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FLCL (Fooly Cooly) DVD 1 (Hyb)
Corey Van Meekeren - Oct 27 2001 vanmeek@icqmail.com Rating: Wonderful! Crazy stylized action, yet emotional depth. My new favorite! This 6 episode series floored me. Each episode does a masterful job of putting style and emotion into every scene while pulling the rug out from you. Over and over and over. Sharp editing, great rock music by "The Pillows," beautiful scenery that Gainax is known for, and a story that... is hysterically far-fetched. You will be confused by the middle of every episode, smacked in the head with some seriously energetic battles, then rewarded with a resolution that pulls just enough story elements back together to let your brain relax. This is not an easy one to describe. If you need simple stories or only enjoy a narrow genre of anime, you will have a hard time with this. If you are a fan of all things anime and don't mind having to think to follow along... FLCL will exceed any preconceptions. This is top shelf! Ciaran Benson - Nov 24 2001 ciaran@pervytoons.com Rating: Wonderful! Sometimes it's hard to know what body part to grab Coming off their successes of Evangelion, Gainax was looking for something ... special ... to start the new century with, and they found it. Furi Kuri is a surreal millennium romp, complete with happy-bouncy dog-faced world consuming robots, post-modern babes on retro mopeds, and flirtatious coming-of-age school girls in a perpetual state of blase' foreplay. With character designs by Evangelion's Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, art direction by Honneamise's Hiromasa Ogura, and a script by Utena's Yoji Enokido, Furi Kuri has all of the foreground, background, and intellectual mind-fuck splendor that you could possibly expect from a team of some of Anime's greatest and most surreally inventive artists. There just aren't enough adjectives in the English language to describe a show that can shock an entire theatre of thoroughly jaded American otaku into slackjawed silence, then unleash a wave of spastic hysterics with a single raised eyebrow. The animation in Furi Kuri is a delightfully mind-expanding tour of the last century of production styles, with individual scenes swinging wildly and energetically from static black-and-white manga to super close-up fisheye lenses lit with unnervingly bright neon colors. Despite periodic white-knuckle rollercoaster rides of eye-saturating chaos, the production is balanced by serene horizon expanding views of billowing clouds and soaring birds juxtaposed against some of the harshest and funniest self-referential dialogue you're likely to find in Anime in America today. Sometimes it's hard to know what body part to grab. Furi Kuri is, and I mean this in the best possible sense, like getting hit in the back of the head with a gas-powered electric bass guitar. Josh M. French - Dec 1 2001 JPoppaWUSC@yahoo.com Rating: Wonderful! Unbelievably original, bizarre, and entertaining! The six-episode FLCL series is fantastic. With chicks swinging chainsaw guitars for weapons, battles with space pirates, and robots popping out of people's heads, what more could you want in anime? Truly, this series manages to keep your attention 100% of the time, and you may have to watch it in full 10-12 times before you grasp the whole story. This is a hyper-paced plot compressed into only 3 hours, and the complexity that results is actually one of FLCL's strong points. Also, the series acts as a tribute to all anime, with uncountable references to other classic series like Evangelion and Lupin III. Don't expect to understand everything (or anything) that occurs in these first two episodes, but plan to pick up the next 2 DVD's as well to get the full picture! I cannot recommend this instant cult classic enough to hardcore anime fans, but to newcomers to anime, I suggest you start with a series that's a little less demanding on your anime intelligence. Gainax has made yet another masterpiece, if not a slightly short one. A definite 10! Aaron A. Becker - Feb 24 2002 secondchild@thesecondchild.net Rating: Wonderful! Without a doubt, the greatest anime series ever! Fantastic! If you thought Gainax set the bar too high with Evangelion and that they'd never meet it, guess again! As frenetic as a whacky action-comedy anime, with all of the great emotional content you'd expect from the studio that brought you one of the most controversial anime series ever. Imagine Roger Waters and Stanley Kubrick co-directing Ranma 1/2, and you'll get close to where FLCL leaves its mark. FLCL (Fooly Coolly (yes, two L's), or sometimes called "Furi Kuri" because of the Japanese dialect) has the comedic value of Urusei Yatsura, for example, but even greater, as it's bizzarity is unrivaled, leaving even the foremost (self-proclaimed, heh) Akira plot experts scratching their heads. It's really not that confusing - just ridiculous. Many people find this