Flip Flappers

Flip Flappers is the textbook definition of a hidden gem. A short, artistic original anime by a relatively unknown studio, and also an anime which is quite difficult to explain. This is partially because of its symbolic themes, but also because the execution itself is very unorthodox. It is like the anime equivalent of an LSD trip; something I can only describe as a crossover of FLCL and Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita. But somehow, Studio 3Hz actually made it work, resulting in what I would probably have to consider my favorite anime of Fall 2016. The story follows two girls who meet each other by coincidence:the extremely energetic and cheerful Papika, and the much more level-headed and all-round normal Cocona. The somewhat futuristic world which Flip Flappers plays out in does not only contain hoverboards and advanced robotics, but also a fair amount of less explainable things. Supposedly there exists a second, overlapping dimension called Pure Illusion which Papika and Cocona end up stumbling upon by literally falling down a hole into it. This other world is largely responsible for what makes Flip Flappers so different, because in Pure Illusion pretty much anything seems possible. It reminds me of Fantasia a bit with its magical, colourful landscapes, mythical beasts and other strange creatures, doors functioning as teleports, and just a ton of magic in general. Sometimes however it can be sci-fi-esque rather than fantasy-esque, with digital Tron-like cyberspace environments, mechas and more. Papika and Cocona work for the Flip Flap organization, which tasks them with searching for so-called "amorphous" fragments within the world of Pure Illusion, which are supposedly capable of granting wishes. These fragments can be found in different kinds of environments within Pure Illusion, which is largely what causes them to end up in such blatantly different surroundings in almost every episode. In their adventures however they end up finding out that Flip Flap is not the only organization on the hunt for amorphous fragments, as they encounter a second group who seemingly wants them for their own ulterior motives. And thus we end up with a lot of fighting in-between the two sides throughout the anime as they keep trying to beat each other to the punch for every fragment. Flip Flappers utilizes the strange world of Pure Illusion in order to tell unusual stories on a mostly episodic basis out of chronological order, and on top of providing interesting adventures it also has a plethora of symbolism underneath the surface. Pretty much everything in this show has a meaning. However, not the entire anime is on an episodic basis. Towards the end, everything starts to connect, and an overarching storyline you might not have even realized was ever there suddenly starts to become visible. Ultimately, it all culminates into a quite grandiose and conclusive ending. But what really makes Flip Flappers a success to me is that it manages to deliver its deeper messages without it really hampering the fun factor of the anime itself. A common problem I have with more philosophical anime is that they often end up feeling like nothing more than lectures and either turn out to be quite boring (like Mushishi) or just plain cringey (like Yuri Kuma Arashi). But Flip Flappers is actually a ton of sheer light-hearted fun on top of its subtle themes, like a child's imagination come to life with its execution, and even though there is generally way more to each scene than meets the eye, it is still very entertaining to watch. And as a result it actually made me interested enough in the show as a whole to motivate me to pay attention to the details as well, so in a way the fun factor actually made the deeper themes better too. It is the same reason you usually learn more from a class you actually enjoy than one that makes you literally fall asleep. The characters are overall quite likable but also very symbolic. Papika's bubbly personality is like a representation of childhood innocence, whereas another girl called Yayaka rather seems to symbolize adulthood, with Cocona stuck somewhere in-between the two extremes, unsure what she really wants to do. It's a nice way of combining character diversity with contrasting deeper themes. The production value is also quite surprising. Studio 3Hz do not have much in their repertoire other than Dimension W and Sora no Method prior to this, but even so they still definitely delivered here. The art style looks incredibly hand-drawn, like something you would normally see in a Studio Ghibli film rather than something you would expect to see airing on TV. But it fits really well with the Fantasia-like setting of Pure Illusion, further enhancing the experience of magic and wonder of it all. And on top of that, Flip Flappers boasts with not just having one of the best opening themes of the entire season, but also quite frankly one of the best ending themes I've ever heard in anime. Overall, what you have is an anime which honestly does not feel like it has any clear weaknesses in my eyes. The unorthodox setting and story, the way all the dots suddenly connect towards the end, the diverse and symbolic characters, the gorgeous art and the enjoyable theme songs, it is all really good. Just... not utterly amazing either. I guess the biggest downside would be that at times the story will undoubtedly come across as rather confusing, even if you really try to pay attention. Granted, this is all intentional, but that does not really help much in practicality. However, as mentioned earlier, even if you will not understand literally every message that Flip Flappers is trying to convey, I think you should still be able to enjoy it quite a lot. When it all comes down to it, that is probably its greatest strength.

