLCL franchise is a significant improvement over its immediate predecessor, Progressive, in virtually all aspects, with vastly superior writing, art, animation, editing and even sound mixing. It also manages to deliver on its "Alternative" namesake, taking a significant departure from the stylistic choices hitherto established by the franchise. Make no mistake, this is not "Furi Kuri", and fans expecting to see more of the wildly experimental animation and frenetic pacing of the legendary Gainax OVA are bound to be disappointed. Instead, Uemura Yutaka and his team at Production IG have created a solid, slow-burn, slice-of-life melodrama featuringfour female leads, which is only occasionally intruded upon by the irreverent chaos and destruction that accompanies Huruhara Haruko.
The choice to try something different within the established tropes and parameters of the franchise was a smart move, and allows the story to focus on substantive characterization and thematic development, which is what was really at the core of the original story to begin with. In contrast, Progressive's choice to double down on the lore of the series' universe felt pastiche and uninspired, and resulted in something of an aping fanfiction that wasn't quite sure what it wanted to say. The relationship between the four friends is interesting enough to watch, if a bit tedious, the humor and pop-culture references are funny enough to laugh at, and Kana, the lead, is a surprisingly compelling protagonist with a highly satisfying character arc. The thematic elements of the show, with an emphasis on the uncertainty and change that accompanies late adolescence, aren't handled with quite as much nuance as the original but are still presented very well, in a sometimes moralistic way that remains resonant nevertheless.
The art direction stands out as one of the show's high points. Sadamoto Yoshiyuki's character designs shine here, and the backgrounds display strong composition and color choices that are immersive and serve to recreate an aesthetic of magic realism that FLCL is known for. The ED, animated by Uekusa Wataru, and set to The Pillow's "Star Overhead" stands out in particular for its fun and dynamism. The Pillows' soundtrack is used to much greater effect in this season, though it remains perhaps a bit too sparse and subdued.
Without spoiling anything, the ending to this season is something that has to be mentioned, and will undoubtedly divide fans of the series for years to come as a point of contention. The finale resolves itself in the last few minutes of runtime in an out-of-left-field, bizarre fashion that is sure to leave heads scratching. It is a classic Gainax ending that outdoes the original FLCL in both scope and absurdity, that plot-wise, it is incredibly open ended and leaves room for a variety of theories.
In short, Alternative is an entertaining show and a solid entry in the FLCL franchise that deserves at least one viewing. It will make you laugh, it will make you think, it will make you feel things, and most importantly it will leave you confused, which is pretty much anyone could ask from FLCL.
bymiddlechild
Turning fooly cooly into a slice of life disney channel movie is baffling to me. This one missed every mark of flcl more than progressive did. everything inventive or creative about the original was lost on the people working on this. And the themes in this movie, they are the most dumbed down, milk toast, spoonfed morals ive ever been subjected to. the story is basically non existent when its not ripping off the original. it basically takes all of the major plot points from flcl but forgets all of the good character writing and development of the original, even thinking about this movie is aggravatingto me.
the art is your standard slice of life anime rom-com type thing, but most of the framing and shot composition just leaves a sour taste in my mouth. creating tonal whiplash between "funny high school drama baka" and the dare i say "intense" moments (that are carbon copied from the original.) The reason why my score is poor, instead of average, is because if you are going to follow up flcl, and just have some bland generic animation, you deserve lower than a 4.
the sound i will brush past because i dont even want to think about how they heard the originals bombastic, punked out rock soundtrack, and turned it into this 2009 alternative nickelback background music.
the characters are awful. The original's characters were charming, selfish, relatable, dynamic, complex, and most people didnt even understand mamimi or haruko on first watch-and the more you watch, the more amarao comes off as a loser who's trying to act like spike spiegel all the time. But everything i've said of the original was lost on the writer of alternate, these characters are unforgivable. They are generic, snobby, and act exactly like how a 31 year old with kids in elementary school think highschoolers act, although they often come off as preschoolers with more responsibility. how bad i felt for mamimi is only rivaled for how bad i feel for anyone watching this who can see or hear.
flcl was never really about narrative. And although it definitely had it, the show was never explaining itself, or trying to tell you whats what, or what was even happening, it was riding on feelings. its the type of thing where explaining flcl would never capture the experience of watching it.
But watching this movie, and writing this review, the only thing i feel is complete disgust at how people were duped into watching this monstrosity since it had the flcl name on it.
