FLCL

This anime is amazing, as someone who enjoys western cartoons usually over eastern anime, I think this was the best of both worlds. The show isn't scared to show it's inspirations either, switching its entire art style to south park, and going for many cartoonish frames and style choices, to a more western sounding voice cast the show hits every mark of western animation, and it feels like one. I think the biggest initial draw of the anime was the soundtrack. When the music initially faded in for the first time after Naota gives the opening, you really get lost in the sound of the music before the world of the anime. Then when Haruko causes a sudden change in the whole beat of the show the music and the anime suddenly become one and from then on it just feels like you're watching a 2 hour long AMV.
t'snot like the music is the main draw of the anime,it'ss just what gets you hooked. The first episode does a great jjob ofillustrating what the rest of the anime is going to be like. The second the show gets too serious it needs to break ip. No matter how much iIlove the bridge scene at the end of the first episode, highlighting the tragedy of Mamimi's character, it feels so perfect for the most serious plot development in the show, and covering a characters tragic life to end with 2 robots coming out of Naotas face boners. I think that is fooly cooly, I know the whole plot of the show, no matter how little it makes sense, is just a story about a boy going threw puberty, but I think what they wanted you to think at the end of the show, is for you to feel awesome. I mean I don't think anyone can watch the full show, watch the fight scene at the end, and just watch the complete way it ends, and not feel like you just witnessed something amazing.

I think the 3 "love interests" of the shoareis probably the most interesting dynamic. All of thesexploreng three different negative ways people act in relationships, obsession, exploitation, and reliance. Erexpressesng obsession, being so obsessed not only with Naoa, but with everything. She wants so desperately to be with Naota, but because of her blind obsession she lacks the ability to see what Naota wants, so she does everything that she would want to make Naota like her, convincing herself that all of this is what he wants and how he wants it. This is why Naota gets so mad when he finds out she made him the lead character of the play, and rigged the votes to do so. It's not like Naota cares that she rigged the votes hes not one to stand on moral high ground just because of how terrible everyone is around him, but he simply doesn't want to be in the play and is mad at her for that. Haruko represents exploitation, because she is exploiting Naota to get to her the pirate king, atomisk. Haruko is a funny charachter because she needs to get Naotas trust to be able to open the portal in his head, but he also needs to make him feel terrible to get the portal to work. She does this by doing things that would scar anyone. She makes Naota fall in love with her, given she's his first kiss, and then says that she'll be his, just for the next day he finds her and his dad making out, not really their just like fondling eachother with eggs its weird. This would scar anyone and it shows her reasons for dating him are purely selfish. The last love interest is Mamimi, i guess technically she's first but that doesn't matter i just ordered them like this for fun. Mamimi's is probably the most tragic charachter in the whole anime. She fell in love with Naota's brother when she was a child because he saved her from a fire that she caused. She burnt down her elementary school because she was being bullied, and she felt like she had no other choice. We never see her parents, but we can imagine her home life is just as bad as her school life. We learn in the first episode that when Naota's brother moved to America he didn't tell Mamimi and got himself a new girlfriend without telling her either, Naota being the one to tell her. Mamimi only fell in love with Takkun because it was the first time anyone treated her well. From that day one she was just as obsessed as eri, but also needed him. Without Takkun around to keep her grounded she quickly spirals out of control, and begins burning things down again under the name of the dark flame god Canti, who she things is the robot Naota shot out of his head in the first episode. She quickly realizes the problem with being reliant on Naota, because he isn't like Takkun, he isn't a reliable person, he ditches her, and he really isn't mature enough to take care of her like Takkun did.

My favorite episode of the whole show is Full Swing. Not only does it show us major change in Naotas character it also focuses on a topic that i think is the most relatable in any anime, and it goes threw the motions of explaining and overcoming the problem in the best way possible. It already established that Naota's brother is some baseball hot shot, and Naota is pretty shit at the sport, but its not until this episode we find out why Naota is bad, its not because he just sucks but its because he doesn't even try. He looks at every single ball that goes by instead of taking the chance that he could be good, because he knows everyone will just compare him to his brother. Along the way we get tons of scenes where Haruko, who was now established to be crazy good at baseball, tries to teach Naota how to play, not because she actually cares about how he does in the sport, because she knows theres a bomb heading for the town that will kill everyone, but free atomisk and she just for fun wants to put the fate of the whole town onto Naota. This is the episode where we see the only real change in Haruko as a charachter. Before this we only see Haruko mess with Naotas emotions to get exactly what she wants, but as the episode progresses you can see her helping Naota more and more prepare for this goal that she wants him to do because he's the only way to free atomisk without risking the whole town, but he's also a very unhelpful way of getting that goal. This entire episode is basically a test for Naota, how much emotional torture can he endure, and how much pressure can you give him, and still hope he changes. Of course she thinks theres no way hes even going to try and swing the bat at a bomb when he cant even swing at a baseball out of fear of being overshadowed by his brother. But he does, but he's not strong enough to overcome it. He's not strong enough to get rid of the bomb. And the ONLY nice thing that Haruko does for him threw out the course of the show, she helps him hit the bomb, and she finally sees Naota as a person rather than a tool.

Overall i think the story is about a kid who thinks he's an adult learning that he's not mature enough to understand whats going on. The whole show we see Naota trying to be mature, but him trying to be the voice of reason just makes thing worse. His emotions take over and things end up worse for everyone. So the show ending with Naota just being a kid, arguing with his friends, with no worries is the perfect ending for Fooly Cooly.