FLCL is special, It is an amazing anime that to this day is still talked about by everyone. Those that love it claim that it have heavy undertones of various symbolic and sentimental themes that they connect with which they recognize. Those that hate it claim that it means nothing and it is just nonsense. And there are also those that do not understand it but recognize its creative and fun visual and musical flare; these people usually just thinks its mid.

From the lovers, haters and the ones that don't have a horse in the race. One of these groups are lying. And that group is the lovers. What are they lying about? They claim they 'understand' FLCL. Anyone that makes this statement is either lying or is full of hubris. And I am saying this as a lover myself of FLCL. And I tell you I am not lying, I am just full of hubris. Because the fact is nobody understands what FLCL is about and the creators of the original is never telling and is cheekily enjoying their fans coming up with wild interpretations.

But allow me to be pretentious and tell you what FLCL is about; FLCL is a playground for the best animators to improvise and go all out just to create something for fun, an impromptu composition of visual and narrative flare that just appears on the whims of its creators. None of the creators could predict what it will turn out to be in the end, it was the most spontaneous work of animation to ever been made. And all the themes of coming of age angst, loneliness, hopelessness and whatever are just an interpretation that is only possible in hindsight. And that is why FLCL can feel so magical at first; you really do not know the logic of it but instinctively you feel it, you empathize with it (that is if you are able to). And I understand that there are many people that cannot relate and recognize its underlying themes and narratives, not everybody have the same life experiences and way of thinking. But for the most based ones of these group that are unable to relate with the show, at least they recognize its entertaining and creative flare rather than hating it because they personally think its meaningless.

The spontaneous and unpredictable nature of FLCL is what makes it so special and magical which its sequels all fail to have. They are quite literally an imitation of the original which is such a high standard to reach and replicate. Personally I really like the sequels and judge them on their own merits. The introduction of a continued plot such as Haruko finding Atomsk feels forced and unrelated to the intentions of the original; it is this organized narrative direction that takes away the spontaneous magic from the original and in many ways start to not feel like FLCL. But just because the sequels do not feel like the original does not mean it is automatically bad, I like to judge them on their own merits. In short Progressive feels like a love letter and homage to the original and Alternative on its own is an amazing story. And they both are almost equally visually and audibly appealing as the original

Then we come to Grunge which is not even an imitation of FLCL it is an imitation of the sequels. Which means its literally an imitation of an imitation. And again it does not mean it is automatically bad but even judging it on its own merits, it is quite a downgrade in every department. First of all visually it comes no where close to any of its ancestors. Maybe you can make an argument that it is staying true to its experimental animation style by trying 3D animation but it is definitely an experiment that failed, visually just ugly I will put it bluntly. And terms of creativity and style just trying so hard to copy what came before but again, weak and uninteresting. The overall direction of the anime is an interesting concept of showing the same day in the perspective of 3 new characters, again an ostensibly experimental direction but executed poorly with little to no effectiveness. Usually with storylines that repeat by retelling the same story several times, it recontextualize and invigorate the plot to further heights and appeals; but Grunge seems to do so for the sake of it because it seems like a cool concept.

Grunge is visually unappealing and lacks creativity in both animation and storytelling. But what saved it from being total garbage for me I think its the characters. Which don't get me wrong is not like very well written either, they are just adequate enough for me to care especially the stone guy and the purple haired knife maker. (yea that sushi boy is just BORING). But I think the main aspect of the show that carried my little enjoyment I have in this weak sequel is its connection to the originals; the feeling of coming of age angst that it imitates. Which just reminds me of how amazing the prequels were. I guess what I am trying to say is.... my feeling for Grunge is like that of hating a kid but loving their parents so much, you just cant bring yourself to hate it too much...