1/10
jknightkt22
God damn this season was so fucking generic. It decided to take the unexpectable factor about the original show and just get rid of it. It was nothing like the other two seasons at all. The characters were generic, the plot was generic, the season had shit emotion, the art style was generic, and It was cringey as hell. The only good part is that they stuck with music that was very similar to the original. FLCL has been butchered. Btw I watched the adult swim version that aired in the US, and yes I did see all the episodes.
WhiteWolfKiba
I should've said this in my Progressive review, but FLCL fans, if you want a TRUE FLCL follow-up, please check out an anime called Gunbuster 2/Diebuster! It's by the same director as FLCL and has very similar character designs and visual style. You will love it! Sadly, what I'm here to talk about is the *actual* sequel we got, the third season known as FLCL Alternative. I didn't like it very much. It's funny, on MAL I see people calling Progressive a travesty but saying Alternative was "good for what it was," when I feel the exact opposite. Progressive wasn't very original, sure, but Iliked it just fine, but Alternative! "Boring," "generic," "slow"---these are never words that should be used to describe FLCL, yet here I am saying Alternative is all of these things!
Season 2 was clearly a direct sequel since Haruko recognizes Canti, she's once again hunting Atomsk, etc--but Alternative! I have no idea when this show takes place. You can honestly watch it independent of Progressive. Haruko is ONCE AGAIN on Earth, but this time she's working as some kinda space patrol agent...and finding Atomsk is no longer a priority for her...? Yeah, no idea what's going on with her since Haruko is just a background character this time. That's a major problem in this show, the fact that Haruko lacks a deep personal relationship with any of the cast in the way she had with Naota back in season 1. The four main girls are kind of just off doing their own thing and we're left to wonder why Haruko is meddling in these characters' lives at all. I just loved the back and forth dialogue Haruko had with Naota in the original and there was NOTHING like that in this season!
FLCL Alternative is a show about a group of four bland girls who goof off and have fun building bottle rockets, all set to rock music. What am I watching, K-On!? Seriously there were times when this felt more like one of those dime a dozen moe shows than a FLCL. The show spends a lot of time on these girls but none of them are very interesting. Man is a fat girl who eats a lot, while Hijiri is the pretty girl of the group and goes on dates a lot. Pets is the stoic small girl trope of the group and Kana is such a BASIC Basic Bitch her name should be changed to first name Female, last name Protagonist. And here we have what's really missing from this sequel: none of these girls have any problems! Naota from the original was an adolescent boy with real problems, such as the fact that his older brother has left and his ex girlfriend is now trying to use Naota as a replacement. FLCL Progressive had its problems but AT LEAST Hidomi was dealing with a troubled home life and had no friends at school. Kana has a good squad of girlfriends and really doesn't seem to have that much to complain about! The little conflict she has is forced, like when Haruko keeps trying to seduce the boy Kana likes...for some reason?And then Kana admits she doesn't *really* like that boy after all so I'm like "WTF what was that subplot!?" We also have some forced drama at the end that makes little sense, where Pets reveals that she never really liked Kana and didn't want to be friends. Pets didn't like how Kana butts into everyone's business, which Kana is still doing by the last episode sooo she didn't learn anything did she? I honestly have no idea how Pets really feels about Kana in the end, because she still decides to move away and never takes back the mean things she said to Kana, yet she still leaves Kana a hairpin to remember her by even though she refused to say goodbye? Idk. Oh did I mention Pets is moving to Mars? Yeah, apparently people live there---WHY HAS THIS NEVER COME UP BEFORE!? And this plot point got me thinking...why has Haruko traveled to Earth 3X in three seasons when she's literally on a galaxy spanning quest? Why couldn't we have a season where she's looking for Atomsk on Mars (which apparently is colonized in FLCL) or some other planet? The obvious answer is because FLCL took place on Earth and the writers of Alternative are LAZY! Oh and the confusing ending uses so many "power of friendship" tropes I wanted to vomit! Haruko is sent to Mars...for some reason...possibly to set up a FLCL 4 on Mars? Maybe I'll get my wish, but the question is do I even want it at this point?
Was there anything I liked? Uhh, there were a few times where Haruko showed up with Harley Quinn-style pigtails and I really like that look on her? Oh and there's one crazy scene where the kids are literally fighting Bumblebee from the Transformers movies, and Haruko attacks it screaming "Michael Bay!!!" Yeah there were a few moments here and there I liked but overall I was just bored and wanted to watch something else. Again, I NEVER thought I'd feel this way watching a FLCL anime! Production I.G dropped the ball this time!
