FLCL

Anime is a medium that I have a deep history with. Before I became the cinephile you know me as today, I was obsessed with watching seasonal anime. I vividly remember attending an anime club during my junior year of high school to see what shows they would bring. I can’t remember which anime the club leader brought, but I know the anime made the teacher uncomfortable several times. Anime is a vast canvas of genres and animation styles, and each anime has the potential to become someone’s favorite, just the same way an album or film can become someone’s all-time favorite. Neon Genesis Evangelion has been my favorite anime for a long time now. However, it’s been years since I last seriously watched the show, and my feelings and memories remain, but FLCL might be contending for that position in a short while. Neon Genesis was an essential anime as it was one of my first forays into art-house materials. Absorbed in this world of animation, I had to find shows like my new obsession. During my high school years, my friends asked me several times to watch an anime called FLCL. My friends attested to the show's quality despite its short runtime, but I foolishly ignored their recommendations and continued on my journey, which proved unfruitful. I decided to change that by watching FLCL, and I finally understood what everyone was trying to tell me about all those years ago. FLCL is one of the most energetic anime I’ve ever seen. The animators were free to create whatever their minds could conjure up, creating one of the best testaments to human creativity. Lofty claims, but watching the show has convinced me of this. It stands out with its short runtime, but in that short runtime (relative to other anime, which end up being 12, 13, or 24 episodes), it manages to fit in themes of growing up, what being an adult means, what relationships are beneficial for us, and burgeoning sexuality. At 26, I can look back at my childhood and teenage years with clarity and see what was holding me back. In some ways, I shared some of the same characteristics as Naota when I was younger. I, too, wanted to skip childhood and become an adult so I could have control over my life, but in that pursuit, I neglected my needs, like bonding with my peers. I was detached from anything you could call solid ground. My parents and their friends would call me an old soul, and I would wear that as a badge of honor. Here I was, accepted by these adults, and the adults saw me as one of them. I never could be one of them because I was only a child, a child who wanted to escape the pains of their childhood by fantasizing about what it would be like to be an adult, what it would be like to go to college, what it would be like to live anywhere but here. While watching FLCL, I could easily remember my summer days in elementary, waiting for the days to end because I was bored with the repetitive nature of each day. I thought about how, if I were an adult, I could go anywhere I wanted without anyone checking in on me. We are introduced to Naota with him sitting by a bridge as he lets the day pass him by. He is accompanied by Mamimi, a girl who had a crush on Naota’s older brother but never got to tell him before he left for the US. The two otherwise would not have a relationship with one another; however, because both are bored, they occupy each other’s time. It’s just another day in Naota’s routine, as he spends the day pouting away. He is suddenly struck in the head with a guitar by a woman riding a moped named Haruko Haruhara. On that day, Naota’s life changes, and the path to maturity he sought has arrived. FLCL becomes a story about giant robots emerging from people’s foreheads, guitars used as weapons, and zany scenarios that must be seen and believed. It is a show willing to delve into the darker aspects of growing up. One arc of FLCL is Naota’s relationship with Haruko and what their relationship provides for both parties. From Naota’s perspective, he feels like an adult, like he finally has someone who can prove that he is an adult but is also exploited. Naota’s feelings are never addressed, and Haruko often toys with Naota’s head. Naota feels immense alienation from his peers, and with Haruko, she sees something special about him; with that recognition, Naota is willing to wait day and night for Haruko because of how she makes him feel; in other words, she is his escape. To avoid revealing too many details of the show, Haruko does not have the same sentiments. Haruko represents a form of escapism for Naota, but for other characters, she is a reflection of their desires, and when she inevitably grows bored of whoever holds her eye, she moves on without remorse. While watching this show, I reflected on all the time I spent in relationships with friends or romantic partners that were not beneficial. For a time, they gave me an escape from my feelings. However, reality always catches up, and I was no exception. Eventually, I lost myself in who I was and what I wanted from my existence. FLCL is about finding oneself in the aftermath and redefining who you are. Naota is coming to terms with what he wants from his life, and in that slow realization, he can finally grasp that autonomy he desires while still enjoying the present. It’s a constant struggle between striving for the future and dealing with the present. While it would be nice to have a button that allows us to jump into any point in our lives, that’s not reality; we have lives that can be mundane, tedious even, but we have lives where small events happen that can last with us for the rest of our lives. Naota may have had robots jumping out of his head and strange men from other planets visiting him, but in between that, he still found time to sit under that bridge with Mamimi. FLCL focuses on relationships between people and the push-pull tensions that arise. We can form relationships with all kinds of people, but if we spend time with them hoping they'll become someone else, who benefits from the relationship? Relationships have layers of depth, and within each layer, you begin to see the larger picture of this person, what they dream of, what they fear, what makes them laugh, what they love, and what they hate, among other things. In each layer, the previous iteration of the person erodes, filling in with a new picture materializing before you. During this process, you and the person become closer, sharing a relationship more profound than previously thought possible, but this is only achievable through vulnerability. In FLCL, characters frequently avoid this vulnerability to maintain their cool veneers, etching in definitions of who they really are. I’m sure that upon further rewatches, I will find more depth in these relationships and how they are paced throughout the show. FLCL is a unique show, and I now understand why it was heralded with so much praise. It understands what it is like to grow up and wanting to be an adult as the malaise of life alienates you from your peers. Naota is just a kid going through an intense journey of self-actualization, fighting off giant robots and other threats while balancing his affection for Haruko. It’s a show that speaks to me because it reminds me of what I felt when I wanted to find anything to help me escape the world. FLCL wants us to think about how we spend our time with one another. Who are your friends, do you know them, what do you do for each other? Are you both benefiting from your relationship? Coinciding with that, you have a developing sexuality and the intense feelings that it provokes within an adolescent. FLCL's animation is never afraid to be expressive or bouncy, opting for ingenious ways to deliver a joke. It’s a testament to the show’s quality that it still stands as one of the most well-regarded animes ever made; but that’s because this show is a preservation and ever-endearing work of art that is truly timeless. FLCL has something to offer anyone looking to embark on a journey toward self-reflection.