FLCL Progressive

Episode 1

“I have taught you everything you need to know,” a teacher declares apathetically in a familiar voice near the beginning of this episode, “now for today's lesson.” That might as well be the mission statement of this sequel, eighteen years out from the original outlandish OVA. The original FLCL was a jam-packed bundle of ideas, the sort of thing you could watch several times and still get something new from each time. But as bold and fresh as FLCL felt at the time, it's started to show its age by this point. With that in mind, Progressive takes a look at the lessons and concepts imparted by its predecessor and seems to ask “So now where do we go?” After viewing this first episode, I still have some trepidation about the seemingly reflective direction of this sequel, but it does seem to be shooting for ‘progressive’ as its intended tone.

Our main character Hidomi forms the heart of this story, though as the main character in a new FLCL series, her growth has only just begun by the episode's end. We learn the most about her in the premiere's haunting opening scene, with her narration ruminating on her own discomfort with her pubescent body and the monotony of small-town living that defines FLCL. Right out of the gate, this intro lets viewers know that it's playing to the FLCL faithful, with shots of things like an army of Medical Mechanica irons to the grounded body of Atomsk himself that prior fans can only speculate about at this point. That imagery does establish this sequel as upping the stakes, before we get to the more mundane world and character building for the episode.

Hidomi becomes a tougher nut to crack after that atmospheric opening monologue. On a basic level, she's doing the same mopey schtick as Naota at the beginning of his story, but she plays off people much less, seemingly going out of her way to avoid interacting with anyone. Apart from brief meetings with Ide and Jinyu, she mostly just talks to her adorable mother, who gives interesting context to her actions. One thing that I already appreciate about FLCL Progressive is that it avoids delving too deep into the nostalgia well by refusing to copy the original show's beats verbatim. As far as story progression goes, Hidomi actually ends up less developed than Naota was by the end of his first episode.

But there are parallels present, and they notably seem to involve Hidomi's mother acting as her counterpart to Mamimi. The moment before Hidomi gets hit by Jinyu is a direct recreation of when Naota was hit by Haruko. He was about to say something about his brother to Mamimi, while Hidomi seems like she's about to bring up something regarding a disappeared father-figure. Hidomi also draws the attacking robot's attention to protect her mother, and she notably flashes back to her mom as her headphones go crazy and her presumably-N.O.-related powers start to kick in. These are elements we can barely speculate on just one episode in; what might a series that's ostensibly about the onset of female puberty be saying with a focus on motherhood? But it does give us a way to connect with Hidomi and speculate where she might be headed. On top of that, the episode's intro has already shown us how she might actually end up changing (into her own screen-headed robot!), which is greater potential than Naota had shown by the start of his journey.

But speaking of Naota, let's talk about Hidomi's co-star Ide. Some elements of the original FLCL are starting to show their age, and Ide's characterization in this episode could charitably be seen as an interrogation of those elements. Perhaps the most notable thing about him is what we don't see; besides some conversations that set up his character and hint at important connections, we don't see any of his Haruko-related antics until he literally drops in on Hidomi near the episode's end. We don't even see the robot come out of his head, which was one of the defining moments of the original series. Once the cat is out of the bag and Haruko finally appears, it becomes apparent that she was ‘screening’ the kids for N.O.-compatible teenage horniness with the absurd porn-watching scene, and her disinterest in Ide's obvious attitude toward sex becomes an even funnier dismissal. As otaku-aimed anime have moved on to explore protagonists beyond Naota's archetype, the original FLCL's emphasis on the world-ending angst of being a boy going through puberty can seem a little ridiculous now, and shoving Ide out of frame throughout this episode may be a consequence of that. FLCL Progressive seems disinterested in Ide when he's not crossing paths with Hidomi, because this is her story.

The show's desire to move forward in its ideas is even apparent in Ide's focus scenes. His duo of buddies include a fashion-forward boy who wears a skirt and a sensitive guy who desperately takes care not to say anything that would hurt his friends' feelings. The story still treats these two as the laughable goofs that anime protagonists tend to befriend, but their personalities stand in direct contrast to the more typical characters in this role who would just howl about how horny they are. The revelation that Ide is being groomed by Haruko, who makes herself known with a lecture on average existence capped off with a declaration of “Born to be mild!”, makes clear what FLCL 2 thinks of how much anime protagonists have evolved and diversified since Naota.

FLCL Progressive also stands in stark visual contrast to the original. The colors are still as bright as ever, the show's small-town world feels cozy and lived-in, and the art design is familiarly brilliant, from notable fashions like Hidomi's cat-eared headphones (keep an eye out for the Medical Mechanica logo on them!) to crazed concepts like Jinyu's self-driving Bel Air convertible. But Progressive does notably lack the angular experimentation that Gainax brought to the table eighteen years ago, opting for a more polished Production I.G look. Perhaps it's a good thing that this will make the imagery and storytelling easier to follow this time, or maybe it just seems more straightforward because we're already used to the Fooly-Cooly-ness of this concept. There are still plenty of striking shots, notably that introductory scene featuring Hidomi's decaying form and subsequent robot transformation. But aside from those delightful reaction shots of Hidomi as a featureless cat-eared blob, there's no visual experimentation on par with what Gainax's team accomplished. If you came for that out-of-control, bursting-at-the-seams stylistic excess, you might want to check your expectations at the door. At least the soundtrack by The Pillows is as energetic as ever. There don't seem to be any standout tracks save for the ending theme yet, but these songs deserve some time to hopefully become as iconic as the old ones. (And you'll definitely crack a smile when Little Busters dutifully comes on at the end.)

Haruko reveals herself in this premiere's last moments, prompting the whole class to go wild, with only Hidomi and Ide staring at each other like “What's the big deal?” I think that encapsulates Progressive's nebulous ambitions so far. As an FLCL episode should, there's a ton of stuff going on that can be analyzed and interpreted in-depth, but surprisingly little has actually happened or been revealed beyond basic table-setting. Still, the setup is fascinating on both a story and meta level so far. FLCL Progressive earns a lot of points out of the gate for trying to reflect on itself as a show about puberty that may have needed to do its own growing up. This new entry could easily have just repeated the old show's beats as ‘FLCL but girls’, but instead it's progressing in an ideally distinct direction.

Rating: B+

FLCL Progressive is currently streaming on Adult Swim.