What is Fooly Cooly?

FLCL (2000)

What is fooly cooly? 

That's just one of many questions raised over the course of the 6-episode animation Fooly Cooly (FLCL). Most of these questions never get fully answered, and when they are, it's usually in the most oblique and abstract manner possible. 

Normally, that phenomenon irritates me to no end (see: Lost). It didn't bother me one bit while watching FLCL. I'll get to why that's the case in a bit.

FLCL takes place in the fictional Japanese town of Mabase and centers on the life of a 12-year old boy named Naota. The show opens with Naota musing that nothing ever happens in his town; everything is ordinary. The weather is tranquil, the streets quiet, and the scenery undistinguished — with the glaring exception of a massive factory operated by the enigmatic corporation Medical Mechanica. Naota seethes with pubescent brooding, interacting with friends and family in the most aloof fashion possible and spending his afternoons wasting time with the 17 year-old girlfriend of his absent older brother (who moved to the USA to play baseball). 

The Medical Mechanica factory looms over the town of Mabase

It is against this backdrop that an eccentric pink-haired woman named Haruko runs Naota over with her bright yellow Vespa and proceeds to smack him in the forehead with a bass guitar. Soon afterwards, a horn grows out of his head, and all sorts of strange (and I mean very strange) things start happening.

Haruko and Naota

FLCL's narrative starts off on this bizarre note and only becomes more hyperactive over the course of six zany episodes. The show speeds along at a blistering pace. Art styles shift from scene to scene and the mood alternates between comedic to somber to sensual to meta in the blink of an eye. All sorts of references abound — from American pop culture (one scene is drawn in the style of South Park) to European fairy tales (one episode is a modern retelling of the 17th-century tale Puss In Boots). Given the rapid pacing and sheer volume of insanity unfolding on screen, I had a hard time following the plot my first viewing. However, like I said earlier, that didn't really matter to me. Watching FLCL is an experience more than anything else, an experimental audiovisual thrill-ride that invoked in me equal parts nostalgia and excitement.

These unique characteristics helped FLCL break out of the traditional Japanimation mold upon its release in 2000.  However, the show is more than just a patchwork of allusions and art styles aimed at subverting the expected normalcy of narrative cohesion. At its core, FLCL is a coming of age story, and a potent allegory for the absolute madness that nearly all human beings undergo as they transition into adulthood — puberty.

FLCL pays homage to South Park

When we first meet Naota, he's doing all he can to maintain a facade of stoicism while surrounded by a sea of immaturity. All of the adults in Naota's life don't act like adults. Or rather, they don't act how he (with his 12-year old worldview) thinks adults should act. He views his father and grandfather as lecherous old men, his teacher as an incompetent hack, and Mamimi (his brother's girlfriend) as a chain-smoking truant. And we, the viewer, see them in a similar light. 

However, as the show progresses, it becomes apparent that Naota is in fact no more mature than the rest of them. Like many kids entering their teens, Naota holds himself in higher esteem than everyone around him. By assuming an aloof and disinterested demeanor, Naota seeks to elevate himself above the adults in his life, all of who he views as irresponsible. But in reality, Naota has yet to grow up and escape the familiarity of childhood (represented metaphorically by the "ordinary" surroundings of Mabase). Naota remains fearful of the unknown, and even more fearful of actually expressing himself.

Naota retreats from the advances of his student class president, Ninamori.

Enter Haruko. A dynamic ball of unpredictability, Haruko smashes into Naota's life, breaking down barriers between fantasy and reality. She rips him out of his comfort zone and kick starts his libido. At first, he protests vigorously, rebuking her ideas and actions, retreating to the safety of his routine. However, over the course of the narrative, Naota slowly becomes more assertive and sure of himself. His progression mirrors that of many a teenager moving through puberty, from awkward fumbling to assured confidence to heady arrogance before finally petering out and landing in adulthood. Through a series of harrowing adventures, Naota is forced to face the reality of his coming of age.

FLCL lives on extended metaphors that underlie Naota's arc. They include the aforementioned childhood metaphors, as well as a host of innuendos, some subtle, others anything but. However, by far the most important one involves the refrain Haruko repeats to Naota throughout the duration of episode 4 — "nothing can happen until you swing the bat." As in, you'll never get anywhere until you put yourself out there and start taking chances. This is the true turning point of FLCL, where Naota starts to grow. He certainly hasn't abandoned all the vestiges of pre-pubescence just quite yet, but finally takes his first step out from beneath the shadow of his older brother. Of course, FLCL being what it is, this metaphor plays itself out literally on screen, as Naota is forced to save the planet from a giant baseball hurled through the Earth's atmosphere by, you guessed it, swinging his bat (erm, well a guitar, but you get the picture).

Naota swings his bat

One of FLCL's less-than-subtle instances of innuendo

At the end of FLCL's six short episodes, everything has changed, yet at the same time, nothing has changed. Naota is a fundamentally different person, yet his life in Mabase is fundamentally the same. He's fallen in love, yet he's also learned to move on. He's finally learned what it means to be an adult, yet this means that he's finally learned the truth — that just because one is an adult doesn't mean they know all the answers. To a certain extent, everyone out there in the world makes it up as they go along; the world doesn't get any less strange or inexplicable as one gets older. And in arriving at this revelation, Naota follows in the footsteps of many before him who have made the journey through puberty. The world's not a different place; he just views it through a new lens.

Haruko leaves Mabase - and Naota

So what is fooly cooly, aside from the eponymous title of the show? We get hints that it could mean all sorts of things - sex, life, coming of age - but it's never made quite clear to us. But again, none of that really matters. One rarely gets answers to all of life's questions throughout its ever-winding course. As always, life is about the journey, what you make of it, and whether or not you're willing to swing the bat.

-CC


P.S. - I would be remiss not to mention the fantastic soundtrack that accompanies FLCL. Written and performed by the Japanese rock band The Pillows, the entirety of the show unfolds with music in the background, music that perfectly captures the wistful nostalgia one feels when reminiscing about their formative teenage years. Check out one of the best tracks below: