Grab your favorite electric guitar that revs up like a chainsaw and hop on your yellow 1967 Vespa SS180 because there’s an “FLCL†manga omnibus in town. Make sure your brain is still in your head. It’s not? Perfect.
Based on the six-episode anime of the name, “FLCL†ran for a measly two volumes just like its short anime counterpart. Also like the show, it’s about a young boy named Naota, who lives in a Japanese town where nothing happens until a “Vespa Lady†runs him over. Now she lives with him, he’s missing his brain, a robot popped out of his head and the whole town has gone crazy.
The basic plot may be the same, but many of the events played out are completely different than in the anime. Remember the secret service guys that came out of nowhere in the anime? They’re missing here. All the crazy robot fights? Not here either. Haruko fighting a giant robot with a slingshot while dressed as a Playboy Bunny? Anime only. What we do get is a story that is better paced, more condensed, smoother flowing and there more is explained than in the anime. The story still gets confusing, but at least it’s easier to follow than the anime.
One thing people will notice is that the art looks closer to Scott Pilgrim in black and white than the actual anime. It still has the same “FLCL†flavor whenever the crazy, out of this world moments happen. That’s when it starts to feel like “FLCL.â€
Haruko still looks awesome no matter what though.
As for extras, there is only “The Fourth Studio,” a series of one page comics that look like rough drafts for the manga. Some are interesting, some are even funny. In all, it’s not much of an extras section.
If you’re a fan of “FLCL,†you’ve already broken the fabric of time and bought this omnibus before reading this review. It is worth getting and reading while listening to the “FLCL†soundtrack to enhance the experience despite the mediocre extra section. Now if only that Vespa can go over 400.
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