Okay so I messed up by not including the source in the video, that's my bad. Here it is www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2020/08/03-1/chainsaw-man-manga-shreds-through-3-million-copies-in-circulation Fujimoto has officially stated that Chainsaw Man is a "wicked FLCL" and this video is my analysis of the similarities between them and in what ways the influence of FLCL might appear in CSM. Hopefully I can stop getting comments about "reaching" and calling me an idiot now lmao. Also for people asking about the music, i made it! spotify link in description :)
Well the conclusion of this video is pretty much interesting. Because the creation of Spider-Man came from a Fly on the Wall. And The Punisher from Charles Bronson films, which people feel the actor is gruffly absurd. So it's possible about the best things always happen with ideas out of the simplest unknown lifestyle. As far as exaggerating their own common sense into a cautionary tale. I take further notes like a old-Critique✏️📖🥱. Thank you!
FLCL's message is actually the same as Chansaw man's but in plaintext; JUST GO FOR IT. but it in your own way no matter what washup tells you or enforces how the world is. CsM is more obvious and straight to the point about what you get following that route --the most kick ass life ever. FLCL is purposely complicated because we're literally seeing his story from a 12 year's perspective of breaking out of this delusion of "how an adult should be" and that he's any more mature than the people he looks down on. Abara/CsM still follows Nihei's very common theme of transhumanism; highlights the frailty of humanity and the necessity transcend it at a steep price
It's quite comforting to know that FLCL will never be mainstream, yet it's influence is positive and powerful enough to reshape the mainstream in the best ways.
I think it's over rated. It's too short to be as profound as other anime and too hectic and most will just get mind fucked by it and not learn anything. It's not bad, don't get me wrong. But people in the last few years have been sick riding hard like it's a Stanley Kubrick film or something.
@@theimataka9820 why? It was an entirely different type of story and genre. That would be like telling the people who made Cameron's the Titanic to go watch 2001: a space oddity. It had nothing to do with it other than the more bare fundamentals of the medium.
@@MALICEM12 I just really like how chaotic it is and how you don't need to understand it to enjoy it. It's a nice change of pace from more serious anime as well as the usual slice of life. It's not boring and it's not dark. I will admit that when I wrote that comment I had recently re-watched it, but I still really like it!
It's definitely interesting how both series are essentially coming-of-age tales somewhat disguised by the overall insanity surrounding the main characters. Both also have much darker undertones in a lot of areas, but CSM is WAY more evident with them than FLCL is. Even the fact that FLCL's production (in the sense of doing what they wanted while making it) feels like it matches Fujimoto's looser style of drawing and wild ideas. Either way, the influences are apparent, and the two series slap 👌
Not even that but the journey of growth is essentially the same; an older cool woman taking advantage of the affection the younger mc yearns for (Naota his brother and Denji his mother) mixing it with sexual frustrations the kids dont understand how to process yet, to emotionally manipulate them into dependance and doing their evil deeds fooling them with a fight against another force of destruction (Medical Mechanica and the Devils) to get posession of an otherwordly being conected to mc by sheer coincidence (Atomsk and the Chainsaw Devil) that the manipulator is obsesed with, and the suffering this abusive relationship causes them is what forces them to grow and find what real conections should be even if they're not romantic or sexual (Ninamori and Aki/Power)
I'm always surprised when people get the impression that CSM is "wild", reading Fujimoto's previous works will immediately make you realize that he held back a lot with Chainsaw Man in order to make his own ideas more coherent and therefore appeal to a wider audience than say, Fire Punch's "bestiality one second, Star Wars the next" crazy shenanigans could. It's one of the aspects I miss from his early works honestly, sure, the writing was very loose for those, and from a purely technical perspective there was way more care put into CSM's plot and its execution, but it just lacks a bit of passion compared to the absurd-yet-moving message of Sasaki-kun Stopped The Bullet or the deliberately unsatisfying ending from Imouto no Ane, or the borderline memetic fixation Fire Punch had with movies, or Nayuta from the Prophecy's over the place pacing that increased its dadaistic sense, or- You get the point, I understand that CSM is crazy compared to most media out there, but for Fujimoto himself, it feels like a step back.
