- Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24
- Audio Codec: Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 Stereo, English Dolby TrueHD 2.0 Stereo
- Subtitles: English
- Rating: TV-14
- Region: A (Region-Locked)
- Discs: 1
- Studio: Funimation
- Blu-ray Release Date: February 22, 2011
- List Price: $44.98
[amazon-product align=”right”]B004DMIIPA[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase FLCL: The Complete Series on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Series
[Rating:5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3.5/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(Screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG thus are meant as a general representation of the content and do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
The Series
[Rating:5/5]
Rock and roll meets sci-fi in this sexy, crazy, and wholly original anime series from the same folks who brought us Eden of the East, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Gurren Lagann. It’s best not to think to hard on what FLCL is actually about and just revel in the fun that it is. The series touches on just about every element of anime from multiple genres, so it should appeal to a broad base of fans.
The main character Noata is a sixth grader struggling through school and having a relationship with an older girl who just happens to be his older brother’s ex-girlfriend (his brother is away in America playing baseball). Suddenly, a crazed, pink-haired girl appears on a motor scooter and thwacks him over the head with a bass guitar. Soon, Noata finds that he can sprout all sorts of things from his head, like cat ears, giant mecha that do battle with one another, and powerful guitars that help him and the pink-haired Haruta, save the world. But that’s not all – Haruta claims to be an alien, and Noata is now caught up in a powerful corporation’s secret agenda and in a love triangle with Haruta and his brother’s ex.
With cutting edge animation and grating rock tunes that kick the energy level up to a-hundred-and-twelve, FLCL is a raucous and wacky ride from start to finish.
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
FLCL may not be a native HD transfer, but it looks very good for an upscaled transfer, one of the best I have seen so far from Funimation. Video noise is very slight and there is only some occasionally noticeable aliasing around the line art. Colors may not be quite as vivid as they would have been had this been a straight HD transfer, but they still seem rather vibrant.
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Both the original Japanese and English soundtracks are available in Dolby TrueHD 2.0 stereo lossless mixes. I used the Japanese soundtrack as the reference for this review. It may not have been surround, but it was still quite aggressive with a very wide stereo field and deep low frequencies. Dialogue was clean and there was aggressive panning to follow the action across the screen.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3.5/5]
There are plenty of extras to fill out the release, including director commentaries for all six episodes plus music video segments featuring music by the band The Pillows.
The supplements provided with this release are:
- Director Commentaries – Episodes 1- 6
- Videos with Music by The Pillows (1.33:1; 1080i/60):
- “Ride on Shooting Star”
- “Come Down”
- “One Life”
- “Little Busters”
- “Last Dinosaur”
- “Ride on Shooting Star” Video by The Pillows (1.78:1; 1080i/60)
- Outtakes Part 1 (1.33:1; 480i/60; 0:01.12; English)
- Outtakes Part 2 (1.33:1; 480i/60; 0:03.03; English)
- Outtakes Part 3 (1.33:1; 480i/60; 0:02.31; English)
- Textless Closing Song (1.33:1; 1080p/24; 0:02.22; Dolby TrueHD 2.0)
- Trailers:
- Excel Saga
- Eden of the East
- Summer Wars
- Black Butler
- Soul Eater
- Chobits
- D. Gray-man
- Hero Tales
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:4/5]
For those unfamiliar with anime, this may not be the best jumping in point as it may serve to confuse more than convert, but FLCL is a superb piece of anime that true fans of the genre will certainly enjoy.
Additional Screen Captures:
[amazon-product align=”right”]B004DMIIPA[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase FLCL: The Complete Series on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Series
[Rating:5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3.5/5]
