I just wanna say that I am loving Alternative a lot more than Progressive. Progressive felt like a sequel made by someone who liked the original because it was an acid trip full of phallic metaphors. Alternative feels like a sequel made by someone who liked the original because it was a coming of age story that was also an acid trip full of phallic metaphors.
Edited by JRads47 on Sep 17th 2018 at 4:44:03 AM
People are saying Alternative is so far feeling more like the OVA than Progressive. I feel it's the opposite. This animation here is worse. It's stiffer, less crazy, and less imaginative. Haruko is showing up even less, making the story more focused on the quartet. In this world, Haruko and the N. O. powers are the only things crazy about it, whereas in Progressive, EVERYTHING is crazy!
The original FLCL was nonstop insanity too; I think only the 1st episode had the least amount of absurdity in it (and that was mostly before Haruko moved into Nauta's home to be a housekeeper).
And am I the only one who thinks the N.O. robot this time around was clearly Bumblebee from the Bayformers?
Medical Mechanica's presence this time is a bit peculiar. This is the first FLCL that doesn't show them as a gigantic iron, but rather a slew of gigantic red Google Map pins that have all mysteriously dropped from outer space, again, incorporating 21st Century icons into the series. A woman is on the news shouting warnings about controlling extra-terrestrial activity, so here the mysteries that the MM causes are observed by the public and, unlike Progressive, they see it as being wrong and something that has to be corrected.
Edited by kyun on Sep 18th 2018 at 7:51:57 AM
What is it with this franchise and giant irons? XD
Come on! Let's bless them all until we get fershnickered!Odd. That shopping mall does NOT look like an iron. Where's the handle?
There's a line in the OVA that says MM is a metaphor for the grown-ups who think being an adult should be boring, serious, and uninteresting. They send irons to "iron out the wrinkles" in society.
Edited by kyun on Sep 18th 2018 at 8:58:18 AM
The reason she's getting crap is because she's not helping for their sake, but her own while thinking she's doing the former.
Most of Kanna's character is inserting herself into other people's problems without their consent to satisfy her own feelings without giving much consideration to others.
Its rather genius writing to have Pets` lack of screentime and attention be reflective of how Kanna has treated their relationship and it all comes to a head in this episode.
A lazy millennial who's good at what he does.That's what other people have been accusing Kana of, but I don't see any sign she's not acting altruistically. And she's not exactly doing anything harmful either, oh no she thought he one friend was being mistreated and she wanted give her other friend some cash, the horror. Plus it's a two way street, they don't tell Kana what's going on, Pets was actually lying to her, then they get upset when she doesn't have the whole story.
Never trust anyone who uses "degenerate" as an insult.You're missing the point. Its not that she isn't acting altruistically, its that she's butting in into other people's problems without their consent. Yes, her friends didn't tell her about their problems and that's the point, it's none of her business. If they wanted her to know, they would have told her.
Being friends doesn't justify intruding yourself into their personal life trying to "fix" it. You also need to respect their space as well.
She's Innocently Insensitive basically. It's really not that hard to understand.
A lazy millennial who's good at what he does.Wow that was dark. I loved how Haruko fighting the Terminal Core was in the background while Kana and Pets' falling out was happening. The wackiness gives FLCL its own identity, but the fact that it doesn't let the balls-off-the-wall insanity embody it entirely and gives more focus on the coming-of-age story is what I think makes it great, and Alternative does a respectful job of following that contrast.
I honestly think that Pets wasn't being completley truthful in her outburst, she made several valid truths but she's clearly always cared for Kana, being the one to pull her out of danger in episode 1. She cares for the rest of her friends since her "trades" just seemed to be getting mementos from her friends under the guise of "lolrandom". It seems like her outburst at Kana was a way of pushing her as a friend away since she likely doesn't have an option of choosing to not leave Earth.
To me it wasn't well explained clearly but from what I read elsewhere, Pets comes from an abusive household where her mother is extremely possessive of her. I did understand that because they are wealthy, they are among the 1% nutjobs who get to move to Mars. It's a testament to her distant personality that through all the years she's been best friends with Kana, Kana never found out any of this. Her smoking habits paint her in a darker light in hindsight. This is a story that is very much welcome- it feels like it could be something that would happen in a great FLCL sequel, but so far FLCL 3 is missing a lot of the bulls-eyes. I kind of wish we had more tones like this in FLCL 3.
I was actually looking forward to Progressive a lot more than Alternative when I first heard about the two, but I actually ended up liking Alternative a lot better. I thought Alternative stayed a lot more true to the original while still sort of doing its own thing, while to me Progressive felt more like a better-than-average FLCL fanfic. The only thing I'll say I outright didn't like about Alternative was that I thought the climax felt really rushed.
Edited by Gravityman on Oct 14th 2018 at 5:00:49 AM

The only connection we have to the other seasons (besides Haruko, of course) is the jenga block that says "NEVER KNOWS BEST" that was shown in episode 1.