Episodes
FLCL is directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki and produced by the FLCL Production Committee, which included Gainax, Production I.G, and Starchild Records.
Tsurumaki has said that he tried to "break the rules" of anime when making FLCL, for example, by choosing a contemporary Japanese band to provide the soundtrack, and patterning the style more after "a Japanese TV commercial or promotional video", creating a work that is "short, but dense-packed".
| No. | Title | English airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Fooly Cooly" "Furi Kuri" (フリクリ) |
August 5, 2003 |
| Naota Nandaba and Mamimi are hanging out underneath a bridge. Mamimi then begins to kiss Naota's neck. He asks why she always does that. She replies that she has to or she will overflow. Naota narrates his life in the city of Mabase as being "ordinary" and "nothing ever happens there." Naota and Mamimi buy a drink from a vending machine and Mamimi points out a hickey on Naota's neck, when they are interrupted by the arrival of Haruko Haruhara, who runs over Naota with her Vespa scooter, gives him CPR, then hits him on the head with a bass guitar. The blow leaves a really large horn-like bump which Naota covers with a bandage. His classmates tell rumors about how getting hit by the Vespa leaves a mark that shows you've been doing perverted things. He's then stalked by Haruko as he goes to the hospital after school. Haruko turns out to be the nurse and Naota runs away. While at home, Naota finds Haruko working in his house as a live-in maid. His father asks him if he was "fooly coolying" with Mamimi. Haruko settles in Naota's room, while talking to someone. Naota and Haruko argue about where she will sleep and Naota says she should stay with his father. He goes downstairs, where his father says that Mamimi came by to get the day old bread from their bakery and asks if Mamimi's family is poor. When Naota goes to find her, she tells him how much she likes his brother, who lives in America due to being a great baseball athlete. Naota tells her he has an American girlfriend. Mamimi suddenly says she's overflowing. A robot and a detached piece of a giant robot from Medical Mechanica come out of the bump on his head and begin fighting, only to have the battle end with Haruko hitting the robot with her guitar. | ||
| 2 | "Fire Starter" "Faisuta" (ファイスタ) |
August 6, 2003 |
| X-rays taken by the robot reveal that Naota's head is empty. This is because the blow to his head created an N.O. Portal which doesn't show up on the X-rays. Haruko tells him she's a First Class Space Patrol Officer. Mamimi is obsessed with a hand-held video game called Fire Starter, in which the player performs the role of an arsonist in order to please the Lord of Black Flames, Kanti. The robot is kept occupied doing chores at the Nandaba residence, while Haruko, despite being the maid, performs little to no work. Mamimi sees the robot while he is recovering the parts from his head that Haruko had damaged, wearing black wings, a halo and flying off a burned rooftop. She believes him to be a god and calls him Kanti. Haruko tries to break into the Medical Meccanica plant in town, which is in the shape of a giant iron. She fails and questions security why there is no entrance or exit. She is taken home by Naota. A series of fires meanwhile erupts around the city. Naota visits the site of one fire with two of his school friends, where he sees Mamimi down by the river and learns from his friends that she is being bullied at her school. Naota realizes it is Mamimi who is starting the fires. He finds her performing a 'fire ritual' by the water bank. She explains she burnt down her old school house when she was younger because she 'hated the place', and had been saved from the flames by Naota's brother, which was the reason she loved him. She ends the ritual by asking the robot to bless her with a kiss. A robot emerges from Naota's head then, and starts to battle Kanti. Naota merges with Kanti, transforming into a large weapon to destroy the robot. At the end of the episode Naota wonders what he can do for Mamimi, and promises to always be by her side. | ||
| 3 | "Marquis de Carabas" "Maru Raba" (マルラバ) |
August 7, 2003 |
| The father of Naota's classmate Eri Ninamori, as well as the mayor of Mabase, is caught up in a scandal involving an alleged separation with her mother. Ninamori is more focused on the class' upcoming play, Puss in Boots. She plays the lead opposite Naota, who was voted to play the cat. Naota is unenthusiastic about his role and skips rehearsal. Upon meeting Mamimi, she discovers that he now has cat ears growing from his head. Ninamori retreats to a train station to get away from the media circus that has developed outside her home, where Naota finds her. Haruko comes racing down the street, and loses her Vespa when she tries to avoid hitting a cat. The Vespa slams into Naota, knocking him into Ninamori, exposing his N.O. manifestation- the cat ears. Curious, she touches them, and passes out due to exposure to N.O. Kamon invites her to spend the night at the Nandaba residence due to the current turmoil at her home. She reveals that she rigged the class votes to have him cast as the cat. The next day, the two get into an argument over the play. After Ninamori angrily reveals Naota's cat ears, he retaliates by revealing her vote rigging. This triggers the emergence of a massive creature from her head, which Haruko and Kanti manage to defeat with the help of curry. The class goes through with the play. | ||
