FLCL: Grunge

I'm writing this review from the perspective of someone who loved FLCL Progressive. I genuinely think Progressive earns the name FLCL. Alternative needs a rewatch before I give my full thoughts but the point is I'm speaking as someone who doesn't think the existence of these sequels is an abomination upon mankind. What the fuck is this? Let's go back a bit. I'm of the firm belief that we were going to get sequels to FLCL no matter what. It's not Adult Swim's fault, it's Gainax's for not selling the rights to Hideaki Anno and/or Kazuya Tsurumaki so they could sit on the rights until they croak.I think Adult Swim were the best people to order new FLCL seasons. They're uber fans of the original and understand how inevitable FLCL sequels should be made. The question of whether or not they should exist is an irrelevant one. Ultimately, they exist, and we should judge them on their own merits since they clearly have no intention of surpassing the original. That's why I liked FLCL Progressive. Then, in March 2022, two more seasons were announced. ANOTHER batch of FLCL sequels raises several questions. Did Adult Swim consider Progressive/Alternative a success? Were they HAPPY with the middling reception? Do they actually not want these and were forced to make them by either American or Japanese investors? And the elephant in the room, why was one of them animated in CGI? I've been saying this since the animation style was revealed: it's not that bad. This isn't the worst anime CGI can get, we've got Ex-Arm and Tesla Note to prove that. There's a style to it that makes it shine. But just because the sun shines doesn't mean its heat doesn't piss me off from time to time. The problem lies in how that style clashes with the FLCL style, so it feels like it's struggling to keep it together. But I don't think the animation is the problem. If this was in 2D, I'd might've given this a 5/10 but probably would've kept the score the same. The animation is not Grunge's problem, it's the writing. People hate Progressive and Alternative because they are named FLCL. But you're supposed to let the FLCL branding become an afterthought while watching it. They aren't meant to be direct sequels, it's just an anthology sort of deal. There's a line you don't cross and FLCL Grunge hopped on a Vespa and blasted through that line: they incorporated characters and locations from the original with NO subtlety towards it. In Progressive, it's a wink to the audience, but in Grunge, it's in your face. The fear of God was felt in my bones when I realized that in the trailer and the show confirmed by suspicions. By including these references in the plot, it's telling the audience that they <i>should</i> be thinking about the original FLCL while they're watching it. Which is the last thing a sequel should be doing? A good sequel's characters, environment and storytelling should be able to stand out on their own without forcing comparisons to the original. This is such a monumental step backwards and I don't know why Adult Swim approved of this. The characters are uninteresting. Shinpachi is a worse version of Naota, Shonari is part of a clan of rock people that stick out like a sore thumb since they're the only fantasy species in this world, Orinoko doesn't stand out when we've had plenty of other anime girls like her in the past. If the FLCL sequels have done anything, it's bastardize Haruko Haruhara. What once was a mysterious but fascinating character for anime fans has now become an annoyance. These sequels, fortunately, don't explore her backstory, but we now have more Haruko than we ever needed. What I'm trying to say is that it's old. Finding out that the series was only 3 episodes last week was a shock. I didn't understand why the series was so short or why every episode took place "on the same day from 3 different perspectives". And having seen all of it...NO! IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE! There's nothing <i>special</i> about this night, there's nothing <i>special</i> about these characters, there's nothing <i>special</i> about this animation and that's a big problem because FLCL is one of the most special anime ever made. If you're going to have a <b>THIRD</b> completely unnecessary sequel to one of the most beloved anime of all time, then you goddamn better provide something special. Progressive was special. Alternative was special. People will tell me I'm wrong but I will die on that hill. Grunge THINKS it's special when there is nothing special about it. Anything this provides is something I can find elsewhere in anime. It fails to have a purpose in existing as an anime, don't even get me started on its failure to exist as a sequel to FLCL. At least FLCL Shoegaze looks good.