@@wallisbudge4022 I've read a handful of his oneshots, but thank you for bringing Sasaki-kun and Imouto no Ane to my attention. That aside, yeah, he definitely held back in CSM, which I'm somewhat thankful for. Though, part 2 could stand to have a little bit of the old Fujimoto, it seems even safer than part 1 by far. The thing is, Fujimoto is actually a really talented writer. When you pull back all the "crazy" and "zany" parts, the man can truly write a great story. I'd like to see that confidence in works outside of his oneshots.
@@jase276 I love Sasaki-kun to death, that last panel with Sasaki on the moon was pure beauty. "It was only a bullet, and I will always be able to stop it", a line to live by. And yeah, CSM being tamer means it's a good introduction to Fujimoto as a whole, it's easier to look past the bleak tone that Fire Punch has to enjoy the magnificent tale of anti-nihilism and dramaturgy it tells if you've already seen Denji swallow puke during his first kiss. Chainsaw Man already has an established vibe, for better or for worse, but I read Goodbye Eri in hopes that Fujimoto would at least go back to his old ways in a less commercial one-shot. Suffice to say I was disappointed. Maybe someday we'll get a story that combines the sheer passion of Fujimoto's early works together with the better-structured writing of his recent works, that would be a masterpiece. Like God once said to Sasaki, "Go turn my understanding of the world upside down!".
Ok but like, everyone should watch FLCL. Of course you don’t have to understand it ALL the time, trying to do so will hurt your brain. But watching it for the vibe tho, it’s like the melancholic feeling of reminiscing on old times was turned into an anime. The music and visuals still hit me in a way no anime has before, and the songs, they hold such a special place in my heart, I can only ever listen to them when I’m in the perfect mood.
I remember watching FLCL on Adult Swim back in high school, my brother and I loved it. I had no fucking idea what was going on, but I loved how insane and zany it was, I remember describing it as “anime looney tunes”
I remember being introduced to FLCL by my friend during a lunch break in High School. He described it as an incredibly weird coming of age story. I didn’t rediscover it until I found an AMV of Green Day’s Holiday over a summer. I then proceeded to binge it. Shit was dope and I regret nothing.
It’s about an alien girl, that plots on coming of age hormones on teenagers basic lives She took the life of the protagonists older brother and was turned into the robot having premonitions of his previous life , while his ex gf is fascinated by it The younger brother being a idiot follows the pink haired lady to be turned into a weapon but he turns against her and is the few to live her clutch’s, part 2 same just a girls life perspective
the basic idea is that you shouldn't let yourself be manipulated by people you like,they can manipulate you directly like Haruko or indirectly like Mamimi
This is my first time learning about this and now I love the two anime even more. Makes a lot of sense too, I can definitely see the parallels between characters. Also goes to show how amazing and how much of a classic FLCL is, I mean it inspired Avatar and Chainsaw Man, two series that are arguably more known by many compared to FLCL. Granted FLCL is already quite old (damn), I do like that it's still being talked by some today and getting the recognition it deserves :))
I wholeheartedly believe FLCL isnt that hard to understand, neither is it conveluded. The show just moves at such a fast pace that its hard for the audience to keep up and understand upon first viewing, after a rewatch however its a lot more simple to understand Mamimi's arc is about finding direction after her (assumed boyfriend) leaves to go to america as she latches onto multiple strong figures (which she calls Takkun) to make up for her lack of self confidence. Initially its naota but that changes from person to person as the show progresses, the arc ending when she comes to terms with everything and discovering photography, leaving to follow that dream. Naota's arc is about puberty, growing up and becoming an adult, the constant visual metaphors of erections, sexual poses and the sour drink at the start and end only serving to boost this message. It begins with him feeling in the shadow of his brother and Mamimi clinging onto him because of this. Naota percieves this relationship as reciprical between him and Mamimi (even as Haruko comes into the scene) and navigating both the relationship between him and Mamimi and him and Haruko. Throughout the show, Naota realises that Mamimi was only interested in him because she percieved him as his brother, which he eventually comes to terms him and confronts Mamimi. Naota also realises that Haruko was only