FLCL Progressive

It's very different from the original FLCL and as much as I loved the original(my fav anime ever) I'm kinda glad this wasn't them trying to make the same thing again. A lot of people are complaining that it's not like the original, but that's this shows saving grace. It's such a mess of a show in a great way to me. It's brain noise in the best way. Like The original was perfection and this is completely not and i love it.

Several years after the events of the original FLCL it returns for this series; set in the same town but with, mostly, new characters. Hidomi Hibajiri is a fourteen year old girl who always wears cat-eared headphones and has strange dreams is the new lead. Her life, and that of those around her are about to get strange when Haruko Haruhara returns to town on her Vespa.

I won't attempt to describe the plot; anybody who watched the original will know to expect the bizarre. I can understand why some viewers didn't enjoy this; at first I wasn't sure I would. Thankfully once I got to know the new characters I found myself enjoying it more and more. The story provides plenty of surreal moments, laughs and action. The animation might not be as good as many new series but I felt the style matched to original which for me was more important. Overall I found this to be a welcome return to the world of FLCL so would recommend it... as it is only six episodes long you won't waste much time if you don't like it.

These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.

This show is very mediocre. The first FLCL is in my top favorite cartoons ever made list. It was simple, yet manic with well developed characters and an overarching story told subtly here and there with fluid animation and the soundtrack composed by the Pillows. A space opera mixed with a growing up story. It is a masterpiece.

By contrast, this sequel has dull and undeveloped characters with needless focus on side characters who are more interesting than the main characters, stiff and boring animation found in many generic cartoons, the Pillows soundtrack used sparingly instead of often, everything is told with little to nothing shown along with info dumps regarding Medical Mechanica and Atomsk with entire scenes explaining the backstory as though this was an audio book and not a cartoon, and is an overall disappointing sequel to a great cartoon from nearly 20 years prior. Even the return of Haruko fails to bring this series to life.

Most of the problems with Progressive I blame on hiring new directors, animators, and story writers instead of bringing back the old staff. These new people, from what I've observed and with the exception of one guy who worked on One-Punch Man, never worked on major projects before whereas the staff from the original series had extensive experience, esp. on cartoons such as Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Overall, this series feels like a cash-grab or, assuming Production I. G.'s intentions were truly benign, a misguided attempt at recreating FLCL without fully understanding what made that original series work. I doubt that the next FLCL series, Alternative, will be any better.

For starters why and try and make the story consistent, FLCL was meant to make no sense and have fun, you didn't have to be smart. I'm happy they kept the old actress of Haruko, but the other characters that are introduced are dull except for Jinyu. The animation doesn't appeal to the eye unlike the original, but I will say overall this is okay for a sequel series, but it is disappointing. Overall a 6.1 out of 10 D- Just stuck with the original, only watch this if your curious.

Where the original FLCL was something you either loved or hated, "Progressive" is a like an echo of the original.

While trying to reproduce and capture the original feel (and fans) of FLCL, "Progressive" fails, making it feel even more "less than" which is a shame considering the story, though a trope filled mess, has some originality and enjoyable points.

Taken on its own it's an interesting watch, but most will feel disappointed if they were expecting a true continuation of the joy and insanity found in the original.

Pro's:

• English Dubbing.
• "Some" of the art is higher quality, making it feel newer.
• Enjoyable and unusual story.

Con's:

• It's not FLCL, don't get your hopes up.
• Art quality dips at times.
• Much is the story is predicable.