2010-02-14, 10:45 AM
If you need help picking up on the metaphors, I've taken the liberty to dig up this explanation of everything in FLCL.
Spoiler
There is a great deal of contrast in FLCL. There are themes of sexuality but most people have understated the contrast of this theme. Sexuality is both a fantasy and a reality. What can be very confusing is that this contrast is often a double contrast in FLCL. For example, there are symbols of masturbation but it should also be understood that masturbation is itself a symbol and embodies both fantasy and reality. Masturbation as a reality is less than real sex with another person however it is often greater in terms of fantasy. This is true as real sex is more pleasurable than self stimulation but a real partner never measures up to a fantasy partner. This can lead someone to try to figure out which is better in terms of sex, fantasy or reality. This leads into a third theme of the philosophy or meaning of sex. It can at first appear that either masturbation or real sex is better but eventually you reach the conclusion that both are equal. This is true because masturbation is lesser in terms of reality but greater in terms of fantasy than real sex; they are essentially equal. However, when we add the element of philosophy we begin to see that love and affection tip the balance in favor of real sex. That is, in a purely sexual sense there is no distinction: someone who is masturbating can long for a real partner however someone who is with a real partner can long for a fantasy lover. It takes love and affection to actually resolve the question in favor of reality. The pitfall is when love is associated with sex. Because if love and sex are the same thing then so are fantasy and reality. FLCL is a constant struggle of fantasy versus reality. But, remember that this is only a puzzle as long as it is not understood. With comprehension of the element of love comes the solution of the puzzle. This theme goes hand in hand with the main character since as a twelve year old he does not yet understand that love and sex are not the same thing.
The main character, Naota is an extreme character because he is in an extreme circumstance. However, rather than immediately talking about his incredible NO power, it is more helpful to look at his family relationships. His brother went to the US to play baseball. This is a fantasy win of extreme proportions. For a boy to go directly from High School to playing professional baseball is a dream come true. However, going to America to play professional baseball is an extreme success. In contrast to this, Naota sees himself as nothing. He simply cannot compare with his brother's legacy and success. That he looks up to and idolizes his older brother is clear from the fact that he carries his brother's bat. However, the fact that he is crushed by his image of his older brother is clear from the fact that he will not play baseball. It is never stated what his brother's sexual experiences were. However, it seems likely from the fact that his brother was such a baseball star and from the fact that his brother already has an American girlfriend that he was sexually experienced. It seems likely therefore that Naota not only cannot live up to his brother's baseball legacy but neither his sexual legacy.
Naota's father, Kamon, is the personification of Fantasy. This is clear as Kamon's perceptions are so at odds with his own reality. There can be no greater symbol of sexual maturity and adulthood than having children. Kamon is very much a sexually experienced adult. Yet, he rejects his reality in favor of fantasy and part of his fantasy is projection to Naota. It may be the case that Kamon lived vicariously through his oldest son and that now that he is gone he projects his fantasies to Naota. His father's connection with fantasy is clear when he allows Karuko to sleep in his son's room. However, it is even more clear when he has Ninamori sleep over. His placement of Ninamori in Naota's bedroom is simply his projection of his own fantasy onto his son. This situation delves further into fantasy as Naota finds himself with not one but two girls in his bedroom. The fantasy element of this is overwhelming and yet the reality is that nothing happens. Naota appears uninterested in this situation yet in reality he was placed in a position of stress driven both by his father's fantasies and his desire to somehow match his older brother. The next day we get to see this through Naota's eyes when the NO manifests with Ninamori. This scene is the embodiment of Naota's fear of sexuality with Ninamori. The gigantic one eyed spider creature is how Naota sees Ninamori as a sexual being. The link is made clear in several ways including the fact that her advances in his bed were only halted by Haruko's interruption and also by the symbolic destruction of the spider creature by the phallic gun of Canti as well as his removal of her bottoms. That Canti must consume Naota in order to evoke the gun shows the sexual connection with Naota. That the consumption by Canti was beyond his control also shows Naota's fear of both his own sexuality and being involved sexually with a real girl.
