FLCL, Volume 2

FLCL #2

by Gainax, Hajime Ueda (Illustrator)

Naoto hoes from high school nothing to mutant warrior in the blink of any eye. But what does it all mean? The town stirs with gossip when the Mayor's adulterous affair makes headlines. And his daughter, Ninamori, the class president and Naoto's friend, is having a hard time of it. So hard, in fact, that she turns into a giant balloon to challenge Naoto in battle. And Haruko is closing in on the interplanetary foes she was dispatched to dispatch. And is there any saving Mamimi from her downwardly spiraling descent into madness? Plunge deeper into the dreamscape with FLCL Volume 2.

Genres: Manga, Graphic Novels, Comics, Science Fiction, Fiction, Seinen, Humor

199 pages, Paperback

First published August 23, 2001

About the author

GAINAX Co., Ltd. is a Japanese anime studio famous for productions such as Neon Genesis Evangelion, Royal Space Force, Gunbuster, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, Kare Kano, FLCL, Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, and Gurren Lagann, which have garnered critical acclaim and commercial success.

Reviews

[JoAnne · Rating 2 out of 5]

If possible, less understandable than the first volume, and less imagery I paused to admire. Alas. Also diverges further from the anime, which isn't always negative but could just be an observation. I did like that certain characters had more to do, but felt the conclusions for a few characters were for the worse. In the anime I felt two of the main characters were able to "move on", or grow up a little. Here... I have a guess a few of them matured enough to stop brooding, but Naota, the main boy, seems just left on the wayside. I don't know, I'm not really satisfied with how things tied up in the manga.

[Stikarto · Rating 3 out of 5]

better than the first I'd say. Pacing is still fucking stupidly fast but this has even better art than the first and its a great conclusion. I loved the last few pages with just a bunch of cats. I really enjoyed the writing here aswell. Great stuff.

[kuristina- tabreez · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just don't really know what to say. There's supposed to be some sort of deeper meaning in all this and sure maybe I can find some, but... I don't understand more than half of what's going on. I really don't get it at all. But at least I can say I tried. Not to the best of my abilities, but I did try. And I wouldn't have tried this long if the series had not been fun, so kudos to Gainax. But... Geez. Did Hideaki Anno help work on FLCL as a way to get revenge against the asshole Gainax fans that torment him over Evangelion? This was more confusing that anything else they've made.
Btw... I find it noteworthy that Ninamori's balloon looked like a tit at first.
But after reading this, I do feel more inclined and more prepared to watch all three anime seasons now (even though I know I still won't understand the first one). So, that's good. And I think that's what I'll do, along with keeping up with RWBY, finally watching part 3 of Jojo, and probably watching some Watamote too.
And today (Nov. 9th) was the first snow to wake up to this winter.
It's a good life.

[Cae Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vol 2 is way more fun to read than Vol 1, partially because the pace is quicker, but also because you get a better idea of what's even going on in the first place, though there is still plenty of "wait what just happened?" to sift through. It also became clearer to me that the main point seems to be more about stretching the limits of the form rather than telling any sort of coherent story. Which isn't to say that there is no story, or that it makes no sense at all, but there are more questions than answers, so if that's something that bothers you then maybe FLCL's not quite your jam. But if you like experimental manga and robot fighting and coming-of-age stories then this one's probably essential.

[Marlon Deason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unlike most Manga this story is adapted from the anime as opposed to the other way around. Even though the plot is abbreviated it really lags compared to the frenetic pace of the anime. The story also isn’t well served by the art although the illustration style is charming and conveys emotion well. Much of the deep pop culture references and visual gags are absent. Despite all of the above it’s an essential for the complete FLCL fan.

[Clayton VanLeeuwen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I mentioned how FLCL is inherently confusing in the first issue review. And it’s funny- If that first issue is confusing, boy o boy is this second issue a real doozy. This conclusion to the manga goes completely off the deep end. I don’t think anyone, apart from the creators, have the slightest clue what is going on here. I want to like this punk rock, indie manga but sadly, I can’t even begin to understand this mess of an ending.

[Gabriel Del · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was definitely better than volume 1, the art was better and easier to follow, plus it felt a bit more focused on the narrative. either way I dont think i’d say it was good, FLCL works better in the anime format. regardless i do see myself reading the light novels, reading the manga changed my expectations for the novels which is probably for the better. at points in here the story did get a bit confusing and muddled, or even just fast.

[Brunito · Rating 3 out of 5]

Misma opinión que el volumen anterior (leí este manga de corrido y no sentí gran diferencia entre tomos), reitero mi fascinación y preferencia por la obra maestra y fusión de experimentación artística que es el anime.

[Arielle · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is one of the most confusing stories I've ever read. I have no idea what happened.

[Diamond Keeling · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a weird but cool manga to read........ I love the anime more

[Pascual Gudini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesante pero confuso

[Kurtis Burkhardt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not that great of a manga, it’s extremely fast paced and didn’t care for the art style 👌😁❤️

[Shae Weir]

Cats?

