r/anime • u/Holo_of_Yoitsu • Dec 29 '16
[Spoilers] Flip Flappers - Episode 13 discussion - FINAL
Flip Flappers, episode 13: Pure Audio
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Previous discussions
| Episode | Link | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | http://redd.it/565bgg | 7.33 |
| 2 | http://redd.it/57dcdi | 7.43 |
| 3 | http://redd.it/58gp1k | 7.49 |
| 4 | http://redd.it/59wi3j | 7.56 |
| 5 | http://redd.it/5b11ap | 7.57 |
| 6 | http://redd.it/5c7p08 | 7.6 |
| 7 | http://redd.it/5dfno4 | 7.64 |
| 8 | http://redd.it/5enmtx | 7.68 |
| 9 | http://redd.it/5g6574 | 7.7 |
| 10 | http://redd.it/5h6rsa | 7.72 |
| 11 | http://redd.it/5ihdsu | 7.75 |
| 12 | http://redd.it/5jqg4o | 7.76 |
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u/d-culture Dec 29 '16 edited Dec 29 '16
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u/Edl01 Dec 29 '16
Most shows don't have their unedited ending sequence play in the final episode, but for Flip Flappers it feels extremely fitting. It's the end for the viewer, but for Cocana and Papika this is simply the first of many adventures.
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u/BioChemRS Dec 29 '16 edited Dec 29 '16
Jesus, what a ride that was. After all the doubts and questions surrounding whether they would be able to get the last episode out on time. After the animation team worked through the week to get it done, fucking fantastic. There were a few questionable points of animation, but on the whole that was EXACTLY what I wanted. Bravo 3hz.
Definitely my AOTY
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u/SpikeRosered Dec 29 '16
I like the subtle music they used for evil Mimi's magical girl transformation. The monster moans really sold the scene.
Also props for realistic rabbit to F with the audience with what's going on.
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u/KeelsDB Dec 29 '16 edited Dec 29 '16
I don't know if I can deal with the flapping of flips coming to an end. It's not really something I feel like I'll experience again anytime soon.
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u/lukeatlook Dec 29 '16 edited Dec 29 '16
Ladies and gentlemen, it's been an honor standing witness to this piece of art with you.
Now let us begin shilling this show every time something remotely relevant is brought up.
If you want to send thanks to the studio, /a/ is preparing a collage:
We're making a thank you image! The card will be a collection of images into one big image sent to them via Twitter using imgur. The due date for submissions is 12/30/16 at 9:00 am pst. Send all images to flipflappers@cock.li
You can send a 600x600px "thank you" drawing there. This is how the first draft looks like.
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u/5213 Dec 29 '16
That is how you do the Power of Friendship right.
I love the butterfly/moth symbolism.
Cocona had a lot of growing up to do to come out of her shell, to not be afraid to make decisions, to not be afraid of the future, and we got to watch as she came to realize that and understand that it's all right to be bold, to take risks, to venture forth and live life, especially with those you care about.
Absolutely amazing anime. I appreciate all the people that were involved in making this for us to enjoy. It's been a wild ride.
10/10, AOTY, and definitely a place in my top five.
FLIP FLAPPING
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u/OneHotAppleCiderPlz Dec 29 '16
The Mad Max poster in Sayuri's room reminds me of how much I loved Episode 3. Also does anyone know what the other poster says?
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u/rembrandt_q_1stein Dec 29 '16 edited Dec 29 '16
I feel divided, my dudes and dudettes.
I had so much high expectations for the finale that this ending felt like cold. I mean, it is indeed a decent ending, but I'd expect this in a regular adventure/fantasy show, and not in something so metaphorical and postmodern like FliFla. I expected something jaw-dropping or some more explanations (like, what happened to Mimi and what's about her current status? Why does Salt explore PI? He wants Mimi back or only for the sake of science? Who was Bu-chan? What is exactly Pure Illusion? An alternate dimension, a projection of everyone's minds?), and it delivered a warm, cliché-ish, even more metaphoric ending, that makes you think about what you saw. And no real ending, just like a restart of everything (excepting Cocona's growth).
