Too Cooly For Schooly: A Look Back at Fooly Cooly

If you haven’t watched Fooly Cooly (FLCL) before, then you are truly missing out. Airing in 2000 in Japan and 2003 in America, FLCL is a coming of age story about a cynical 12 year old Naota Nandaba who’s desperate to be mature yet hates the adult world around him. His mundane life is flipped upside down with the arrival of Haruko Haruhara, the mysterious Vespa riding live-in housemaid. Mary Poppins this is not. Ultimately, this 6 episode series is about an adolescence dealing with what it means to be mature in a world where those who are “mature” are really nothing to aspire to. Oh, and did I also mention this show is bat-shit insane? Because this show, is bat-shit INSANE, and yet somehow still grounded.

“Nothing amazing happens here. Everything is ordinary.” The inner monologue of our “hero” Naota who’s so blasé about life it’s almost painful. He hangs out with his older brother’s 17 year old (ex) girlfriend, Mamimi Samejima, who he left to pursue baseball in America, and yes, they do fool around. Though it’s hard to tell if Naota is even into it, more like it’s just something to do. While they are out, Haruko shows up out of nowhere and runs over Naota with her Vespa. Seeing that he is not dead, she proceeds to strike him on the head again with her base guitar, opening a portal in which all sorts of crazy creatures crawl out. And that’s the beginning of Naota’s crazy adventure filled with pre-teenage angst, sexual innuendo, and pop culture references. There’s even a South…