FLCL. Just your average Slice Of Life.

We never really learned what Atomsk actually is and to find out what happened to worst girl Mamimi. Always felt like she got a raw deal, and not in a "her bad choices led her here" way, but in a, "she never got any closure" kind of way.

Plus there is always a reason to have giant mecha deathmatches.

Sure but with this work

Like good for them if it turns out alright but this wasn’t something that needed a sequel

Third season seems really conventional, and I can't tell if it's just lazy or is it suppose to be mocking cookie cutter coming of age independent stories. But wasn't that what the original FLCL did, while being less conventional?

Also the N.O. channel should really be more yonic than phallic this time around, have Haruko dig in there instead of yanking something.

Oh god damn it it's out already?

EDIT: Ah, April Fool's prank. Like, actual April Fool's prank, they released it early. Weird they'd put the third season out first.

edited 1st Apr '18 6:49:10 AM by Soble

I was not feeling that. It felt cookie cutter and derivative, like if someone animated an FLCL fanfic, but couldn’t get anyone from the original.

I hate slice of life, yet loved FLCL. How does that work?

Haven't seen the new one yet, but I feel 1 episode isn't enough to judge any anime off.

If it helps, Jacob "JesuOtaku" Chapman from Anime News Network reviewed the first episode.

TL;DR: It sounds positive. Granted, it's not as nonsensical or energetic as the original, but it's still showing potential as its own thing. At least that's what I'm getting from the review.

I didn't watch FLCL when it first came out and I don't know if it was syndicated or if it came out with a full release. I'm curious what the early reviews of that anime were back when... well, Monogatari, Gintama, Ninja Nonsense, Excel Saga, Medaka Box, Zetsuborou-sensei, Ero-sensei, Assassination Classroom, and such didn't exist.

https://www.polygon.com/2017/7/3/15915404/flcl-2-3-trailer-cat-ear-headphones

Old article, but the comments (almost half) are not too kind to the claim of plagiarism on the cat ear headphones and are worried that big companies like McDonalds may do the same thing since there's already a precedent.

You must be younger, I never watched half of that stuff or even heard of it.

FLCL was a cult classic when it hit the west. Not mainstream but it was considered top grade stuff by a lot of people who watched it and is pretty influential on artist anime geeks. Also exposed a lot of westerners to the Pillows.

I first saw it when I was in middle school. I was fascinated by it and so were a lot of my friends.

The strongest things about FLCL to me were the unusual plot, symbolism, and he frantic, yet coherent animation. When this came out I doubt there were a lot of anime jumping from Slice Of Life to crazy giant mecha fights to deceptively simple metaphors about growing up, centered around a preteen Agent Scully and a Genki Girl madwoman. None that I knew about at least. The reception to it would naturally be higher because it's so fresh and eclectic.

Nowadays, there's a lot more works out there that have explored what FLCL did, so when one person said that the original anime wowed them and the third season didn't, I can't help but wonder if that's the reason. It's not doing anything we haven't seen done at this point. There have been comic relief characters like Haruko Haruhara and cynical protagonists like Naota since then. It's like watching Star Wars and not getting what was so great about the fourth episode.

Just my way of making sense of it since I haven't seen the April Fools Day episode. Most of the anime I listed have done the "wacky journey to adulthood filled with eye-catching superhuman battles and exotic metaphors."

edited 5th Apr '18 4:46:08 AM by Soble

What other anime characters are even close to Haruko? Most characters I can think of that are similar to her are all western.

I'm wondering what the through-line with Alternative is going to be. Its not clear from episode one, I don't think.

(2) There's no perfect expies, but in terms of wacky, aloof, provocative Breakout Character's and lovable, hyperactive, superhuman jerkasses who barge into the protagonist's life unannounced, these characters come to mind:

• Koro-sensei, Assassination Classroom
• Haruhi Suzumiya
• Adam Blade from Needless
• Isaac and Miria from Baccano!
• Izaya Orihara and Celty Sturluson from Durarara
• Yoruichi from Bleach
• Bobobo-bobo-bo bo
• Mako Mankanshou and Nui Harime from Kill La Kill
• That one chick with the boobs from Akame ga Kill, uh, the blond berserker one, Leone I think?
• Shiro from Deadman's Wonderland
• Junko Enoshima, Danganronpa
• Index from Toaru Majustsu Index, although Mikoto or Kuroko might fit this better
• god knows how many characters from harem anime like Highschool DXD and Date A Live
  • Speaking of, Kurumi Tokisaki from Date A Live

All similar levels of Cloud Cuckoolander with mysterious motives and dangerous auras about them. You don't have to look very hard in the anime index to find an energetic, aloof, superhuman, Large Ham. She's probably the superior embodiment of these traits, but today's anime viewers aren't going to look at Haruko with the same level of awe.

edited 5th Apr '18 2:05:23 PM by Soble

After this is done, I'm expecting FLCL R&B as a prequel.

FLCL Punk will end up doing something completely different.

So the new season premieres on adult swim tomorrow night. Who's gonna watch it?

If I didn’t have to go to work at 5am I would

-chants the show's title-

New girl... actually has less emotion than Naota. Jesus.

And Haruko has a new hair color.

Oh, that guy from the trailer who looks like Naota isn't actually Naota. Huh.

edited 2nd Jun '18 9:06:41 PM by Soble

That was serviceable, though it's missing the medium blending fourth wall breaking of the first season. But it's good to see Haruko, and her evil twin seems alright.

The tanned woman is the evil twin?

Also, Haruko's reveal at the end seemed fourth-wally. The class was supposed to be us, slowly being mesmerized by the return of Haruko's familiar voice, and Haruko notes, "finally, the real one's appeared," after we had just gotten a false flag with the woman in the car, and spending most of the episode wondering when Haruko would appear.

Maybe not evil, or as evil, but she's some sort of doppelganger.

the first episode was way better than i expected, i think they tried to much to copy the themes of the first season in the first half of the episode but it only got better in the second half. I just hope they can find their own style and move away from referencing season 1.

Who else figured out right away that the teacher was secretly Haruko? I mean, they weren't subtle about it, what with showing us her Vespa, but her voice wasn't even all that disguised.

I really hope she hasn't really been fucking her students, though. The cultural zeitgeist is way too blase about female teachers abusing male students as it is. I'm pretty sure that kid was full of shit, though, because he definitely would've mentioned the boxing glove.

I like the new girl. I like her mom even more. As for the hot rod chick, are we to infer she's an old acquaintance or colleague of Haruko's? She didn't seem evil to me. Just... Yugopotamian.

The only thing I didn't like was the animation quality. It didn't look as good as the original series.

edited 3rd Jun '18 11:54:32 AM by ThriceCharming