| 4 | "Full Swing" "Furi Kiri" (フリキリ) |
August 8, 2003 |
| Haruko proves to be a star baseball player with phenomenal hitting and pitching skills, nearly singlehandedly defeating the Mabase Martians, who are coached by Naota's grandfather Shigekuni. Naota, however, refuses to swing when he is at bat (it is implied that he does not want to be compared to his brother, who is a professional baseball player) and gets hit by one of Haruko's pitches. At home, Kamon and Haruko indulge in odd behavior that inflames Naota's jealousy. He meets Commander Amarao for the first time, who warns him about Haruko. Commander Amarao works for the department of Interstellar Immigration alongside his subordinate Lieutenant Kitsurubami. He discovers that a satellite damaged by one of Haruko's hit baseballs is rapidly falling towards Earth. It homes in on a sudden burst of light from the N.O. channel in Naota's head that is triggered by his anger towards his father, and targets Mabase. Naota confronts Kamon and hits him in the head with a baseball bat, only to discover that he has hit a robot impersonating his father. He finds the corpse of his real father and revives him with hot water. After receiving a message that Commander Amarao had asked Naota to pass on to her, Haruko takes Naota to the top of the Medical Meccanica plant, where she extracts a Gibson Flying V guitar from Naota's head, which she calls his "bat". She then leaves as the falling satellite heads straight for Naota. It unfolds into the shape of a baseball glove and launches a bomb that looks exactly like a baseball. Naota swings his "bat" and manages to halt the bomb, which begins to detonate. Haruko returns to rescue him by swinging her guitar and knocking it back into space. | ||
| 5 | "Brittle Bullet" "Burabure" (ブラブレ) |
August 9, 2003 |
| Haruko begins to switch her attentions from Kamon to Naota, arousing the former's jealousy. They resolve to "duel" for Haruko, which amounts to little more than an intense airsoft firefight with Kanti, who is allied with Kamon. During the fight, Lieutenant Kitsurubami tries unsuccessfully to blow Kanti away. Mamimi, observing Naota's intimate relationship with Haruko, questions how much he really likes her, leading him to confront her about their relationship. Finally, his forehead erupts with one of the largest objects yet, a leviathan robot, while a gunfight rages between Commander Amarao, his gunmen, and Haruko. Trapped on top of the robot, Naota resolves to save Mamimi and bravely fuses with Kanti. However, despite his and Haruko's best efforts, they are unable to stop the giant robot, which rampages towards the Medical Meccanica plant. Kanti then manifests the power of Atomsk by producing his EB-0 1961 Gibson bass guitar, to the amazement of Commander Amarao and Haruko. Kanti defeats the giant robot, which is actually a gargantuan hand, rocketing over the Medical Meccanica plant and straight into the ground, where it becomes a petrified monument, presiding over the plant. Kanti then separates from Naota, yet retains the power of Atomsk, and then runs away with Haruko. | ||
| 6 | "FLCLimax" "Furi Kura" (フリクラ) |
August 13, 2003 |
| Haruko and Kanti have disappeared and become wanted criminals, while smoke continues to pour out of the Medical Meccanica plant, shrouding Mabase in mist. Mamimi finds a small dog-like robot by the river. It runs away with her cell phone, which she lets it eat, and it grows as a result. Haruko returns to the Nandaba residence at dinner (in a style similar to episode 1's dinner scene), causing Naota to later ask her in tears why she left. Commander Amarao and Lieutenant Kitsurubami attempt to find the "terminal core" of a robot they haul out of the river, which is revealed to be the device Mamimi has been feeding. It absorbs part of Kanti before Haruko feeds Naota to it, then drills into the giant hand. From this, Haruko hopes to extract Atomsk, the celestial being whose power she desires. Before the giant hand can fully grasp the Medical Meccanica plant, Kanti stops it as Naota emerges from his head, glowing with the infinite energy of Atomsk. Stunned, Haruko flies into a rage, bent on acquiring the power of Atomsk by destroying Naota. Before he can finish Haruko off, Naota stops short and declaring his love for her, kisses her, allowing Atomsk to fully emerge from his N.O. channel. Atomsk consumes the terminal core and blasts into space. Afterwards, Haruko offers to bring Naota into space on her Space Vespa and then reneges. Naota finds her guitar lying amongst the rubble, which Mamimi takes a picture of, inspiring her to pursue a photography career. In the epilogue, life returns to normal in Mabase; save for a small teaser that keeps the ending semi-open- Haruko's guitar string is plucked on its own, leaving the possibility of her return. |
- a^ : The Japanese title is actually an alteration made by Haruko on the phrase "funi funi, funi kura" (フニフニ. フニクラ?). The episode's title is not meant to have any actual significance.
Read more about this topic: List Of FLCL Episodes
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