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.