FLCL

Episode 1 of FLCL (Fooly Cooly) opens with Naota and the first of three girls, Mamimi, hanging out under the bridge. She is talking about baseball, and Naota is doing his best to give her as little attention as possible. Upon asking why she stays there, she begins to get affectionate with Naota, to his displeasure. She says she does that to him because she will overflow, and doesn't imply what that means (but it could be amazing). This glimpse into the sexual tensions of the early teenage years and puberty is a lot of what FLCL is about. The story revolves around Naota, a 12 year old boy and his interactions with women, aliens, and giant robots (and the crazy events that ensue).



In a monologue, Naoto stresses how nothing interesting happens in the area where he lives, and begins to talk about the strange factory that ominously lets out steam at the same time every day. As he and Mamimi walk over the bridge they were under, a strange girl with pink hair zooms in on a Vespa and runs Naota over. This is Haruko. The zaniness the series is known for begins here. The strange, spastic Haruko is in hysterics after hitting Naota, and to Mamimi's displeasure, kisses Naota to revive him. The animation for the entire scene varies greatly. It goes from a traditional anime style to slow-mo CGI. They even break the fourth wall and cutaway to a bus, where the characters are actors and talk about how they have to hold their breath for slow motion scenes. The varying styles of animation make this show fun to watch, and this scene offers a prime example of it. After Noata wakes up, Haruko hits him in the head with her guitar, leaving a large red bump. She speeds off. Haruko's entrance in the series signifies the beginning of Naota's interest in girls, a feeling he has been repressing for a while. He is hit without knowing when it would have happened, just as it would anyone in their teen years.

FLCL

"I saw God the other day. By the river, on a rainy afternoon. He helped a kitten that was left all alone. It's a God that only I can see. A black-winged angel that came down from the heavens just for me." From Mamimi's opening monologue (poem?) we can kind of see what direction Firestarter is going to take. Episodes 2, 3, and 4 of FLCL all focus on one of the three women in our main character Naota's life. While Naota is still the heart of the show, this episode turns its primary focus to Mamimi. She is perhaps the most troubled and disturbed character in the entire series and that is never more immediately apparent than in this episode.



I chose to review episodes 2, 4, and 6 for two reasons. Number One: They are my favorites. Number Two: They are much less accessible and take a much harder look at the characters. These episodes are a lot heavier on character and pretty light on the wackiness (understatement) the series is known for. Firestarter beings with Mamimi's aforementioned Rei Ayanimi-esque monologue, and we then start to get a picture of how people perceive her character. Naota seems to care about her and value her friendship, other people seem to reject her and make fun of her. There are several mentions of Mamimi being bullied and ostracized by other characters throughout the episode. It's easy to see why she chooses to skip school and isolate herself from everybody just from Ninamori's initial assessment of her. However, it's is also kind of easy to see why other people dislike Mamimi. She is WEIRD. She continuously sexually assaults Naota and doesn't seem to have any connection to reality (which, to be fair, is sort of subjective in this show).

Introducing: Maggie (Manga Reviewer)

As an adult, I spend a lot of time looking back: things I regret, things I wish I could live again, things I wish had happened to me, and so on. I'm only 22 years old, so I still have a lot of life to live, but it's a constant habit of mine to remember. One memory that asserts itself from time to time takes place in middle school, circa 2004, and has troubled me ever since because one of my classmates was being bullied for liking anime. Our teacher had stepped outside the classroom to make copies of a worksheet, and our hormonally unstable classmates took that opportunity to taunt one kid for his childish interests. At the time, I felt a turbulence of emotion-empathy for the poor kid, because I shared the hobby that made him a victim of bullying; relief that I wasn't the one being bullied; and finally, the feeling that persists even now, confusion. Why did watching cartoons and reading comic books make him a target for social hazing?



Years later, I still don't have a complete answer to that question-something to do with mysterious human behavior, groupthink, and fearing what you don't understand-but remembering that experience has made me realize a few things about life, the universe, and everything. I'm currently a university student and I still like anime and manga, although my tastes are a little more refined. Anime and manga grow with you over time-they encompass a range of ideas, tastes, and age groups-and have something for everyone. I still like a lot of angsty teenage series that capture the lazy days of adolescence (BECK), the frustrating social challenges (Paradise Kiss, The Wallflower, No Matter How I Look At It, It's Your Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular!), and the inexplicable randomness that comes from growing up in a world that's hard to understand (FLCL, Kill la Kill). But I can also appreciate the more underrated, abstract series that attempt to say a little more about society (Neon Genesis Evangelion, Psycho-Pass, Skyhigh, Journey to the End of the World), as well as those feel-good series that give you hope for humanity (Fruits Basket, Kimi wa Petto).

Medicom Real Action Heroes Presents NGE Evangelion 2.0 EVA-02

Woah! We've been slacking the whole 2013! Sorry about the MASSIVE delay in content on Fitted Life, but no worries, we've been working behind the scenes to welcome 2014 with new and impressive content. So to get the ball rolling, we present to you Medicom's Real Action Heroes EVA-02.



This particular EVA is piloted by the fierce Asuka (Shkinami) Langley from the reboot NGE movies series. The EVA is highly detailed and we are overly impressed by Medicom's attention to detail towards this brilliant mecha.

Arcane Specials: Top 20 Anime Openings Of All Time

TOP 20 ANIME OPENINGS OF ALL TIME



Happy Holidays ladies, peoples, and animals! It is I, the Arcane Reviewer, here to bring you another extra treat this week. Earlier this week I gave you guys a little extra review from me to you but I still had to do something to make up for no Wednesday review right?Well I've decided that I will give you lovely people my favorite anime openings of all time. Now before I begin I will say that this is my list so If you dislike it well I'm sorry but this is my own personal taste. But if you feel like you have a better list then please make your own and share it with me, that could be very fun to see. So now lets get this show on the road with number 20!

Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Shinji Ikari Raising Project vol. 13

"Plot development?In MY The Shinji Ikari Raising Project?"Is part of what's said on the back of this latest volume in the series which I've referred to in the past as my guiltiest comic book reading pleasure.The problem is that there actually has to be some kind of plot first before there can be any development to it.Yes, Shinji is kidnapped (or rather, "deliberately misplaced" as we eventually find out) and is put under SEELE's mental control to attack NERV's Magi system.This leads Rei and Asuka to confront his avatar in more of the virtual reality shenanigans this title loves to employ. Does anything significant come of this event?Unless you count Rei and Asuka's plugsuits getting ripped to show off their breasts AGAIN and Shinji falling on them in extremely suggestive fashion AGAIN, then the answer is an emphatic, "OH HELL NO!"I know I've given a pass to these antics before, but that's all this volume has to offer as far as comedy goes.There's nothing to the comedy in this particular volume except Shinji's stupid pratfalls and the nudity and awkward situations that result from them.Sidelining Gendo from most of the action here also feels like a mistake as well.Even Carl Horn's adaptation lacks the comedic zest of his previous volumes, though there is still several funny lines throughout the script here.I might have been more forgiving of what I got here had Plot Development not been hyped as one of its major selling points.This series may have been very entertaining in spite of itself for quite a while, but everything on display here makes it feel like it's well past it's sell-by date at this point. Jason Glick
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The show goes on. #2014

2014 is 2 years after the end of the world which didn't occur in 2012.

2014 is 100 years after World War I which started in 1914.

Also the year where people will believe 2pac will come back alive because of some Machiavelli bullshit but that shit is less believable than the 2012 hoax and Y2K scare put combined. He got shot...end of story.