FLCL came out in 2003, when I was a sophomore in high school. I can’t remember who introduced me to the show, maybe one of my online friends I met through various Otaki (sic?)/drawing boards. I remember that my friend Chloe mentioned it, and I was like “I’ve seen that too!” FLCL was most likely one of the first anime I pirated online, grabbing whatever grainy rip existed. I bought the DVDs (which in retrospect were kind of cash-grabs since it was like two episodes per disc of a 6 episode series), and watched those. Something about the series connected with me, not only just the wacky animation, obtuse story or the music, but the themes of growing up. After all, myself and my friends who liked FLCL were all basically in high school. We were all thinking about the future and who we were. So in 2003 the series made absolute sense. It’s stuck with me as a favorite, only tinged with some sadness as my friend Chloe died young and the series (especially Haruko) always reminds me of her and brings me back to high school.

So obviously when not one, but two sequels were announced I was excited. I wondered what they were going to do, especially since it seemed as though they weren’t simply going to pick-up right after the first series. I want to compliment them on this move first off, because I think trying to pick up DIRECTLY after those events would ruin their appeal and undo the (ambiguous) closure of the series.

Except that on my first run of Progressive I finished it and felt a bit hollow. None of the characters really clicked, even Haruko felt like a shadow of her former self–possibly explained because she was split into two people (literally)–and didn’t have that same charm. Everything about Progressive felt like a nod towards the original, and I don’t think having two central protagonists helped either. The entire thing felt a bit too serious, with the anime existing largely without stakes. In the original FLCL we learned the ultimate goal was to “flatten the wrinkles” of the Earth via literal Irons. The town, Mabase, was in danger. Its inhabitants suffered to a degree BECAUSE of the actions of the lead characters and what happened to them. Yet here… the town never felt in danger, its inhabitants largely taking a backseat to events, even though the finale involves them directly. It kind of didn’t matter by then, nobody seemed to have noticed the strange events. And so by the series end I just kind of sat there and thought, “This is what I’ve waited 17 years for?”

Now I’ll admit that nostalgia most certainly plays a big part in this (see my introduction), but I know that not everyone caught onto FLCL immediately, and I certainly grasped new things from it via repeat viewings. Since the first episode of Alternative, the second sequel, had aired I thought I might as well watch. And let me tell you … it was 10x better. It felt fresh again, it grabbed onto the spirit of the original. There was a group of friends, all kind of outsiders and different but together they were friends. Nicknames were thrown around, they wondered how adults could think 17-year-olds had their lives together enough to know what the future held. There was the entire uncertainty of the future rearing its head. THIS was FLCL, it felt right again. In fact the entire first episode captured what I think the first initial episode of FLCL did, introducing our characters and the universe. And I even caught the Naota cameo early on, quite immediately because he mirrored his dislike for spicy foods but still eating them (which mirrors yet ANOTHER character in the original, and whose son appears in Progressive). The link didn’t feel forced, and neither did his later actions with Haruko.

Which is to say I’m a little more excited for Alternative to air. I’m certainly going to try and give Progressive a chance, and even if that isn’t as amazing as its bookends I can deal with it, because if the beginning and end are well done then it doesn’t matter. I can accept a dip in quality in the middle. And who knows, maybe repeat viewings will bring it all together.

