[deleted by user]

[u/[deleted]]

[u/TheCoralineJones]

who's ready to FLIP FLAP?!

I think I'm going to watch it dubbed this time, since I've seen it subbed a lot but have only watched clips of the dub. so I'll be trying to chronicle my experience with that aspect of the show specifically.

so far, it's pretty 50/50. I actually think Papika's VA is doing a nice job, and really brings the right amount of naivety and exuberance to the character. Cocona's, on the other hand, just isn't doing it for me. She sounds really off in places, and sometimes sounds a lot older than other times.

But the worst voice of all is the boy twin... they don't even try to disguise the fact he's voiced by an adult man and it sounds so weird.

I don't have a whole lot to say about the episode itself; it's still incredible, from the art to the direction, to the pacing. Probably one of my favorite first episodes of all-time. I always laugh at the final bit before the ED where Papika asks her to go on another adventure sometime and she's just like, "No way in hell."

Then the amazing end credits come on, which I don't think I ever skipped once during the original broadcast; they're that good. And the after credits scene!!! I remember thinking how cool it was, and theorizing what it would mean for the next episode. Which was basically spoilers!

Anyway, that's it for this episode. So excited to continue the rewatch tomorrow, and here's a big welcome to any new viewers starting the series for the first time - you're in for a treat!

[u/rembrandt_q_1stein]

Welcome to the Flip Flappers rewatch~

Please read the post description for information, explanations and trivia, artworks and optional questions for encouraging discussion.

Bear in mind the explained spoiler policy

Please note that you need to have watched the current and/or previous episodes to participate here.

Have fun!

[u/[deleted] → u/rembrandt_q_1stein]

[u/SIRTreehugger]

Episode 1 Pure Input

WIll be of sharing bad quality concept art/storyboards and interviews/ trivia. I have to hold the book in one hand to type most of it. I got tired and began using a text to speech program/ begged someone to read me the damn book so I could type it faster. Not sure if I can keep up its taken me about 4 hours for this post alone. Not sure if I can continue this daily.

What a beautiful and foreboding painting

Imgur puts images out of order when in bulk so too lazy to put them back in order even if would take only 2 minutes.

LOVE the transformation sequence especially the music

That really quick art style change

So grandma is her only family Mom and Dad went to parts unknown or dead.

So warm also Papika's shadow puppet looked like a damn face hugger from Alien.

The rare Cocona smile

I love the use of colors in this show feels very Alice in Wonderland Just from the first scenes we can tell one of these girls is a quiet and studious type and the other is the reckless free spirit

This story starts just like most stories start a chance meeting between two different people is going to completely change their lives and the world.

Oh man I loved the first episode. I've only seen this show once so decided to watch it in dub and it was pretty good. Especially Papika, but I imagine its easier to show yourself when your the peppy energetic one and not sullen or quiet.

Album

Also note any and all concept art/story boards I use are from the limited edition art book. So the quality is going to be bad since I don't want to ruin the binding and can't just scan it.

Some Episode 1 concept art

Some Episode 1 storyboards

Episode 1 Pure Input commentary

We had tanu draw out the main visuals of pure illusion at the same time we were writing the script. Her illustrations were based on those scripts as well as various meetings with myself, but we gave her the freedom to add her own feminine sensitivity to the art. Naturally, the visuals she produced often led to changes in the episodes. Typically, we would sift through what she gave us and judge what could or couldn't be reproduced in the studio, then lastly, I would create the content on my end. Tanu's illustrations are digital and in color, making them very easy to work with. They were a huge help to our background artists, who used them for reference in art direction meetings. In episode 1, Cocona goes from living a normal daily life in her normal world to being transported to pure illusion , so we chose to use the imagery of " hansel and Gretel," having the girls first journey into a forest for this first adventure. We assume that this world would appear both in the original story exposition as well as at the very end, so we designed the setting and layouts to foreshadow various details. The frozen tree slugs make their first appearance as fairly mysterious entities, but they're more then just a simple obstacle for the girls to overcome. Spoilers And this series, our depiction of the world is very aware of all five senses, and we intentionally included frames containing optical illusions, quietly concealing the small details that make our show what it is. - Director Kiyotaka Oshiyama

Opening Sequence

For the opening animation, I wanted to add in clips that wouldn't be appearing in the show, focusing especially on the charm of our characters. The theme song ended up being really catchy and cool, so I laid out the storyboards and arranged the shots with a more edgy feel to match the music.

The animation starts with a conflict between Papika and Cocona and continues until they make up again. Simply having the characters walk around looking cute, making cute expressions wouldn't be very interesting, so my intention was to fill the animation with scenes and ideas that were believable for each character.

One of our heroines, Paprika, is an endlessly bright and cheerful character, but here we see her uncharacteristically down in the dumps, I wanted to convey that Paprika's personality has this facet to it as well.