I wanted to like this show, I really did, but FLCL Alternative is a below average 4/10 anime in my book. I just hope there is NEVER a season 4, even though season 3 certainly left the door open for a sequel. Is Haruko trapped on Mars now? Hopefully we never find out!
AnimeBW
*This is a joint review for FLCL Alternative and Progressive. No spoilers for either.* The idea of making a sequel for FLCL is something that strikes me as a risky proposition right off the bat. Don’t get me wrong, FLCL was a damn great little show that’s earned its long and enduring legacy, but the way in which it operated made the idea of successfully telling another story in the same world seem, it not outright impossible, at least dangerous and uncertain. It was a show that operated on a thematic and emotional level, a chaotic whirlwind of unchained animation, batshit symbolism, and raw emotional sexualityto deliver a powerful metaphor for the journey of the male adolescent id on its quest to reach some ind of maturity. It was the middle key in Gainax’s male-coming-of-age-by-way-of-phallic-robots trilogy, the introspection of Evangelion smuggled inside the explosiveness of Gurren Lagann. And much like Evangelion, it was a show where the actual plot mechanics were pretty much completely beside the point, utterly nonsensical, and only important inasmuch as the various incomprehensible reveals and reversals affected the emotional state of its characters. It didn’t do worldbuilding, and it didn’t need to, because it was able to tell a self-contained story focusing on the emotional journeys of its cast that existed and exited on its own terms with only a little shagginess getting to the point.
But the instant you start talking sequels and can’t rely on that one cast’s personal journey as the backbone anymore, you kinda have to start exploring all that lore and plot nonsense to justify how this new story interacts with the very loose rules you’ve established. You’d have to fill in what was purposefully left blank, except that what was left blank was never that important in the first place, so you inadvertatnly end up focusing on all the wrong things and diluting the raw, immediate power of the original. Despite what decades of bad Youtube criticism might lead one to believe, plot minutia and pedantic detail-mongering are never going to be as interesting as the story they form the background of, and focusing on them above all else can only end poorly. I can’t think of a single way to capture the magic of a show like FLCL twice, much less three times, as Production IG and their assorted teammates have decided to try and pull off here. That said, while it might be impossible to match the original, there’s still certainly opportunities here to play around in the same sandbox and go off in interesting directions. After all, FLCL is a show about growing up at heart, and there’s plenty of room to spiral off the ideas and motifs the original brought up if you want to expand upon its message or explore certain facets of it in greater detail. There is not no potential here, there just needs to be care taken with how you go about further filling out what was already bursting at the seams without popping the whole damn bubble. So, all that prologue laid, how do Progressive and Alternative succeed or fail, both as sequels and on their own merits?
Well, to start off, these sequels are very different animals from each other, both setting out to achieve different things and attaining those goals at vastly different levels. Progressive is setting out to copy the same formula and general energy of the original, focusing on another disaffected teen who Haruka smacks in the face to pull adolescent-metaphor robots out of their head and setting them down a path of rip-roaring coming-of-age as trial-by-fire. The tonal and editing sensibilities are the same, and the animation is clearly aiming for the same kind of surreal momentum. Alternative, meanwhile, is a slice-of-life show that just happens to feature a FLCL-branded apocalypse building in the background. The teenage characters are all relatively well-adjusted and good friends with each other, and the story follows their approaching graduation as they come to terms with themselves, each other, and a changing world, and also Haruka’s there doing her Bugs Bunny routine on the sidelines and occasionally giving our heroes a nudge in the right direction. The animation is more paired down here, capturing a more standard “anime” feel than the frenetic flow of Progressive/OGFLCL (try saying that three times fast). The one similarity between the two is that this time, there’s a female protagonist getting robots yanked from her cranium, and credit where it’s due, this was a smart direction to go in. The original pretty much closed the book on stories about raw male adolescence, so exploring the difficulties of growing up from a female perspective was probably the only spark of originality these sequels could justify their existence with. I just wish they’d both done a better job actually, well, doing that.
