Flip Flappers

Episode 6:

I don't have anything to add to what has already been said about this episode. I just wanted to chime in that I agree that it was a fantastic episode that takes on very emotional subject matter and does it justice. I also agree that beyond being an excellent self contained story the possible implications of the ending are very exciting for the show going forward.
Actually the implication is both exciting and terrifying because in the wrong hands being able to dive through someone's memories like this and possible make changes could be used for some really insidious shit. Of course Cocona and Papike wouldn't do that, but their rival group on the other hand? Yeeeah.

I'm glad @thor123 drew my attention to this thread so I could read through the posts and get interested in this series because I'd be missing out on something good otherwise.

The news about the script writer leaving is worrying, especially because this is an original work so there's no source material to work from. This story definitely seems to be one person's vision so I can only hope there were detailed notes left behind for whoever picks up the torch. For now I'll just keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best.
 
Yeah, this show definitely seems like it's going to be another under the radar hit. Glad you've liked it. :drinking:

Also, shout out to @Taekwondoin for drawing my attention to this show as well. It's really great, because as I re-watch some of the episodes, I notice some small neat visual details, I missed out on.


Me and Taek already talked about this too, but man, I really love the ending theme:


I've replayed it a couple of times already, and it fits the show so well, with it's fairy tale like motifs. I hope they come out with some kind of artbook or something.
 
Episode 7:

Good news! It seems the change in scriptwriter hasn't negatively impacted the show, because this episode was up to snuff with the quality of the last few episodes.

Well, this actually took things in a more complex direction than I was expecting. Watching shows we're usually conditioned to expect clean cut resolutions most of the time. In a normal show that deals with messing around with someone's past you'd expect the results to be positive or negative, but that real life isn't binary like that. People are more complex than that and changing a significant moment in someone's past like that can completely change who they are as a person. So messing with that hole is super dangerous because not only can you really fuck up someone's life, but the results are also going to be pretty unpredictable. In this case the results aren't necessarily completely negative. There's both good and bad in the change that Cocona and Papika made, but it still leaves Cocona shaken because she's completely changed someone she admired.

This then leads into the rest of the episode, where Cocona spends the episode meeting different versions of Papika. It's a strong episode because it again shows that people aren't simply one thing or another, but made up of a lot of different aspects and traits. Each version of Papika was representing some different aspect of her, but they were all undeniably her. Cocona spends the episode searching for her Papika, but she has chemistry with all the others because she still has an affinity with all these other versions because beyond the differences they are all at their core still Papika. It's a lesson that Cocona has to absorb because she'll probably never be able to "fix" what she did with her sempai, so she has to look at that core person of her sempai and find the person she liked and respected. It may not be her sempai, but just like the final faux Papika said "is change really that bad?"


I quite enjoyed the nonsense jargon explanation the doc gave for what Pure Illusion is because he gets called right out on that shit.
 
Episode 7
That was nice, even if the level of last week's episode might be unattainable for the rest of the show
AAAAAAAAAND I got ninja'd by ZK...
The Pure Illusion having an effect on the subconscious of people is now all but confirmed, and it seems like the effects on art-senpai are even greater than what we saw first. Meaning Papika and Cocona will have to go to "hell" again to undo what has been done, if they actually conclude that change is bad. Because really, that's not a sure thing yet.

Cocona's idea of "hell" was quite funny
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She has to eat carrots, while Papika gets no food :p And all the ecchi punishments :D

Moving on, Cocona doesn't want to create more changes, but is somehow still transported to Pure Illusion. I'm curious if we'll ever get to learn how that happened...

However, this Pure Illusion didn't particularly excite me. I think there are multiple explanations for it what it meant:
  • it can be seen as Cocona questioning what exactly Papika is to her. Is she like a little sister? Is she a bad influence? Or is she sexy? (the sexy question also asks if Cocona is straight or not)
  • It could also be a way of showing Cocona that the changes to senpai's character aren't immediately negative: all the Papika's are also different from the original, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're bad/inferior/... . I have a harder time explaining this one so I hope people who read this will somewhat understand me :p - ZK ninja'd me and explains this better
Other things of note:
  • In Yayaka's team all goes well according to plan... except for the fact that Yayaka is being excluded now. Looks like she might change sides soon
  • That "Mimi" in the flashback is directly referenced in the synopsis, which I hope won't end up being too much of a spoiler.

Episode 7:

Good news! It seems the change in scriptwriter hasn't negatively impacted the show, because this episode was up to snuff with the quality of the last few episodes.
I don't want to be too pessimistic, but I'm quite sure this one would still be influenced by the former scriptwriter. Not sure when we'd feel the change if we ever do feel it though.
 
