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FLCL (Fooly Cooly) - Vol. 1

FLCL (Fooly Cooly) - Vol. 1

List Price: $29.95
Your Price: $24.56
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent!
Review: This anime is a must-see for ANY anime fan! It's very exciting and has very fun and interesting (sometimes boardering disturbing) imagery! The characters are well developed and have their own little quirks (like nori eyebrows).

Definately the best anime ever.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Heaven
Review: If you are new to anime, you best go and watch other stuff before you come back to this DVD. As watching FLCL by an anime virgin would be comparable to loosing your virginity in a threesome with Holly Valance and Anna Kournikova, nothing else afterwoods will compare or satisfy. So take my advise watch the rest before you are ready for the best.

...

After buying several duds, I thought there was no hope for anime, but this DVD has rejouvinated my interest.

BUY IT!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Another perspective
Review: Ah, the legendary FLCL... the only anime I can watch over and over again without ever feeling bored (let's see how long THAT lasts... I can probably perform the whole thing from memory with hand gestures and proper vocal inflections). What can I possibly add to the Amazon.com reviews already submitted? I dunno, I'll give it a jaunt. Stick with me, I do have a point.

Firstly, descriptions of FLCL as some sort of revolution, or next step, or evolution of anime are patently ridiculous. There is not a single new thing on display in FLCL. Every element, every so-called "plot" element, every ANIMATION STYLE is taken from something else. To be perfectly frank, there isn't even any EFFORT in FLCL to do anything new. Originally released one at a time, over a mindboggling amount of time, straight to video, it was never a major project. It functions as a free-form stream of consciousness HOMAGE to anime, done partially as a joke and partially as a labor of love because Gainax and IG are... well, Gainax and IG. Because they COULD. Or, more appropriately, because they LOVE anime, LOVE its conventions and its quirks, and want to show you why. FLCL is proof of fandom.

Viewing FLCL works best if you FORGET to look for a plot, FORGET to look for meaning, and just let it wash over you. Almost every reviewer here has put across their two cents concerning what is going on. It's ridiculous. The plot, as such, is merely a continuation of elements, and this doesn't even occur in regular and conventional fashion. This is best demonstrated through the character Haruko, presented as a mystery and maintained as such, a total null character. Does she have a side, or is she merely selfish? Does she care for Naota, or simply need him for her purposes? Sexy one minute, violent the next, she changes constantly. By being nothing, she can become everything in the mind of the viewer. Further plot elements fail to add up. As an example: In Ep 5 we're told (and shown) that Haruko loves Atomosk the Pirate Lord. In Ep 6, however, we're shown (or are we?) rather that there IS no Pirate Lord, merely the pure energy of N.O. (which further throws into question whether Medical Mechanica ever "captured" anyone, since N.O. is apparently their personal channel... nothing adds up completely here) manifested through Canti and later Naota, and that Haruko wants the power for herself. I could go on, but the point remains the same: THERE IS NO REAL STORY IN FLCL. You've been tricked into finding one.

Why? Why do this? As previously stated, FLCL is a HOMAGE. Each episode stands largely on its own, mimicking a succession of elements from other sources, a meta-parody of sorts stretching across the whole range of the manga/anime universe. Try to find something NOT paid tribute to here, if just in a momentary subliminal flash (in Ep 5, there is even a South Park homage). This is, from its creators, love for their artform made manifest. At no point did they sit down and script it out. They threw the cookbook out the window and started throwing what they thought tasted good into the pot. In the process of doing this, the ingredients have become their own meal, and thus may at first look unique and new when in fact no more than the sum of its parts. The ultimate plot, therefore, is the plot of manga/anime itself - senseless, chaotic, joyous.

Which only leaves why FLCL is so frikkin' cool. Before I understood what it was, I showed it to many non-anime-loving friends, reasoning that it would convert them. After all, I thought it the best there was. Nothing better for conversion than the best, right? Wrong. Not a one of them got it, most abandoned it quickly in contempt, the rest slowly and in confusion. I think you'd have to be a fan to love FLCL, because, in the end, it is everything about our love boiled down to its essence and then injected into us. It's like becoming a fan ALL OVER AGAIN, reminding you why you started doing this in the first place. FLCL may be the final word in fandom, a tribute so perfect it borders on the relgious.

