FLCL (Japanese: フリクリ Hepburn: Furi Kuri, pronounced in English as Fooly Cooly) is an original video animation series written by Yōji Enokido, directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki and produced by the FLCL Production Committee, which included Gainax, Production I.G, and Starchild Records. FLCL follows Naota Nandaba, a twelve-year-old boy living in the fictional Japanese suburb of Mabase, and his interactions with Haruko Haruhara, who arrives in the quiet suburb, drawn by the industrial town houses and the Medical Mechanica building.
The English adaptation of the series was first licensed by Synch-Point which released the DVDs and soundtrack, but these went out of print in 2006. In January 2010, Funimation Entertainment announced that they would be re-releasing the series on DVD and releasing it for the first time on Blu-ray.
The series aired in Canada on G4techTV Canada's Anime Current block, and in America on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim several times. It aired on the channel's Toonami block from October 26, 2013 to January 25, 2014. The series is also available via Hulu, iTunes, and on Funimation's website.
FLCL revolves around Naota Nandaba, a 12-year-old, working class boy living with his widower father and grandfather. His life in the city of Mabase is interrupted by the arrival of Haruko Haruhara, who runs over Naota with her yellow Vespa 180 SS scooter, gives him CPR, then hits him on the head with a blue vintage Rickenbacker 4001 left-handed electric bass guitar. Naota discovers that the blow to his head created an "N.O." portal, from which giant robots produced by a company known as Medical Mechanica emerge periodically.
Naota later finds Haruko working in his house as a live-in maid. It is later discovered that Haruko is an investigator for the Galactic Space Police Brotherhood. Haruko uses Naota for her search for the Pirate King, Atomsk. She is at odds with Medical Mechanica, a monolithic industrial corporation. Naota is being watched by Commander Amarao, a special agent of the Bureau of Interstellar Immigration, who believes that Medical Mechanica is out to conquer the galaxy. Naota is ultimately drawn into a three-way battle between Haruko, Amarao and Medical Mechanica.
A two-volume manga was created by artist Hajime Ueda. The manga interprets the series with all of the key elements intact, and tells the events of the anime with a crude artwork and unsteady pacing. Jack Kotin defended the unique artstyle of the manga, saying "It can be crudely drawn at times, but this style fits in well with the overall story and atmosphere...".
The manga was published by Kodansha and serialized in monthly Magazine Z. The two volumes were released on October 23, 2000 and August 23, 2001 respectively. The manga was re-released in bunkoban format with the two volumes labeled "Jō" (上 First) and "Ge" (下 Final) in two individual box sets titled "Kodansha Box". Jō volume was on May 7, 2007 and the Ge volume was released on June 4, 2007. An edited tankōbon version of the manga that was released in box sets, were released on January 10, 2012 and February 9, 2012 respectively.
The English-language editions of the manga was released by Tokyopop on September 16, 2003 and on November 4, 2003 respectively. On March 2011, Dark Horse Comics announced to re-release the manga in omnibus edition. The omnibus edition was released on May 16, 2012 and includes remastered story pages, a remastered script, and bonus color pages.
