In a way, the finale of FLCL Progressive kind of sums up FLCL as a whole. The emotional and thematic arc of the story comes to its logical conclusion, while the actual events of the plot are oblique and confusing. Which is just a fancy way of saying I had no idea what was actually happening and why it mattered. But this is FLCL, so the plot doesn't matter. The characters reaching emotional maturity is, and that's what happens here. I'm getting ahead of myself though.
Things pick up right where Episode 5 left off. Hidomi, partially transformed into a robot, faces down Haruko to save Iide from... whatever she did to him. The battle against Medical Mechanica is raging as Atomsk descends from the sky. Quickly, here's a rundown of the important things that happen plot wise in this episode. Atomsk's enormous N.O. power sucks Haruko and Hidomi into space. They board a weird space station where they find the remains of Canti, Haruko's robot partner from FLCL Classic. Meanwhile, Aiko the rent-a-girlfriend turns out to be a robot transmitter (I think?) which Hidomi's mom uses to have a heart-to-heart with Hidomi on the space station. This inspires Hidomi to unleash her full powers for the first time. Doing so turns her completely into her robot form and Iide's soul (?) inhabit's Canti's body along with Atomsk. From there, she and Haruko return to Earth and battle each other over who's beloved will be freed from Canti. They both seem to succeed. Iide is returned to normal after... whatever happened to him and Atomsk tries to give Haruko a moment of closure before he heads back out into space. Also, Aiko destroyed Medical Mechanica. At least, that's my interpretation of what happened.
Haruko watches the arrival of Atomsk with glee. |
As for the theme of teenage sexuality, I don't think it's a coincidence that both Iide and Hidomi turn into robots this episode. Indeed, Hidomi's resolve to use her full powers also comes from Iide in Canti breaking her headphones, which have been established as a metaphor for virginity. Or that she "beats" Haruko by getting a kiss from her perspective boyfriend. This kind of goes hand in hand with emotional maturity though. It's only because Hidomi has opened herself up to her feelings and the chance of being hurt again that she can even pursue this relationship. Turning into robots is an odd choice to symbolize becoming sexually active, mature adults, but given that both partners in the relationship do so may be taken to mean they're both ready to try taking things to the next level. Or perhaps I'm just reading too much into it.
Hitomi's full henshin-style robot transformation. |
And those are my thoughts on FLCL Progressive after a first watch-through. I'm sure I'll dig up even more after I've watched it as many times as the original. Over all, I think it's a worthy successor. It doesn't reach the zany heights of FLCL Classic but thematically I think it was more consistent. Hidomi's journey was a really interesting one to watch and it was a smart move to not try and do a direct continuation of the original. I wish we had gotten a bit more from Jinyu but like Haruko it might be better the less we know about their backstory. Not the instant masterpiece FLCL Classic was, but a damn good six episodes of anime. Now let's see how FLCL Alternative turns out...
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