FLCL (Furi Kuri)

Title: FLCL (Furi Kuri) Genre: Science fiction, Action, Comedy Rating: 9/10

Summary: Naota's life is confined to going to school and living with his father and grandfather. The usually boring life in Mabase is rudely interrupted by the arrival of Haruko Haruhara, who bursts on the scene by running Naota over with her Vespa , then giving him CPR and hitting him on the head with a blue vintage Rickenbacker 4001 left-handed reverse strung electric bass guitar. Later, Naota is shocked to find Haruko working in his house as a live-in maid. Haruko's search for the alien being, Atomsk, puts her at odds with Medical Mechanica, the monolithic industrial corporation. At the same time, Naota is being watched by Commander Amarao.

Review: Furi Kuri (or Fooly Cooly in North America) hit the anime scene with a blast. This extremely popular anime really deserves the credit, and I hoped to write this review to get people more interested in these kind of animes. The anime itself is very short (6 episodes long) but packed with quite a lot of content. Let’s start with the soundtrack first, probably being the most captivating thing about this anime. The Pillows played all the songs for the anime, and actually got me looking for their CD’s which is a first for any anime. They had a song for almost any occasion of the anime which really brought out certain areas. Songs like “I think I can”, “Ride on Shooting Star”, and “Hybrid Rainbow” fit very well. I would give this anime a perfect score when it comes to soundtracks. The art style was unique but not eye popping. It did get the job done, and they had a lot of amazing scenes with great backgrounds, but not very high attention to detail when it came to characters. This isn’t saying the art style was a bad choice, because the atmosphere of the anime really did need a quick-drawn (for lack of a better term) style. The story wasn’t really solid, probably because there were so few episodes. But it wasn’t the story that the director was actually going for.  The entire anime is a metaphor, and you do need to think to understand the message. I don’t want to give it away since that will ruin the whole point of it, but I do warn you that there is a literal interpretation that most viewers mistake the anime to be about. The characters play their own unique roles. They show has such a variety that you never get bored watching it. The side stories, main story, and “what was that part” stories all have their purpose. The title Furi Kuri does suggest a bit of a perverted theme, but please don’t let this discourage you. As for those who don’t know what Furi Kuri is slang for, don’t worry about it ;). The comedy can be selective, and probably not everyone’s cup of tea, but I couldn’t imagine anyone not getting at least a little chuckle out of this. Even if you don’t want a deep, mind-blowing anime I would still suggest watching for the entertainment factor. I actually watched this anime two or three times before I realized what it as actually about, and I enjoyed  it every run through.

Final statements: A great anime that deserves nothing less than the hype it is given. Even if the anime doesn’t seem that appealing give it a go, it is only 6 episodes so why not? Must see!