While browsing for some shows that I might watch this Fall season, I stumbled on this one, got curious on the visuals, I watched the promotional video on it although I found the synopis too vague that time and I thought to myself "This show has potential" and it came the pilot episode. Flip Flappers, the show that most of the people overlooked because of the number of magical girl shows this Fall 2016 season has brought. What I liked on this show was it's subtle yet too vibrant and how it was incorporated with meanings behind it that you will not notice 23 minutes hadalready passed. Graced with beautiful art design, engaging characters,and some of the most consistently sharp visual storytelling, episodic themes where at times calm and subdued then comes a bombastic outing, even crazier and bigger in its scale it manages to break away from easy comparisons thanks to a tone, aesthetic, and narrative ideas that are so unique and engaging. Flip Flappers’ storytelling and character writing goes completely unsaid. It's strong point was both character story and adventure , but it stands out as a confident, imaginative, and consistently beautiful example of visual storytelling done right.

It's painful to see a show with boundless imagination be constrained by the cold, harsh facts like Flip Flappers. It's a beautifully animated show with an endearing, infectious sort of charm, but BD sales are the lifeblood of seasonal anime, and all the charm in the world won't count for anything if you can't make the grade. Flip Flappers struggled to find an audience, and you could feel the creators; mad-dash scramble to wrap everything by the end of the first and certainly only season. If given the chance to stretch its legs and take its time, perhaps over two full-length seasons, I think Flip Flapperscould have developed into something really marvelous. The chance for anything like that now, however, is pure illusion. Flip Flappers has a great start. The artwork and animation is gorgeous throughout, full of liveliness and energy, capturing everything from fantastical dreamscapes to heated battles to the subtle, little gestures that are so often forgotten. That and the intrigue of the setting and the characters was enough to draw me in. I kept watching for the varied worlds each episode would offer; it reminded me of Space Dandy in that each setting felt like a chance for different artists to go hog wild and really let loose. Papika and Cocona are likable leads to boot, which always helps. Something I also appreciated was the show's slavish devotion to showing, not telling. There's no narration, no characters explaining every step of their thought process (at first), it's all conveyed through the visuals and the way these characters interact. That can be all too rare in anime and should be applauded. Unfortunately, the last third of the show starts to cram in plot point after plot point, as if the crew realized that they were running out of time. We stop exploring these distant worlds and instead have to drudge through the tedious, infinitely-less interesting backstory. Characters show up with no purpose (NyuNyu). The characters we already have are pretty thin, with little depth or nuance to really explore. We have yet another "small child with reality warping powers of a god running amok" plot. Then the whole thing ends with so many threads unresolved at best or completely forgotten about at worst; Yayaka, who's friendship with Cocona is the basis for a powerful turning point in Ep 8, is almost entirely redundant by the end and gets no conclusion to her arc. The story doesn't end, it just stops. It's a shame that a rushed end can damage an otherwise good or even great show, but that's why execution is so, so important. All that being said, don't take this 6 to mean its bad. I would still heartily recommend Flip Flappers as a whole; it's breathtaking to look at and, at its best, it's a wildly fun and imaginative ride. You just have to take the show warts and all.