It is interesting that Naota seems most afraid of sex with a girl his own age yet seems to be attracted to Haruko and Mamimi who are both several years older. This shows both Naota's desire to be like his older brother and his identification with his absent mother. Haruko's interruption of Ninamori also seems more motherly or at least big sisterly. We see another element of a big sisterly like teasing when she talks earlier about Naota and Mamimi. We also see in episode five Naota's embodiment of his view of his relationship with Mamimi. As the two are carried aloft on the giant phallic robot it is clear that sex is the underlying theme. However, in this moment of stress Naota makes it clear that he is not his older brother. He seems to be stating very clearly that he feels that Mamimi only sees him as a replacement for his brother. Perhaps this is because in the previous episode he was able to stop the falling satellite which was an accomplishment that went beyond his older brother's success. It appears that here he begins to see himself separately rather than in the shadow of his older brother. That the phallic robot becomes a hand is a clear symbol of masturbation. And, this would appear to be a rejection of reality for fantasy. However this is not the case. Naota's recognition of Mamimi's feelings about his older brother show that he is rejecting a sexual reality with Mamimi because he realizes that it cannot include the necessary element of love. His struggle with the concept of love is shown earlier when he told Mamimi that he liked her and insisted that she liked him too. However, in the phallic robot scene it appears that he has realized that there is a difference between sex and love. That the hand contains a hole also shows that it is a clear substitute for a real partner rather than the actual goal as might be the case with Kamon. This contrasts with the earlier robot arm and hand where substitution was not clear. Apparently, the knowledge of love makes the distinction clear.
It is true that Naota moves forwards sexually however he also moves backwards. In episode six he professes his love for Haruko in a clear expression of a twelve year old boy's crush on an older girl. He has moved backwards to his actual age instead of trying to be like his older brother. His fantasy crush is in complete contrast to Haruko's rejection of him as too young for her. In some respects he has replaced his father's unnatural, but perhaps possible fantasy for Haruko as a sexual object with a natural but futile fantasy of Haruko as a love object.
The symbolism of rock and roll as sex is old. The original term rock and roll came from black American slang for sex. There is also a strong association between a bass guitar rhythm and sexual activity. These elements of rock and roll music (which is characterized by the electric guitar), sex and violence have been associated in animation for a long time such as in “Heavy Metal”. The three intertwine as rock and roll is sex, sex is violence, and violence is rock and roll. Interestingly, all three of these are masculine. Yet, the character who embodies these three themes most strongly is Haruko who is female. Haruko cannot be seen as representing lust or sex. She is often more like an older sister or perhaps the friend of an older sister than a sexual fantasy. However, this gets mixed up with Naota's father's projection of Haruko as a sexual fantasy. In Kamon's mind, Haruko is a dual fantasy as a younger woman for himself and an older girl for his son. That she is neither is clear from the contrasts in her character. She is very much a tomboy and often acts younger than Naota himself. She embodies rock and roll, sex, and violence as masculine but rides a motor scooter which is inherently feminine. Motor scooters specifically have the gap in front to allow riding while wearing a dress. Yet, Haruko normally wears pants and could easily ride an actual motorcycle.
The greatest contrast for Haruko is in episode five where she is shown several times picking her nose which is something that would be associated with someone much younger, someone even younger than Naota. In this respect she is portrayed as immature, something that we would not associate with sexual experience. Yet in this same episode she is shown with a bare bottom and is even dressed in a Playboy bunny costume. There are two earlier scenes where Mamimi and Ninamori lose their bottoms yet Haruko is bare bottomed by choice as though either unaware of her sexuality or unconcerned by it. She seems almost motherly when she stands behind Naota and shows him how to swing the guitar (bat) yet she also casually mentions showing him how to be a man as she straddles him in bed. The danger between Naota's immature view of sex and Haruko's mature view is shown earlier when Naota is playing the paintball game with Canti. This toy gun is a symbol of his immature view of sex which seems to bore Haruko. Yet while this is taking place another woman is aiming a very large and deadly looking gun with suggestions of killing someone or everyone. In this scene we see what Naota does not see, that adult sex is much more hazardous than it appears. That he belongs with someone his own age is shown when Ninamori douses the flames on his body with another toy gun. Her toy gun is on the same level as his own toy gun. That Naota will only get his heart broken by Haruko is reinforced by her running him over and constant beating of him with her guitar; she will only bring him pain.
