History Anime / FLCLProgressiveAndAlternative

''FLCL: Progressive'' focuses on the 14-year-old classmates Hidomi and Ide, as two alien beings--one of them a familiar woman riding a Vespa scooter--battle over control of the pair's latent powers.

''FLCL: Alternative'' features the 17-year-old ordinary high-schooler Kana. One day, a mecha falls from the sky, along with Haruko, who has designs on Atomsk. Kana and her friends find themselves being pulled in to Haruko's chaotic orbit.

* CosmeticallyAdvancedPrequel: Official word is that ''Alternative'' was originally designed to be a prequel, but there's nothing in the series itself that confirms one way or the other. The series features smart phones, flatscreen televisions, space travel, and other more modern concepts that didn't exist in the original FLCL.

* StealthPrequel: [[spoiler: According to Toonami's creative director Jason [=DeMarco=], ''Alternative'' was ''designed'' to be a prequel to the FLCL series. This is shown with little details such as Haruko not having her signature yellow Vespa or the metal bracelet on her wrist that tracks Atomsk's power. Plus her personality being surprisingly less selfish in this one (She fights Medical Mechanica just to keep them from having their way then them being a obstacle to get to Atomsk. Atomsk doesn't even show up in this series). The GainaxEnding is actually a very loose set up for what was originally going to be the first series, complete with Haruko getting the Vespa and seeing a power akin to Atomsk's. It was meant to tie into an unused story concept in the original that the town of Mabase would've actually been on Mars the entire time.]] However, there's nothing within the series itself that confirms when it takes place in the timeline.

* StealthPrequel: [[spoiler: According to Toonami's creative director Jason [=DeMarco=], ''Alternative'' was ''designed'' to be a prequel to the FLCL series. This is shown with little details such as Haruko not having her signature yellow Vespa or the metal bracelet on her wrist that tracks Atomsk's power. Plus her personality being surprisingly less selfish in this one (She fights Medical Mechina just to keep them from having their way then them being a obstacle to get to Atomsk. Atomsk doesn't even show up in this series). The GainaxEnding is actually a very loose set up for what was originally going to be the first series, complete with Haruko getting the Vespa and seeing a power akin to Atomsk's. It was meant to tie into an unused story concept in the original that the town of Mabase would've actually been on Mars the entire time.]] However, there's nothing within the series itself that confirms when it takes place in the timeline.

* StealthPrequel: [[spoiler: According to Toonami's creative director Jason [=DeMarco=], ''Alternative'' was ''designed'' to be a prequel to the FLCL series. This is shown with little details such as Haruko not having her signature yellow Vespa or the metal bracelet on her wrist that tracks Atomsk's power. The GainaxEnding is actually a very loose set up for what was originally going to be the first series, complete with Haruko getting the Vespa and seeing a power akin to Atomsk's. It was meant to tie into an unused story concept in the original that the town of Mabase would've actually been on Mars the entire time.]] However, there's nothing within the series itself that confirms when it takes place in the timeline.

* BalloonBelly: Haruko sports one in episode 5, the result of having Jinyu in the previous episode, and tries to pass it off by saying she's pregnant.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Kana manages to save the Earth, but Pets ultimately still ends up leaving the planet and doesn't return for the finale. Despite this, Kana has learned to be more honest about her fears and anxieties, and accepts that things really can't stay the same. This leaves the implication that should Pets return, Kana will be able to approach her more heads-on, honestly. Haruko seemingly finds herself stranded on Mars but she seems content, and unlike previously, no longer seems to be obsessed with chasing after Atomsk.]]

* FusionDance: [[spoiler:Haruka]] forcibly re-absorbs [[spoiler:Jinyu]] in episode 4.

* XRaySparks: In episode 2, Jinyu's car becomes 6 smaller drones which attack Haruka. They fire electrical bolts at her, some of which hit Ide. Each time one of them hits him, his skeleton can be seen through his body.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Kana manages to save the Earth, but Pets ultimately still ends up leaving the planet and doesn't return for the finale. Despite this, Kana has learned to be more honest about her fears and anxieties, and accepts that things really can't stay the same. This leaves the implication that should Pets return, Kana will be able to approach her more heads-on, honestly. Haruka seemingly finds herself stranded on Mars but she seems content, and unlike previously, no longer seems to be obsessed with chasing after Atomsk.]]

** ...same episode: Iide charges into a room and stumbles upon what effectively amounts to a bondage situation. His response: the anime standard nose bleed? No, no, no... a glob of... slime... erupts from his... head (I didnt honestly fully realize the implications until I started writing it). Its tentacle attacks are even less subtle. Its probably not that much of a coincidence that Haruko ends up taking control of it.

* GainaxEnding: Hoo boy, the final episode gets pretty existential, but almost nothing is actually explained. [[spoiler:In her efforts to confess her true feelings to the universe so Pets can hear them, Kana summons a singularity that absorbs Medical Mechanica, but sucks Haruko up with it. Moments of the original FLCL series flash through Haruko's being, and the last we see of her is being stranded on the freshly-colonized Mars with a city dome in the distance. There seems to be some giant smooth planet orbiting Earth that may or may not be the aforementioned Mars, and Kana and her friends continue their lives as the city rebuilds from the destruction and itself is mirrored in opposite from a BookEnds scene from the first episode - but with Kana having gone through CharacterDevelopment and Pets absent for good]].

