FLCL, also known asFooly Coolyis a 2000s classic OVA that was released at the turn of the millennium. It was produced by theFLCLproduction committee, which consisted of studios Gainax and Production I.G., as well as King Records. The series was well-regarded for its surrealist and bizarre plot and characters, and has inspired various kinds of animation fromAvatar: The Last Airbender(andThe Legend of Korra) toTatsuki Fujimoto’sCHAINSAW MAN.
Despite the massive impactFLCLhas had on the anime medium, its sequels, which were announced in March 2016 after various twists and turns leading up to Production I.G.’s acquisition of the series' rights to produce the series in collaboration with Toonami. Here’s all you need to know about theFLCLsequels, including the one set to arrive sometime in 2023.
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Their Production Wasn’t Always Set
As mentioned before,FLCLwas an anime original produced through collaboration between Gainax, Production I.G. and King Records. 2015 marked the beginning of the circulation of news stories concerned with Production I.G., more specifically concerned with the studio’s reported interest in producing some kind of newFLCLproject after the company announced plans to purchase the series' rights from Gainax, which also led some to believe that a remake was in the works. Prior to Production I.G.’s eventual acquisition of the rights to produceFLCL,Hideaki Anno, director ofNeon Genesis Evangelionand his Studio Khara were interested in purchasing the rights from Gainax; however, the deal fell through after the latter raised the asking price.
Toonami went on to announce its joint effort with Production I.G. in March 2016 – the production of 12 episodes split into two parts titledFLCL ProgressiveandFLCL Alternative. Original series character designer and character designer forNeon Genesis Evangelion, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, was replaced with Chikashi Kubota forProgressive, with Yūichi Takahashi taking over the role inAlternative. Each subsequent sequel was handled by a different team, and directors changed witheach successive installment in theFLCLfranchise. The originalFLCLwas directed byNeon Genesis Evangelionassistant director Kazuya Tsurumaki, who was also the director of theNeon Genesis Evangelionfilms; whileProgressiveandAlternativewere directed by a team led by Katsuyuki Motohiro.
FLCL Progressive and Alternative
FLCL Progressivewas first released in June 2018, whileFLCL Alternativecame out three months later in September that year. Progressive follows 14-year-old Hidomi Hibajiri, a disillusioned young girl who can’t escape the monotony of her life which only consists of going to school, helping out at her mother’s café and listening to music; at least until one fateful day when she is run over by guitar-wielding woman on a Vespa. Much like Jinta in the originalFLCLOVA, Hidomi ends up with a strange horn growing from her forehead, androbots coming out of nowhereto threaten her and her classmate, Kō Ide.
FLCL Alternativefollows a similar formula toProgressive, with the story following Kana Kōmoto, a young girl living in a small town where nothing happens and nothing ever changes. Kana goes to school, hangs out with friends, paints her nails and listens to music, but it never feels like anything of true significance will happen, until one fateful day. Kana and her friends decide to try to send a bottle rocket to space just for fun, but their downtempo lives change forever when an actual robot crashes into the bottle rocket, anda pink-haired woman claiming to be a “Galactic Investigator"appears. It is evident that the narrative choices forFLCL Progressiveand Alternative are meant to create some kind of continuation of the original OVA’s atmosphere, feel and impact; with the “Vespa Woman”, Haruko Haruhara at the centre of it all each time.
The Reception Wasn’t Great
Perhaps the biggest reason why there hasn’t been more noise about theFLCLsequels, especially the ones set to drop sometime in 2023, is the fact thatFLCLProgressive and Alternative simply weren’t as well received as expected.
While fan nostalgia is invariably a factor in situations like this, one of the biggest qualities ofFLCLhas been its short yet highly significant impact on the medium – sequels, while seeming to be a no-brainer when it comes to figuring out what would go down well with fans,FLCLoccupies a special place in the history of anime – especially in the context of its emergence in the west. As a result,many weren’t impressed by the conceptof a sequel, while others tried them and found that they paled too much in comparison to the originalFLCLOVA. With two sequels that didn’t go down too well,FLCLsequels in general seem to have been relegated to the permanent position of “not as good as the original”.
There Are Two Coming In 2023
In total, there are four sequels to FLCL – two are the ones mentioned above,FLCL ProgressiveandFLCL Alternative, produced through collaboration between Production I.G. and Toonami; and, there are two more sequels announced for release sometime in 2023:FLCL: GrungeandFLCL: Shoegaze. These titles were announced in March 2022, and are coming courtesy of Adult Swim, in honour of the 25th anniversary of the Toonami programming block. What’s known aboutGrungeandShoegazeat this point is that the Pillows, the band whose music lit up the very firstFLCLand its sequels, will be back with more music for the franchise.
Interestingly,ShoegazeandGrungewill be produced by two separate teams, with the former being produced by Japanese companies NUT and Production I.G., with Yutaka Uemura, an assistant director in the production of Alternative, in the director’s seat; and the latter being directed by Hitoshi Takekiyo at MontBlanc Pictures (Kanye West, Kid Cudi and Takashi Murakami “Kids See Ghosts” animated preview). This production at MontBlanc Pictureswill be stylistically different from the originalFLCLOVA and its sequels Progressive and Alternative, sporting a 3D look and feel judging from the ten-second teaser. English staff for the upcomingFLCL: ShoegazeandFLCL: Grungeincludes Jason DeMarco (Executive Producer,FLCL AlternativeandProgressive) and Maki Terashima-Furuta, President of Production I.G. USA. No cast members have been announced for either project just yet.
