Book Log: "FLCL" by Yoji Enokido and Gainax

Part A: Book Summary

FLCL by Yoji Enokido and Gainax
Sci-Fi Book
Tokyopop, 2007, 122p, $9.99
ISBN 978-1-4278-0498-3

FLCL (pronounced “Fooly Cooly”) is the first volume in a series of graphic novels about Nandaba Naota, a twelve-year-old boy on the verge of puberty, living in the Japanese suburb of Mabase. At the edge of town sits the strange iron-shaped Medical Mechanica factory, where medical machinery is produced. This element characterizes Mabase as an industrial community, and creates room for an odd turn of events in Naota's story.

The story begins with Naota meeting his brother's girlfriend under a bridge in town. His older brother Tasuku is playing baseball in America, and his girlfriend Mamimi is using Naota as a replacement boyfriend for the time being. Under the bridge, Mamimi starts kissing Naota. Suddenly, as Naota's prepubescent emotions are emerging, an alien girl named Haruko zooms past him on a Vespa, hitting him smack dab in the head with a bass guitar. Haruko's entrance to the story symbolizes the confusion of puberty, but Naota's trouble has just begun.

Later on, a large bump protrudes from the bullseye on Naota's head. A horn evolves from the bump, and eventually, a robot busts free and crawls out of his skull. Soon, more horns are protruding and two more robots emerge from his head. The horns and bumps are an obvious metaphor for an erection; they emerge during intense or sexually arousing situations.

As the story progresses, Naota finds himself running all over town, trying to avoid the strange Haruko, who is obviously targeting him. He goes home one evening for some peace and quiet to find that his father and grandfather have accepted Haruko into their house! And she's to be their new housekeeper! Both Kamon, Naota's father, and Shigekuni, his grandfather, are smitten by the beautiful Haruko. Despite Naota's protests, they let her use his room and even sleep in his bed! As if that wasn't bad enough, Naota's love interest, Mamimi, has become obsessed with Canti, the first robot to appear out of Naota's skull. She worships it as a god, which disturbs Naota very much.

While the story's overarching theme is very confusing to interpret, it is eventually revealed that Haruko is fighting against Medical Mechanica, the medical machinery giant in Mabase. The second two robots to spring from Naota's head were somehow manufactured by the company, and Haruko used his head as a portal to transport them to her.

The story culminates with an epic battle between Canti, the unexpected protector of Naota and his loved ones, and the final robot to emerge from the boy's skull. In the battle, Canti actually consumes Naota (possibly to protect him), defeats the Medical Mechanica robot, and then expels Naota from his rear end. (I'm not kidding.) Haruko becomes the unsuspecting heroine, and Naota is closer to Mamimi than ever. Mamimi, who witnessed the battle, seems to have transformed, as well, as she seems to think of Naota as a more mature individual now. In the final scene, the three ride away together on the Vespa. The story is all about coming of age, particularly for Naota and Mamimi.


Three quotes:

“...'rules' count, but ... plot and excitement count even more. The internal consistency and plausibility of a postulated imaginary society creates its own reality.” (Pg. 231) Much of FLCL is just so far-fetched you can't possibly believe it. But it's okay. This is the type of book that you want to be so completely far from the norm, if for nothing more than to take you away from your own everyday trials, which are more real than we'd often like. While Naota's story is hard to grasp, it's that kind of unbelievability that makes it so believable. To enjoy the tale, the reader has to let go and say, “Ok. Take me somewhere new and exciting. I'm ready for it.” Young readers will love the goofiness of this book for that exact reason.

“The most obvious type, and probably the first to be read by many later fans of science fiction, is the simpleminded but effective story of wild adventure, usually with a touch of sociological or environmental concerns.” (Pg. 235) While this book is fun-filled and action-packed, a moral story looms in the background. All kinds of crazy stuff is happening to Naota, and as the book progresses, the reader finds out that Medical Mechanica is behind everything. I'm sure this entity will play a major role in the second and third volumes, and I'm sure there will be both sociological and environmental concerns with the medical factory's operation.

“Another comforting thought about the books in this chapter is how truly international they are.” (Pg. 242) That's why I chose this book over Scott Westerfield's Peeps. I was reading both at the same time, but FLCL offered me something new: a closer look at a culture I wasn't previously familiar with. I've always been interested in manga, but had never picked any to read on my own. So, I chose it for this week's book. I'm glad I did, because I now see how truly international manga (not just sci-fi) is, as well.


Part B: Creative Response

Japanese Popular Culture Glossary

Because this is the first manga novel I've ever read, I thought I'd delve a bit deeper into the Japanime scene to understand it better. We have a Japanese Media Culture Club at OUC, and I've always found it very intriguing, however, I'm out of the loop. Here is some basic terminology that might help you, too, understand the wacky world of Japanese pop culture.

