This is a spoiler-free review. FLCL: Progressive airs on Adult Swim’s Toonami on Saturday, June 2 at midnight ET/PT.
FLCL: Progressive wastes no time making parallels to the first season. Certain familiar quotes and references are sure to please any fan of FLCL, but they also had me a little worried Progressive might rely too much on its predecessor instead of developing an identity for itself. However, this premiere managed to twist these series conventions in unexpected ways, giving me faith in this sequel series’ to potentially live up to the original.
Progressive stars Hidomi, a high schooler who sums herself up by telling us “there is nothing I want to be. There is nothing I want to do. All that exists is zero.” Her actions (or lack of reactions to the strange people around her) reflect this indifference. She simply keeps hear headphones on and her thoughts to herself. On the other hand we have Ide, a boisterous boy who brags about is romantic conquests. The series jumps between the two over the course of the episode, and I found both of them to be incredibly endearing after just a few short scenes. Knowing FLCL’s past history with examining the difficulties of youth, I’m already interested to see how the show will dissect their contrasting personalities.
Source: IGN.com FLCL: Progressive Episode 1 Review