Flip Flappers (Second Episode Impressions)

Flip Flappers

Second Episode Impressions

Because you are now a wascally wabbit.

So, I watched the latest episode of Flip Flappers and instead of putting me off, it's just getting more and more interesting. It's very psychological in a very fairy-tale like way, and that appeals to me a whole hell of a lot. The second episode appeared to require the character with no fear of death to come to terms with why other people are concerned about it, plus a green alien-looking pet rabbit that looks like a kitchen waste bag... and on top of that... Holy hell, the whole thing looks like Acid Trip Animation from the 60s and 70s but with better technology. I know people who shouldn't ever watch this -- it'd give them flashbacks. Whoa. Who needs drugs?! We have anime.

Small summary and episode spoilers ahead:

Flip Flappers (First Episode Impressions)

Flip Flappers

First Episode Impressions

The following is my 'first impression' review on Crunchyroll:

Flip Flappers seems to fit in the same kind of niche of "headtrip" anime that FLCL does or did, even down to that same kind of bright, deceptively simple art style. Underneath of that apparent simplicity is a strong focus on action and movement over detailed still shots, which lends the whole thing a very 'living', visceral, 'alive' sort of a feeling. Actually, it felt to me like that's part of the whole larger underlying theme... Episode one opens up to a near-silent classroom during an exam. The silence itself is almost shocking, and the show only leads us out of that space very slowly. When Papika is introduced (multiple times), she's like a distillation of pure 'livingness', in sharp contrast to the quiet, maybe suffocatingly mundane existence we're shown Cocona existing in.

It plays out like someone captured a particularly coherent daydream, and it seems to be freely borrowing symbolism from and throwing shout-outs to all kinds of stuff: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Hansel and Gretel, Alice in Wonderland, Super Mario, FLCL, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Princess Tutu, Paprika, and Ghibli movies, among others... (One of the characters is even named 'Papika' -- notably the redhead associated with the dream world.) There's also an undercurrent of darkness intermingled with everything that seems to be poised to take the show to interesting places.

A featured article on Crunchyroll's newsfeed calls Flip Flappers "Sensory Storytelling", and I'd have to agree. As of the end of episode one, literally nothing was explained at all... but I'm wondering if it really needs to be? That actually seems to be the point of it: A relief from the everyday world where everything has to make sense, and where we're so focused on words, both written and spoken, that we almost forget about movement, living, and being. There's a lot of focus in this anime on nonverbal communication. (Action and reaction shots are delightfully smoothly animated, and despite the huge eyes, the characters' faces are anything but static...) Actions really are speaking much louder than words here.

This could get interesting very fast. Or very slow. Or maybe just drag us along like dreams do, and leave us wondering what the heck it all meant, in the end... if anything.

As for the yuri element, it doesn't seem overly servicey* or cloying at this point, and has just about the right amount of sweetness, but it's hard to say anything about it at this point, with only the first episode to go on.

* Minus the magical crotch jewel and the somewhat gropey robot.

So... Some other thoughts (peppered with dubiously related screencaps):