One of the main characters is Mamimi's child, and their character arc will center on the two of them repairing their relationship.
Eighteen years have passed since the original series aired, and Mamimi getting knocked up in the interim seems entirely in character for her. Of course, it would also be in character for her to avoid the responsibilities that come with being a parent by leaving them with a more responsible party (Naoto, perhaps?) for months at a time. Paralleling how the original series explored the dysfunctional relationship between Naoto and Kamon through Haruko's presence/interactions with both, her return will force Mamimi's kid to grapple with a host of ambivalent feelings about their mother. And if Mamimi herself decided to make a cameo appearance, the show may well pull a Children Raise You moment which gives her character arc more closure than the original series.- Seems to be jossed so far for Alternative.
- In the first episode of Progressive, Hidomi's mother muses about how the Medical Mechanica plant sounds the same. If she's seen and heard a Medical Mechanica plant in operation before, she's probably from Mabase, possibly Mamimi herself. She's certainly spacey enough to be a grown up Mamimi, brandishing a knife while demanding that Hidomi say "Good Morning" and hiring Jinyu after she ran over Hidomi, showing no sign of dismay as Jinyu broke plate after plate while trying to wash them.
- But an adult Mamimi makes a cameo in the ending, and she doesn't resemble Hidomi's mother. The credits also state that the name of Hidomi's mother is Hinae.
In contrast to the original, FLCL 2&3 will focus on the ideological division between parents and children.
FLCL 1 focused on the paradox of performative "maturity" as a form of childishness in its own right, but it's explored on a very insular scale. The teaser implies that the sequels will have a much larger cast, meaning more chances to build conflict between older and younger characters. Moreover, many of the high-school and college-aged otaku who watched the original FLCL in 2000 now have families of their own, and it would be fitting to see 2&3 shift its thematic focus along with its demographic.- Appears to be jossed. Progressive is about finding purpose in life while Alternative is about getting ready to let go of your childhood. So far, there's no indication that the parents play a major role in these plots though they are present.
There is a reason why we saw Alternative for April Fools 2018 instead of Progressive.
Progressive will contain spoilers pertaining to the original cast or developments of FLCL. Alternative, being made by different people, is about different characters away from where the events of FLCL took place.The guy that recognized Haruha in Alternative Episode 1 is Iide.
Which would make Alternative a surprise sequel to Progressive rather than two loosely related stories.Hidomi's headphones are a Power Limiter designed to prevent her N.O. Channel from opening
When Jinyu examined them after running Hidomi over, she claimed it wasn't the sort of thing you could just buy in a store. The color change in the lights probably indicate that the suppressor is under strain, with red indicating that it's at its limit and may not be able to stop something from coming through.- May be true - Jinyu called it an "Enzyme Suppressor," and noted that Hidomi managed to overwhelm it in episode two.
Hidomi's father is Naota.
Like explained here
.- Going with this theory: Hinae (Hidomi's mom) is a Take a Third Option love interest. Haruko left at the end, and Naota didn't follow her into space. Mamimi was using Naota as a replacement for Naota's older brother, and moved away when it was clear he wasn't coming back. As for Ninamori...we get hints of it here and there, but it's entirely possible that just because she was the only option "left" didn't mean things went anywhere with her. He probably met Hinae later, somewhere between middle school and college.
- Seems possible, though there'd be the question of Hinae and Hidomi have a different last name and Naota never shows up, so it's unconfirmed.
Hidomi’s Headphones surpress her emotions
Relating to some of the above theories, Hidomi’s headphones surpress her emotions. Her mother implies she wasn’t always so withdrawn, and when her headphones were briefly taken off of her, she became a bit more expressive.- Confirmed; they're a Medical Mechanica device designed to suppress N.O by suppressing emotion.
- Related to the Naota theory: He instructed her not to take them off so she didn't get into the same trouble he did.
Hidomi's headphones were a gift from her father.
Taking them off would be a symbol that she's given up on him coming home, and she's not ready to do that yet.- Confirmed near the end of the season
Hidomi is an Apocalypse Maiden
Her frequent dreams about death and destruction and her opening monologue about how the world can only be beautiful when it's destroyed are a pretty big giveaway, with a few scenes even giving her a Nightmare Fetishist vibe. Her powers are also apparently bad enough that Jinyu is willing to kill her over it rather than allow her to fall into Haruko's hands, and the first time she awakens to her powers and transforms (complete with a suggestive blush and a nosebleed) are when she's merely told that associating with Haruko will get her killed.- Related to that, Hidomi may have caused Medical Mechanica some serious trouble in the past. Aside from her very first dream, which has her robot form fighting against a wave of irons, they're confirmed to be the ones responsible for her headphones, which act as a Power Limiter and even have a function that prevents them from being removed deliberately. Episode 3 also features a number of ruined irons, implying that something devastating happened to them.
