Does that Rickenbacker 4001 have a recoil starter!? Oh shit!

Such exclamations dominated my thoughts throughout FLCL. Though general opinion on the eccentric OVA is split, I think many of us can agree that the first viewing of FLCL is a moment in itself. I suppose there are far more meaningful scenes scattered throughout, but when I saw this little gem in the first episode, I knew that nothing could possibly be this cool — and bear in mind that I had already seen Gurren-Lagann at that point. Yes, I’d rate a first-class bass guitar equipped with a lawnmower/chainsaw/something engine and used as a weapon higher on the awesome scale than all the Giga Drill Breakers and galaxy shurikens you can muster.

Haruko becomes a kind of surrogate for Naota’s brother here (perhaps creepily so, considering later developments — and what is it with Gainax and coming-of-age stories, anyway?). Aside from her ultimately selfish motives, she plays a Kamina-like role, at once driving Naota forward and getting in his way by being too awesome, and it’s probably safe to claim this scene as the definite starting point of that dynamic.

But look! She just beat a robot with a Rickenbacker! How fucking cool is that!?

Sorry. The point is, it felt as though this scene blew my attempts to “read” FLCL to pieces. It was as if Gainax took me aside and said, “Stop being a prick, or you’ll forget to enjoy the ride.” And it’s true that enjoyment of the ride goes a long way in determining what exactly I’ll get out of the ride. Not that I think my usual tactics are prickish, but I find that deep analysis is best left until the end; the first step in getting something out of a story, for me at least, is liking the story on the surface level. Me and the authorial consciousness have to mesh well. Sometimes I forget about the surface level when I watch something like FLCL, lauded as it is as a postmodern feat (I’d argue that it’s reactionary to postmodernism, but whatever), and I don’t begrudge the show for knocking me out of that way of thinking with a well-swung bass guitar.

Did I mention that I play the bass guitar? This moment is, like Moment the Tenth, impressively apt Pontifus-service. To be fair, you could just as easily say the same of FLCL in its entirety.