T5W#160-Top 5 Thoughts and Theories on FLCL: Alternative

Like a lot of people, im sure, I was skeptical when Toonami and Production I.G. announced the creation of not one but two new seasons of FLCL.  You all know how I feel about the original first season…it’s perfect (change my mind).  So why try to expand it even a teeny bit, much less tell two totally new tales?  Well, 2018 has been the year of FLCL’s big return.  FLCL: Progressive dropped back in June.  While not quite the classic the original will be forever hailed, Progressive did tell it’s own zany tale of insanity that is adolescence.  I ended up giving it an 8/10 (you can also check out the review in full here: http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2018/07/flcl-progressive.html).  But that was only the first of the two new seasons.  A full trailer for FLCL: Alternative dropped a couple of weeks back and now, after watching it a few times, im ready to talk about it and get prepped for it’s arrival in September.  Some of these thoughts might be rehashes of another Top 5 I did before Progressive debuted, so apologies if im repeating myself, or expanding on those thoughts (you can also review that Top 5 right here: http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2018/06/t5w147-top-5-thoughts-going-into-flcl.html).  Rambling done, let’s get to my Top 5 Thoughts and Theories on FLCL: Alternative.

#5-Oldest Cast Yet

Right off the bat, the one of the most notable reveals of the Alternative trailer is the quote, “Let’s be real, we’ve only been alive 17 years.”  The quartet of female leads would scoff at what im about to say but it’s true: These are the oldest leads in FLCL to date.  Naota in Season 1 was in Middle School and Hidomi and Ide were just starting High School.  Im wondering if this means we’re going to get some more adult themes than ever before, one or two of them are trying to act more provocative (and only one might have the hots for a teacher…just a guess).  Andyet they do seem to act more like children than any of those other three, living life to the fullest while bemoaning the fact that life is still ahead of them.  Boy are they in for a shock when Haruko crashes into their perfect world.  “17 has arrived.  Life cant wait forever,” she says.

#4-Feels more like the Original FLCL

Sure the main quartet (sorry I don’t know any bodys names yet) might be more childlike but the vibe of FLCL Alternative once the action gets going feels much closer to the free spirited Season One rather than the darker tone of FLCL Progressive.  From the over the top action with Haruko taking on monsters with a new guitar (MOMMA LIKES!!!) and even her own fists, to the nods to other popular anime like Akira, Alternative seems more in Season One’s vein of entertainment from the glimpses in this trailer.  That could be a good and a bad thing.  The unfamiliar territory feel from Progressive worked in that seasons favor and helped it stand out.  However, it also at times felt less like the FLCL many fell in love with and it sometimes struggled to stay fun while doing its own thing.  Alternative seems to be taking the opposite approach but we still have to see what exactly does go down.  One thing is certain, the theme from The Pillows used in the trailer shows that the band still has plenty of goodness leftover from Progressive to give us a slam dunk third outing.

#3-Black Contee…and BUMBLEBEE??

Well Contee is back…sort of.  We catch a glimpse of the clumsy bad ass robot landing in battle similar to how he landed behind Naota in equally epic fashion in Season One.  But later on, we see Haruko sliding into battle with several other Black Contee’s standing and lying about.  Will this be a bit of a follow up to Contee’s battered state in FLCL Progressive?  Also, im sliding in that the main leader of that girl quartet (and probably the main character of Alternative, which makes two females leads for two series, awesome), is definitely piloting her own robot…which looks veeeeery similar to the design of Autobot Bumblebee from the live action Transformers movies.  Here’s hoping she can make that thing kick more ass than Movie Bumblebee ever could.

#2-Is This a Prequel?

I have been thinking about this since I saw the end credits sequence for FLCL Progressive (which it may or may not share with FLCL Alternative).  During the montage of casts towards the end, we see the cast of Alternative first, followed by Season One and finally Progressives cast.  It is a bit of a stretch but I wonder if Alternative might end up being a prequel to the first season.  I had heard a while back that Progressive was always meant to be a follow up to Season One while Alternative was going to be something totally different.  Well given how the art style looks the same and Haruko and Contee are back in their own way, im wondering if anything left over from Progressive will be explored…and if anything for Alternative will bring things full circle to Season One.

#1-If it’s not a Prequel, How Does it All Connect?

I’ve been asking this since the day this dual project was first announced.  Naturally, haruko is the main connective tissue between all three stories but are we going to see FLCL, FLCL: Progressive and FLCL: Alternative all cross each other by the end of Alternative? Besides one character in Progressive having a tenuous connection to a main player in Season One, no one else other than Haruko and Contee appeared.  What about Naota and Mamimi, what have they been up to and is Haruko checking in on her precious “Ta-Kun”?  What about Hidomi and Ide, is there story truly done, are either of them related to Naota?  Crap could Alternative be wayyyy down the road (if it’s not a prequel) and some of these girls are the offspring of that blossoming couple?  In the end, this might not matter at all and FLCL just wants to do something different and unconnected with three separate tales.  That wouldn’t surprise me.  FLCL does what it does best when you have no idea what to expect in the end.