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R2 DVD Reviews
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Written by maehara
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Thursday, 24 April 2008 16:00 |
 And we thought the days of seeing only two episodes on a full-price DVD were long gone. Fear not, though, as the culprit is FLCL, one of the best mindf**k shows out there and the only GAINAX show I've ever seen that completely lives up to the hype. And then some. Let the fun begin...
1 - Fooly Cooly / Furi Kuri
Naota's life, to him, is dull - especially since his brother left town. Now he's stuck with nothing to do, and spends most of his free time with his brother's homeless ex-girlfriend Mamimi - a high-schooler who seems to use him more as a plaything than anything else. His life's about to take a turn for the exciting, though, after Haruhara Haruko arrives in town. On her Vespa scooter with electric guitar in hand, she thwacks him so hard he's knocked unconscious - and shortly afterwards, robots start emerging from his head. So just who is Haruko? Why did she pick on Naota when she reached town? Does she have anything to do with Medical Mechanica, whose factory looms over the town like a giant steam iron? And will Naota ever get back to having a normal life..?
2 - Fire Starter / FiSta
Things aren't getting any better for poor Naota (or Takkun, as Haruko's taken to calling him) - the emergence of the first robot from his head seems to have left him without a brain, Mamimi's taken to dropping by his school, his father's put the robot to work in the shop - all things that are going to cause tongues to be wagging. Sure, Naota wanted his life to get a little more exciting, but he didn't quite have this in mind. Add a series of suspicious fires, and things are getting downright weird - especially after he begins to suspect Mamimi's responsible for the fires. Oh, and the two new horns he's sprouted? More robots to deal with...
There is a story here, somewhere, but it's not what you expect. What you think you're getting is a high-adrenaline action show, with Naota and Canti taking on the other robots that periodically sprout from his head. Is it a gateway to another dimension? Or some other paradox filling his head, now that Haruko's knocked the brain out of it? Who's to say - and while it's unspoken so far, you can bet that the only people who know are Haruko and the folks on the hill at Medical Mechanica. Take that side of the story on its own, and it's still hugely enjoyable, helped along by an absolutely stellar JRock soundtrack by the pillows - this is one series that you want to watch with the volume cranked up.
There is more to it than that, though, if you want to scratch under the surface a bit. It's also a coming-of-age story, with Naota learning how to deal with the women in his life (Mamimi and Haruko, if you're wondering), with some not-all-that-well-hidden sexual undertones to some of the scenes. Given that Naota's just 12, all this is new to him - although maybe not to the girls (Mamimi is 17 and Haruko's age is unknown but probably somewhere in the 20s). Circumstances around him are making him grow up quickly, but he doesn't really want to, and that reluctance sort of follows him around into everything else he does.
Don't worry, though, watching FLCL isn't heavy going unless you want to try and analyse everything as you go along, which is something I wouldn't advise. Instead, sit back, enjoy the lavish visuals, the first-class soundtrack, the frenetic action and the little pieces of slice-of-life story that tie it all together. FLCL almost tries to do as much in these two episodes as most shows would do in four anyway, so I can't bring myself to complain too much about value for money. There are very few shows available in the UK that match this, and that earns this release a wholehearted recommendation. Go get.
Watch the promo clips for this release: Clip 1 | Clip 2 | Clip 3 | Clip 4
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