#loopqr

It revealed a lot. If I remember correctly, episode 4 was about when the original FLCL started making sense to me too. It's still complicated, but I'm going to try to break down what I learned.

First on the themes of the show. After this episode, it's clear that the main theme of Progressive is the duality of personality. The message seems to be that it is unhealthy to try to isolate parts of your personality and emotions because you should accept yourself as the whole package. It is implied that Hidomi's excessive joy and hyperactivity in this episode are a real part of her. This theory is further proven by the fact that we see that side of her in her dreams. The headphones didn't create this side of her, they isolated it and exposed it when they drilled into her brain. Hidomi's depressive, "tsundere" side that we see more often is real too. When her father left and her mother became unstable, it brought out this side of her more. All the headphones did was seal that part of her away so her spaztic side could run wild and unchecked. We of course also see this concept with Haruko. She was a villain in the original series, but she's more blatantly evil in progressive because Jinyu split from her. Jinyu is Haruko's "good" side and possibly her conscience. She is much more stoic and mission-oriented, but she's also naive which is why she didn't have a plan for breaking into Medical Mechanica and more importantly why she believes in setting Atomsk free. Again, this is an important and real part of Haruko, but when it's isolated and unchecked, it's dangerous.

We also got some more clarification of FLCL's world. So much of the plot revolves around "N.O. portals." The robots like Canti and all the monsters of the week are sentient creatures with both biological and mechanical components (perhaps where Medical Mechanica gets its name?) They come from another dimension and can only come to our world through N.O. portals. These portals need a human host and are opened when the host is hit by a sudden influx of hormones which is what "overflowing" means. Adolescents are much more susceptible to hormones, hence why they've been the only hosts so far. Medical Mechanica develops machines disguised as ordinary objects to attach the portals to the hosts' heads. These objects include Haruko's guitar, Jinyu's car, the Viking ship ride, and I'm sure we'll see more. These devices can only bring the robots to our world, not the other way back, which is why they created the flower pot which does the opposite.

julia: feminine version of julius. famous holder was julius caesar, who got stabbed in the back by his best friend brutus. also could reference william shakespeare’s juliet (if you don’t know what this is... a girl kisses the wrong boy and six people end up dead, including them both).

the bel-air’s license plate: "24-24" (Japanese: nishi-nishi). 24 in Japanese is considered an unlucky number, as it is a homophone of "two deaths" (Japanese: 二死, nishi)

jinyu: goldfish (????)

LISTEN.

I READ A META OR SOMETHING ABOUT HOW WHEN HARUKO SPLIT AFTER ABSORBING ATOMSK, JINYU WAS THE ACTUALLY DECENT PART OF HARUKO WITH LIKE, MORALS AND SHIT. I LIKED THIS THEORY ESPECIALLY SINCE HARUKO IS SO... CLEARLY EVIL INSTEAD OF NEUTRAL.

LIKE SHE WAS TOTALLY SELF-CENTERED AND MANIPULATIVE AND NARCISSISTIC AND POWER-HUNGRY IN CLASSIC. BUT SHE STILL, LIKE, HAD A HEART DEEP DOWN INSIDE. MAYBE. SEE: THE OFFER FOR NAOTA TO COME WITH HER, DESPITE HIM RUINING HER PLANS. AND THEN TAKING IT BACK BECAUSE HE IS JUST TWELVE.

SO I REALLY WANTED HARUKO AND JINYU TO REJOIN.

BUT UMMMMM, SOMEHOW I DON’T THINK TURNING INTO A GIANT ALIEN ENERGY BEAST AND EATING JINYU WAS THE BEST WAY TO REABSORB ONE’S BETTER HALF.