disturbing because it jumps back and forth between franticly paced comedy and dark violent, and suggestive imagery. I found it amazing. Add to this a director who is not afraid to make use of the Douglas Adams/Robert Anton Wilson "acknowledgement of fiction" humour and extremely great satire/parody (Evangelion, Gundam, even South Park - nothing is sacred!) I don't want to give too much away, but believe me, this is groundbreaking work in the comedy genre, as well as anime in general. I applaud Gainax for creating a masterpiece of animation. Jason Moroboshi - Mar 21 2002 Rating: Not all that good. Fooly something... This is a large waste of money. This is 60 minutes of a 120 minute TV show on one DVD. The six episode series could be on one disk, but instead it is on two, at a $30 asking price. That is about $10 an episode. The series in question was drawn and animated by competent people that strove for incompetence. The animation changes in quality from cutting edge computer fudge to black and white scribbles. The episode move at three speeds; the Painfully Slow, the Moderate, and what takes up most of the show, Too Fast To Understand. The devices used in the show would blossom in say, an eight episode series, but instead, this comes across like a drug-induced rush job. There is little continuity outside of reoccuring characters, and the plot seems totally at the mercy of slapstick or senseless actions that just seem to be thrown in. This is a wild show. If you don't care what happens, and just want to see lots of stuff rush at you and go right over your head (like the dozens of cultural references the USA hasn't digested yet), this could be a good buy at $30, especially with the discount. If you are looking for depth of character and plot without scanning back several times every few seconds, this is just a goodbye $30. The wrap-up... Baseball bats can be used to knock mutating satelites back into orbit, anything related to a massage is grounds for sexual innuendo, and the title of the show is taken from a throw-off line you may never hear after the first episode. It's the goofy stuff cartoons once lived on. If a video from AnimeMusicVideos.org just doesn't satisfy your craving for this show, buy it, and good luck. Kenshin Himura - Sep 26 2002 wingzero1234@hotmail.com Rating: Wonderful! OMG this anime is awesome FLCL is one of the weirdest awesomeist animes ever Jason Kerby - Feb 19 2003 sephirothzer0@yahoo.com Rating: Not all that good. Not What I Expected I bought the first DVD of FLCL on more of an impulse than anything. I'd read the article Newtype printed on it this past month, and had heard a lot of word about it on the internet, claiming that this anime was supposed to be the best thing out of Gainax since Evangelion. So, I decided to give it a chance, despite the fact that I was paying quite a fee for only two episodes. Watching the anime, I noticed that the camerawork was pretty good, like a live action production. Also, the fighting sequences were also done well. Okay. On to the bad part. One thing in particular got on my nerves. The English voice actor for Mamimi is so annoying I'd rather listen to someone rake their fingers across a chalkboard than listen to her. She is to FLCL like Seras Victora's actress was to Hellsing. Terrible. If you're gonna watch this one, I'd reccomend watching it in the subbed version. Another thing that bothered me about this series is Gainax's attempt to make a boatload of money on it. Two episodes per DVD? At the same price as a 5-6 episode DVD?! At least give us three per DVD! I realize this series is short but geez. By drawing out the number of volumes they have to release, they can make a lot more money. I think we're kinda getting ripped off here. The backgrounds are decidedly bland. I don't know if that was the intent of the producers or what, but it hardly garnered my affection. That's my two cents. 'Nuff said. Claire Cambrody - Jun 5 2003 Rating: Wonderful! Beleive the hype First and foremost, I don't reccomend this title to anybody who wants to understand all aspects of the story. Really, it's just weird for the sweet sake of being weird. The story is refreshingly origional, none of this "Young Japanese boy between the ages of 14-18 must fight in a giant robot/use his crazy psycho powers for an orginization (Insert random stupid name here) to fight aliens", crap we're seeing tenfold nowadays, even though that vaguely fits this show. However, the boy, rather than the standard cardboard whimp/everyboy we see so much, he's a disaffected pre-teen with problems most of us can identify with us (annoying friends, feelings of resentment towards the family). The alien(s) are loutish, brash, and unorthodox, the most notorious taking the form of Haruko Haruhara, resident girl gone apeshit. While we still get those cartoony bouts of insanity and mayhem that has put so many comedy anime on the map, it's still loaded to the brim with sentimentality, a real humanity