Having just watched FLCL for the first time...

Post by **Popcorn** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 1:59 pm

If it were nothing more than "gloriously-animated nonsense", there would be no difference between it and Excel Saga or Freakazoid.

But there's clearly a difference between Excel Saga and Freakazoid, and FLCL, even without an understanding of the plot, is different again. Visually, it's just incredible. Besides, I got enough of the general gist to understand each episode on its own vague terms, but never worked out what the hell was really going on the whole time.

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 2:17 pm

I think the offensive word was "nonsense." There is madness in FLCL, to be sure, but it is well-orchestrated madness. There's a rhythm to everything once you catch the beat, it's not as random as it all seems at first blush.

I would definitely recommend giving it a second run. Very little of what's going on is ever explicity stated, but you're given clues and when you start piecing them together you get the big picture. I really think you'll pick up on it. If I gave you a plot summary right here (and believe me, I could write a thesis), I'd be robbing you of alot of the joy.

Post by **Popcorn** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 2:28 pm

Well, I'd like to see it again. Have you played Half-Life 2 yet?

Post by **Crazy Penguin** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 2:29 pm

I think the central theme of the overall show was the concept of maturity and how trying to act mature merely for your own sense of superiority to others or to fit in with the image that society seems to demand isn't at all mature - it's better to be your own person and mature at your own pace than to put on an act and forever remain a child. Amaro represents the person Naota would grow up to be if he carried on through life with the same attitude he had at the beginning of the story.

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 2:36 pm

Have you played Half-Life 2 yet?

I'm getting there, woman. As soon as I can afford to make my computer not suck.

Post by **Segaholic2** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 2:36 pm

What's in your current computer?

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 3:08 pm

Lots of porn and stuff. Why?

Light Speed · Post by **Light Speed** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 3:11 pm

A bunch of suck. What are the requirements for this game anyway? I got a Athlon 2400+ a Radeon 9500 Pro, 512MB DDR RAM. I think that's enough to at least run it, right?

Zeta · Post by **Zeta** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 3:41 pm

But there's clearly a difference between Excel Saga and Freakazoid, and FLCL, even without an understanding of the plot, is different again. Visually, it's just incredible. Besides, I got enough of the general gist to understand each episode on its own vague terms, but never worked out what the hell was really going on the whole time.

Well the theme of the series is that forcing yourself to grow up too fast in fact makes you seem immature - like those kids who think they're adults because they can swear and know what sex is.

OMG! SPOILERZ!

As for the scifi plot:
There's this race of robotic aliens we never meet who sneak onto planets and build factories under the guise of being normal businesses. Actually the factories wipe out all life on the planet and sell it to the highest bidder.

These aliens were opposed by Atomsk - a god-like space pirate with unimaginable power.

The machine aliens eventually somehow subdued Atomsk and locked him up.

However, Atomsk had a rival/love interest the audience knows as Haruko. Haruko and Atomsk were once sworn enemies till Haruko fell in love with Atomsk and decided "if you can't beat him, join him" figuring that she could have Atomsk as a lover AND have all his power at her fingertips at the same time.

So Haruko comes to earth searcing for Atomsk. Since she can't break into the machine's factory directly - she decides to open an "N.O." field - which is kind of like a wormhole created by thought. If a person with extremely negative emotions suffers severe head-trauma - an N.O. field can be created.

So she wacks Naota on the head.

Eventually, the field opens up and something tries to come through - the machine later called "Canti". Haruko assumes that this is actually an enemy sent by the machine aliens, but it later turns out that it's actually been posessed by Atomsk. Haruko beats the crap out of Canti and Atomsk's being ends up being split - half in Naota (he got stuck in the field) and half in Canti.

Medical Mechanica keeps on sending robots through to recover Atomsk while Haruko tries to make life hell for them.

While all this is happening - Amaro, an alien who's own planet was wiped out by Mechanica tries to win Naota over to his side.

Eventually, Naota harnesses the power of Atomsk and destroys the Medical Mechnica base. Atomsk reforms himself and sets off into space.

Annoyed that her love/power source has gotten away yet again, Haruko says her goodbyes to Naota and chases after Atomsk.

But you have to watch the series twice to actually piece all that together.

Protodude · Post by **Protodude** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 3:50 pm

What sorta sucks is that the first time I saw it it was the last scene from the last episode. I didn't know that at first and I don't think it makes that much of a difference since I didn't know what the fuck was going on, but still....

Post by **Segaholic2** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 3:54 pm

Green Gibbon! wrote:Lots of porn and stuff. Why?

I meant hardware/specs-wise, not what you collect.

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 4:03 pm

Hell if I even remember. I got this computer as a gift around the time I changed my major to art, which would've been like, 5 years ago.

Hey, what's the word on Dead Leaves? Someone told me that it was from the FLCL team. I've only glanced at the DVD, but I don't really like the look of it...

hello.jpg · Post by **hello.jpg** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 4:26 pm

It's from Production IG, who co-animated FLCL, but Gainax, who wrote and produced FLCL, isn't involved. I have yet to watch it myself, but will report whether it's good or not when I do.

Post by **Popcorn** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 6:11 pm

Dache said it kinda sucked, but then Dache is a fag.

Dache · Post by **Dache** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 6:13 am

It kinda sucked.

Manga video basically took Gainax's place for Dead Leaves, minus the co-animation bit. You know this is not a good thing.

j-man · Post by **j-man** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 10:00 am

What Zeta said

Thanks. Now I know what's going on. I'm only used to watching good, wholesome family anime like Cinderella Boy, so I got a little lost.

On a side note, I think Cinderella Boy was produced by the same animation company (whoever that was) that made Sonic X, except CB is a whole lot better 'cause it's made by Monkey Punch and has boobies.

Ash Holt · Post by **Ash Holt** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 10:43 am

Light Speed wrote:A bunch of suck. What are the requirements for this game anyway? I got a Athlon 2400+ a Radeon 9500 Pro, 512MB DDR RAM. I think that's enough to at least run it, right?

Yeah. I've got a bit better setup, AthlonXP 3000+ and a Radeon 9600SE, and I can run it fine at 1024x768. All of the settings are at the "medium" level, though, but it still looks really nice.

Post by **Esrever** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 3:51 pm

Light Speed, that's more than enough. I'm running on a Athlon 1.2 with a Radeon 8500, and I can run it perfectly in 800 by 600 with medium texture detail.

The game is incredibly scaleable. The biggest factor is your CPU, moreso even than your video card, because the Source engine is very CPU intensive. I would not recommend trying to run it with a processor worse than my own. You might be able to get away with a video card that is worse than mine, though.

Basically, the long and the short of it is that the "minimum requirements" on the box are pretty accurate. A computer that meets those requirements but does not exceed them will still be able to run Half Life 2 sufficiently. At least, that's been my experience.

Post by **Segaholic2** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 4:22 pm

I've got an Athlon 64 3200+ and a Radeon x800 Pro; is that good enough? </jackass>

Ash Holt · Post by **Ash Holt** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 5:05 am

Segaholic2 wrote:I've got an Athlon 64 3200+ and a Radeon x800 Pro; is that good enough? </jackass>

Ahahaha suck a dick.

Light Speed · Post by **Light Speed** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 2:49 pm

Too bad the fucker 'doesn't have time' to play video games.