Yeah, sadly, neither of these sequels are as good as the original, and while that was to be expected, the ways in which they fall short are saddening all the same. Progressive is by far the bigger offender of the two, as its attempts to capture the original’s energy only further highlight how drastically it falls short in comparison. None of the characters have the same charm as the original cast, and much more crushingly, none of their motivations or purposes are clear. OGFLCL was an absolutely insane show, yet it was also remarkably focused in the midst of that chaos. You never lost sight of what Naota, Mamimi, Haruku and all the rest wanted from each other, what they meant to each other, how each decision flowed into the next. That clarity of storytelling is completely absent from Progressive, and as a result, what was surprisingly easy to follow in the original becomes completely incomprehensible here. I have very little idea why anything happens the way it does, why any of these characters feel about each other the way they do, what any of the increasingly baffling symbols are supposed to represent.
Worst of all, I genuinely have no idea what it was trying to say, and that was never a problem with the original. The protagonist Hidomi has almost no agency, no interior life, and the ways her story develops seem to go against the entire goddamn point of FLCL’s ethos. I don’t know what she was supposed to be learning through all this, why her story was so important to tell. And the show seems to agree, wasting far too much time on incidental side characters who are all somehow important to plot mechanics that, as I mentioned before, were never this franchise’s point in the first place. Hell, her male companion and love interest feels more like the driving force than she does, so if the intention was to capture the female coming-of-age perspective here, resounding fail on that front. Hidomi might as well be an empty shell that gets pulled around as the plot demands, never allowed the same raw, expressive consideration as Naota. It’s frustratingly impersonal for a sequel to one of anime’s most personal experiences, and it’s only made bearable by the admittedly excellent animation, which is the one part of the affair that does capture the original’s madcap energy nicely, even if the aesthetics are decidedly not up to snuff.
Alternative, in contrast, is able to wring out a modest success despite its shortcomings by not even bothering to try and do what the original did. It’s a slice-of-life that just happens to build to a big robot apocalypse with a mellow rock soundtrack, and it embraces the storytelling conventions that genre entails well enough to stand on its own two feet. There’s a great, realistic camaraderie between its central cast, a group of four girls who all feel decidedly more grounded than the majority of slice-of-life girl quartets. They’re cute, but they ain’t K-On moe; they’re real girls, struggling with real adolescence and figuring out where they want their lives to go. I am disappointed that it doesn’t even try to reach the same unfiltered honesty as the original about how messy adolescence can be, but considering how badly Progressive flopped on that front, maybe this was the right call to make. It’d not lightweight, but it’s purposefully soft where the other two are hard, capturing the feeling of growing up as it generally is, not as exaggerated for emotional frankness with hard edges and sex metaphors everywhere. And on that level, it’s a rousing success; I buy these girls’ friendship, I buy their ridiculously fun banter, and I buy the quiet ways they try to understand themselves, and each other, more fully. It’s by far the better FLCL sequel, because it’s the only one of the two that feels like it captures the experience of growing up, albeit from a less unique angle than the original.
Hell, if anything, it’s the moments where the FLCL-ness starts to take back over where this one feels most at odds with itself, especially as it becomes clear in the back half how ill-suited it is to carrying out a similarly massive climax. It’s all well and good when Haruka and her robots are acting as impromptu life-coaches and emotional punctuations, but the more central they become as things go on, the less interesting they feel. Alternative is at its best when focusing on the girls at its core, and the points where the larger universe starts intruding back in can end up feeling like too much seasoning. That said, it still carries the weight of that world better than Progressive, actually managing to flesh out this universe’s confusing mythology fairly efficiently without removing the mystique or getting bogged down in unnecessary detail. And the clarity of the storytelling, while simplistic, is strong enough to bring us over the finish line. I can’t help but feel frustrated by the whole affair, because between the energy and polish of Progressive and the focus and heart of Alternative, there’s a perfect FLCL sequel somewhere between these two, one that accomplishes the same thing the original did from a female perspective and acts as a genuine companion piece. Maybe if the teams had consolidated and just tried on making one excellent follow-up over two less-than-excellent ones, we’d have a worthy inheritor to this franchise’s legacy than an also-ran.
So in the end, neither FLCL sequels are up to the original’s bar. But on their own merits, one definitely stands above the other, and if you’re at all interested, check out Alternative and leave Progressive to wither in darkness. Neither of them are masterpieces, but where Progressive fails by trying to do the original again and falling short in every way, Alternative charts its own path and succeeds well enough on its own two legs. Therefore, I give Progressive a score of 4/10 and Alternative a score of 6/10. For what it’s worth, though, the dubs for both of them are genuinely excellent, so maybe I’ll go back and check out the original’s dub as well to see how well it holds up. Cheers!