Mamimi seems to represent the philosophy of sex. Her view is hopeless in the she is longing for Naota's older brother who is an ocean away and has already replaced her if there ever even was anything between them. There are many phallic symbols. It is possible that the cats are symbols of female sexuality. If this is the case then Mamimi's finding of the cat would indicate that she was not sexual before Naota's older brother left and therefore never had sex with him. There does seem to be some indication that she is increasing her desire for sexual experience. That there is an element of sexuality is clear from her desire to watch baseball with the phallic bat symbol and Naota's inadvertent removal of her bottoms. It could be interpreted that when she begins feeding the robot dog like Terminal Core that she has decided to try to seduce Naota. The Terminal Core seems clearly a phallic symbol and a symbol of unconstrained male lust; the more it eats, the more it wants and the less controllable it becomes. That this Terminal Core fills the hole in the giant hand would also indicate sex. Her motivation seems to be for the wrong reasons. It seems to be that she views Naota as a substitute for his older brother and that she is jealous of Haruko. That her actions are clearly wrong is a strong indication that she is not a real love interest for Naota. In this respect the hard bread would represent not Naota himself but her pursuit of what is already lost. It seems that the understanding that love goes with sex is more understood by the feminine. Mamimi fails when she decides to pursue sex in the absence of love, therefore rejecting her own femininity for a more masculine approach.
This failure of women in pursuit of a masculine course is echoed in the behavior of Kitsurubami. She exhibits violence and has a strongly masculine phallic gun. She tries repeatedly to destroy Canti but does not succeed. It is interesting that Canti is only masculine when he has consumed Naota. The rest of the time, Canti appears much more feminine. The angelic symbolism is feminine in contrast to the giant cannon which is masculine. As Kitsurubami tries to act masculine she is defeated by the feminine Canti. It is interesting that Karuko who most clearly represents the masculine is doomed to defeat specifically because of her rejection of the feminine philosophy. In episode six, Naota's gaining of power shows that he understands the necessity of love with sexuality. Since Karuko has never shown any acknowledgment of love with sex she is oddly behind Naota in spite of her greater age. This is part of the contrast and balance of the show. Violence and therefore the masculine aspect is shown as necessary however it must be balanced by the feminine. Canti is in perfect balance because he has both aspects. Naota reaches this philosophical rebirth when he embraces his crush on Karuko, hence the phoenix symbol. He comes close to this point earlier when he rejects Mamimi when he realizes that she does not love him and this is shown as his literal burning. The dousing of the flames by Ninamori shows his need to move closer to the feminine. Interestingly he is able to reach this point only after he achieves his ideal in saving the town from the satellite and therefore outdoing his brother who is the masculine ideal. However, after his philosophical awakening he is then able to save the town from an even greater danger thereby showing that it is the balance that is the strongest, stronger than the purely masculine.
There is a great deal of contrast in FLCL. There are themes of sexuality but most people have understated the contrast of this theme. Sexuality is both a fantasy and a reality. What can be very confusing is that this contrast is often a double contrast in FLCL. For example, there are symbols of masturbation but it should also be understood that masturbation is itself a symbol and embodies both fantasy and reality. Masturbation as a reality is less than real sex with another person however it is often greater in terms of fantasy. This is true as real sex is more pleasurable than self stimulation but a real partner never measures up to a fantasy partner. This can lead someone to try to figure out which is better in terms of sex, fantasy or reality. This leads into a third theme of the philosophy or meaning of sex. It can at first appear that either masturbation or real sex is better but eventually you reach the conclusion that both are equal. This is true because masturbation is lesser in terms of reality but greater in terms of fantasy than real sex; they are essentially equal. However, when we add the element of philosophy we begin to see that love and affection tip the balance in favor of real sex. That is, in a purely sexual sense there is no distinction: someone who is masturbating can long for a real partner however someone who is with a real partner can long for a fantasy lover. It takes love and affection to actually resolve the question in favor of reality. The pitfall is when love is associated with sex. Because if love and sex are the same thing then so are fantasy and reality. FLCL is a constant struggle of fantasy versus reality. But, remember that this is only a puzzle as long as it is not understood. With comprehension of the element of love comes the solution of the puzzle. This theme goes hand in hand with the main character since as a twelve year old he does not yet understand that love and sex are not the same thing.
The main character, Naota is an extreme character because he is in an extreme circumstance. However, rather than immediately talking about his incredible NO power, it is more helpful to look at his family relationships. His brother went to the US to play baseball. This is a fantasy win of extreme proportions. For a boy to go directly from High School to playing professional baseball is a dream come true. However, going to America to play professional baseball is an extreme success. In contrast to this, Naota sees himself as nothing. He simply cannot compare with his brother's legacy and success. That he looks up to and idolizes his older brother is clear from the fact that he carries his brother's bat. However, the fact that he is crushed by his image of his older brother is clear from the fact that he will not play baseball. It is never stated what his brother's sexual experiences were. However, it seems likely from the fact that his brother was such a baseball star and from the fact that his brother already has an American girlfriend that he was sexually experienced. It seems likely therefore that Naota not only cannot live up to his brother's baseball legacy but neither his sexual legacy.
