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This Week in Anime - Whatever Happened to FLCL Alternative?


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darkchibi07



Joined: 15 Oct 2003
Posts: 5455
PostPosted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 8:46 pm Reply with quote
I should get around watching this. That chat makes Alternative have a very fascinating take.
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Aura Ichadora



Joined: 25 Apr 2008
Posts: 2280
Location: In front of my computer
PostPosted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 9:45 pm Reply with quote
While the ending still confuses me a bit on its own (but if we do look at this being a "prequel" to the events of both the original and Progressive, then it does make a bit more sense), I did enjoy Alternative. And a lot of that did fall onto the characters, because I did love how different and alive they really felt. Not to say that Naota and Hidomi weren't, but Kana and her group were so vibrant that you could feel like you could relate to them and how real they were. And I did enjoy Haruko in this because she didn't seem entirely like a villain; I wasn't too keen on her in Progressive because of that constant villainous side she had.
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LvlfiveShipper





PostPosted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 9:55 pm Reply with quote
I didn't watch it because it was dubbed... Like, it's fine if you like dubs but not releasing both dubs and subs from the start makes me think that they didn't understand the fans
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Hiroki not Takuya



Joined: 17 Apr 2012
Posts: 2496
PostPosted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 11:06 pm Reply with quote
The column makes me want to watch, but I'm not surprised in the least that there was little post-premier discussion. I think a number of people felt as I that they didn't want to watch as FLCL was it's own show and didn't need any of this. What people wanted to say they said before the premier so there was nothing left unless the show went off the rails in some bizarre way or wound up being somehow WAY better than the original. Since it didn't do either, nothing to say...

I spent the time rewatching the original
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Zeino



Joined: 19 May 2017
Posts: 1098
PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 12:08 am Reply with quote
My guess is that Progressive's underwhelmingness killed most of the excitement for sequels, so that lot more people were indifferent when Alternative hit. In hindsight, they really should have aired it first as it was a good series and worthy follow-up that deserves more praise.
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dm
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Joined: 24 Sep 2010
Posts: 1345
PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 1:37 am Reply with quote
I enjoyed Alternative tons, Progressive less so. I think they're more enjoyable it you ignore the FLCL label and just take therm on their own. I'll probably watch both series again when I can watch them subbed.

Kana and her friends felt very realistic --- refreshingly so --- even with robots emerging from their foreheads.
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BaronViolet



Joined: 27 May 2018
Posts: 212
PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 7:58 am Reply with quote
As a fan of FLCL, I tried watching progressive but the first episode did not do it for me. I think the thing that stops me from watching these sequels is predictability. They just look so predictable and safe, where as FLCL was wild and u predictable. In the end, both shows probably would have been better if they weren't made as sequels to the first series.
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Beatdigga



Joined: 26 Oct 2003
Posts: 4342
Location: New York
PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 7:59 am Reply with quote
I’d say people were skeptical about FLCL needing a sequel so when one came and proved the skeptics right with Progressive most people just shrugged their shoulders and ignored what was next. I mean, Williams Street was pumped for this (although they’ve also said in interviews if they got the opportunity they would fund and produce Cowboy Bebop II which would be like remaking The Godfather to a lot of fans) but really, was anyone else that desperate for more Fooly Cooly?
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luffypirate



Joined: 06 Oct 2006
Posts: 3186
PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 9:09 am Reply with quote
I liked this one. Looking forward to watching the theatrical feature (JP Blu-ray Box release end of this month I think?)
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CatSword



Joined: 01 Jul 2014
Posts: 1489
PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 9:38 am Reply with quote
LvlfiveShipper wrote:
I didn't watch it because it was dubbed... Like, it's fine if you like dubs but not releasing both dubs and subs from the start makes me think that they didn't understand the fans


Toonami was going to stream the subbed version online as the dubbed was airing on TV, but the Japanese side of things demanded that they wait until both seasons were over.
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LUNI_TUNZ



Joined: 28 Apr 2010
Posts: 809
PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 10:04 am Reply with quote
Aura Ichadora wrote:
And a lot of that did fall onto the characters, because I did love how different and alive they really felt. Not to say that Naota and Hidomi weren't, .