FLCL Grunge is the worst FLCL sequel yet. The original FLCL was one of the most creative, beautifully made anime of its time, with every bit of it oozing with the passion of every person involved, but as has been proven time and time again, Americans getting their hands on anime has heavily hurt the industry, and the FLCL sequels commissioned by Adult Swim have been no exception. Not even bothering to bring back the minds that made the original great, Progressive was a swallow attempt at trying to make the OG again, but lacking any of the charm and boundless inspiration that it had,instead coming across as a cynical rehash solely made to satisfy corporations. The next sequel, Alternative, fared even worse, as it completely butchered even basic ideas that the original had, completely misunderstanding the metaphors it had used, and just overall had nothing to offer thanks to its bland and uninspired art that, while pretty, had nothing to make it stand out from any other anime. I believed things couldn't get worse for this once great series, but then Adult Swim came again with 2 MORE SEQUELS, and FLCL Grunge sure didn't disappoint in how bad it is. Let's start with the elephant in the room: the visual style is the equivalent of a pig rolling in shit. From the second the trailers showed this season would go full CGI, I had my expectations at rock bottom, but the compositing here is just atrocious, mixing horribly with the aesthetic of the returning characters, and making the new ones feel like they belong in a completely different show. The fact it sometimes mixes the cel shaded CGI in with some traditional animation (which still doesn't look good, mind you) brings back nightmares of Berserk 2016, even if this at least doesn't reach such criminal levels of bad. The fact the series tries to recreate scenes from the original show, but using this ugly look in place of the brilliant original, they just look plain bad as the visuals the OG had gone for just don't translate to CGI at all. Even if you let the visuals aside, another great issue with Grunge is the story, as this franchise whose main message is growing up sure has been stuck repeating the same plot for 4 seasons now. So yes, the plot is again a copy paste of the original whose deviations just don't matter, as nothing this blatantly corporate product could do would hope to match the most thematically perfect coming of age story of this century, let alone when the execution in this one is so poor even 2/3 into it you're not sure what even is this trying to do beyond said rehash, as the story goes literally nowhere by the end. Really, when a franchise starts contradicting its messages, you know it has gone for far longer than it should've, as the fact this keeps preaching to move on while being stuck on trying to cater nostalgia for the original series as its only marketing method is just disgusting. Oh, and they couldn't even bother to get back Haruko and Amarao's voice actors, showing once again that they just don't care and only want a cheap cash grab, the only positive I can even give to this show is once more bringing back The Pillows, as their songs are just as good as ever. In the end, I just don't get who this series even is for. FLCL fans have no reason to watch a criminally watered down version of the show they can watch again in one sit, most new people wouldn't start watching a 20+ years old series in the 4th season, and anyone who would do it anyway won't get anything of real value out it since it's just a bland, corporate and ugly turd. Earlier this year, I said that a certain isekai show would be the worst anime of the year unless something went really wrong, and seeing how Grunge just utterly fails in every conceivable aspect and I see no reason anyone should waste these 90 minutes of their time even trying to watch this mess, I see I summoned the monkey's paw, as I now declare this to be the worst anime of 2023. Thank you for reading

"FLCL: Cringe" That is better fitting name for this trash. Any imaginary efforts of the authors are simply drowned in the demerits of this show. It's not even about the style and graphics (that are genuinely bad), because there's nothing inspiring about this show. The characters are just a set of talking and yelling heads and based on images of original show. Dialogues are just a random combination of words and hackneyed tropes which make absolutely no sense. The creators tried to present this show as an alternative version of the original, however, they didn't really bring anything of their own. The original concept of adolescence andadulthood, coupled with dystopia, was replaced by random nonsense. things just happen, but the authors didn't have the talent to present them in a fascinating way. It's not enough to just make supposedly "crazy" scenes. Going back to the visual - yes, it's disgusting. Low framerate of horrible 3D CG, lacerated scenes and acidic palette in combination look just awful. There are small patches of successful solutions, but there are too few of them. In the end, the authors didn't even bother to write new tracks in the grunge style, lol! Most of it are just old tracks and their arrangements. The most annoying thing is that when you watch it, you don't feel like your soul is dying like with other bad titles, but you realize with your mind that this show simply doesn't have a single point to exist.

The original Fooly Cooly was like lightning in a bottle. It was something that can't be replicated, and remains one of the most iconic series in the history of Japanese animation. But here we are, with Adult Swim's third attempt to capture lightning in a bottle with another series. Grunge takes place on a different planet, seemingly a post-apocalyptic dystopia setting where crime is rampant and people are trying to get off the planet, but with limited shuttles left. With this being a different planet, not only are there humans, but there are also rock people for some reason. No other explanation is given on thesetting. Following a group of three kids, each episode is shown in their own perspective of a single night. My biggest personal issue with Grunge is its blatant lack of originality. The first two sequels, Alternative and Progressive, were at least original. This takes so many beats and scenes that were outright pulled from the original, it's almost embarrassing. I can pick out shot after shot that are directly taken from the original that it almost feels plagiaristic. And even when it steals good things from the original, it has no idea what to do with them. Visually speaking, this is the biggest departure from all other series to this point; opting to use a stylized 3DCG instead. Most times it looked cheap, stiff, and ugly. Haruko was arguably the best looking character, but she got the royal treatment compared to the rest of the cast. As for the characters themselves, they were so bland, that I struggle to remember their names. No real personalities, no features that stand out, and only a single episode of development for each of main three protagonists. We see another familiar face besides Haruko with Commander Amarao. But he's practically irrelevant and more like a punchline. Haruko on the other hand was what stringed all the episodes together. Clearly she is the anchor for the series, and without her, it's not really Fooly Cooly. They used her as much as possible, it was strange to say the least. The music, arguably one of the most important aspects of FLCL, was awkwardly implemented. Despite the quality of the pillows, they were poorly used. Songs were shoved into scenes randomly and they end early or fade away awkwardly. Not a flattering way to use what is still a phenomenal band like the pillows. The biggest crime of this series is that I feel like it's not saying anything. Usually there is some kind of message that the viewer can takeaway, but in this case, it feels like nothing happens. This leaves the audience shrugging their shoulders and asking why they spent an hour of their time watching this. I'm also in that boat. No originality, nothing to say, and boring; the very antithesis of what Fooly Cooly is supposed to be.