In the U.S., ''Progressive'' premiered on [adult swim]'s Creator/{{Toonami}} block on June 2, 2018; ''Alternative'' is scheduled to follow on September 8 of the same year. You can see the trailer [[https://twitter.com/FLCL_USA/status/976127680746868737 here]]. In Japan, both series will be presented as films to be released in theaters in September 2018.

* RealityHasNoSoundtrack: The final scene from episode remarkably doesn't have score to accompany the actions of the scene; [[spoiler: in which Pets symbolically decides to break off ties with Kana by taking back her hairpin and returning Kana her's.]]

* TakeThat: The [[MonsterOfTheWeek robot of the week]] of episode 2 strongly resembles [[Film/TransformersFilmSeries the live-action version]] of [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} Bumblebee]]. Before destroying it with [[ItMakesSenseInContext a giant kebab]], Haruko screams "'''''Creator/{{MICHAEL BAY}}!'''''"

* StealthPrequel: [[spoiler: The GainaxEnding is actually a very loose set up for what was originally going to be the first series, complete with Haruko getting her signature Vespa and seeing a power akin to Atomsk's. WordOfGod confirms this, as it's meant to tie into an unused story concept in the original that the town of Mabase would've actually been on Mars the entire time.]]

-->'''Haruko:''' It takes an idiot to do cool things. [[CrazyAwesome That's what makes it cool.]]

* StealthPrequel: [[spoiler: The GainaxEnding is actually a very loose set up for the original series, complete with Haruko getting her signature Vespa and seeing a power akin to Atomsk's. WordOfGod confirms this, and it's meant to tie into an unused story concept in the original that the town of Mabase would've actually been on Mars the entire time.]]

* GainaxEnding: Hoo boy, the final episode gets pretty existential, but almost nothing is actually explained. [[spoiler:In her efforts to confess her true feelings to the universe so Pets can hear them, Kana summons a singularity that absorbs Medical Mechanica, but sucks Haruko up with it. Moments of the original FLCL series flash through Haruko's being, and the last we see of her is being stranded on the freshly-colonized Mars with a city dome in the distance. There seems to be some giant smooth planet orbiting Earth that may or may not be the aforementioned Mars, and Kana and her friends continue their lives as the city rebuilds from the destruction - only Kana seems to have changed, marginally, and Pets never came back home]].

* BlandNameProduct: [[Website/YouTube YouYube]].

'''Hidomi''': Then what am I supposed to do? \\
'''Haruko''': Hand it over. If you want something you don't have, then you must hand over what you do have.That's called balance. \\

* WhamEpisode: Episode 4. [[spoiler: Canti [[KilledOffscreen died offscreen between the first and second seasons]], and Jinyu is devoured and forcibly recombined with Haruko, leaving no one capable of protecting Hidomi.]]

* BlandNameProduct:
** One of the stores that Kana and her friends go to is Dadaiso, a parody of Daiso, a Japanese dollar store.
** A "Kelorie Nate" (Calorie Mate) snack is shown in the first episode.

* OutsideContextProblem: Medical Mechanica is established as the overarching villains throughout the whole series, but even in Alternative, nothing is really revealed to what their goals are except for what was established in the original series: The irons want to flatten every last planet in the universe.

** As mentioned in the CallBack section, how well characters can handle spicy food being reflective of their maturity makes a comeback. Pets and Mossan can handle them just fine, Kana can't, Hijiri is clearly affects but tries to play it off as if it's no big deal (reflecting how she's immature at heart,) while Tsukata plays around with the metaphor by accidentally pouring an entire pepper shaker worth of spices on his food, but forcing himself to eat the whole thing anyway to prove how mature he is, even though it makes him look far ''less'' mature.

* WhamEpisode: Episode 5, where Pets has gone missing. [[spoiler: Turns out because YouNeverAsked, Kana was oblivious to Pets' crappy and implied abusive household life, just as the girl is about to be sent to Mars. And then when trying to rescue Pets from a Terminal Core, Pets lays into Kana with a RantInducingSlight, leaving the episode off on ambiguous circumstances as shit prepares to really hit the fan.]]

* GainaxEnding: Hoo boy, the final episode gets pretty existential, but almost nothing is actually explained. [[spoiler:In her efforts to confess her true feelings to the universe so Pets can hear them, she summons a singularity that absorbs Medical Mechanica, but ducks Haruko up with it. Moments of the original FLCL series flash through Haruko's being, and that's the last we see of her. There seems to be some giant smooth planet orbiting Earth, and Kana and her friends continue their lives as the city rebuilds from the destruction]].

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: When the first episode was aired as a surprise on Toonami for April Fools' Day 2018, the first bumper was of the scene where Haruko [[DynamicEntry kicks through Kana's window]] in slow-motion.

* ManipulativeBastard: Haruko intentionally fawns over the manager of the school's basketball team in episode 4 in order to make Kana jealous and get her to spawn something from the NO portal in her head... only to stop when she realizes Kana is too immature to understand her own feelings.