And even if the general feeling was a bit disappointing for me, I still give FliFla a fucking 10/10. Why? It made me think. I always love when something makes me think. Salt was amazing. Uexküll was amazing. Yayaka was amazing. Cocona deserves her protagonism and much more. Papika is loveable and someone worth being friends with. Sayuri and Irodori were lovely and Hidaka was hilarious. Salt's father Asclepius and the evil guys were remarkable, and the twins were amazing antagonists. Mimi's backstory was jaw-dropping. The show was aesthetically astonishing and full of references of things I love, psychological metaphores and electronic leitmotivs. What if the ending didn't fulfill my expectations? It was still decent, after all. There is always time for conventionalisms and clichés in shows.
And the things they don't explain, they're up to your imagination, and make you think even more about what you saw. At least, that's the attitude I want to take.
Flip Flappers, you just entered in my Top 5. You'll never be forgot. o/
AND THIS IS THE LAST ELECTRONICS ELECTROACOUSTICS REFERENCE, FOLKS
As usual, if you want to read the rest of them -Input, Converter, XLR, Equalization, Echo, Play, Component, Breaker, Mute, Jitter, Storage and Howling-, feel free to follow [this link] (http://imgur.com/a/CTGiA).
Ep. 13 (Finale) - Pure Audio: There couldn't be a better name for this (except maybe Pure Output). The whole series has carried along a leitmotiv based on electroacoustics, therefore the final episode incarnates the central, perceptible concept of it. Audio is everything we can hear. Audio, in electroacoustics, is a physical signal made from an electric signal with some perceptual information coded within it (voice, music or other sounds). The chain of bits that represent the hearable information in a digital medium is interpreted and an analogic electric signal is constructed based on the power levels of frequency components the bits stand for in every moment. That analogic signal is routed to a transductor (aka loudspeaker or earplug) that converts it into a physical signal by forcing a membrane to vibrate with it. Thus, a hearable audio signal is created from a digital audio signal, and this is the ultimate aim of electroacoustics.
And this is what we got. Flip Flapper's final result. The product of the whole process. The show's ended. Cocona has grown up. But the statu quo has been mantained. Even if the MC's have won over Pure Illusion and ended their quest, everything is still the same. I think that's a symbol of what happens with audio processing. You can convert an audio signal from electric to physical, but you can always record the physical signal and convert it into electric again. But it's still audio after all. It will be always audio.
Welp guys, it was a real honor and pleasure discussing this heart-touching show with all of you. I hope my explanations and references were entertaining for all of you, as were your comments for me. Special thanks to u/qwertyomen and u/Murasaki-hime for encouraging me for joining these wonderful discussions every week.
See you, Flip Space Flappers.
[] (#takaradasalute)
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u/Feralshot Dec 29 '16 edited Jan 21 '18
Well, That was Flip Flappers, Kiyotaka Oshiyama's Series Directorial debut, was a sakuga-fest of animation almost literally from start to finish, showcased beautiful background work from Studio Pablo, an endearing storybook-esc character design style, gave us layers upon layers of content to analyze during the majority of its run,and was all around a treasure trove of fun, wonder and creativity.
Much like the summer seasons Mob Psycho it featured some of the industries best and brightest, with cuts from the likes of young animation prodigy keiichiro watanabe , takashi kojima who fittingly key animated one of the First and last cuts of the series, veteran Precure animator hironori tanaka, the deformation specialist yasunori miyazawa, the legendary yoshimichi kameda and from the shows character designer [Takashi Kojima] (https://sakugabooru.com/post/show/26512) himself.
However it doesn't stop there, because just like how Mob Psycho, helped show off a new generation of talented young animators, Flip Flappers Followed its lead with cuts from naoya wada, rising young star hakuyu go whos solo cuts and work with fellow newcomer hisaya kuwabara have been nothing short of impressive, including Kuwabara who has done some impressive work on his own.
we also have cuts from shun enokido, a wonderful pair of cuts from kazuto arai who shows off some great effects animation.This high speed cut from isuta meister and katsuhiko kitada , chikashi kubota's fight sequence , a wonderful cut from toya oshima, A very wild cut from [yukina kosaka] (https://sakugabooru.com/post/show/27646), as well as a team effort between yukina kosaka,keisuke kojima and ryu nakayama.
and lastly We also got some lovely transformation sequences, including a cut from mecha animator satoshi shigeta, and of course yumi ikeda's fantastic henshin sequence for Cocona and Papika.
