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FLCL (フリクリ Furi Kuri?, known in North America as Fooly Cooly) is an original video animation series written by Yōji Enokido, directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki and produced by the FLCL Production Committee, which included Gainax, Production I.G, and Starchild Records.
FLCL follows Naota Nandaba, a twelve-year-old boy living in the fictional Japanese suburb of Mabase, and his interactions with Haruko Haruhara, who arrives in the quiet suburb, drawn by the industrial town houses and the Medical Mechanica building.
The English adaptation of the series was first licensed by Synch-Point and Geneon Entertainment, which released the DVDs and soundtrack respectively, but has been out of print for some time now. In January 2010, however, Funimation Entertainment announced that they would be re-releasing the series on DVD and Blu-ray.[1] In addition, the series aired on TV in America on Adult Swim a few times, and is currently being re-aired.


Plot

Naota's life is confined to going to school and living with his father and grandfather. The usually boring life in Mabase is rudely interrupted by the arrival of Haruko Haruhara, who bursts on the scene by running Naota over with her Vespa scooter, then giving him CPR and hitting him on the head with a blue vintage Rickenbacker 4001 left-handed reverse strung electric bass guitar.[2][3] Later, Naota is shocked to find Haruko working in his house as a live-in maid.
Haruko's search for the Pirate King, Atomsk, puts her at odds with Medical Meccanica, the monolithic industrial corporation. At the same time, Naota is being watched by Commander Amarao. The Commander believes Haruko is in love with Atomsk and that Medical Meccanica is out to conquer the galaxy. The combination of circumstances gets Naota involved in a three-way battle between Haruko, Amarao and Medical Mechanica.



Characters

Main article: List of FLCL characters
Naota Nandaba is the protagonist of the series, obsessed with appearing mature and nonchalant. He idolizes his older brother Tasuku, who represents for Naota what it means to be an "adult". He also has a crush on Haruko but never trys to admit it.
Haruko Haruhara is Mabase's newest resident, an extraterrestrial investigator for the Galactic Space Police Brotherhood. She becomes the Nandaba household maid while working to find Atomsk, the most powerful space pirate in the galaxy. She uses her bass guitar[2] to create an N.O. portal in Naota's head, through which various objects periodically appear, including Medical Mechanica robots and Naota's guitar, among others. Amarao states in episode 4 and episode 6 that Haruko's real name is "Raharu".
Canti is the first robot to emerge from Naota's head. It was manufactured by Medical Mechanica, and had been used by them to capture Atomsk. It is later revealed that Atomsk can manifest through Canti, with Naota being the catalyst.
Mamimi Samejima is a high school truant, and Tasuku's ex-girlfriend. She is a lonely and depressed heavy-smoker. She adopts several pets and names them all "Ta-kun" as a replacement for Naota's brother, she might be a pyromaniac too. She also thinks of Naota as a replacement for Tasuku, but later grows uninterested when Naota exhibits independence.
Eri Ninamori is the daughter of the mayor of Mabase and the president of Naota's sixth grade class. Ninamori is a complex character—like Naota she is obsessed with acting grown-up, but she often loses her composure when angry or excited. Ninamori hides her frustration with her father's sex scandal, and rigs an election for the school play so that she gets the lead role while Naota gets cast opposite her, hinting that she has a crush on him.
Nandaba Kamon, a would-be editor, is Naota's father. Unlike his son, he is clearly outgoing and does what he pleases. Naota often reprimands his father for not acting like an adult.
Nandaba Shigekuni is Naota's grandfather, a retired baker. He doesn't like Mamimi.
Commander Amarao is a special agent of the Bureau of Interstellar Immigration. He apparently has some past with Haruko and claims to know who or what she really is. Amarao's childhood also seems to mirror Naota's. Amarao's eyebrows are made of seeweed to keep Heruko from usuing his head as a portal.
Kitsurubami is an agent of Commander Amarao, a healthy young woman who worries about her boss's eyebrows. She is generally repulsed by him, especially by his occasional advances toward her.
Tasuku Nandaba is Naota's brother who lives in the United States and plays minor-league baseball -- he is never shown in the anime, except in a flashback (only his silhouette is shown) and in a photo of Tasuku and his "American girlfriend".


Production

FLCL is directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki and produced by the FLCL Production Committee, which included Gainax, Production I.G, and Starchild Records.
Six pieces of theme music are used for the episodes; five opening themes and one closing theme. All the theme songs are by The Pillows, a Japanese rock band. The battle themes are "Advice" and "Little Busters". The opening themes are: "One Life", used in episode one, "Instant Music" in episode two and three, "Happy Bivouac" for episode four, "Runners High", utilized in episode five, and "Carnival" in episode six. The closing theme is "Ride on Shooting Star", used for all of the episodes. Geneon Entertainment has released three original soundtracks encompassing the aforementioned songs, with the soundtracks titled Addict, released on January 20, 2004, King of Pirates, released on September 7, 2004, and FLCL No. 3, released on June 7, 2005.[4][5][6]




Manga
The manga interprets the series with all of the key elements intact, but loses some details (e.g. that Canti is Atomsk) and changes the dialogue. It is a much darker and more graphic take on the story, highlighting the sex and violence (Naota intentionally kills his father with the baseball bat in a rather grisly scene because he thought Haruko and his father were sleeping together; Shigekuni and an unnamed war buddy later suicide-bomb the Medical Mechanica building).
The manga has also been mildly controversial for its unique art style, especially the uses of ink to roughly outline objects and shade areas. Volume 1 is more like the first two episodes while Volume 2 is more like episodes 3 through 6. One major change to a character is Ninamori, as her robot becomes an ally and is not destroyed. Its design is also different, being a large octopus-like robot attached to her head that enables her to fly. The ending is also quite different from the anime.
The English language edition of the manga was released by TOKYOPOP in two volumes (ISBN 978-1-59182-396-4 and ISBN 978-1-59182-397-1).


Novels
The first of the three novels was released in America on March 11, 2008, the second on September 9, 2008, and the final on March 10, 2009. All were released in Japan starting in 2000, and in 2008 in the United States.