spoken through a monologue in the main characters mind, or even a moment of quiet solitaryness of looking at the sunset. This show has both in spades, and knows when to be off the wall and ass-bananas, while another time will be left to be internal and retrospective. Some may not like the sudden shifts in each episode from comedy/sci-fi to a humane coming-of-age story, but for a show about a boy's world being rocked by sudden foreign objects in the form of loudmouth glam-rockers while still coming to terms with his relationships with those around him as a twelve-year-old boy, it suits this show perfectly. For those who want the same old same old, I suggest s-CRy-ed or maybe Final Fantasy Unlimited. For those who want something different, by all means, try FLCL. Jenifer D. Seal - Aug 14 2003 JenaVeta@aol.com Rating: Wonderful! This series kicks ass! I love the animation and how the characters act! I REALLY REALLY love this series. It makes me laugh through every part. I wish it wasn't on so late at night. Damn Adult Swim. Michael A. Chipp - Oct 17 2003 MAC9999997@aol.com Rating: Wonderful! Definitley a must-see! This was by far the best anime ive ever seen. I watch a lot of anime, so i understand some of the japanese puns, but if youre just getting into this sorta thing, this aint for you. Its a scream! I nearly laughed my ass off! Nick E. Bundt - Oct 26 2003 atomic_radiation@hotmail.com Rating: Wonderful! Gainax keeps doing it, again, and again, and again.... Ever since I started my Otaku-ism, I'm been recommended anime after anime after anime. I take things for what they are, and FLCL is ANOTHER Gainax masterpiece. For one thing, it came from the mind of Hideaki Anno (not directed by, though, there is a difference), so that is one red light saying "This is going to be great." When I saw the TV spots for this, I said "Sweet!" The show itself is an incredible blend of abstract animation, cell animation, realistic animation, and everything else in between. The video was animated very nicely and I espically liked the water effects. Audio and English wise... um... no. Watch it in Japanese. When an American voice actress is saying "ara", well that's a sign right there. That I cringe at. Gainax once again pumps a show with so much symbolism it's ridiculous. I love symbolism in anime. I absolutely loved Evangelion and the symbolism in that, and FLCL has that certain touch of symbolism that makes it a well worth anime. Episode 4's whole baseball symbolism, you know, first base, second base... that was brilliant. Plus the plot line was packed so full of development and twisted, you really need to watch it more than once. (kinda like Evangelion) I don't really know if I sold the anime to anyone, but this is my raving for a great series. But, watching really insane anime is an aquired taste, so it isn't for everyone. Oh, and yeah, 3 DVD's, that's not GAINAX doing that. That's the publisher, Synchpoint. (shakes fist) Daniel K. Ramirez - Dec 8 2003 hafbreed50@hotmail.com Rating: Wonderful! This is an awesome anime What can I say about FLCL, well I could say alot but I won't, let me just say that this anime is one of my all time favorites. It has robots comming out of a kids head, sexual innuedos, good music, and a weirdness factor that makes this anime great to watch. If you like to understand everything about an anime, I will tell you to not watch this anime, bc of the weird factor not everything is clear, but if you like entertainment, and weird things going on, then watch on and get some prozac (it will help in all the times your saying to yourself, what the HELL is going on). Thats about it for this review, peace out..... :-p J S - May 1 2004 Rating: Wonderful! Still loving it and still confused I am pretty anime savy. Been watching for years now, pretty eclectic tastes. This is the most enjoyable animes I have every seen. The characters are increadible, can't help but to like them. I normally don't watch my anime repeatedly, I bought the Cowboy Bebop series about a year and a half ago and have only watched it twice. However in the 2 months I have owned FLCL I have watched it over and over. Can't reccomend it enough. Buy it so I can talk to someone about it! Michele R. Leslie - Mar 17 2005 shellyburgers@hotmail.com Rating: Wonderful! wow This was one of the first animes I've watched. I fell in love with it!! and I'm not big on robot stuff y'know? But it's also random and stuff...and horribly attacks the mundane life. I'm glad ^^ Charles D. Ball - Jun 13 2005 Rating: Wonderful! Great anime, but where are the DVDs FLCL is a really great anime, one of the really good works from Gainax, like Evangelion and Gunbuster (original version done in 1988). It is a little weird as well as funny. I like it and would recommend it to others. The only problem: The DVDs are sold out pretty much everywhere, and it seems that Synchpoint isn't doing much about it. |
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