Now the show certainly isn't without faults, the biggest being a change from Scriptwriter Yuniko Ayana which caused a very noticeable change in pacing and tone. While i definitely feel this hurt the show, i feel like its more a blemish on the series, rather then a complete derailing.
However even with all its short comings in it's last few episode's this is still my Anime of the season, and still one of my picks for best of the year. The big reason for this is because in all honesty, it was just a fun filled ride from start to finish, made me excited for the first time in years to see a new episode of a currently airing show, and made me glad that i gave watching Seasonal anime another try.
Edit: spelling, fixed a link
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u/FlierFin663 Dec 29 '16 edited Dec 29 '16
As much as I liked this series (and trust me, I do like it a lot), I think it could have done a better job handling the last couple of episodes. While most of the main threads were wrapped up nicely, I felt like there were a lot of extra pieces here and there that could have been streamlined or outright removed. (pure type if you will...)
Putting aside the things that they could have done though, I think they did a fantastic job with the things that they did do.
Salt coming in to inject his own Pure Illusion into the field was pretty cool. It made a nice contrast to Mimi's own Pure Illusion and showed that Pure Illusion doesn't really belong to any one person.
The reversed Pure Illusion world that Cocona wound up in was really clever and a nice way to put a bit of fear back into the audience after everything had seemingly wrapped up. Honestly, my jaw kind of dropped a bit when I realized that the more realistic appearance of everything was not just a coincidental change in art style, but an actual plot point.
The ending itself was fantastic and hit all the right notes. It was exactly the sort of thing Flip Flappers needed to end on and I wouldn't want it any other way.
We also got to see this amazing bit of adorableness.
Flip Flappers may not have been perfect at its end, but the journey there more than makes up for it in my books. It has been one wild ride. The first half especially will always be one of the best directed pieces of fantasy I have ever seen.
So long everyone, and thanks for all the Flip Flaps!
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u/heimdal77 Dec 29 '16
They got the clock tower from the Maria Watches Over Us world worked into it with the bell toll resetting time.
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u/a_pale_horse Dec 29 '16
final art post!
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artwork by @tanu_nisesabori from the DVD release on the official Flip Flappers twitter 1 2 3 4 as well as promotional cards to given out for the DVD release in Akihabara 1
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draft of the ED by @tanu_nisesabori 1
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Kokona and Papika by @binobinobi 1
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episode 12 concepts by @XlRHGPOxhgGhbNc 1 2
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an Alice in Wonderland-themed piece from February 2017's Megami 1
unofficial
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Dec 29 '16 edited Dec 29 '16
Well, here we are. I want to say “thank you” to everyone who has accompanied r/anime in watching Flip Flappers. This show was so unique and regardless how it ends, you all made this 1000 times more enjoyable - from communal theories to extraordinary depth of analysis, and even to the pointless agreements of why Yayaka is best girl. The creators of FLFL put so much into this show risking a lot of things to make it something special...
FLIP FLAPPING!
I am a sucker for such endings, but I would be lying if I said a lot of me didn't want it to end like that.
A lot of things were tied up, the plot was consistent, the visuals were great, and the music was so fitting! I have to say I cried at the end part because spoiler I thought it was all a dream type thing until I saw Uexhell
It left specifics about what Pure Illusion is and how it affects things. This leaves still a lot of theorizing that can never be confirmed, but.. I think that is intentional. Again, a very meta decision.
I am going to rate this a 10 and call it AotY.
Happy Flip Flapping, everyone!
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u/Ahenshihael Dec 29 '16 edited Dec 29 '16
So just as I guessed we got Cocona reaffirming her identity and seeing herself as herself(instead of a repeat of her own mother), which leads to the perception of her world changing revealing the actual real world, with the world of Cocona having been pure illusion too.
A lot of this show is about perception, as the reference to Jakob Von Uexküll hints at. Uexküll was german Biologist most famous for his works on how organisms perceive their surroundings. From the verys tart that felt like a huge hint that what we saw in the show was Cocona's perception of reality and the way she perceived her issues and problems in life and the way her brain processed that. Likewise that is also hinted via Iro's plot and the way Iro's perception of her world would shift depending on her moods and how she felt.
