This review might contain spoilers. You may proceed if you can handle the truth...

By episode two, the viewer should notice at the latest that the original video animation FLCL, pronounced fooly cooly, endeavours to defy the conventions of the medium. Although it is not studio Gainax's first time, their first ambitious project Royal Space Force rejected the standards by including political issues, philosophical dilemmas and an almost adult cast. Since the marketing strategy targeted the wrong audience, children instead of young adults, the film performed poorly on its release. Their second more financial successful effort to push the boundaries of anime was the television series Neon Genesis Evangelion. In contrast to other Mecha animes during the time, the show focuses on the fragile psyches, fierce negative emotions and intricate relationships of the characters.

The other infamous studio behind FLCL is Production I.G. Under Oshii's directorial visions in the 1990s, they released two political, philosophical and mature movies: his second fan-dividing sequel Patlabor 2 and the infamous, influential Ghost in the Shell. Both studios would join forces on the complementary end of NGE, The End of Evangelion, for the first time and create one of the most impressive, beautiful and experimental moments in anime in the second half. The director of FLCL, Kazuya Tsurumaki, who collected directorial experience in the NGE series and film, could not choose two better studios to bring his artistic concepts to life.

After the combined efforts of multiple animation directors to appeal to an older audience in the last century, Tsurumaki did not follow the impulses and made a U-turn. Instead of focusing on a more mature and realistic approach like his contemporaries, he created a cartoonish and implausible anime. By taking advantage of the freedom that animation offers him and his creativity, every episode is full of ridiculous, exaggerated or bizarre qualities. For instance, the scenes drawn in manga panels are the most remarkable, chaotic and fierce moments in the show. Consequently, there is rarely a dull moment and often something exciting to absorb. Additionally, the OVA includes a lot of impressive-looking but meaningless symbolism and has a few pop culture references.

Tsurumaki's absurd, disordered and preposterous style in FLCL separates it from previous animes. Albeit not everybody enjoys this technique, the nonsensical chaos in the plot captures the character's fluctuating emotional state excellently. Both pre-teen characters, Naota and Eri, struggle to express their feelings towards other people and to understand their own emotions. One of the young adults, Mamimi, mourns a failed relationship, and she has a hard time finding her place in this world. The other, Haruko, chases an unrequited love, and she has trouble treating other people well. Although the majority of the cast can overcome their problems and grow as a person, their character development often happens scattered, spontaneous and unfathomable. Despite that flaw, almost all characters are well-defined, inspiring and engaging.

Besides FLCL's focus on unhealthy and one-sided relationships, it also questions the earnest image of adults with its childish grown-ups. However, none of the episodes discusses this topic in depth. Since most of the show's perspective is from a young male protagonist in puberty, many scenes have sexual tensions, which might alienate some viewers. The autonomous, humanoid robots and their fights take up a relevant portion of the screen time without benefiting the story. Together with other excessive action scenes, they create the impression of only stretching the runtime. Without a doubt, they might be impressive the first and second time but lose their appeal quickly. Another unnecessary plot element is the Interstellar Immigration Bureau, whose officers and efforts have no significant impact on the ending or characters.

The brilliant score of the alternative rock band The Pillows almost compensates for the mediocre story. Fitting to Tsurumaki's ambitions to jettison anime norms, catchy rock songs are an excellent choice over drained pop songs. A song with more intense instruments would have been better during the battle scenes. The animation quality follows the high standards of the score. The CGI and the hand-drawn components are well-integrated and do not feel out of place.

To sum up, FLCL combines creative ideas, humorous jokes and the creator's desire to defy contemporary anime norms. Under his experimentation, the structure of the plot suffered the most. If you prefer intense action scenes, decent visuals or absurd jokes over a well-structured storyline and character development, you should watch the show soon. Because FLCL captures the zeitgeist of the 1990s well, it might be worth checking out for the nostalgia if you grew up in this decade. Otherwise, it is still worth trying for its legacy on the medium.