interested in him because she wanted to summon atemisk, of which he eventually confronts Haruko. As he comes to terms with both and navigates relationships and sitations you watch his development and character and him grow up and changer perspectives. Haruko's arc is simply her trying to trigger strong emotional actions from Naota to summon Atemisk, each robot fight that occurs being a peice in the puzzle to finally summon atemisk. These emotions range from jealousy to much more (cant quite remember as I type this lol) but each one resulting in a robot being summoned. Throughout the show you see Haruko mention that she tries using other people as portals to summon the robots but none work, except for Naota. It shows her past with Amaroa and her using him as a portal in the past (her discussions with him throughout the show and it being clear she has had some kind of relationship with him in the past), Naotas Dad and likely others that I cant remember off the top of my head. When she inevitably summons Atemisk you see her get frustrated as she cant capture and use the power of atemisk for herself, resulting in her attacking naota (controlling the power of atemisk). Naota wins the fight and atemisk leaves with Haruko. Within the finale, her clear motivations of manipulation become aparent as she is completly suprised when Naota confesses her love for her, Haruko then leaving when Naota has no purpose and cannot be used as a portal. These are the main three arcs but there is also amaroas arc which touches upon masculinty and his jealousy of Naota as they essentially compete for Haruko. Ninamoris arc of her navigating her parents divorce and her coming to terms with this, literally ending the arc as she does the high jump creating an arc shape as everyone cheers and claps when she talks about how she resolves the issues lol. FLCL is definately deep and takes a unique approach to story telling with its radical pacing but I dont think its necesarily conveluded just very fast and precise with what it has to say in terms of storytelling. FLCL manages to tell a more complex story with multiple characters in 6 episodes, than most series can do in 24 episodes or 50 episodes because it knows exactly what to show the audience, giving just enough dialogue and backstory to tell you what happened quickly, which i think is what becomes alienating and overwhelming initially. FLCL actually has an interesting history and a lot of people overlook into the deeper meanings of some things (which flcl makes fun of itself and simultaneously mocks evangelion fans). A lot of the crazy things that happen in the show being there purely because the director likes them with no other reason than that. The director liked guitars so he used guitars, he liked the pillows so he used the pillows, he liked south park so he did a south park homage lol. The show itself was used from excess money from evangelion of which the director was told he could do whatever he wanted. To add to this lack of monetary motive the director wanted to tell a complete story and not leave any reason for sequels or prequels. He disagreed to direct the sequels alternative and progressive, refusing to come back and vocally disagreeing to the concept of there being more as believed he told the complete story in the original with no incentive to make more. The only reason progressive and alternative being made because the copyright to FLCL ran out so they were able to purchase the rights to the show, likely being why they felt so soulless in comparisson to the original. Hopefully this can help give a bit more context to the show! Just a flcl megafan here lol.
I’m sure you coulda summarized this, but you focus to much on love there is a lot more that happpens, besides that like the robot being the older brother and having premonitions, it has nothing to do with the romance in the teenagers just the fact she can manipulate they’re hormones to see if she can summon a weapon, Artemis is her lover she despiteraly tries to get close to using teenagers as plots, really it’s just a big play on an everyday average joe kinda life The agency tries to stop haruko because he was one of the few kids that made it out alive but because his lack, which also made him envious She literally just destroys worlds with her lover Artemis
@@yaboiisachie6138 I think the whole show is really about love, Mamimi coping about the losing her bf, Harukos love for atemisk, Naotas love for both Haruko (he admits to her in the finale) and Mamimi (he also says he thought that Mamimi likes him). I never think the robot was ever Naotas brother. The show never mentions this other than Mamimi calling the robot Takkun, but that's because she calls any strong figure Takkun. Yea the explanation was wrong, but I wanted to try give insight on each character fully even though I could have TLDR'd if lol.
