FLCL: Progressive/Alternative - Blu-ray Review

Michael Scott

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FLCL: Progressive/Alternative


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Movie: :4stars:
Video: :4stars:
Audio: :4stars:
Extras: :2.5stars:
Final Score: :4stars:



Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this blog post. The opinions I share are my own.

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Movie

20 years ago we were given one of the most insane, crazy, and hilariously bizarre anime titles of all times, FLCL (pronounced “Fooly Cooly”… don’t ask me why, just go with it, as this is the least crazy part of the show). A show that was so insane that half of the audience didn’t get it, and the other half of the audience idolized it as one of the most iconic OVA of the burgeoning 21st century. It basically revolved around a young boy named Naota just trying to get along in the city of Mabase…..until an alien named Haruko runs him over with her vespa, and whacks him upside the head with her super charged guitar, only to realize that Naota has a portal inside of his head that can release killer robots made by Medical Mechanica. If that makes perfect sense to you, then you really REALLY need to watch FLCL: Alternative and FLCL: Progressive, or else you might need to see a psychiatrist.

Needless to say, throughout all of the insanity of FLCL there was a fantastic story about a boy growing up too fast and coming to terms with his lost youth, and trying to become a well adjusted adult in society. I know that sounds like a far stretch from what I’ve described, but if you’ve seen FLCL it makes perfect sense. Now the thing is, how do you make a sequel to what is considered by many to be the perfect Anime OVA? I will fully admit that I was a bit leery going into this review as sequels to super popular anime doesn’t always turned out as well as the original (especially when we’ve had 20 years of rosy nostalgia to hype up the original in our minds), but I was actually really impressed with both of the two OVAs. They’re not AS perfect as the original, but are very worthy successors to the FLCL universe.

The first disc features FLCL: Progressive. Many years have passed and Medical Mechanica is still going strong, much to the dismay of everyone in the little town of our new heroine, Hidomi. Hidomi is a young girl depressed with her drab existence, and doesn’t realize that she is going to be the focal point of a new battle between us and Medical Mechanica. Luckily for her (or unluckily for her depending on your point of view), Haruko is back in town, and actually a teacher at Hidomi’s school. Thankfully her super powered guitar is there to give Hidomi a helping hand, as the young girl discovers that she has some powers of her own that will help them defeat Medical Mechanica, which is being released through another N.O. portal that just so happens to be in the head of Hidomi’s friend Ide.

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Progressive doesn’t really craft anything new or inventive like FLCL did 20 years ago, but it fits very neatly in the universe, completely arms open wide to the same level of insanity that the first OVA unleashed two decades ago. It once again delves into dealing with our everyday lives, and how fading youth and burgeoning adulthood is nothing to be ashamed of, but something to be embraced and looked forward to.

Next up is FLCL: Alternative, a much much different take on the FLCL universe. I mean, we still have Haruko, we still have Medical Mechanica, we still have the changes from childhood to adult, but it’s wrapped up in a sweet and charming romance, with elements of climate change and a much more focused and tightened narrative structure. This time Haruko is back again, and her next “victim” (so to speak) is a young girl named Kana Koumoto and her friends as they’re navigating the pitfalls of bonding, and becoming young women. Like usual, Medical Mechanica is doing their evil robot thing, and Haruko has to train Kana in being able to defeat them.

This story is less about accepting ones fate of growing up and becoming an adult, but rather the lengths one girl will go to in order to hold onto those trappings of youth, no matter what it costs her. It’s sweet, surrealistic, but utterly charming and one of the better FLCL stories to date outside of the original. And of course all of the craziness of Haruko’s overly sexualized humor (seriously, the nutty alien is hilariously crude at every turn), and plenty of nasty robots to deal with.




Rating:

Rated TV-14 by the MPAA




Video: :4stars:
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The show is split up over 2 disc (one for Progressive, one for Alternative and each of their 6 episodes), and the pastel watercolor type look to the show looks very good on Blu-ray. The soft blues and yellows seem to really show through the best, and the off the wall animation style is very much similar to most hand drawn animation (I believe this is digital designed to LOOK like hand drawn animation, but I could be wrong). However, there is some moderate banding that comes into play here and there, but isn’t really a major problem. The lines look clean and well drawn, with darker scenes looking appropriately detailed. It’s a good encode and definitely better than the mediocre upscale that we got with the original FLCL.








Audio: :4stars:
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Both of these series were made for TV, but still I was surprised at the 2.0 TrueHD lossless tracks, as most modern series (even made for TV ones) are getting 5.1 mixes unless they’re full length TV shows. Aw well, both tracks are sonically equivalent, but I HATED the English Dub for both Alternative and Progressive. The English voice for Haruko is ear splitting, and while the rest of the girls sound fine, it just doesn’t have the same impact when watching in Japanese. That being said, the tracks are quite good, with plenty of zaniness and craziness coming through the mix. Being a 2.0 track it doesn’t have surround or sub support, but there IS some LFE backed into the 2.0 channel and it has a wide enough sound stage with the insanity going on. Rather impressed.






Extras: :2.5stars:
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• Meet the Creators
• The Pillows
• The Making of FLCL Progressive and Alternative
• Production, Behind the Scenes
• English Voice Actors










Final Score: :4stars:


As noted above, FLCL: Alternative and Progressive are two distinctly unique OVAs, and while they don’t necessarily top the original (that’s insanely hard to do, so even attempting is not really necessary) it IS a good set of sequels to the zany universe of FLCL. Warner Brothers Blu-ray release is quite nice, with good video, good audio and a decent amount of extras to dig through as well. If you’re a fan of FLCL, then this is a no brainer. It’s a great sequel and does justice to a legendary Anime without besmirching it’s legacy. However, if you’re a “normie” and haven’t been exposed to this particular anime and think that this is just another cartoon to watch, I would DEFINITELY check out youtube first to see if it’s your cup of tea. This version we were allowed to review came with a special limited edition version of Haruka (as you can see in the top picture). My wife naturally went gaga over it as she collects funko pops like I collect movies, and is quite a nice looking addition. Highly recommended.


Technical Specifications:

Directed by: Katsuuyuki Motohiro, Kiyotaka Suzuki, Yutaka Uemura (Alternative)
Created by: Hideto Iwai
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 AVC
Audio: English: Dolby TrueHD 2.0, Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0
Subtitles: English SDH, English
Studio: Warner Brothers
Rated: TV-14
Runtime: 264 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: February 4th, 2020

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Recommendation: Highly Recommended.

 
Last edited:

tripplej

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Thanks for the review. I will check this out.

Question. I never saw the first one, FLCL.. So, before seeing FLCL: Alternative and Progressive , should I see FLCL, first?
 

Michael Scott

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it's not COMPLETELY necessary, but it does help put some stuff into context
 

tripplej

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Great. Thanks. I will try and catch the first one before seeing these. :)
 
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