Naota's father, Kamon, is the personification of Fantasy. This is clear as Kamon's perceptions are so at odds with his own reality. There can be no greater symbol of sexual maturity and adulthood than having children. Kamon is very much a sexually experienced adult. Yet, he rejects his reality in favor of fantasy and part of his fantasy is projection to Naota. It may be the case that Kamon lived vicariously through his oldest son and that now that he is gone he projects his fantasies to Naota. His father's connection with fantasy is clear when he allows Karuko to sleep in his son's room. However, it is even more clear when he has Ninamori sleep over. His placement of Ninamori in Naota's bedroom is simply his projection of his own fantasy onto his son. This situation delves further into fantasy as Naota finds himself with not one but two girls in his bedroom. The fantasy element of this is overwhelming and yet the reality is that nothing happens. Naota appears uninterested in this situation yet in reality he was placed in a position of stress driven both by his father's fantasies and his desire to somehow match his older brother. The next day we get to see this through Naota's eyes when the NO manifests with Ninamori. This scene is the embodiment of Naota's fear of sexuality with Ninamori. The gigantic one eyed spider creature is how Naota sees Ninamori as a sexual being. The link is made clear in several ways including the fact that her advances in his bed were only halted by Haruko's interruption and also by the symbolic destruction of the spider creature by the phallic gun of Canti as well as his removal of her bottoms. That Canti must consume Naota in order to evoke the gun shows the sexual connection with Naota. That the consumption by Canti was beyond his control also shows Naota's fear of both his own sexuality and being involved sexually with a real girl.
It is interesting that Naota seems most afraid of sex with a girl his own age yet seems to be attracted to Haruko and Mamimi who are both several years older. This shows both Naota's desire to be like his older brother and his identification with his absent mother. Haruko's interruption of Ninamori also seems more motherly or at least big sisterly. We see another element of a big sisterly like teasing when she talks earlier about Naota and Mamimi. We also see in episode five Naota's embodiment of his view of his relationship with Mamimi. As the two are carried aloft on the giant phallic robot it is clear that sex is the underlying theme. However, in this moment of stress Naota makes it clear that he is not his older brother. He seems to be stating very clearly that he feels that Mamimi only sees him as a replacement for his brother. Perhaps this is because in the previous episode he was able to stop the falling satellite which was an accomplishment that went beyond his older brother's success. It appears that here he begins to see himself separately rather than in the shadow of his older brother. That the phallic robot becomes a hand is a clear symbol of masturbation. And, this would appear to be a rejection of reality for fantasy. However this is not the case. Naota's recognition of Mamimi's feelings about his older brother show that he is rejecting a sexual reality with Mamimi because he realizes that it cannot include the necessary element of love. His struggle with the concept of love is shown earlier when he told Mamimi that he liked her and insisted that she liked him too. However, in the phallic robot scene it appears that he has realized that there is a difference between sex and love. That the hand contains a hole also shows that it is a clear substitute for a real partner rather than the actual goal as might be the case with Kamon. This contrasts with the earlier robot arm and hand where substitution was not clear. Apparently, the knowledge of love makes the distinction clear.
It is true that Naota moves forwards sexually however he also moves backwards. In episode six he professes his love for Haruko in a clear expression of a twelve year old boy's crush on an older girl. He has moved backwards to his actual age instead of trying to be like his older brother. His fantasy crush is in complete contrast to Haruko's rejection of him as too young for her. In some respects he has replaced his father's unnatural, but perhaps possible fantasy for Haruko as a sexual object with a natural but futile fantasy of Haruko as a love object.
The symbolism of rock and roll as sex is old. The original term rock and roll came from black American slang for sex. There is also a strong association between a bass guitar rhythm and sexual activity. These elements of rock and roll music (which is characterized by the electric guitar), sex and violence have been associated in animation for a long time such as in “Heavy Metal”. The three intertwine as rock and roll is sex, sex is violence, and violence is rock and roll. Interestingly, all three of these are masculine. Yet, the character who embodies these three themes most strongly is Haruko who is female. Haruko cannot be seen as representing lust or sex. She is often more like an older sister or perhaps the friend of an older sister than a sexual fantasy. However, this gets mixed up with Naota's father's projection of Haruko as a sexual fantasy. In Kamon's mind, Haruko is a dual fantasy as a younger woman for himself and an older girl for his son. That she is neither is clear from the contrasts in her character. She is very much a tomboy and often acts younger than Naota himself. She embodies rock and roll, sex, and violence as masculine but rides a motor scooter which is inherently feminine. Motor scooters specifically have the gap in front to allow riding while wearing a dress. Yet, Haruko normally wears pants and could easily ride an actual motorcycle.