Well, ZK summed up exactly everything I was thinking thematically about this, such a thought stealer. :laugh:

But yeah, the approach they took to this episode I thought was really smart, and also fun times. As this show goes along, it just feels more and more strongly, this is all about coming of age.

I will also re-quote Taek that I forgot to mention but, apparently, this was said:
"It was never planned for Yuniko to write more than those 5 episodes, Oshiyama just needed someone because he can’t write everything himself."
so I think it's in pretty safe hands with the director.


Also, I don't know about anyone else, but the PV looks hype as hell:
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This looks stylistically fucking awesome, and potentially we might learn more about the twins and have an episode dedicated to them, which is exactly what Taek wanted. Really looking forward to this one.
 
  • it can be seen as Cocona questioning what exactly Papika is to her. Is she like a little sister? Is she a bad influence? Or is she sexy? (the sexy question also asks if Cocona is straight or not)
This is a really good point. The episode definitely delves into Cocona's confusion over the nature of her relationship with Papika. She's especially uncomfortable around the male versions of Papika because her attraction becomes quite apparent.
 
08:

Holy shit, HOLY SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT guys, I think I just orgasmed from this episode, and my mind exploded from the motherfucking fabulousness.

Science fiction themed, cool ass futuristic tron world this time, and this was pretty much some over the top TTGL style stuff with the huge ass mechas, transformations, FIERY SPIRIT and amazing kick ass insert song. It was so glorious, I cried tears of joy. This just generally felt like such a loving tribute to those olden days of super mecha series to me. 10/10 action.

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TTGL + Transformers anyone?

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Eva Unit 01, fucking shit up again.


It was also really cool to see Yayaka, Coconoa and Papika work together this episode too, and they seem to be coming closer together in their relationship. I've had this thought in my head for awhile already, but if I look at the three characters on a symbolic level, it just makes a lot of sense to me seeing this in a Freudian way, if I take them as something like the Id, Ego and Super Ego. Which all work together to make up someone's consciousness, but I'm just spitballing here with my analogy. :laugh:

I'm gonna take a guess this was the world of Dr. Hidaka? Or maybe it was collectively both Dr Hidaka and Bu-Chan? Either way, man, shortie Pops was so great though and goddamn adorable to me.

And dat after credits ending.......so many questions!

P.S. On a random side note, it may be a stretch but I think the swimsuits to me also honestly seemed like they sort of were taking a jibe at the fanservice-y ridiculous skin tight body suits the females usually wear in mecha series. Or it could have just been them portraying Bu-chan's male gaze, either or. :laugh:

I looooooooved this episode overall, I would say it's pretty on par with the insane amount of fun I had with episode 3 and had the same gusto. Anyway, I'm just drooling and am at a loss of words to really type coherently right now, since I thought this episode was just way too awesome for me.

This anime is really just the definition of pure visual sexiness and they smashed it home here.
 
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Episode 8
10/10 insert songs
10/10 fights
10/10 designs (enemies and buildings)
10/10 Transformers, EVA and TTGL references
10/10 Naruto references
10/10 post-credits scene
10/10 Power rangers references
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Total: 11/10, would Flip-Flap again
 
There were really so many references this episode, especially of the old ass super sentai stuff, it isn't even funny:

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Also, I really fucking need an mp3 of that hype insert song ASAP. I legitimately can't stop replaying the bits in the episode where it starts up. FLIPAH FLAAPPPING! FLIPAH FLAPPPPING!

Man, this episode has seriously put me in the mood for some
super robot animus right about now.
 
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Man, this episode has seriously put me in the mood for some
super robot animus right about now.
Watch giant Robo you damn ape!

Episode 8

Holy shit balls Jesus H Jones that was fun.
All those references, the insert song that gave me an instaboner, the goddamn city design, I'm struggling to write coherently.

So let's talk about what happened. Yayaka is forced to confront whether she actually cares about Cocona and Papika enough to want to save them, that resolution happens off screen, but it's pretty clear with what happens immediately afterwards, and how the twins react to at the end that she chose our two Flip Flappers over Nadia's Atlanteans.

Which I would usually assume that it means we're going to get an episode about the fallout of that, but with this show you can never tell, the next episode may very well be about that in an abstract sense, portrayed through Pure Illusion, but actually, I'm far more interested in that after credits scene getting expanded upon. Who is Mimi? Is she Papika's previous partner? Is she the girl Cocona keeps seeing on the boat? Why did Papika call her Mimi?

