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FLCL was a collaboration of Gainax (who made NGE) and Production IG. Also, I feel that FLCL is a more true coming of age story than a commentary on teenage psy

FLCL was a collaboration of Gainax (who made NGE) and Production IG. Also, I feel that FLCL is a more true coming of age story than a commentary on teenage psychology. You're taken along for the ride too, so the viewer can connect on multiple levels if they're also coming of age. That's in part why I enjoyed it so much as a teen.

tombert 5y ago
FLCL was one of those shows I hated the first time I watched it at age 19, but I also got a vibe that there might be some subtext and metaphors that I missed. About a year later, I saw that it was on Netflix and decided to give it a second chance. I'm glad I did, because it's become one of my favorite animes at this point. I think a lot of the veiled references to erections and the analogies strangeness of a 14-year-old-boy forcing his way through puberty were lost on me the first time, and it took until I wasn't a teenager anymore to step back and view it in an almost "nostalgic" sense. NOTE: I have only seen the first six-episode run of it. I can't speak to the newer reboot series that came out in 2016.
- coldpie 5y ago
  I'm glad to hear it. I last watched it around a similar time (15 years ago... ... ...) and was wondering if it'd hold up to a rewatch.
  - glandium 5y ago
    Never watched them, but two new seasons were produced recently.
- KennyBlanken 5y ago
  If it makes you feel any better, I saw FLCL at twice your age and only now that you've said it did I realize what the whole forehead-robot-bulge thing was a reference to.
downrightmike 5y ago
I love Production IG for Ghost in the Shell SAC. Too bad the new series is so hollow and no real substance.
- tombert 5y ago
  I liked the first season of SAC, but it did kind of annoy me how they basically decided to put Major Kusanagi in lingerie throughout most of it. She was nude in a good percentage of the 1995 movie, but it wasn't really "sexualized." In SAC it kind of felt like, instead of being a conflicted character unsure of her place in the world, a large percentage of her character was just there as fan service/eye candy, and I thought it cheapened her as a result.
  - p_l 5y ago
    SAC and 1995 movie effectively base on different chapters of the first manga volume (all of them avoiding certain bits though, like Major's "on the side" enterprise), and the character design used in both matches the source material - just different scenes (SAC arguably follows the design more closely) EDIT: to make it clearer, Major's clothing choices in Manga were definitely her own and it didn't feel like it's just random cheap sexualization, but then you have to consider that some of the off-the-books income streams Major had were censored from some releases, and she definitely knew how to play off people's looks at her (explicitly called out in GitS 2.0 manga)
    - tombert 5y ago
      I guess part of my issue is that I wasn't a huge fan of the manga either; it felt borderline-hentai at some parts and just wasn't my jam, I never finished it. The 1995 movie is easily in my top five favorite movies, and I think a large part of it was because I liked that specific version of her character. > Major's clothing choices in Manga were definitely her own and it didn't feel like it's just random cheap sexualization I mean, I guess? These are fictional characters, so these depictions are still created by people. Yes, it's the character's decision in-universe, but it's still the author's decision to put her in situations that require her to be in skimpy outfits. I don't mean to come off as super social-justicey, I guess I just never really liked the trope in anime of every female character being hyper-sexualized.
dclowd9901 5y ago
100% my interpretation as well, yet it’s indisputable that Naota is vastly underpositioned for the role of world savior. But the coming of age narrative is so poignant it actually rounds the corner of touching and heart sickness. I actually found Eri’s story (the girl who was the daughter of the mayor) in episode 3 of the original series to be the most compelling. You love to see a character where you absolutely know what they must be feeling but they are clearly trying to meet some social standard of behavior (see “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf”).

tombert 5y ago

FLCL was one of those shows I hated the first time I watched it at age 19, but I also got a vibe that there might be some subtext and metaphors that I missed. About a year later, I saw that it was on Netflix and decided to give it a second chance. I'm glad I did, because it's become one of my favorite animes at this point. I think a lot of the veiled references to erections and the analogies strangeness of a 14-year-old-boy forcing his way through puberty were lost on me the first time, and it took until I wasn't a teenager anymore to step back and view it in an almost "nostalgic" sense. NOTE: I have only seen the first six-episode run of it. I can't speak to the newer reboot series that came out in 2016.

coldpie 5y ago
I'm glad to hear it. I last watched it around a similar time (15 years ago... ... ...) and was wondering if it'd hold up to a rewatch.
- glandium 5y ago
  Never watched them, but two new seasons were produced recently.
KennyBlanken 5y ago
If it makes you feel any better, I saw FLCL at twice your age and only now that you've said it did I realize what the whole forehead-robot-bulge thing was a reference to.

downrightmike 5y ago

I love Production IG for Ghost in the Shell SAC. Too bad the new series is so hollow and no real substance.

tombert 5y ago
I liked the first season of SAC, but it did kind of annoy me how they basically decided to put Major Kusanagi in lingerie throughout most of it. She was nude in a good percentage of the 1995 movie, but it wasn't really "sexualized." In SAC it kind of felt like, instead of being a conflicted character unsure of her place in the world, a large percentage of her character was just there as fan service/eye candy, and I thought it cheapened her as a result.
- p_l 5y ago
  SAC and 1995 movie effectively base on different chapters of the first manga volume (all of them avoiding certain bits though, like Major's "on the side" enterprise), and the character design used in both matches the source material - just different scenes (SAC arguably follows the design more closely) EDIT: to make it clearer, Major's clothing choices in Manga were definitely her own and it didn't feel like it's just random cheap sexualization, but then you have to consider that some of the off-the-books income streams Major had were censored from some releases, and she definitely knew how to play off people's looks at her (explicitly called out in GitS 2.0 manga)
  - tombert 5y ago
    I guess part of my issue is that I wasn't a huge fan of the manga either; it felt borderline-hentai at some parts and just wasn't my jam, I never finished it. The 1995 movie is easily in my top five favorite movies, and I think a large part of it was because I liked that specific version of her character. > Major's clothing choices in Manga were definitely her own and it didn't feel like it's just random cheap sexualization I mean, I guess? These are fictional characters, so these depictions are still created by people. Yes, it's the character's decision in-universe, but it's still the author's decision to put her in situations that require her to be in skimpy outfits. I don't mean to come off as super social-justicey, I guess I just never really liked the trope in anime of every female character being hyper-sexualized.

dclowd9901 5y ago

100% my interpretation as well, yet it’s indisputable that Naota is vastly underpositioned for the role of world savior. But the coming of age narrative is so poignant it actually rounds the corner of touching and heart sickness. I actually found Eri’s story (the girl who was the daughter of the mayor) in episode 3 of the original series to be the most compelling. You love to see a character where you absolutely know what they must be feeling but they are clearly trying to meet some social standard of behavior (see “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf”).