FLCL Progressive

Episode 4

After the developments and declarations at the end of last week's installment, I figured episode 4 of FLCL Progressive would be more about overt action rather than greater character development. Thankfully, Hidomi isn't relegated to a coma for the whole episode, as her now locked-in headphones have started broadcasting an alternate personality through to her body. This episode is significantly different from the three that came before it, kicking off without a dream sequence from Hidomi. Since her new personality is the uncharacteristically chipper one from her dreams, it would stand to reason that from Hidomi's perspective, this whole episode is a dream sequence.

Hidomi's dream-self aside, we do get a little more exploration of her character this week. As much as other characters point out that she doesn't seem like herself, we know from seeing her dreams first that this exaggerated personality is still Hidomi in some way. This character has always been buried within her mind, walled off in her isolation under those headphones as she wanders her world frozen by indecision and depression. This gets spelled out partway through the episode when the headphones finally come off, revealing a flood of anger and sadness as Hidomi overflows with stress. Seeing Hidomi discard her previous method of ignoring the world due to a personality shift just speaks to how choosing to face reality will force her to develop.

Hidomi's personal motivations are also alluded to in this episode, but they pose some storytelling issues. Hidomi's missing father is brought up, calling back to a detail so neglected that Ide admits he forgot about it. I'm a little skeptical about Hidomi's father issues being the framed as the reason for her depression - but we'll see how this develops. She does also mention the effect this family situation has had on her mother, which might make for a compelling angle if Hidomi's mother had been given much to do since the first episode. The more ensemble-focused character writing that FLCL Progressive has leaned into left less time for tertiary characters to make an impact, but if the story is going to be prioritizing their role in its leads' character development, it would do better to keep them more in focus.

All that information about Hidomi is intriguing, but it reads more as setup for future events. And Ide, after all his development in a focal episode last week, gets less to do beyond tagging along as a sounding board and yelling Hidomi's name a lot. Instead, Jinyu and Haruko seem to be next up in Progressive's rotating door of character development. The split-off forms of the Haruko we know from the original series go over their issues in-depth, as they detail their continued pursuit of Atomsk. I don't care for the way they insist on dancing around actually saying Atomsk's name though. At this point it's easy to guess who they're talking about, and so much in this episode makes it abundantly clear (if it wasn't already) that FLCL Progressive isn't overly concerned with being accessible to newcomers. Awkward setup aside, what we learn about these two women makes for interesting potential readings of what ‘sides’ of the original Haruko they represent. Much like Hidomi, one side of the coin is stoic and enigmatic, while the other is an outrageous caricature who happily broadcasts her id. The payoff of this conflict by episode's end makes for an amazingly twisted resolution that feels completely unexpected even after Haruko told us she would do it.

Honestly, even if the storytelling and character development is relatively messy throughout this episode, the conclusion pays off so successfully that it elevates the entire experience. Whether this meshes with its renewed goals or not, Progressive did feel more like ‘the old FLCL’ this week. The animation loosened up in really fun and exciting ways, and truly bizarre asides like musical theater being practiced in the background of the diner all gave off the amorphous energy of the original OVA. There were also a host of returning faces. Miyu Miyu popped up in the opening, but even more surprising was the reappearance of everyone's favorite TV boy, Canti! (Or his shell, at least.) Some allusions to exactly how Canti's brand of mechanical lifeform works are thrown out, with the idea that his ‘spirit’ is still somewhere out there in the world, probably being foreshadowed for yet another reveal. It's all in line with the Medical Mechanica lore being laid out in this episode, moving the plot along in blink-and-you'll-miss-it ways.

But even working through that, I keep coming back to this episode's showstopping conclusion. It's a thrilling powerhouse of an action setpiece on the level of the final battle from the original series. Multiple characters and settings are juggled, ridiculous setups like vertically-sliding robots on bamboo shoots blasting Itano-style missile barrages, and it's all backed by a great new Pillows song that only suffers from not being loud enough. And it's still not done cutting loose by the end, capped off with the jaw-dropper of Haruko transforming into a literal monster and devouring Jinyu right in front of Hidomi and Ide. Don't get me wrong, I love Jinyu and I hope she'll reappear in some capacity before this series' end, but that scene finished off this episode in absolute style. The stakes are high for seeing how Hidomi and Ide's struggle against Haruko will play out in these last two episodes. This episode was messy in places, but while I've definitely enjoyed the first half's more measured approach, I don't know if I'd want it any other way when the messiness is this entertaining.

Rating: A-

FLCL Progressive is currently streaming on Adult Swim.