FLCL: Progressive and Alternative, finally available on Blu-Ray

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a copy of the Blu-Ray that I reviewed in this blog post. The opinions are my own. Any intellectual property that spans more than a decade in-between releases we find interesting. FLCL: Progressive and FLCL: Alternative are the sequels to FLCL, an anime series that came out in 2001.  In its run on Adult Swim Toonami FLCL was #1 in its timeslot and earned a huge cult following. FLCL (pronounced Fooly Cooly), both Progressive and Alternative are finally available on Blu-Ray DVD in a combo pack with tons of special features.  

One thing I learned from watching the special features on the Blu-Ray is that one of my favorite Japanese band, The Pillows, provided several songs to the series. The Pillows popped up in my YouTube shuffle alongside Scandal, Ningen Isu, Band Maid, Yellow Monkey and others. They’ve got a sound that fits in great with mid 90’s pop punk. The videos that I’ve seen from The Pillows were odd, but look like buttered toast compared to FLCL.  

The sequel to FLCL actually comes in two parts; FLCL Progressive and FLCL Alternative, both of these are included in the combo pack. There are six episodes in each season. Fans of the show and those who enjoy animation or anime will love seeing the making of FLCL.   

FLCL Progressive and Alternative is gorgeous Anime. One expects Anime to have a distinctive visual and the latest chapters in FLCL do not disappoint. The show is so unusual and creative that you can’t conceive how they’d animate a Mecha coming out of a small bump in a teenage girl’s head.  

If you haven’t seen FLCL the monster’s don’t pop out a la, Alien, where they destroy their host. In the case of Hidomi and Kana in Progressive and Alternative, the teens are a simply a conduit for various things. The plot in both series is completely and absolutely off the reservation. The constant that travels through from the original series is Haruko, a minder who is sent from the Galactic Space Patrol Brotherhood. She’s in charge of watching them and ensuring that they use their powers to defeat various Mecha. 

Amidst all of this is teen drama, friendships, boys, employment, school and various monsters, aliens, rockets or out-of-control girls with guitars who seem to be on the good side. FLCL is a beautiful piece of Anime that is at times loving and normal, but then able to switch to strange science-fiction madness within :10.  

From a content perspective FLCL: Progressive & Alternative Combo Pack is good for high school audiences and older. There are a couple semi bad words in some episodes. It’s also laced with sexual innuendos, despite having no nudity or overt hints of it whatsoever. There are puns and things of that sort that you won’t want middle school audiences repeating.  

For us, FLCL: Progressive and Alternative is a lush viewing experience that presents episode quality Anime in ways that are personal and weird. I think that’s what other viewers dig about it also, it’s very creative, but also has elements that are 100% human that any kid can relate to.  

There are affiliate links in this post, because, Anime suki desu yo.