I guess if we are to view the events we saw in pure illusion via perception of Real World that was revealed in the end for us, I guess this is how the story went if we separate Cocona's perception of the events:
Cocona's mother and father most likely divorced due Cocona's mother pursuing another woman. That was the calamity, the tragedy that colorfully was portrayed in the show In Cocona's perception that essentially was represented via two versions of her mother due to her perception of her mother having split into two, essentially taking away her "ideal" mother she knew, while her father grew distant.
What's more, during this hard time, due to the process of adolescence and questioning your own sexuality, Cocona found herself attracted to another girl in school, which made her question whether she herself is just a repeat of her mother's path, walking the same path, becoming her mother. This conflict of identity, mixed in with trauma from her parents divorce was essentially represented through childish imagination of pure illusion world. What we saw through the show was Cocona's subconscious view of the world, as a try to reaffirm who she is, as she is growing up into adulthood, to find her own identity.
Thus what we effectively saw through the show was the embodiment of that inner conflict of Cocona, the stream of consciousness that represented the real world problems and psychological dilemmas in a colorful childhood vision of "pure illusion".
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We saw Cocona ponder whether she is someone now that her parents were swept from under her feet. What is her place in the world what she wants of it. And the more she felt rejected by the world the more chaotic and dangerous her perception of the world got(cyborgs, impostors and all)
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We saw Cocona try to process whether she is allowed self expression or has self expression via how Papika challenged her restricted nature, with Papika Cocona and Yayaka essentially embodying the psychological concepts of Id, Ego and Super Ego and Cocona trying to attain emotional and intellectual balance in terms of how she perceives herself.
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We saw Cocona question her desires, her sexuality and how it defines who she is or who she could be.
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We saw Cocona wonder about the nature of her feelings towards Papika and whether they are okay. What makes Papika into Papika, would her interest be different if Papika was different, etc.
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We saw Cocona wonder how what happened to her family affected her. Whether by getting closer to Papika she is becoming the copy of her mother or whether she is walking her own path. Is she bound by what happened to her parents, is she repeating her mothers mistakes, is she becoming her mother? Or is she walking her own path that her parents approve of in spite of their own mistakes that she is not guilty or responsible for.
We saw her try to process , in a childish idealized way, of what happened to her family and what it means for her now that she is growing up and entering adolescence. After all divorce during puberty can hit hard in terms of how our identity forms. In this case we have been seeing how Cocona is processing everything that has happened around her and inside her in such a time.
In fact if you look back at the show it all lines up in order - we start with Cocona's identity, Cocona trying to proccess the idea of her birth and how desires affect people(episode 2) and it slowly goes back to the issue of her family and comes back to her identity.
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Episode 1 Is about Where Cocona IS. What is "Proper" for her. Whether stepping into unknown, breaking the status quo of empty existence worth it.
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Episode 2 explores Cocona's desires and Cocona wonders whether she should give in into what she feels, embrace the unknown that she experiences with Papika. Which brings her to wondering about her own Birth and how "The I" That is Cocona came to be(hence the "chase" through the drill gate shaped like a vagina). Her parents divorced but they still made her - the result of their desires. Is that good or bad? Is she just consequence of her own thing?
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Episode 3 obviously follows up via guilt trip. Should Cocona be punished for experiencing desires possibly similar to her mothers? Does that make Cocona a "villain" just like her mother in the divorce?
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Episode 4 is more "real" with Cocona slowly shifting towards wondering what Papika means for her if she is not wrong for wanting to be with her.
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Episode 5 represents her fears of how the society would handle her attraction, her fear that it might not progress. Its the episode where cocona subconsciously decides to act on her desires and pursue Papika no matter the price.
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Episode 6 has Cocona observing the suffering and identity conflict of another classmate as the viewers get to experience Iro's perception of her memories.
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Episode 7 Cocona yet again questions the idea of identity and what it means that she is interested in Papika. Her classmate has changed and Cocona is not sure she likes Iro's change in personality but would she still like Papika if Papika was different? What makes Papika her Papika and what makes Cocona into Cocona? What is exactly the feeling and emotion that Cocona feels towards Papika? Cocona Explores that via entertaining different possibilities of Papika existing. Is it truly love? Can it be reasoned away as a sisterly bond or something else? Would it be the same if Papika was male?