Goddamn that robot fight. Damn Power Ranger references, damn super robot references, damn super sentai references. Damn my inability to not be a stupid fucking fanboy about it. There were some definite Gunbuster references there too.
Gen was right, this is the most Gainax a non Gainax studio has ever Gainaxed.
 
Caught up with episodes 6, 7 and 8. They all did a great job of expanding on the show's premise.

Episode 8
Really interested in finding out who this Mimi is. I imagine it is likely to be a former partner of Papika seeing as she was looking for somebody new at the start of the show. I wonder how it'll play into the relationship she has with Cocona. It was like calling your partner by your ex's name :p (har har).

Yayaka was pretty cool in this episode too and I have the feeling she will turn on the shady organisation she is with. Although, we are yet to really figure out what the little group Cocona has gotten involved in is aiming for.
 
Ep 9
Well, we didn't learn who that blue-haired character is, but I'm happy to see some more background on Yayaka's and Papika's relationship.

The world this time seems to be Yayaka's mind, and it's kinda empty XD Her mindset's totally different because she's empty?
I'm guessing Yayaka will end up joining Cocona's team. It was kind of predictable, but I don't mind
Also the action looked fantastic

Oh, and I found this on reddit, thought I'd share:
Flip Flappers: The puppy-chan cut

It somehow makes sense, but I doubt it's real :p
 
Episode 8:

Can we just pretend this was the new Power Rangers movie? Because this was about a billion times better than anything I've seen from the actual PR reboot.

Why can't we get more awesome 80s inspired songs in anime? It's not asking for much and they're just so damn awesome. The insert song made me feel like I was watching a classic mecha anime from back when they were fun action adventure series that didn't take themselves so seriously.
 
Forgot to comment, so here's some scrawled thoughts from me about the latest episode:

09:

I have to agree with Thor, this action was absolutely stunning, and well choreographed, the fight in the
mirror dome was one of the coolest and most epic things I've seen. Other shows could really learn from this.

Onto the episode's contents, despite the fact we all probably saw this turncoat change coming for Yayaka, it was really well executed for me and still packed quite a bit of emotional punch. Yayaka's jealously to be honest, while it is petty, at least makes sense to me. Yayaka hasn't had anyone else close to her in her entire life besides Coconoa probably, and the twins basically treat her like shit, it doesn't really help her mindset being attached to some whack job organization either. Honestly, this was such a good episode in my opinion, and this show while super fun, I feel also has the chops to execute the serious stuff quite well too as episode 6 proved. That explosive attack on Yayaka at the end was pretty crazy, and I thought she had been literally blown into little tiny pieces. I really felt the brutal impact of it.

Also, dang, were those twins manipulative as fuck, when they were seeping doubts in Coconoa.

I think another thing I find impressive, is how consistent they've been so far with the quality of animation, and I mean, we're 9 episodes in and it's still the most exuberantly stylish thing I've seen in my life, I'm just wondering how the fuck is this even possible? This is some amazing work for a newbie studio. Also, this is one of those strange exceptions where I'm probably not even gonna give a fuck if the plot comes that well together or not.

I never even thought from the first episode I'd be enjoying this show, this much, but I really am.
 
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Episode 9

My favourite episode so far, which considering the run this has had, is no small feat
The action scenes were amazing, it's the first time we've seen Yayaka go this hard in a fight and it really shows that she means business when she wants to, Cocona and Papika got pretty fucking beat up by her alone.

Yuyu knows just how to manipulate Cocona, as Cocona is having doubts about how Papika see's her, Yuyu seems to know exactly how to trigger an exact response "she's talking about someone else". The twins have always seemed pretty alien, but now they seem to have a super high perception.

And fuck, that ending scene, I honestly thought Yayaka was dead after that blast. The twins really do not fuck about, when they said "The weak mindset is Yayaka's", it actually gave me chills down my spine.

So Mimi is Papika's previous partner, and probably the girl we saw possibly dead in the very first episode, could Papika be going through some kind of PTSD with the experience? It seems that after one partner died, she was straight in with Cocona, with no time to grieve or acknowledge what happened.

No joke guys, anime of the year for me.
 
No joke guys, anime of the year for me.

I'm going to reserve judgement over what will be my AOTY for later (since this show isn't over yet, and Yuri On Ice is a competitor too so far) but at the very least it's my Surprise of the Year. In hindsight, I'm not even sure anymore why I started watching this series, and the first 2 eps left me feeling quite meh about it.
But right now, I'm rating this 4.5/5, which is top 5% for me. I might raise it depending on the quality of the finale.
 
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