ECP Flash Forward: FLCL 4 - "Full Swing"" (October 25, 2000)

The gang is finally ready to play ball

What I watched: The fourth episode of FLCL, an anime series created by Kazuya Tsurumaki and Studio Gainax. The Japanese voice cast starred Jun Mizuki, Mayumi Shintani, Izumi Kasagi, and Suzuki Matsuo. “Fooly Cooly” was directed by Masahiko Otsuka and written by Yoji Enokido, and was first released as an original video animation on October 25, 2000.

Starring: Mayumi Shintani voices Haruharu Haruko in FLCL, and would later return to play the role in FLCL Alternative. Shintani had previously worked with Gainax as Tsubasa in His and Her Circumstances, but this was still a relatively early role in her career (she was 25 at the time), and one that she hit out of the park (to excuse a baseball pun.) She’s still active as an anime voice actress, appearing in recent titles like Wonder Egg Priority and one of my favourite animated movies, In This Corner of the World.

What happened: We open with the crack of the bat. Haruko is cleaning up at the local baseball diamond, blasting homers out of the park. Canti makes for a great outfielder (the ability to fly helps a lot.) As for Naota, he can’t even work up the nerve to swing the bat, and keeps getting struck in the head. The old people that run the team keep comparing him unfavourably to his brother Yusaku.