FLCL PROGESSIVE

[takahata]

I will confess that I am still a fan of the anime series FLCL.  FLCL is a weird comedy series which focuses on Naota a boy in the sixth grade. He is on the verge of adolescence.  Instead of wanting to be like his peers,  Naoto is trying to be a grownup.  Most of the grownups which Naoto knows are weird.  He is aware of the truth that not all grownups are weird.  The series turns out to be one which has a mortality tale.  The basic message of the series is to be yourself and enjoy life despite the troubles which comes with it.

FLCL Progressive is about a young person who is attending a Japanese middle school.  The series' protagonist is a girl who is 14.   Her name is Hidomi  Hibajiri.  Hidomi is  in Grade 2 of middle school.  The middle school where Hidomi  is attending is not a typical Japanese Middle School.  The boys and girls don't wear school uniforms.  Some of the girls seem to be wearing a school uniform. Yet, they are wearing  blouses and skirts.  Hidomi  is wearing what may be a school uniform for girls, but may be wearing an outfit which looks like a school uniform each day.  Hidomo has dreams of being a corpse.  Hidomi is having troubles with adolescence because her father left her and her mother behind.  Hidomi's father is connected with the first series. 

Hidomi  wears a cat ear headphone which seems not to be working.  After watching the first episodes, the headphone is really  an inhibitor preventing  Hidomi from overflowing.  In her first dream,  a robot comes out of her head and fuses with Hidomi .  In episode, an object does come out of the MC's head, but it is not the robot.

Oddly, Hakuro Haruhara has a rival in Progressive.  Hakuro's rival is Julia Jinyu who happens to be a person who was a result of a discarded fragment of HH.  Hakuro is Hidomi's  homeroom and first period teacher.

Strangely,  I find trying to figure what's the main point of the plot.  Only during the last four years, I have been able to realized the first FLCL is about a person who is entering adolescence and trying to act as if he is a grownup while really being a confused child dealing with the loss of an important person in his life,  Naoto Nanaba is the name of the boy.  Strangely the main characters of FLCL AND ITS SEQUEL are dealing with a major loss in their lives.  While Naoto did  lose his mother for an unknown reason when he was young,  the major loss is his older brother.  For Hidomi, the major  loss is her father.  Hidomi's father is still alive.

FLCL is Fooley-Cooley.  Fooley-Cooley is a silly quote which has no specific meaning at all, but may have a meaning which is a brunch of nonsense.

[Ryo-Okay]

Were these new FLCL seasons worth watching? I've been thinking of rewatching the original, and I'm wondering if I should try the new ones.