15866_flcl - Edited

It was a huge surprise when Toonami co-creator Jason DeMarco announced that they would be co-producing new FLCL episodes. Two seasons spanning 12 episodes will be made, continuing the story that many felt ended perfectly back when it first arrived stateside. You can imagine the type of response that this news got, which was about  50 percent positive and 50 percent negative (give or take). FLCL is a show that many anime fans hold dear, even Jason DeMarco stated that this was his favorite anime series ever. The fact that a series that seemed to be great as it was will get new episodes makes people react in different ways, so what do we make of all of this emotion? I can’t tell anyone how they should feel, but I can definitely write about how I have reacted to this news.

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Let’s start off with the news that this series should be coming to Toonami near the end of 2017 or possibly early 2018, so it will be a while before it airs. The wait is similar to what superhero fans feel when waiting for the latest Marvel or DC film to hit theaters. Thus, it will give the Toonami staff a lot of time to pencil in the details and make sure the story comes off as an authentic continuation from the original/first season. Toonami will be teaming up with Production I.G., which should be interesting, considering the types of shows that the company has produced before (like season one of FLCL, Attack on Titan, and Psycho-Pass). Plus, these two have worked together before to give Toonami an exclusive series in IGPX. Apparently the relationship between the two hasn’t deteriorated.

Here’s the synopsis taken from Turner’s Press release:

“In the new season of FLCL, many years have passed since Naota and Haruhara Haruko shared their adventure together. Meanwhile, the war between the two entities known as Medical Mechanica and Fraternity rages across the galaxy. Enter Hidomi, a young teenaged girl who believes there is nothing amazing to expect from her average life, until one day when a new teacher named Haruko arrives at her school. Soon enough, Medical Mechanica is attacking her town and Hidomi discovers a secret within her that could save everyone, a secret that only Haruko can unlock.

But why did Haruko return to Earth?
What happened to her Rickenbacker 4001 she left with Naota?
And where did the human-type robot ‘Canti’ go?”

I especially love the questions posed at the end of the description, because that’s exactly what I was thinking! I’m wondering why Haruko has returned and has become a teacher. If you watched the first season (which I’m sure many readers have), that spells loads of trouble. I’m also wondering how Naota has grown since the events of season one, and if Canti (the human-type robot) is still with him or in an entirely different area. Instead, fans will be treated with a new lead character, a teenage girl named Hidomi who sounds a lot like Naota back when he was 12 years old.

After the news of this broke, I decided to spend some time to rewatch the classic series, and re-familiarize myself with the lore of the show. Seeing how zany and crazy it is made me smile, and I realized how much fun this series was. It feels like the six episodes were perfect and didn’t need any continuation, that is until I saw the very last scene with Naota’s guitar string moving without anything around it. Knowing that more episodes will be made, I was very curious about what or if that meant anything. It very well could have, since it did leave the show’s finale a bit open-ended (whether you want to admit it or not). But what’s nice about this is that instead of focusing on Naota, we are getting a whole new story based off of these events.

So while I might have been a little overexcited about the news of more FLCL episodes, I have come to think “this can be its own thing and not do anything to tarnish the original.” Fans will be focusing more on Hidomi instead of worrying about the continuation of Naota’s story. I’m guessing he will make an appearance, because if he doesn’t I’d feel cheated after caring so much about his story during the first season. But due to all the changes that we will see, I look at this as something different, especially if it doesn’t work out. So the reputation of FLCL should be protected.

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Although I have some concerns whether Toonami and Production I.G. can recapture the magic that is FLCL, seeing things like this make me worry less. They apparently want to have many people back who worked on the first season and do not plan to trample on any good memories fans have of FLCL. Jason DeMarco even stated that he would like the original English dub voice cast back for the series, which makes me estatic about everything they are doing. It just wouldn’t feel the same if Kari Walgreen wasn’t Haruko, or if Barbara Goodson wasn’t Naota (who I’m assuming will appear at least in a cameo in the next 12 episodes). They want to bring back the same music, too. They appear to want to keep the show moving in the same direction as when it first aired. So with all the stuff they are trying to bring back, is there anything to be worried about with new seasons being made?

Well for starters, the keywords in all of this are ‘trying’ and ‘hope’. Just because you want something, or plan for something to go a certain way, doesn’t mean it will happen. As much as I want the same music, animation, and voices to be a part of this project, there are many hurdles that Toonami will have to jump through to achieve this. If they are unable to get the original cast, music, etc. then things will take a turn for the worse. This is a project that cannot fail in Toonami’s eyes. But the director of the new seasons of FLCL hasn’t worked on anything like this before, so it might be too daunting of a task to complete. Many fans at Anime Boston weighed in with their thoughts on the new seasons of FLCL, both good and bad, it feels like everyone has an opinion about this.

I’ve tempered my excitement to the point where I’m generally optimistic about this latest development. I realize that FLCL will probably never be cloned, and Toonami has set such a high bar that it’s almost impossible to reach. However, I realize that since it’s more of a continuation, I can look at each season as a different project. The first being about Naota growing up and the next two about Hidomi, or possibly others. Even if it turns out to be a less than stellar project, why should that matter? Fans can still go back to the original and talk about that as the “cannon” series of FLCL. I’d say that it might be better to be optimistic about the new seasons, but still understand that things can go either way. Toonami will have to impress a lot of fans with this latest project, but it sounds like they are up for the challenge.

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People are very conflicted about the news of more FLCL. However, I like to look at the bright side, that this means that Toonami will, at least, be on the air past 2018. They are getting more original programming (which I’ll get into at a later date), and regaining many old fans of anime who will check this series out when its available. Sure, the new seasons of FLCL might not live up to the standard they set in season one. But what if it actually does reach its potential? A bright future, plus fans being treated to a continuation of a classic story that has touched so many. I’m on board with cautious optimism, and hope that Toonami can help make something that will be remembered for years to come. Maybe then they can answer the question of “what is fooly cooly?”

(You can watching FLCL at FUNimation.com, so give it a look if you haven’t seen the series already).

C.J Maffris is an editorial writer for Toonamifaithful.com. He is fascinated at the prospect of more FLCL episodes. Feel free to talk to him about the new seasons on Twitter @SeaJayMaffris