FLCL Alternative

*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 it ... is 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.

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 aggravating ... to 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

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.

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 I ... liked 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!

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's ... one 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.

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 to ... the 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!