FLCL

Director
Kazuya Tsurumaki
Production
GAINAX, Production IG
Country of origin
Japan
Format
OVA
Running time
6 vol
Year
2000

FLCL

By Eric
28th Apr 04

I consider myself an open-minded individual. I like it when a person can think outside of the box and come up with new, fresh ideas that are inspired only by their own imaginations. I love creativity, that's why I really hate to give FLCL such a horrendous score. It makes me feel like a hypocrite. It really is original, unfortunately, there are too many unforgivable flaws. My beliefs simply weren't enough on their own to convince me that FLCL was a good series, and all I was able to think in the end was "What the hell is THIS?"

It's a boy with a robot that comes out of his head and some girl obsessed with a robot and God or something...I know it's usually standard in reviews to give a synopsis, but I really can't do that. This series was so confusing that I couldn't figure it out at all. Plot? I guess there's a plot in there somewhere, but where? What's the deal with the robot? Perhaps they could have explained it well if not for all the strange montages and flashes of nauseating color and close-ups that make this show resemble a trashy European arthouse flick sometimes.

It's not all that great to look at, either. It has a strange watercolor look to it that makes you wonder if the film was exposed to bright light. Worse than that is how jerky and twitchy everything is. It's common in anime for a tense or sudden movement to be animated with only a few cels, or sometimes the actual movement from one pose to another has no animation at all. However, FLCL does this over...and over...and over...That combined with close-ups makes this thing confusing to watch, and I had trouble determining just what was happening on the screen.

It's a shame. It sounds like the idea had a lot of potential, but poor execution makes this into something people will only pretend to comprehend so they can look avant-garde. Again, I say that I really wish I could've liked this unique, unusual anime, but the sad fact remains that it's one of the worst I've ever seen.

1/10

-- Eric 28th Apr 04

FLCL Images