For Naota life is incredibly dull, even for a twelve year old boy. He hangs around in a town where nothing much happens with Mamimi, his brother's seventeen year old girlfriend. Since Naota's brother has left for America to play baseball, his girlfriend has inappropriately diverted her attentions to Naota. Life is dull until one day he is run over by Haruhara Haruko a guitar wielding, vesper driving slice of insanity. At this point Naota’s life take a walk on the wild side, when he discovers that she is an alien. Worse still, she has moved in with his family...

FLCL or Fooly Cooly (2000) is a short, six episode, series written by Yoji Enokida and directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki. The show pretty much defies description, though a lot of the series is created as a straightforward anime. There are also black and white sequences, straight steals of style from shows like South Park and a general attempt to make the show as anarchic as possible. Volume three holds episodes five and six.

Episode five, Burabure, and the fact that Haruko turns her amorous attentions away from Kamon to Naota sparks a fight between Naota and Canti, which is only interrupted with the arrival of a truck load of Naota’s friends. Meanwhile, lieutenant Kitsurubami tries unsuccessfully to destroy Haruko.

Episode six, FLCLimax, and the show has come to a close with more action packed mayhem which makes little sense when you try to transpose the action off the screen into the written word. Suffice to say that things have come to a head with the Medical Mechanica plant left damaged. Haruko is finally close to gaining the Atomsk, the reason she came to Earth, only for someone else to get there first. It is a great ending to a show which has to be watched to be understood and believed.

The disc does have some extras in the form of a Poster Art Gallery, and a terse and paltry three Cast Profiles of Amarao, Kitsurubami and Canti. You also get an Australian Trailer, another Japanese closing sequence and some trailers. The show has a spotless 4:3 print with the option of an English or Japanese voice track, both of which do an excellent job with the script. Hidden here is also a director’s commentary with subtitles.

Although the show remains innovative and excellent I just can’t get over the feeling that two episodes per disc is a bit of a rip off. However, because the show is so entertaining I'm still going to give this a high mark.

8

Charles Packer