FLCL: Progressive Or FLCL: Regressive : The FLCL Sequel Through the Perspective of the Fans

Abstract: The 2001 Anime, FLCL (Fooly Cooly) by Studio Gainax garnered a large following whenreleased. A coming-of-age themed story accompanied with inventive animation and rockmusic by the Japanese rock band, The Pillows. A true passion project by the series’ director,Kazuya Tsurumaki. 17 years later, Production I.G, the studio that co-created FLCL alongsideStudio Gainax released two sequels, FLCL: Progressive and FLCL: Alternative.Embarrassing, generic, boring, are just a few of the words commonly used to describe thesesequels by its audience. The aim of this paper is focused on the first sequel, FLCL:Progressive, to figure out why such a large portion of the FLCL fanbase did not enjoy it.By utilizing the reader-response theory and analyzing reviews from FLCL: Progressive andcategorizing the responses this research paper gives an insight to the FLCL fanbase’s thoughtsof the series and comparisons to the original.