[Liam Strong · Rating 5 out of 5]

some of the best two volumes of manga ever written

[Dresden Crace · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Femke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nope, still no clue what's going on.
Probably not the best choice for a first manga.

[Aman˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ · Rating 2 out of 5]

i rated it low because idk what was going on.
might change my rating once i figure out if it was some sort of dream or a social experiment…

[Tyler Marsolais · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh my goodness. get out of my head. wait, explain it all first, then leave.

[Beak · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one better than the first. I feel like the art is cleaner? If you get what I mean.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know, reviewing multi-volume manga sets can be tricky business - it's not like novels where each book has a distinct plot (or lack thereof), and you can review it on it's own merits. Manga series are one long story or series of stories that don't usually pay much attention to where the front and back cover of a particular volume are. Sure, the covers occur at natural scene breaks, but it's not like once you've read an entire series you can look back and pick out what happened in which volume, unless you're some kind of otaku nutter. If you are an otaku nut-job, you've probably just taken that as a compliment. Anyway, the reason manga series don't have individual plots in individual volumes most of the time is because the original manga was serialized in a magazine, ten or twenty pages at a time, and the mango volumes we get here in the west are collections of those serialized chapters. So it's hard for me to remember where FLCL vol. 2 started. I can remember how it ends - the series has only two volumes in it, which makes it a lot easier to distinguish between the two volumes.

Anyway, volume two continues the saga that started in volume one, and more (or less) is learned about the characters as our protagonist, a pre-teen boy who's in love/hate with his dad's girlfriend/housekeeper who's also an alien that rides a Vespa struggles to contain the bizarre things that keep popping out of his head and going on rampages around the city. And then it ends, and it's quite lovely.

The whole series for me is a completely random symbolic coming-of-age story that expresses with near perfection the horrors of growing up, falling in love with your older brother's girlfriend, every girl you know, and any older woman that smiles at you.

[Rory · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the rare cases in which the film (or in this case, OVA) version is better. HOWEVER! That said, this still remains one of my favorite mangas to date. The manga's plot is much harder to follow than that of the animated version (believe it or not), but the art is so solid and so wildly different than anything out there that it really needs to be appreciated on its own merits.

As a whole, the characters remain somewhat underdeveloped by comparison to the anime, and the tone found in the manga is much darker and violent. From what I have read, the manga (as well as a set of serial novels) were based off of the animated series. Though they can both stand on their own, I would suggest seeing the OVA first, as it is more coherent, and will help you understand some of the more obscure parts of the manga

[Coco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most people would be completely lost reading this (as I was the first time I read it back in the day!). A boy with robots coming out of his forehead, an alien girl on a moped who bashes kids with her guitar, a chick who starts fires... It's all very confusing, but if you stop trying to make sense of it, then you start to understand the underlying story--about idleness during childhood in a decaying society and the blur of fantasy (dreams/video games) and reality. Though even knowing that, it's still a messed up and crazy story that leaves you wondering what the heck just happened. (February 2009)

[Daniella Murillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked that Ninamori Eri had kind of a bigger part in the manga than in the anime. That was nice. Also, that her robot stayed instead of being destructed was awesome.

But I get the feeling that this one didn't feel as FLCL as the first one did. Maybe because it wasn't as funny as the first one, or maybe because some parts confused me so much.

But hey, a good thing was the Canti/Naota relationship, and how it developed. Because Canti is fantastic, and he protected Naota and AWWW THE FEELS.


Great book(s), but I wouldn't recommend it to someone who hasn't watched the anime because it would be pretty freaking confusing.

[Linkchoo · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hear that FLCL in its entirety is a metaphor for pubescent angst, but even with that in mind I really didn't understand what was going on. I know some people really like FLCL and others don't, but both sides seem to find it confusing. The only difference is that those who like it are the ones who just "sit back and enjoy the ride" if you will.

Personally, I liked the art style and I admire the zany-ness of it, but I definitely didn't love it. If you like it, I understand, but I just thought it was okay.

[Casseroll · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awkward and frustrating to read. Kinda boring. There is action but more of just the weirdness. I didn't get what all was going on within the manga. I thought of things happening to the main characters were due to them not handling the stress around them in a healthy way. Did Naoto really kill his dad? And then there's the girl who's been starting fires all over the town. No one has caught her yet. Headache inducing.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the show on which this is based. It makes no sense, in the very best head-spinnin way. The manga, with its erratic artwork and nonsensical plot, makes no sense either, but somehow it's easier for me to take with the anime than the manga.

[furious · Rating 5 out of 5]

medical mechanica has advised that i not review this material.

[Captain Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

SEQUEL TO THE BEST MANGA EVER!!!!

[Rosa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Honestly the descriptions sounded so interesting but I the panels were impossible to follow. I always felt confused. I give up on this series.

[Benjamin Thornton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fooly Cooly . . . wow. If you want the definition of a psychedelic manga, this is it. I wish people wrote/drew more of them.