Where do I start with Fooly Cooly? It was an anime that I decided to watch due to its length and was left in utter awe by this creative bundle of episodes. This coming-of-age has a certain feel like no other! FLCL embodies the superb creativity and the amount of love and passion that was put into this thrilling ride. And yes! I do think this is a masterpiece of an anime regardless of its flaws which to me, aren’t present in the show.

For starters, one thing I love about the story is that it doesn’t follow a fixed narrative. Each episode is its own story - almost as if an anthology of stories. Naota, the main character, a puberty-afflicted lad that resides in a boring town, living a boring life. He hangs out with brother’s ex-girlfriend, Mamimi. But one day, encounters an extraterrestrial being called Haruhara with a BANG! (literally). From there on, his life takes a wacky turn (for good) with each episode adding to the narrative, adding to the emotions and adding to the experience.

The characters all add to the fun. We've got Naota who tries to keep up with the bizarre adventures in each episode, Haruhara who is the driving force for most of the episodes, Mamimi who is trying to find her own enjoyment in life and Canti - everyone's favourite, stylish-looking human robot. And then there's the rest of the side characters. Naota is the character I'd like to mainly focus on. He is a 12 year old boy going through puberty, trying to find some enjoyment in his mundane lifestyle. To pass time, he spends his time with Mamimi by the river. When Haruhara comes into his life, everything changes. Each episode sees him develop new emotions and understandings about different things. He starts to develop feelings for Haruhara and reveals them to her in the finale. Mamimi is also an interesting character as many people frequently ship her with Naota when she just spends time with him as a friend to get away from things. She saw him as a really close friend, however this gave Naota the wrong impression of her loving him. Mamimi is the last character I wanna discuss. She is a crazy character with a bipolar-like personality. She switches from a care-free and playful nature to an ambitious and threatening person during the finale. I feel like that without her antics going on in each episode and directing the narrative for most of the episodes, FLCL may not have been the same.

The animation is very fluid and outright chaotic and I savor every moment of it! From the slow motion of Naota crashing into Haruhara’s moped to Naoto playing cops and robbers with Canti. These moments don’t even feel like they have outdated animation, so to speak, it can go head to head with the animation of other anime.

The soundtrack to me is one of the biggest highlights of the show. It perfectly encapsulates the late 90s/early 00s era. FLCL is the reason why I love rock even more! The Pillows are a great band which deserve all the attention they get. For me these are my favourites from them:

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Furthermore, Fooly Cooly left me with a few messages. To start, the show taught me that even mundane days can offer some enjoyment and joy out of it no matter how big or small. It's okay to feel bored because somehow, there will be something to enlighten in your day. This is the same thing with the ending of FLCL; Mamimi leaves the town for her passion in photography, Haruhara leaves the planet to continue her search for Atomsk and Naota starts middle school. It's a pretty clean ending showing that everyone has moved with their lives. After all his spontaneous adventures, it seems that Naota has reverted back to his boring life. However, that's not true. Even after all the good times over, you still have those memories of what you shared with your friends. Sure, it may feel different as if everyone moved on (which people have). But they will never forget those precious times they experienced. And that's a fact.

All in all, FLCL dominated with its unique unconventional and fast narrative which boasted one of the greatest anime soundtracks which I still listen to every now and then. The mixture of the characters added made it a memorable epic which has been able to stay imprinted into our minds. Alas, from what I’ve heard we never got a proper sequel with people having mixed feelings about Alternative and Progressive. But hey! We still got the original and many other hidden gems like FLCL such as Sonny Boy which I’m really looking forward to.
Thanks Fooly Cooly!

KEEP CALM AND LISTEN TO THE PILLOWS!