As a final word, I'd like to chastise the company that is releasing this in America for doing this 2 episodes at a time. Greedy cheapskates.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: the beauty of insanity
Review: you will not regret buying this. it may be just short of 3 hours, but you will watch it over and over. i have. i might become the first person to wear out a dvd. get both, watch them, and be happy.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: SWEET ROBOT HEAD POPPY BIZNEZZ
Review: str8 from the anime gods of Gainax, a wonderfully goofy weird zanny romp with a cute young girl, a boy with robots that start to pop out his head and the crazy-wacked-outguitarmopedgrrl whose just pLan PSYCHO. watch it love it support it

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Weird little anime.
Review: SPOILER
All i have to say is that this anime has a little southpark scene in episode 5. Even so, it's probably the best anime i've ever seen. The presentation is absolutely EXCELLENT especially with the awesome music that fits PERFECTLY with the theme.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: gainax does it again!
Review: I'm not going to talk about the plot, because it is so silly, bizzar and random that there's no point. It's just a fun series without any deep meanings. Instead i am going to talk about the ENGLISH version of this. I've got several bad fansubs and HK imports of this and I was worried about how the english dub was doing to come out.

Surfice to say, the dub is amazing! It's the best dub i've seen in a LONG time. Most complanies just pick a voice actor and they read the lines and it sounds horrible (pioneer and ADV come to mind...). But this company took the time to get the inflections and the little nuances down-pat! They even chose voice actors who were not "famous" but SOUNDED the part!

Also, despite only having 2 episodes of the 6, the DVD has an audio comentary by the director (in japanese with subs) who explains some of the nonsense. Also the dvd comes with a booklet with alot of information about japanese culture which greatly helps first time viewers. (i wish i had that book the first time i saw this series... whoooo!)

Finally i'd like to add that the band which plays all the music in the series is AWSOME! I strongly advise buying the FLCL soundtrack done by "the pillows." They have some GREAT music.

I highly recomend this series to any anime fan!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Note to DVD viewing on computers
Review: In response to a previous review, consumers should note that some DVDs (Animated TV shows in particular) have problems when displayed on computers due to "Interlacing". If the video is not de-interlaced for the DVD, "lines" appear to stay on the screen for a moment when there is movement in the picture. It's not evident when played on a TV attached to a DVD player, because that is how TVs display video anyway. However, computers refresh the entire screen at once, and often much faster that a TV, so the interlacing is visible.
Interlacing is the old video technique of displaying every other line of a frame then going back to the top to display the lines between. On a TV, each second has 30 frames (approx.) which means the screen is swept 60 times per second, originally being dependant on the 60 Hz frequency of home AC current.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: the best video ever!!
Review: FLCL is a visually stunning masterpiece of animation from many different styles with an incredible rock soundtrack by the pillows. Although only 6 half hour episodes long, this series is a classic must-have for anyone who appreciates the finer things in life.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Question!
Review: I like FLCL because it is strange and beautiful. I don't have a massive anime collection or a particularly long list of anime I have seen, but FLCL, from the moment I walked into my friend's room during the middle of the "manga scene" in the first episode, seemed fantastic and utterly new to me. Therefore, I cannot comment with either the erudition of those who say that it fair though common or of those that praise it for its wink-wink humor based on reference to elder anime. Regardless, I recommend this anime because it caught me offguard and surprised me with its beauty and confusion.

Question: When I play the DVD on my laptop, unlike any other DVD in my collection besides "Castle of Cagliostro", when characters, cars , robots, etc., move across the screen, they momentarily leave trails. These trails are horizontal bars in the same color as the animation which just moved. As I said, this is not common amongst my DVDs, so I know it is not the computer. If anyone in the know reads this, please right a review in response.


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