Sasori_Nagashi
When FLCL Alternative and FLCL Progressive were announced a few thoughts ran through my head, first of all I was determined to watch it with the Japanese voice over, as my initial experience with FLCL was in Japanese and I felt attached to the voices I was more used to. Secondly, I felt concern. FLCL was an extremely unique series with a certain... Magic to it. It also was made a number of years ago. Top it all off with Adult Swim's involvement and I was very concerned FLCL Alternative and FLCL Progressive would be, at best, lacklustre and lacking in the same magic or,at worst, would simply be soulless corporate cashgrabs, reviving an old property for the sake of revenue alone.
My many concerns, involving the fantastic art style, the killer soundtrack and many other factors were largely laid to rest however. FLCL Alternative features art that fits perfectly with the style laid out by the original series.
The soundtrack for FLCL Alternative also largely lives up to the original, featuring new songs and a return of some old favorites (I just about bawled hearing Little Busters again after so long)
FLCL Alternative features a mostly independent story with new characters, however with certain characters and certain themes returning. It features a slightly different style of story telling than the original FLCL series, taking things a little slower and featuring more focus on character development.
Overall, I would personally it's nowhere near as good as the original despite hitting the nail on the head with the art and the soundtrack, but that may just boil down to preference. At the end of the day it's not terrible, just different.
Magipika
I normally don't write reviews for anime like this, but I felt like this one deserved at least a few words. After finishing Progressive, I was expecting the worst, but Alternative ended up being a pretty smooth ride. It's nothing particularly special, but sometimes an ordinary adolescent life viewed through an extraordinary lens can resonate when watched at the right time. Probably the series' flaw, but an inescapable one, is how superficial the ties to the original FLCL are. The original story more closely tied the ridiculous robot scenes, Miss Haruko Haruhara, and the main characters together in a symbolic fashion that earned it its cult following.Both Progressive and Alternative attempt to tread new ground, while also bringing in the old elements, and ends up massively convoluted. Haruko's role is ambiguous at best, and contradictory at worst- I've seen people argue that that is the point, that she can do "whatever she wants", but even in the original she did have a goal, and she needed Naota for it. Medical Mechanica is thrown around as a buzzword, and bizarre robots seem to come from everywhere, just for the action, but there is no clear point to it.
On the other hand, as a modern take on the old FLCL story, the character writing and the outcomes aren't too bad. It may have been done before in other shows, but as a coming-of-age story that parallels the old one, it does a good job. The four girls that Alternative follows all have their struggles, passions, secrets, disagreements that make seeing them interact worth watching, definitely more so than the characters in its sister series Progressive. FLCL is also an opportunity for the new studio to flex their animating muscles, and work on scenes from drastically different genres and themes all in one spot, and that definitely comes through as well.
Overall, far from perfect, and perhaps juxtaposed with FLCL Progressive, it just seems good in comparison. I don't think that they had to rely on FLCL in order to justify creating something like this, and I'm sure that long-time fans might hate the new series cheapen the original by association, but as someone who only saw FLCL several years ago, I managed to get through it pretty easily. It was also nice to hear the pillows again as well, although the way songs were recycled both between the series and across episodes was kind of strange. It would definitely be easier to recommend to someone who hasn't seen the original, but either audience might get a little fun out of this sequel.
XOArama
Another disappointment in comparison to the original. While I liked Alternative slightly more than Progressive, I think the difference is negligible. Also my first time rewatching and while I think it was a bit better it still is just a cheap copy of the original. While I dont care to write much for this I want to point out a scene I think perfectly encapsulates what they did with these new seasons. The scene where all the girls are playing Jenga and the main character holds up a Jenga piece and on it is written "never knows best". What a joke, a needless reference tothe original that they obviously expect us to point at and go "omg looks its the quote from Mamimi's cigarete from first season omggggg!!!!!". I think that scene perfectly encapsulates what they did with these remakes and its a shame they can't just let FLCL finish. One good thing from these new seasons is the new pillows music so that's nice at least!