But, Hidomi weren't. Like, she barely even spoke during the majority of the series, and at times she felt like a motile plot device, ambling around until someone else moved the plot along around her.

LvlfiveShipper wrote:
I didn't watch it because it was dubbed... Like, it's fine if you like dubs but not releasing both dubs and subs from the start makes me think that they didn't understand the fans


I mean, Adult Swim's fans are majority English speaking, who watch their content in English.
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Stiles



Joined: 21 Oct 2014
Posts: 105
PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 10:32 am Reply with quote
Weird, I liked Progressive quite a bit more than Alternative. Felt like Alternative was just some lukewarm teenage melodrama, guest starring Just Vaguely FLCL.

Neither one is as good as the original, obviously, but I genuinely think Progressive is closer and is overall the better season. Definitely don't mind being in that minority.
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jdnation



Joined: 15 May 2007
Posts: 1991
PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 10:46 am Reply with quote
I enjoyed Alternative and Progressive for what they were.

It is true that I'm less impressed as I was by FLCL back in the day, but that was of course a magical moment that you can't recreate anymore than you could your moments in childhood.

Alternative was better than Progressive as Progressive seemed at times to be pushing it to 11 but not working out, whereas Alternative was a step back with the volume lowered and worked out pretty well. And I guess the clues come from the Rock labels 'Alternative' (something different) versus 'Progressive' (trying to break new ground). And that's methaphorically and production-wise what I think they were aiming at compared to the original.

And on the off-topic of 'climate-change' hysteria, the latest IPCC report continues to only demonstrate that the whole climate-change alarmism is nonsensical horse manure and policy-drive manipulated statistics on behalf of the very oil industry everyone imagines they are fighting against. So look forward to your climate taxes paying for your (insert) politician's 6-figure vacation, which indeed will be taken on one of those carbon-producing jets, as they move the apocalyptic goalposts further and further back another 20 years like the religious fanatics they are.
Pay Up or the Earth Gets It! – #PropagandaWatch
How Bad Global Warming Science Hurts the Environmental Movement
Lies, Damned Lies, and Global Warming Statistics
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belvadeer





PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 11:30 am Reply with quote
Alternative worked on a much better level since Kana was surrounded by her friends and they were always part of each episode. Naoto's friends were only around because he needed someone to talk to at times (otherwise he'd come across as a lonely boy), and Hidomi's classmates were there to act as more of a mouthpiece for each scene's proceedings since Hidomi tended to keep pretty quiet a lot of the time and generally not care.

Alternative was definitely...an alternative to how they've tried to mature the FLCL formula; it may not work for everyone since the original still holds up to many as the best and only FLCL they'll ever need, but it's not a terrible entry by any means. It could also mean spoiler[Kana created a possible alternate timeline].
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Lord Oink



Joined: 06 Jul 2016
Posts: 876
PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 1:14 pm Reply with quote
Beatdigga wrote:
I’d say people were skeptical about FLCL needing a sequel so when one came and proved the skeptics right with Progressive most people just shrugged their shoulders and ignored what was next. I mean, Williams Street was pumped for this (although they’ve also said in interviews if they got the opportunity they would fund and produce Cowboy Bebop II which would be like remaking The Godfather to a lot of fans) but really, was anyone else that desperate for more Fooly Cooly?


Isn't Cowboy Bebop II what Space Dandy was supposed to be?

I view these two shows as similar cash grabbing nostalgia mining. Who was asking for a sequel to FLCL aside from Adult Swim producers who wanted to cash in on nostalgia? Isn't that also why they funded that Trigun movie awhile back? At least with Big O II they didn't wait 15 years and struck while the iron was still hot.
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