Video games news, releases, esports and culture — all the biggest gaming stories in one place.
False Memory is the perfect excuse to binge one of anime’s greatest masterpieces
Polygon's article uses the upcoming Chinese donghua series False Memory, launching free on YouTube next month, as a springboard to revisit FLCL, the acclaimed six-episode anime OVA from Studio Gainax. The writer argues both series use surreal science fiction to depict the confusion of adolescence, and encourages readers to rewatch FLCL as a companion piece ahead of the new show's release, calling it one of anime's greatest works.
False Memory is created by Flint Sugar studio founders Shuyu Li and Wenyu Liu, key figures in China's indie 2D animation scene, and follows a boy who discovers a surreal world via a time-altering device. FLCL, released in 2000 and directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki with writing by Yōji Enokido, follows 12-year-old Naota Nandaba after he is struck by a guitar-wielding "space pirate," triggering absurd events involving robots, transforming weapons and a menacing factory. The piece compares FLCL's protagonist to Neon Genesis Evangelion's Shinji Ikari, noting that while Evangelion turns inward with despair, FLCL is ultimately optimistic about embracing change and growing up.
In short
- Polygon revisits FLCL ahead of new anime False Memory's release
- FLCL (2000) is a Gainax OVA about a boy's surreal coming-of-age
- Article says both stories use sci-fi surrealism to explore adolescence
Explained simply
FLCL is a six-episode anime series created in 2000 by Studio Gainax, directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki and written by Yōji Enokido. It follows a 12-year-old boy whose ordinary life becomes increasingly strange after being struck by a guitar-wielding space pirate, leading to surreal events and transformations.
False Memory is an upcoming animated series created by Shuyu Li and Wenyu Liu of Flint Sugar. The series follows a boy who discovers a surreal alternate world through a time-altering device and explores themes of adolescence.
Both works use surreal science fiction to depict the experience of adolescence. FLCL, released over two decades ago, is widely regarded as an acclaimed work, and the two series are being compared as companion explorations of growing up through fantastical storytelling. False Memory launches free on YouTube next month.