FoxyGramp_
I have to preface that I did not watch the entirety of this anime, only getting about 3/4 of the way through before giving up. All you need to know is one thing. When this anime was pitched to the creator of og FLCL he said not to make it because he already felt as if FLCL had a conclusive ending and there was nothing else to be explored in that universe. And yet they continued. The characters are boring, the art is generic, the story is overly sentimental, the soundtrack is virtually non-existent. This anime is FLCL in name only; even Haruko, who should be this anime'sone saving grace, is a fucking joke. What made OG Haruko (and FLCL as a whole for that matter) great was under her bizarre facade lay a highly nuanced and troubled character whom the audience could interpret in a multitude of ways. What do we get now? A pink haired alien girl who hangs around in the background, only to pop out when shes need to do something "cool" so that the viewers don't fall asleep from the shallow and god awful dialogue. Don't even get me started on some of her jokes. I understand that not all her lines in the original landed with a western audience but OH GOD, YOU DIDNT HAVE TO DO HER LIKE THIS. There's legitimately a rap scene she has that I had to skip because it was so difficult to watch, it wasn't even watchable in a "ironically bad" way, it was just straight up bad.
Then there's the protagonists. All of them are as generic anime protagonist as it gets except for one. The token "fat" kid found in western cartoons. Her entire character is that she's "fat". All her jokes are "haha look at fat person", I heard she doesn't grow to control her eating disorder or accept herself or hell, grow as a character at all! In fact I don't think any of the characters grow.
Basically, remove "alternative" and "progressive" from your memory and pretend 2000s FLCL is the only one that exists. If you want more FLCL after 2000s FLCL then go read the manga (it's a re-imagining of the events of FLCL). Plus its really cheap.
Eoussama
What made the original FLCL so good, that is the question. It's been 17 years since that one series impacted its fans, and after what looked like an eternity, out of nowhere struck the news of getting two new adaptations. The first episode of FLCL Alternative was aired on April the 1st making a pleasant intro to remember. However, all the hype started dying after the disappointment FLCL Progressive was badly received by the fans of the original, and thus making the next upcoming entry (FLCL Alternative) in the same expectancy as well. Surprise surprise, it did better, no, I did amazingly better that Imight go as far as putting it above the original on some respect, and a lot of people disagree with me on the simple fact that it didn't start fully faithful to the core message of FLCL. And dare I say, FLCL Alternative did, in fact, embrace the same idea of FLCL but in a different way and perspective, it added some extra seasoning and made the FLCL of its own.
- Story (8.5/10):
A big commotion starter is how a new thing breaks the traditional way of doing a particular thing. Such is the way the two new adaptations of FLCL are in. FLCL Alternative on the other hand broke that convention and had it the other way despite what one can say, and it actually was great.
More than ever, the hidden message is no more, instead, it's presented very clear and bright, only a lacking person would miss on it. FLCL was always about growing up, and FLCL Alternative was no stranger to the idea, only had a different take on its execution.
The definition of growing up here was that things must change at some point, a student will no longer remain a student, and will have to move on to handling more complicated responsibilities than just studying. Takkun had it in FLCL, being extremely young and almost out of middle school, so naive and strange to anything grown up. FLCL Alternative stepped it up a bit, and had highschoolers going against themselves between going edgy and following an acceptable path in life, probably the hardest turn point on one's life.
Friendship was a great player in spicing up controversy, having grown with a select group of people and then parting with them due to personal dreams can either shake things up or ease them. Growing up only becomes more and more clear the more you move on, and it turned up it was never a choice. Seeing adults doing adult stuff can have a lot of depth behind it, much like eating spicy food and have little to no annoyance while doing it doesn't make you a mature person, you can still eat it while enduring its spiciness or bitterness for the sole purpose of survival. It's doesn't always go your way, that was what FLCL Alternative was going for.
- Art (8.5/10):
Imagine the abstractness of FLCL mixed with the more modern and refined technics of mainstream animation that does a better than imagined job at keeping it as FLCL as possible without throwing any turn-offs, unless you're just complaining because you were against the idea of a new take on the franchise.
I'd say, the original still holds up pretty well to even score next to movie-class animations, and while FLCL Alternative doesn't go that far it still puts the rest seasonal fellows faced to a shameful corner. Aside from a minor sighting of above average CGI use, it was visually almost a full-fledged FLCL experience.
One thing I think FLCL Alternative did better though is the character design, although Haruto is still noticeably Haruko, you can't help but feel a sense of modern touch on especially her face, something about it that makes her more like a human than the alien she is.
I really loved the explosion and particle effects overall, so detailed and fluid it made all the intense parts Michael-Bay-worthy.
