FLCL (2000) (V)

Director:

Kazuya Tsurumaki

Writer:

Yoji Enokido (writer)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Plot:

A 12-year old boy named Naota one day meets a strange woman, riding a Vespa and wielding a big guitar. As soon as she appears, mysterious things start happening.

Plot Keywords:

Vespa | Guitar | Space Pirate | Bass | Dream Like

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Jun Mizuki	...	Naota Nandaba, Takkun the Cat (voice)
Mayumi Shintani	...	Haruko Haruhara (voice)
Izumi Kasagi	...	Mamimi Samejima (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Steve Blum	...	Miyu Miyu, Masashi (voice: English version) (as David Lucas)
Chiemi Chiba	...	Kitsurubami
Melissa Fahn	...	Eri Ninamori (voice: English version) (as Heather Lee Joelson)
Yukari Fukui	...	Junko "Miya-Jun" Miyaji (voice)
Barbara Goodson	...	Naota Nandaba (voice: English version)
Hiroshi Ito	...	Shigekuni Nandaba (voice)
Mika Itô	...	Eri Ninamori (voice)
R. Martin Klein	...	Saku, Additional Voices (voice: English version) (as Bob Marx)
Steve Kramer	...	Shigekuni Nandaba, Train Announcer, Martians Baseball Player, Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Dave Mallow	...	Amarao (voice: English version)
Joe Martin	...	Kamon Nandaba (voice: English version)
Suzuki Matsuo	...	Kamon Nandaba (voice)
Chris McDougall	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Akira Miyashima	...	Gaku (voice)
Tara Murphy	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Kôichi Ôkura	...	Amarao (voice)
Ryan Ragland	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Luis Reyes	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Stephanie Sheh	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Jessica Straus	...	Junko Miyaji (voice: English version) (as Jessica Stenuis)
Kazuhito Suzuki	...	Masashi (voice)
Mark Takeuchi	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Rick Tetzlaff	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
L. Villa	...	Kitsurubami (voice: English version)
Kari Wahlgren	...	Haruko Haruhara (voice: English version)
Maggie Weidner	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Yuriko Yamaguchi	...	Ninamori's Secretary (voice: English version)
Shizuki Yamashita	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Agnes Yoshida	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)

Also Known As:

Fooly Cooly (USA)
FuriKuri (Japan) (alternative title)

Runtime:

30 min (6 episodes)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Spain:15 | Canada:18A | Australia:M | USA:TV-14 (cut version) | USA:TV-MA | UK:12

Company:

Gainax

Trivia:

The teacher's car that is destroyed by Naota is a VW beetle

Goofs:

Continuity: The Haruko's bracelet, is attached to her left arm. But in the manga scene, it appears on her right hand.

Quotes:

[Mamimi is clutching a bag of old bread]
Naota: My brother, I mean - how much do you like him?
Mamimi: It's hard.
Naota: You saw the sign at our bakery, that bread's old.
Mamimi: ...Watermelon.
Naota: Huh?
Mamimi: Or like a panda with a mean face, or like sandals with pressure points drawn on them, or the smell of a blackboard eraser, or a Sunday morning where you wake up and it's raining. Well, I like him more than hard bread.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs "Rupan sansei: Part II" (1977)

Animation unlike any you have seen before

I don't give out high grades to just anything, and I've watched an enormous amount of animation, both US, European and Asian. That being said, FLCL is the most interesting, eye-catching and exciting animation I've ever seen.

It's always difficult to capture a masterpiece in words. Instead of even attempting this, I'll just say what's already been said: The anime is incredibly hard to follow - some would say that it's full of infinitely deep philosophical implications, others would say it's just nuts. I for one have watched it many, many times, and can safely say that it IS coherent... but also very complex. It's like a lighthearted David Lynch anime.

The animation in itself is stunningly beautiful, both the visual- and sound-side. The vast amount of locations, characters, difficult angles and huge total-shots is more awesome than many top-level animated movies. As for the soundtrack, there has been released almost two hours of fabulous, original music for this series, despite that it is only 6x25=150 minutes long! That almost makes it a 6-episode music video, and still they pull it off.

There aren't any cons to this anime. It may be a bit much for the uninitiated or casual watcher, but just watching it, without really following it is a magnificent journey in it self. The voice acting, the character design, the setting, everything just comes together to form an anime unlike any you have seen before.