The greatest contrast for Haruko is in episode five where she is shown several times picking her nose which is something that would be associated with someone much younger, someone even younger than Naota. In this respect she is portrayed as immature, something that we would not associate with sexual experience. Yet in this same episode she is shown with a bare bottom and is even dressed in a Playboy bunny costume. There are two earlier scenes where Mamimi and Ninamori lose their bottoms yet Haruko is bare bottomed by choice as though either unaware of her sexuality or unconcerned by it. She seems almost motherly when she stands behind Naota and shows him how to swing the guitar (bat) yet she also casually mentions showing him how to be a man as she straddles him in bed. The danger between Naota's immature view of sex and Haruko's mature view is shown earlier when Naota is playing the paintball game with Canti. This toy gun is a symbol of his immature view of sex which seems to bore Haruko. Yet while this is taking place another woman is aiming a very large and deadly looking gun with suggestions of killing someone or everyone. In this scene we see what Naota does not see, that adult sex is much more hazardous than it appears. That he belongs with someone his own age is shown when Ninamori douses the flames on his body with another toy gun. Her toy gun is on the same level as his own toy gun. That Naota will only get his heart broken by Haruko is reinforced by her running him over and constant beating of him with her guitar; she will only bring him pain.
Mamimi seems to represent the philosophy of sex. Her view is hopeless in the she is longing for Naota's older brother who is an ocean away and has already replaced her if there ever even was anything between them. There are many phallic symbols. It is possible that the cats are symbols of female sexuality. If this is the case then Mamimi's finding of the cat would indicate that she was not sexual before Naota's older brother left and therefore never had sex with him. There does seem to be some indication that she is increasing her desire for sexual experience. That there is an element of sexuality is clear from her desire to watch baseball with the phallic bat symbol and Naota's inadvertent removal of her bottoms. It could be interpreted that when she begins feeding the robot dog like Terminal Core that she has decided to try to seduce Naota. The Terminal Core seems clearly a phallic symbol and a symbol of unconstrained male lust; the more it eats, the more it wants and the less controllable it becomes. That this Terminal Core fills the hole in the giant hand would also indicate sex. Her motivation seems to be for the wrong reasons. It seems to be that she views Naota as a substitute for his older brother and that she is jealous of Haruko. That her actions are clearly wrong is a strong indication that she is not a real love interest for Naota. In this respect the hard bread would represent not Naota himself but her pursuit of what is already lost. It seems that the understanding that love goes with sex is more understood by the feminine. Mamimi fails when she decides to pursue sex in the absence of love, therefore rejecting her own femininity for a more masculine approach.
This failure of women in pursuit of a masculine course is echoed in the behavior of Kitsurubami. She exhibits violence and has a strongly masculine phallic gun. She tries repeatedly to destroy Canti but does not succeed. It is interesting that Canti is only masculine when he has consumed Naota. The rest of the time, Canti appears much more feminine. The angelic symbolism is feminine in contrast to the giant cannon which is masculine. As Kitsurubami tries to act masculine she is defeated by the feminine Canti. It is interesting that Karuko who most clearly represents the masculine is doomed to defeat specifically because of her rejection of the feminine philosophy. In episode six, Naota's gaining of power shows that he understands the necessity of love with sexuality. Since Karuko has never shown any acknowledgment of love with sex she is oddly behind Naota in spite of her greater age. This is part of the contrast and balance of the show. Violence and therefore the masculine aspect is shown as necessary however it must be balanced by the feminine. Canti is in perfect balance because he has both aspects. Naota reaches this philosophical rebirth when he embraces his crush on Karuko, hence the phoenix symbol. He comes close to this point earlier when he rejects Mamimi when he realizes that she does not love him and this is shown as his literal burning. The dousing of the flames by Ninamori shows his need to move closer to the feminine. Interestingly he is able to reach this point only after he achieves his ideal in saving the town from the satellite and therefore outdoing his brother who is the masculine ideal. However, after his philosophical awakening he is then able to save the town from an even greater danger thereby showing that it is the balance that is the strongest, stronger than the purely masculine.