- Sound (9/10):
The pillows did it again, never this happy to hear a familiar drop before, so nostalgic and fitting it just never gets old.
Again, no opening theme song introduced, which is perfectly fine, with FLCL the soundtracks make up for almost any mistake (No chance Progressive, no chance today). The ending theme song was just great, it suited the theme this season was going after, growing up, a very relatable topic that your ear would swear on its quality.
I first experienced FLCL in its subbed form and was not exposed to the dubbed version until I gave FLCL Progressive a chance which was horrible at first (Haruko's voice was a pass for me), but it kind of gave me the initial push that had me at home with the dubbed version of FLCL Alternative, Haruko's tone had already become easier to listen to and the new cast was really amazing.
- Character (9.5/10):
Most differently, FLCL Alternative nailed its characters even more than the two previous installments did. With the series giving focus on more than just one, it never neglected the others and had them affect the story just as much. For a change, the friendly quadruples had troubles and personal issues to tend to after facing the other way from each other, it really made it feel like a shared story. A lot of slice of life aura was felt due to this, and as different as FLCL Alternative was, it really did it justice in a way.
I for one found myself invested in all of those characters, I tore for them, laughed for them, and was with them till the end, all likable and offer a variety of impact on the story.
The most controversial part here was Haruko, a lot of people were turned down by the new big sister that gives advice and cares for other people, it was no longer the selfish backstabber we all grew up knowing, which in my book was a nice take from FLCL Alternative, sometimes changing the trend helps to refresh the genre.
- Enjoyment (8.5/10):
Right after watching the first episode I knew what I was signing up for.
In my opinion, out of the three installments, this one was the greatest, between the original whacky and loved FLCL, and the modern and badly received FLCL Progressive, FLCL Alternative took the perfect foot in between and provided the best out of both takes, it's a lot more easier to grasp than both as well, the core message it kind of painfully obvious since the first half, but it wasn't any less fun.
I enjoyed the different side stories it provided a lot more so that I would pay for an extended slice of life of these individual characters, it kept consistent throughout its 6 episodes.
- Overall (8.8/10):
One thing that you should really step in with, is an open mind, and the rest will be a short begged for enjoyment.
Bashing on how it's different is only a turn down that easily blindfolds the fans from experiencing a take they never asked for but would greatly appreciate otherwise.
Another side note would be, watching this before you see the first two installments won't make much of a fuss as prior knowledge of previous happenings won't take away much. In fact, it would be a great and different experience watching them all in reverse.
MyLifeWthLucario
I still really love Production IG’s attempt at the Trigger esque sakuga scenes of Gainax’s original, but I think what Progressive and Alternative truly lacked was depth and heart. FLCL original felt like it started off as an incredibly well animated joke for a bunch of talented voice actors and artists to relax on, but quickly proved all of us wrong with amazing depth and characters that are memorable FOREVER. Nothing captures this better than the Pillows music, which captures the show’s tone perfectly. Meanwhile these new seasons mostly reuse music from the old show (no matter how great the new stuff is) just like thewhole idea of the show rehashes old ideas without ever being as memorable or deep. How absolutely fitting.
Even then, I didn’t HATE, these seasons. Still gonna give them a 7 purely because of how much I loved the sakuga moments.
sakaisnow
Wow, i wasn't expecting too much from this sequel (don't get me wrong) but damn, its the finest sequel of the series, yeah, for me the original always will be the best, but this one, is good as flcl style. The animation is fine, the songs are fine, and remember a lot of the original, and got the same vibe as the first, if you ask if is worth to watch, YES, if you like the 2000 flcl, you will prob like this one, i really felt a connection between the characters and me, something that progressive didn't make it, and i hope grunge andshoegaze be the same vibe, to keep the fooly cooly essence. If you want to spend some afternoon watching some anime to relax, this one, trust me.
Marcelo_Flores
Hello, guys! Okay, I see that this is the least loved series in the franchise; and I understand why. Much of that craziness that characterizes FLCL as such has been drained in this installment, and we see that in an almost complete lack of variety of animation styles with exceptions here and there; but I see it as a sacrifice to give us the most focused and emotional delivery of the franchise, I mean, of all the messages about the turbulent and chaotic youth that FLCL has given us with the always reliable Punk Rock of The Pillows, Talking about feeling confused and anxious about thefuture and essence of oneself in such a bittersweet tone is something I've connected with very strongly, and it helps a lot that they've also given us some of the best character development we've seen so far.
