So what is this FLCL thing?

FLCL started out as a six-episode animated series from Japan, originally published straight to DVD in 2000. A two-volume comic book serialization of FLCL was published in Japan that same year, and three standard text novels were written by Enokido Yoji. (The novels can be purchased for less than $6 each at this online bookstore.) Starting in 2002, the FLCL animated series was translated to English and published in North America; the comic followed in 2003. The animated series was premiered on television on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block of adult-oriented animation in the latter half of 2003. No announcement has been made regarding the novel's translation to English.

Over-Analyzing FLCL contains much more specific information about the animated series and the comic.

FLCL, Fooly Cooly, Furi Kuri, Hunna Whatta?

You may have seen several different "romanizations" of FLCL. The Japanese katakana syllabic characters for FLCL are "フリクリ," which would be roughly pronounced as "Fooly Cooly," with the "L" sound actually sounding something between an "L" and an "R," if you can imagine that. There has been some discussion between people with too much time on their hands as to whether "Fooly Cooly" or "Furi Kuri"; the truth is, as there is no strict way to romanize Japanese verbage, they're both as right (and as wrong) as they could be. All the same, to avoid this "controversy," I've stuck with the quick and simple "FLCL" for this site.

What is FLCL about?

I don't want to tell you.

FLCL contains a very subtle overarching theme, a theme which will probably not become apparent to you until after you have seen it all the way through, perhaps more than once. I don't want to tell you what it's about, because the moment you catch it for yourself, the moment the light bulb goes off over your head and you go "oooOOOOOhhhh…" is one of the great experiences of watching this series. If I told you what it is about, you would be deprived of this experience.

But rest assured that the theme is there. To the first-time viewer, FLCL will seem very bizarre and random; a quick summary of the first episode could read like this: a kid makes out with his older brother's girlfriend, then some hyper woman on a motor scooter hits him on the head with an electric guitar, causing an odd bump which sprouts both an entire robot and a giant disembodied robot hand which engage in mortal combat with each other. Something resembling a sensical plot in the traditional sense doesn't appear until the fourth episode, although the threads of it are definitely there earlier. So if you've just started watching FLCL and are thoroughly confused by it, please stick with it! It's worth it!

But, without giving away too much, here's some general info about FLCL's story… FLCL takes place in the small, fictional Japanese city of Mabase. The main character is a twelve-year-old named Naota, a kid annoyed by immaturity but not quite mature yet himself. His older brother has moved to America to play baseball; in his stead, Mamimi, his seventeen-year-old girlfriend, has moved her affection on to Naota, a fact Naota is remarkably indifferent about. Yeah, not much interesting happens in Mabase… that is, until Haruko, a hyper-active orange haired woman claiming to be an alien, shows up and, with one well-placed swing of her pull-start Rickenbacker electric guitar, changes young Naota's life forever…

What else is cool about FLCL?

Japanese animation is typically synonymous with "cheap animation" but FLCL was blessed with a pretty healthy budget, relatively speaking, resulting in animation quality superior to just about every other Japanese animated series yet produced.

And any mention of FLCL would be worthless without speaking of of its music. FLCL is soundtracked by the Japanese rock band "the pillows." Unless you understand Japanese, you won't understand one lick of the lyrics, but I think you'll agree that they know how to rock most sufficiently. Two official soundtrack CDs have been released in Japan and have made the leap over the pond to America. For more info on the soundtrack, see the Music section of the Animation page.

So FLCL is a cartoon/comic, right? Does that mean my kid would like it?

Not so fast.

FLCL hails from Japan, an archipelago in the northwestern corner of the Pacific Ocean where, unlike in North America, animation and comics are not viewed as mostly "kids' stuff." These industries are huge over there, and create content for a wide variety of audiences, from cutesy stuff for kids to productions with ludicrously gory violence and/or bizarre hardcore pornography that are targeted towards adults, but in reality shouldn't really be seen by anybody.

1 FLCL falls in between the two extremes; while it does not contain full-frontal nudity or bloody violence, it contains a heap of mature themes and sexual innnuendo which parents may wish to shield from their children. I would recommend FLCL for older teens at the least.

What is the purpose of this site?

The purpose of this site is threefold: One, to provide some general information about FLCL and encourage people to check it out and become fans of it themselves; see the "General Info" pages). Two, to provide in-depth analysis of this very deep animated series and comic for those who are currently or have already enjoyed it; some would probably see it as over-analysis, hence the title of this site. See the "The Animation" and "The Comic" pages (but watch out for spoilers!)). I graduated university with a Bachelors' Degree in English Literature, so I am quite familiar with such (over-)analyzation of obscure works. ☺ Three, to increase my familiarity with new technologies in web development. This site is constructed by hand in strict XHTML, with layout controlled by CSS, and the images are all in PNG format. It uses PHP to dynamically construct pages. If you understood those last two sentences completely, congrats; you are a geek.

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