@@samcolr2475 if you go back and watch it, it’s VERY VERY MUCH implied in the show the robot is his brother, he came back to life through the brothers first robot, his soul cause it’s his brother and that’s the reason haruko found him in the first place, she never goes to some random kid she goes to a descendant of her previous attempt that’s how the story starts, its IMPLIED BECAUSE THE ROBOT GOES TO EVERY SPOT HE HAD WITH HIS GF MAMIMI and doesn’t understand his lust for the human life, the robot is just as confused as us, but he helped her burn down a church, he finds himself back at and even in 1 episode it’s stated “WE LOVED TO GO TO THE RECORD STORE AND BUY NUDIE MAGAZINES TIME TO TIME” then it proceeds to show the robot at the record shop looking at nudie mags The robot protects naoto like a big brother
@@samcolr2475 she calls strong figures takkun cause mamimi has been homeless, showering in rivers and fending for herself to survive nobody liked her because she was poor, and the older brother was her way of cooping he was so strong, “in the army” And helping her coop with her fears and stuff by burning a church and hanging out with her, when she lost him and got no answers from his deployment she began to try to find new things to coop with . I’m further backed up by the thought haruko comes back for descendants because In Part 2 of folycooly series, we are opened up with a mysterious new child that’s father “went missing” the “father” knew about haruko and gave her special made headphones to one day save her from the clutch’s of haruko cause he knew she would come for his keen, when he failed
@@yaboiisachie6138 I'm excluding parts 2 and 3 as to me they are separate stories detached from the main story. None of them were by the same director and neither did the director want them to be made, he considered the original flcl a complete story so I'm not considering that storyline. The brother never goes to the army, he goes to play baseball in america. The characters acknowledge and say this specifically and you also see a photo of Naotas brother with his face blurred out. The robot may serve as a brotherly figure but it's not Naotas brother, in fact the robot is actually part of what they need to summon atemisk.
I hope FLCL gets some serious recognition when this video blows up. It was my technically my second anime but I count it as my first since I straight up grew up on Dragonball.
I hate "fujimoto said dont over analyze his works with just to listen to song" this guy went to art school, there is 0 chance is he saying art analysis is bunk. Just listen to the song is infinitely more about the feelings of the artist and how his message is targeted towards a specific person that in the end, gets it, even if their reaction to it is unclear
if you actually ever talked to someone who went to art school you would know that over analyzing isnt always the best thing to do, there is no greater point or deeper meaning to chainsaw man or flcl, the symbolisms are mostly for aethetical reasons and most of the themes are only secondary to the overall enjoyment of the series, no way, They never say art analysis is bunk, you just think there is only 1 way to analyse and look at art. Some art is purely made for simple reasons but that doesent make it less art if it still has the personality and charm of the artists attached to it. Like, look how the chainsaw man anime looks, it lost a lot of its charm and focuses more of the things that were never the mangas focus aesthetically. Chainsaw Man is extremely goofy but the anime doesent look the part
@@pweaseadoptme5312 you are just flat out wrong about there being no deeper meaning to the flcl symbolism. Flcl as a story is absolute garbage and nonsense without the symbolism and deeper meaning. Flcl is very very very clearly about toxic relationships, it can be seen in every frame of the show and its so central to the shows identity that its clear those ideas are being explored critically. To wave all this away as "haha weird shit go brrrrr" is really weird to me. To say that it is wrong to analyze art is stupid. Shakespeare was literally made to be pop art for the masses but it had depth to be analyzed so its still talked about hundreds of years later. I disagree fundamentally with saying the anime missing the mark of the manga. The themes also arent secondary, they are placed front and center. Literally the climax of the story of part 1 is about toxic relationships and denii's idea of freedom vs makima's control, combined with the series ending on the thematic point of the importance of equal relationships and love. But hah sharknado go brrrrrrr fujimoto actually doesnt want you to think critically about any of his art, haha just consume brrrrrr
i never said fujimoto's message was to say "don't over-analyze", i said he's calling out people for over-analyzing. taking insane deep dives into stories and coming up with wild and wacky interpretations is really fun and valuable, but undoubtedly hilarious for the original creator. hence the way both fujimoto and flcl call it out before the audience even has a chance to fully complete their analysis. i never meant to say analyzing is dumb, if i came across that way my b honestly.