Critics call this series: "beautiful, imaginative, action-packed, and mysterious" I'll add that it's also "diverse, unique, immersive, and, most importantly, it's (*cough*cough* mostly *cough*) coherent!" Flip Flappers is pretty underrated and will take you on a relatively unpredictable journey with two middle school girls named Papika and Cocona as they travel to another dimension called "Pure Illusion". The story begins mysteriously as it follows the warm and simple-minded Papika as she escapes from what looks like a lab and flies off into the night sky on her hoverboard. It then switches to the perspective of the visibly depressed or kuudere Cocona and briefly gives insight into herstruggles to figure who she wants to be and what career path to choose. At this point, no one could have guessed the incredibly diverse future that was in store for these two protagonists. TL;DR at the end I strongly believe that Flip Flappers is one of the most original and imaginative anime ever made. It should get more attention because it definitely has all of the necessary ingredients to become one of the treasured gems of the anime genre. I highly recommend that you check this out if you enjoy diversity, unpredictability, action, and beauty. I usually like to contemplate anime, but this series was so unpredictable and silly that I had to turn my brain off for most of it, haha! Story: 8/10 The concept of other dimensions gave this anime the ability to explore unlimited possibilities. Mechas, ghosts, sci-fi, action, comedy, horror--- you name it and it was probably in Flip Flappers. The overarching plot showcases the growing friendship of Papika and Cocona as they journey to "Pure Illusion" to collect rock-like-things that grant a wish once collected (kind of like finding the dragon balls). They eventually come to face opposition from another group that's also trying to collect them. However, ~PLOT TWIST~ things aren’t really as they seem… What real-world consequences will their actions in Pure Illusion have? Do the rocks really grant wishes? Who, exactly, is Papika? In fact, who is Dr. Salt? In fact... who... are you...? Just kidding, but these are some of the major questions that you might wonder throughout this anime. Overall, I did think it was a bit random (mostly in a good way) and sometimes the randomness strayed from the coherence of the plot. However, the pacing was, nonetheless, great and the stories/sub-stories were all interesting as well. Art: 9/10 Although the art was mostly simple, it was beautifully simple. The art was deliberately made to look simple and is one of the most colorful anime that I’ve seen. It was truly a work of art! The motion was a bit choppy at times, but you could really FEEL the action. Pure illusion (alternate dimension) was absolutely stunning with rich and vibrant colors, and its artwork was enough to make me feel fully immersed in this series. The art wasn’t good because of its detail, but instead because of its creativity. They did a great job on setting the moods of the diverse settings in Flip Flappers. Sometimes it goes from a fun and light-hearted mood to a sci-fi mood, and then to more darker moods. Although the art was really good, I never once thought “Oh... My... Fuck... BRILLIANCE! MASTERPIECE!” like I did for Unlimited budgetworks (unlimited bladeworks) or Kizumoneygatari (Kizumonogatari) so I couldn't give it a 10 (Visit Kill la Kill or Katanagatari [10/10 Art]) for how to be flambuoyant, but still fluid in animation) Sound: 9/10 Every character’s voice matched the character, battle sounds were great, and background noises were normal. The background OSTs were primarily cinematic and didn’t have a memorable central theme like in Fairy tail, Kill la Kill, Guilty Crown, SAO, Madoka Magica, or Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles but it was nonetheless great background music. The opening was pretty good, but the ending was perfect for this anime. The ending was lighthearted, had an Alice-in-Wonderland-like feeling to it, and the artwork really matched the music perfectly. The sound was great overall. Character: 6/10 I personally think the characters were the weakest part of this anime. All of the characters were cliche tropes that weren’t complex at all. The story was diverse enough that it didn’t matter much, but none of the characters were particularly unique in any way. It’s fine because I’m not sure how they could’ve developed more complex characters with its diverse settings in a matter of only 12 episodes. Their simplicity didn’t really take much away from the anime, but you probably won’t be getting any new favorites from it. Enjoyment: 9/10 I really enjoyed this anime. It was pretty unique, so I think I’ll remember it for a long time. I enjoyed it enough to watch it again someday! That doesn’t happen to me often (I’ve only really re-watched like 2 series). There was just something special about this anime that I haven’t seen elsewhere. Overall: 8/10 TL;DR It was very unique, the story was pretty good, and it was interesting overall, but it could have been better. The story was also extremely diverse but consequently had some very minor inconsistencies. The artwork was creative, but a bit choppy. The sound was great and well-suited to this anime, but not amazing. Should you watch this anime? Well, I totally recommend it personally but: If you value anime for its uniqueness, then definitely! If you like artistic anime, then yeah! If you like girl action anime, then yep! If you like sci-fi anime, then ehhh you might want to give it a shot... If you found the story or concept to be intriguing, then you should probably try it for about three episodes... If you dislike simple anime and tropes, then no because this anime is very simple and trope heavy. If you dislike “friendship power”, then nah this anime “Fairy Tail”ed at times. Hope this helps you make your decision! If it did, let me know by clicking helpful~ If it didn’t, let me know what you disagree with so I can learn from my mistakes!