I highly recommend it, for me, the best piece of FLCL.
SmashedTomatoes
Alright, I'll say it: I think FLCL Alternative is a really good show. And this next one is gonna break some of your brains: I think FLCL Alternative is Objectively better than FLCL. Now's when explosions happen and the anime opening starts. It's just a generally better built experience, from the characters to the comedy. And it's not at all unfamiliar or different from FLCL, it's simply a more grounded look at the themes of the original, removing unnecessary plotpoints and actually linking the events that happen throughout the story, all without going ballistically experimental to help audiences pretend like it's smarter than it is. Here's a big example:Medical Mechanica.
Medical Mechanica refers to the corporation responsible behind the absolute massive irons that just happen to be there. It's such a striking visual image seen in FLCL as well as basically the main antagonist of the FLCL franchise; it's only natural it came back. What in FLCL was a funny gag used to bring forth senseless concepts, Alternative used as an extension to it's senselessness. What had a vague purpose in the original FLCL was made into a massive plot point here, a plot point which utilized the idea FLCL came up with and actually made something out of it. Tho I won't say exactly why to avoid spilers.
This is something you'll see all the time here, they naturally evolved the ideas from FLCL to build an actual story instead of an abstract landscape.
One of my favorite things about Alternative is how it escalates, what begins as a boring and mundane slice of life story slowly becomes more ridiculous and unrealistic as the episodes go by, eventually ending on an absolutely ridiculous ending that rivals that of Madoka Magika's. And this is reflected through all of it's aspects, be it animation, writing and plot development.... but most importantly, through it's characters.
You know how FLCL would have all theses metaphors to adolescence and growing up that ultimately often amounted to "Haha, Boner"? Okay, so how about actually adding themes involving the coming of age? That's what Alternative is here to do. At it's core, FLCL alternative is about adulthood, what it means to grow up and the way it feels. The characters have realistic stories and development despite all the chaos, and little to no focus is made on crushes or adolescent drama; You're watching the story and metaphors from FLCL be done in a more mature and logical way, looking at characters who need to learn to take responsibility and be as close to adults as they possibly manage, all of a sudden, it's genuinely amazing. The tone and style of FLCL was used properly to highlight how overwhelming and disruptive that change can be, all whist avoiding going off the rails for the sake of a cool visual or half baked plot point.
Music by The Pillows is also used much more appropriately, what seemed like a style choice in FLCL was once again made better by being properly blended into the show, they built around the music instead of slapping any old song by the artists like Progressive did. It actually feels like the music belongs where it is in most of the scenes featuring it.
What I did become saddened about is the animation in general, whilst it's nothing BUT glorious, it's true the experimentation from FLCL is completely gone, mostly shoved to side pieces like the environments without many other visually peculiar things, although a few show up, particularly near the end. Sure, that's probably done once again to bring out how ridiculous the situation has gotten between episodes 1 and 6, but some more experimentation would have been great for the show. THIS is the only aspect that FLCL actually has over Alternative.
I love animation, but an animation without a good story is not appealing to me, I like fiction more than raw animation. If you have a brain that enjoys being able to follow a story instead of a weird artsy circle jerk, then Alternative is going to be way better than FLCL for you, and I think more people need to learn to value one of the best coming of age stories out there. It's such a shame it mostly gets shafted because people have a nostalgic N. O. for the original FLCL.
if FLCL was Foolishly cool. FLCL alternative is cool foolishly. Perhaps because people don't let it be Fully Cool. Okay, I'll stop now, sorry.
TLDR: Anyone who calls this mediocre or a bad sequel to FLCL is not just wrong, but also stupid. Thank you very much.
CobraNotKatsura
Would've rated the show higher if they had given some development to Pets' dislike of Kana. The episode where Pets spilled her mind (episode 5) was one of the most emotionally powerful scenes I have ever seen in anime. I just wish they'd given a buildup to it cause it came kinda out of nowhere. If it hadn't been for that, I would say this is almost equal to or maybe even better than the original season. Just some other thoughts... Kana was really annoying, but I guess that was the point. I just wish they could've displayed this aspect of her in a less cringy way. Thisseason is pretty girly and stuff and some of the scenes were pretty cringy but I guess there were alot of scenes that also made me smile, so it balances out I guess.
As always, I love the Pillows' soundtrack, ESPECIALLY the ending song.