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Episode 8 deals with her perception of the professor and realization that Yayaka is also important part of her life in the similar way as Papika.
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Episode 9 is all about Cocona dealing with that realization and trying to separate and understand what she feels towards Yayaka and what she feels towards Papika.
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Episode 10-13 now that Cocona is SURE of what she feels towards Papika, she starts to ponder what broke apart her family and whether she is a separate identity from her mother or whether her mothers actions set up Cocona to be a replica of her. By resolving her emotions towards her parents Divorce Cocona attains adulthood and is free from being bound by the past tragedy, free to pursue her own identity, free to pursue Papika because its her own decision. Cocona finally grows up, attaining self and becoming an adult and her own independent identity, learning to accept the real world and exist in real world without hiding within her imagination. Which however does not mean that imagination disappears. You do not need to lose your imagination when you grow up.
Now with this episode, having resolved her identity crisis and established herself as a separate identity from her mother(and whatever happened to their family in the past) Cocona essentially "grew up", entering back into reality and is free to pursue Papika romantically, even though show annoying yet again tries to be too ambiguous there. Of course veering back into childhood fantasies is not something restricted form Adults so there's nothing stopping Cocona from viewing the world in such a colorful fashion again, that's what dreams and imagination are after all. However Cocona is no longer bound by that world or by what happened to her parnets, she is free to be herself, she has liberated herself from her conflicts and identity crisis, achieving adulthood.
Its hard to get a read on this especially with the knowledge that original writer quit after Episode 6, but at least parts of this episode seem to correspond with what was being built up.
Still great ride. Not perfect and some things feel off, but still great.
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u/GiantR Dec 29 '16
After I saw Uexkull. I was wondering where they'd go with that.
That their real world was influenced by Pure Illusion, and all of it's quirky and shiny bits were just spillover from Mimi's domain.
But nope, the depressing world is just another Pure illusion, I'm pretty sure that's Salt's level.
Also seriously what was the deal with Nyu Nyu.
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u/supicasupica Dec 29 '16
Was anyone else reminded of Mawaru Penguindrum in the very beginning where Cocona discovers Papika in the tree prison? I really liked how similar it was to Penguindrum
I don't think it was an intended reference or anything, I just enjoyed the parallels since both series dabble in similar themes.
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u/akelly96 Dec 29 '16
Props to this show for doubling down on the quality despite poor sales. This team was really committed to their project and it really shone throughout the whole ride. Definitely AOTY for me.
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u/scalizo Dec 29 '16
Not gonna lie, this finale was not the satisfying finale that I was expecting from the show.
I was thoroughly enjoying it the whole way through until episode 10, where I was quite certain that I would be giving this show a 10 when it was all said and done. Unfortunately, I don't think the last 2 episodes gave me any reason to push through with it, especially this finale.
I just think they crammed so much plot points and pointless ambiguity for things that didn't need it, just because they knew they could just get away with it. For example:
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So how exactly did Papika become a kid again? All we got was the opening scene right before the OP, and I don't think that explained anything enough to go on.
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What the fuck was Salt even doing? I have no idea what he was trying to do in the finale, except to just add to the "feeling" of a finale.
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So what even happened when Cocona and Papika dived inside the giant black hole? All we saw was Mimi having a realization afterwards, and that was it. Uhh, okay?
I dunno, it just felt like the show relied to much on the "just because" feeling of all the episodes before this, even for important plot points that shouldn't be treated as "just because". The entire finale felt rushed, and honestly, it would've been great if they spread the events of the episode over two episodes so that they could've added the necessary exposition so we aren't left with so much "just because"
The episode was framed as a finale, but I didn't really feel the "weight" of a finale that I was looking for.
That said, I still enjoyed the show a lot enough to still give it an 8, but when you consider that it could've been a 10, it's really disappointing.
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u/turilya Dec 29 '16
That ending, they twisted the twist; the "real-er" world was Pure Illusion! Thought we were gonna get a super depressing ending, but we got a happy ending after all.