@@dallascoggins1534 I watched FLCL several times as It is my favourite anime of all time maremma puttana but you're Just trying to see messages where there aren't. FLCL CAN Talk about toxic relationships but I don't think that's the main point. The gorgeousness of FLCL Is it's semplicity. "It's ok yo feel stupid and to not understand what's going on" nothing more nothing less Fujimoto talks about himselfs in his operas, and especially about his love about cinema. He tells us the meaning of Chainsaw Man in the finale of part 1. It's fun to analyze stories, but you don't have to find deeper messages everywhere
What makes flcl so amazing for me is the fact I grew up watching and re watching it when I hit puberty. The music and vibe calls back to me in a huge wave of nostalgia
I KNEW IT!!! i could definitely see it, and im so SO happy, flcl has been my favorite anime from ever since i watched it for the first time at 13 years old, it holds a dear place in my heart. (im now 20)
Its really good actually The motivation. Is genuine and down to earth. Not something like hokage or best or shit like that. Its about living. Food the basic need from the eons.
Honestly as much as it is a fact that it did I always felt it seemed to be a stretch. To me one comparison I dont see many people make is that I always felt Chainsawman felt like a modern shonen take on DevilMan
Apart from the thing the other commentor said, the dynamic of Makima, Denji and Pochita is very similar to Haruko, Naota and Atomsk. Just think about it for a moment and you'll see
I remember watching FLCL back in 2018 on tonami and I only watched Dbz. When this came on I didn't know what I was getting into. After watching the series a few times I started to see the plot and FLCL became my 2nd Favorite Anime of all time.
quickly saw connections between FLCL and chainsaw man, but when power came in to the anime I had to see if there were some creators that worked on both. FLCL was and always will be a favorite of mine so csm has been enjoyable.
The video might be promoting flcl to csm fans. But for me it’s the other way around. I see all the fans and immediately think csm was overrated but this vid made me want to check it out now
Ngl my dad's friend gave this disc DVD set of the anime to my dad and said to give it to me cause he found it. When I first watched it I didn't understand what was going on but I loved it none the less. Me at 8 years old watching it was straight fire and really got me interested into the looks visuals and sounds.
I think the only reason I’m disappointed with the way the chainsaw man anime is right now is that while I was reading the manga I had the batshit expectations of FLCL in mind while I was reading it
You’re wrong. The best way to describe FLCL is ADHD! My brother gave me his FLCL box set when he went to college back in 2007. It’s was also inspired by yellow submarine.
Ever since i started reading chainsawman i found it oddly similar to the original Vertigo comic series, Hellblazer. The characters (John Constantine and Denji) have basicly the same story progression and the atmosphere in both comic/manga is chaotic and teaching u to not get attached to any character exept for the main one. Whoever enjoys the style of chainsawman will love the original Hellblazer and i recomend it a lot.
Fujimotos most recen one shot wasn’t trying to tell us to it analyze his work at all, he was telling us to analyze it correctly and see it for what it is. A lot of people had been coming up with a bunch of absolutely ridiculous “theories” about his work that simply wasn’t based in any sort of reality and it was getting on his nerves. His work def has themes and messages to be explored though, he isn’t just putting shit on the page because he thinks it’s cool.
"The best way to describe FLCL is 'dumb' " That's incredibly wrong. It's one of the smartest, densest shows there is. Sure the surface level can 'appear' that way, but it's incredibly depthful. Far from dumb. It can make you FEEL dumb while watching it, but that's just because of how overwhelmed it can make the viewer.
Don't go into it expecting it to be a deep masterpiece of some sorts. If you take it as it is, a shitpost that's very entertaining to watch then it's pretty good.
People always go into FLCL expecting a structured deep look into the human psyche. Literally just turn off your brain, slam it to a wall and watch it while you're horny or depressed (or both) and you'll love it
@@mani3001 It's totally a vibe thing, essentially a music video with some sick fight scene animation, some slapstick comedy, and interesting characters (imo). The story is only really there to be understood on multiple viewings since it's so chaotic, and as an animator it's enjoyable just to see how much fun the animators had on FLCL.
