Flip Flappers

Episodes 1-2

After two strange and striking episodes of Flip Flappers, I think one of the strongest compliments you can pay this fractured fairytale is actually something that remains unsaid. (This show is packed with shots of illusions that hide double meanings, so why shouldn't one of its greatest strengths be equally invisible?) So this is a dark, metaphor-riddled, visually daring take on magical girls laden with soft yuri subtext, and yet I haven't seen anybody comparing it to Madoka Magica. Just think about how hard it is to avoid that comparison these days, considering how many new shows each season still get branded with the "Madoka clone" stamp despite trying so hard to distinguish themselves on their own merits. (There's even one this season! It's called Magical Girl Raising Project.)

Despite Flip Flappers's numerous clear influences (like famous fairytales from Hansel and Gretel to Alice in Wonderland), it manages to break away from easy comparisons thanks to a tone, aesthetic, and narrative ideas that are so unique and engaging, they leave you compelled to just compare this show to itself episode by episode. With only two episodes under its belt, that's damn impressive. If I squint and tilt my head, I can think of many different anime that resemble parts of Flip Flappers, but I can't think of another show much like it, leaving me more intrigued than ever by the unknown frontier ahead of these characters in the world of Pure Illusion.

So what is this story actually about? That's a little harder to explain. Flip Flappers is playing all its cards close to its chest, with very little dialogue across these two episodes and basically no explanatory exposition whatsoever. We simply watch as Cocona, a very serious and cautious schoolgirl, gets dragged into an alternate dimension of wonder and danger by Papika, a spacey and adventurous goofball gal. There's also an organization called "FLIP-FLAP" watching their every move as Papika encourages Cocona to find fragments of a shiny gemstone that grants wishes, although the behavior of their handsy spy robot TT392 seems to suggest that the most powerful fragments might be hiding inside Cocona herself. FLIP-FLAP's grumpy-looking head scientist, "Dr. Salt," only tells Cocona that they need these fragments to "liberate" the world of Pure Illusion, but after one too many close encounters with a whimsical demise, Cocona isn't sure she wants to go back to Pure Illusion, despite Papika's insistence that this adventure is part of her destiny.

It's to the show's credit that the obvious foul play lurking under the surface of this story doesn't bear down on the audience in ways that would invite those dreaded Madoka comparisons. Even with giant snow-dwelling, tongue-lashing, blob monsters or rusty, grinding, underground rabbit broilers threatening to rip our heroines to shreds, the world of Pure Illusion remains truly inviting, like an unnatural version of our own natural wilds. It's not so much the fantasy world that leaves us feeling on edge as the institute out to exploit it. Apart from Dr. Salt, the employees at FLIP-FLAP seem friendly enough, but what kind of research organization puts organic brains into robots and sends little girls away to do dangerous work with no explanation?

Despite the many tantalizing hints snuck into shots throughout these two episodes, it's too early to say what Flip Flappers's allusions to fairytales or illusory imagery have to do with the greater story being told here, much less who is good or who is evil. Papika is attracted to Cocona's smell but repulsed by Yayaka's scent, but does that mean Yayaka is nefarious, or is Cocona the one who's been captured by a touch of evil thanks to FLIP-FLAP's machinations? Is Dr. Salt's plan to "liberate" Pure Illusion an effort to harness the power of childlike imagination to cruelly pragmatic adult ends, or is he secretly a starry-eyed Peter Pan type who just wants to make this fantasy world he can no longer reach real again? Does Cocona's grandmother have something to do with the "forgotten" magical girl/old crone who guides her down the River Styx in her dreams? The show's refusal to answer any of these questions can leave viewers scratching their heads, but I also think it adds to the immersive magic of the story. Flip Flappers is a more confident production for trusting its audience to pick up on the little details and use their imaginations until all is revealed later.

Even if the story is still up in the air, I have full faith in Flip Flappers to knock my socks off with its gorgeous art design, deliberate shot framing, and fluidly fluffy animation. (Sorry, I can't think of a better word for Takashi Kojima's style than "fluffy." The motion of these characters has a scrapbook-like texture that counteracts any too-plastic "gloss" that the show's candy-coated color palette might have given it, making everything feel delicate and touchable rather than squishy and shiny. It definitely stands out compared to the many other anime that have employed such a bold color design.) I'm incredibly impressed that a show with this much "stuff" packed into every frame manages to never feel overwhelming or overdesigned, to say nothing of the series' ending theme which goes full Brothers Grimm with its lavishly ominous storybook backgrounds.

I have no idea what to expect from Flip Flappers next, but that's also my favorite thing about it. Since this is the first original work for both of them, I'm sure writer Yuniko Ayana and director Kiyotaka Oshiyama have a ton of ambition and wonder ready to unload on our eyeballs. I trust that, good or bad, it'll be unlike anything I've ever seen before.

Rating: A-

Flip Flappers is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Jacob would probably leave a trail of Funyuns to follow back through the woods in the hopes that no one would be desperate enough to eat them. You can follow Jake on Twitter here.