Hidomi's nosebleeds are meant as yonic imagery.
Nosebleeds aren't as popular as they used to be in anime, and this is a very 2010's anime. But they were probably chosen because Naota's "adolescent sexual awakening" arc had a lot of phallic imagery (all the robots emerging out of his head), so what do you go for with a vaginal equivalent? Something allegorical to periods. There's also her red horn and her headphones turning red when her powers are activated. Haruko is going to manipulate Marco, using Genki Girl Hidomi as leverage.
With Jinyu gone, the only ones standing between her and Hidomi is Ide and, of course, Hidomi herself. With Ide turning more and more against Haruko with each episode and Hidomi openly resolving to not give Haruko what she wants, she might turn to Marco and take advantage of the growing Love Triangle between the three, perhaps promising that if he does what she says he can get Genki Girl Hidomi back.- Jossed. It's actually the Interstellar Immigration Bureau that's been manipulating Marco to unwittingly act as the pilot for their giant robot.
The final battle is going to be a Mêlée à Trois between Haruko, Ide and Hidomi.
Ide piloting Canti and trying to save Hidomi, Hidomi in her robot Super Mode and in full "destroy everything" mode, and Haruko just trying to get Atomsk out of one of them.- Pretty much Confirmed.
Progressive is about letting go and moving on
One of Hidomi's biggest concerns is her missing father, and comments from both herself about how there's nothing she wants to do or be, and Jinyu commenting on how she's hit pause on the world seems to indicate that she can't let go of him and is waiting for him to return before she can finally continue living her life. Her obsession with the destruction of the world also seems to stem from wanting to do something, anything that could get his attention no matter where he is and get him to come home, assuming he's even alive. Thus the final episode could end with her actually trying to carry this out with her Super Mode, only to finally be convinced to let go just like her mother finally has and "unpause" her life.- This also appears to be the central theme of Haruko's story arc as well. She tries to harness Atomsk's power, only to be unable to handle him and split into Raharu and Jinyu, one of which is still obsessed with Atomsk while the other wants to let him be free.
Alternative is a prequel to Classic and Progressive
The ending sequence to Progressive reveals that Alternative is actually the PREQUEL to both Classic and Progressive. During the ending sequence, we are shown character art of the main characters in the following order: Alternative, Classic, Progressive. If Alternative had nothing to do with the story between Classic and Progressive, why show the characters? Why show the sets of characters in this specific order? The reason: Alternative is the prequel that sets up the series.- The presence of smart phones in Alternative makes this theory unlikely.
- Confirmed... sorta. Word of God is that it was originally designed as a prequel, but there's no word as to whether or not this is the case in the final product. If it is, the smartphones can be justified as not being used much in Mabase or something.
Alternative is an interquel between Classic and Haruko's first fusion with Atomsk
The presense of smart phones suggests that Alternative takes place after the first season, but Haruko retaining her original hair color, along with the complete absence Jinyu, suggests that the story takes place before Jinyu even existed. The season could end with Haruko absorbing Atomsk and splitting into Raharu and Jinyu. Kanda is actually an adult Naota.
The hints start to really add up by the end of Alternative, but they're present even from the beginning with him repeating the spicy food/maturity maxim and the fact that his physical features heavily resemble both Naota's and his father Kamon's. "Tsukata Kanda" is likely a pseudonym or codename, not hard to imagine given his government job. It's worth noting, though, that Haruko— who's stated to know him from a long time ago— never calls him by that name. When she asks when he started smoking, he replies at age 17, which would be long after Haruko left his life. It is rather sad that he'd become so uptight in his older age, seemingly to the point of squeezing off his own NO channel, but he does at least get better by the end. One more interesting point is his eyebrows— though they're thick like Amarao's, they're noticeably natural looking, showing his true maturity over the old Commander's fake ones.- Jossed; Kanda recalls their first meeting and it's clear he's not Naota; it's even noted he has underwhelming N.O powers, in contrast to Naota's exceptional ones. He's probably just a Mythology Gag for Naota and Amarao.
Progressive & Alternative take place in parallel universes
Both show what Haruko would be doing depending on the actions she took after the original FLCL. Progressive takes place in the universe where Haruko never got over Atomsk and kept searching for him and is still up to her old tricks. While Alternative takes place in the universe where she has chosen to move on and actually try to help people like Kana and her friends.