Anime: Hand-drawn or computer-animated artwork used in Japanese television shows, films, video games, commercials, and Internet-based releases.

Cosplay: A type of performance art in which individuals dress up like characters from Japanese manga, comic books, video games, films, television shows and other media.

Geinokai: The world of Japanese entertainment.

J-pop: Refers to Japanese pop music and musicians. Coined by Japanese media to distinguish Japanese musicians from foreign musicians.

Japanimation: More modernly called and a synonym for the word “anime.”

Kawaii: Basically, cuteness. Japanese popular culture is obsessed with cuteness. Women and girls are often described as “kawaii,” and the term lacks the infantile association we normally have with the word “cute.”

Manga: Japenese comic and print cartoons.

Otaku: Anyone obsessed with Japanese media, particularly manga, anime, and video games.

Tarento: Japanese entertainers.

Tokusatu: Special effects used in Japanese media.



Part C: Critical Response
On a scale of 1-10 where 1 is “not much” and 10 is “great job” how does your novel:

1.Make us consider the emotional, psychological and physical effects of futuristic ideas, conflict and change.

8 – The real story behind FLCL probably lies deeper in the series, but the menacing Medical Mechanica acts as a entity threatening futuristic ideas, conflict and change. The book starts by describing Medical Mechanica's ominous presence at the edge of Mabase, which is defined as an industrial city. The reader is given the impression that Mabase is an old-fashioned sort of place, and aliens on Vespas and robots popping out of boys' heads change all of that. Mabase becomes a locale for futuristic ideas, and the reader follows the effects of this story on Naota and his fellow characters. Although I haven't read the rest of the series, I'm sure that Medical Mechanica's shady practices will have a very large toll on the characters in it.

2.Encourage us to keep an open mind to consider unlimited possibilities.

10 – I can't imagine reading this book without an open mind. The book's opening scene is a 12-year-old boy messing around with a high school girl, then getting hit in the head with a guitar by a hot alien girl riding a Vespa at 400 miles per hour! Then, the reader is supposed to buy the fact that the boy sprouts horns and then robots bust out of his brain. In FLCL, the possibilities are endless. After reading the book, the content takes some time to sink in. There are so many overarching themes; I'm considering unlimited possibilities just analyzing this book!

3.Provoke questions regarding other forms of life, thereby bringing our own into perspective.

10 – FLCL does a good job of featuring other forms of life, from Haruko, the alien Vespa girl, to the three robots leaping from Naota's skull. I particularly liked when Canti displayed very human characteristics. Near the end of the story, just after Canti devoured Naota, Mamimi cries and pleads with the robot to release her friend.

“She pleaded with all her might. She was bawling. It was the first time since the night she'd met Naota that she had let anyone but Tasuku see her tears. Suddenly, Mamimi stopped beating Canti and looked up at the robot, surprised.

“The robot, now a crimson color, tenderly patted her head. Softly, as if it were offering her consolation, it said, 'You're a good girl, aren't you?'” (Pg. 115)

This scene humanizes both Canti, the robot, and Mamimi, a girl who had been afraid to show her emotions. This really did bring things into perspective for Mamimi. She realized at this moment that she cared for Naota more than she had let herself believe.

4.Stimulate curiosity and the capacity for invention.

7 – The Vespa, the robots and gaming were the technological elements of this story that piqued my interest most. I think Vespas are already on the market – or something of the sort. It's basically a scooter, but it can travel at least 400 mph. The robots were awesome, of course. I mean, who doesn't want a robot around? But these robots were a little creepy. If I can buy one at the store, then fine. But I don't want one busting out of my head any time soon. Another element I did not discuss in the summary is Mamimi's obsession with a certain video game. It's an entertaining aspect of the story, but not integral to the overarching theme, so I didn't mention it earlier. Most of my curiosity was stimulated by Medical Mechanica. Such vague information was given about the entity that I'll likely read the next two volumes just to find out what it's all about.

5.Present the reader with moral and ethical dilemmas that to some degree correspond to the real world.

10 – I think you could find ethical dilemmas in this tale all day long. First, Naota's mother is nowhere to be found. He is raised by his father and grandfather, who are both weak influences in Naota's life. His brother Tasuku, whom he looks up to most of all, is living in America playing baseball. Naota has no male influence in his life, which makes puberty all the more confusing. This leads to Naota messing around with Mamimi, his brother's girlfriend. Naota is the most true-to-life character in the book, and the poor boy is plagued by moral and ethical dilemmas. The worst part is he has no one to help keep him grounded. What do you do when you have robots coming out of your head, after all?


FLCL is the first of three volumes of a series. It was adapted from the original animation series written by Yoji Enokido.