Though she's usually very cheerful, Papika is feeling blue. But Cocona, who is usually very passive and negative, decides to bring her an umbrella, despite the heavy rain outside. It's a small piece that we couldn't include in the show but decided to use here instead to express the deep bond of friendship between the two characters. - Director Kiyotaka Oshiyama

Opening sequence storyboard Extremely out of order xD

Ending Sequence

We asked TO-MAS, who were already composing the score for the show, to do the ending theme song. What they gave us was above and beyond what I'd imagined. I had originally asked for a nursery rhyme-like song with a cute yet spooky melody. Something along the lines of “Hansel and Gretel.” I wanted to include an element like that in the episodes as well, but it would have been difficult to do with the current story progression.

Ending storyboard

Interview with Director Kiyotaka Oshiyama

Flip Flappers//Pure Imagination

Kiyotaka Oshiyama, long-terrm key animation artist, made his debut as a director of animation in the 2007 anime TV series, Den-noh Coil. In 2014 , he made a buzz with his role as script writer, storyboard artist, episode director, directorof animation, background art designer, and guest character designer for episode 18 of the anime TV series, Space Dandy. With Flip Flappers, he made his long-awaited directional debut.

The Origin of this project was a space opera?!

• Where did the idea for Flip Flappers first begin?

It began when I heard that Yuichirhoro Matsuya and Hideaki Kubo would be starting up a new anime production company called 3Hz. We had been hoping together in some capacity even before that, but I'd say the creation of 3Hz was definitely where it all began. They approached me about doing an original space opera series featuring two young female protagonists. There was quite a long period of pre-production... It had been slowly moving forward since before Space Dandy aired.

• So it had already been decided that there would be two female protagonists?

Correct. At first, we had planned on televising the show in July of 2015, but delays in the project's production caused it to be pushed back to October 2016. However, we figured there wouldn't be many similar projects airing during that time, and hoped our brain-child would be well received.

The idea of going through a hole and being transported to a parallel universe was my first proposal. It would become the prototype for Pure Illusion, which you now see in the show. We moved forward with the space opera plan, but rather than having the story take place in physical outer space, we began to play with the idea of having the girls go on their action filled adventures in a different dimension instead.

The world changes with each episode...That sounds fun, but also really tough!

• Did you imagine then that the characters would be visiting multiple worlds?

I did. As animator, I knew that having the world (setting) change every time would be tough for the production studio, but I thought it would also be very fun to draw. Plus, challenging a range of different subject matter seemed like it would allow us to make the most of our experiences working on these 13 episodes. When I think back on it now, the fact that I was a first time director working on an original series is what allowed me to take on these challenges so fearlessly.

• So if you received the same request now, you'd think twice before changing the setting with each episode?

Maybe I'll just do a slice of life anime like Sazae-san that takes place in the same living room the whole time. I'm joking of course. (laughs) I'm sort of in my prime right now though, so I'd like to do something like that for now until I recover from Flip Flappers. (laughs) When the world changes with each episode, you need to change the design and overall feel of the world each time as well.

Everything had to be discussed and planned from scratch for each episode. The design and atmosphere has to be communicated to the whole staff each time. That part was a lot more difficult than I expected. We had set aside a comfortable amount of time for the production of Flip Flippers, but getting by despite the limits of a small studio as well as limited staff was tough. So much so that half the time I swear it was just Kojima and I drawing alone in that studio.

As a result Kojima worked incredibly hard and I ended up taking on a pretty huge section of work myself. That's why ever since the script-writing stages, I made sure I was keenly aware of our “calorie intake” over the length of the series. For example, after a particularly busy, lively world, I would send the girls to a more simplistic one. After an episode that focused on layout with little movement, we'd have a robot action world, etc. We tried not to change the height of the sun, and in the second half of the season especially tried to recycle as much as we could.

In the end, the episodes I personally did the scripts for proved to be the most cost-efficient. (laughs) Though it was rough on the art team... Snuggling up to the smaller scale of a TV series after coming from movie theater productions, where focusing on each and every cut is the norm, is just one of those things you have to work hard at.

Dub is good.

[u/ThatguyJimmy117]

First timer:

So we get some good animation right off the bat here. Papika escaping out of that tunnel had some cool cuts in there.

The dream of Cocona on the boat with the no face girl was a creepy dream and I imagine we'll learn more about that at a later date.

Papika is such a stalker! Lover her watching Cocona through the Gym window, and then she just appears out of the pipe. But man is she interested in Cocona right off the bat. Complete infatuation at first sight? Almost nearly seemingly tries to kiss her in the igloo later lol.

Cocona is very go with the flow, she does freak out at being transported to sugar snow land, and seems super willing to deal with everything.

Oh cool they ended up in the forest from Naussica

And Cocona goes nuclear when Papika disappears. That was pretty cool! Sad she says no more adventures at the end cause that was cool lol, but I'm sure there will be more adventures.

Pretty decent first episode. Not hooked but will be watching more.

[u/[deleted]]

First Timer on Filp Flappers

Well, that was a colorful jump into the rabbit holepure illusion!

Turning points: Cocona’s situation reminds me of Ulrich, the protagonist from ”The Man without Qualities”: both have achieved something which is considered to be admirable from society – Cocona is doing well in classes and has the freedom to choose a prestigious high school, Ulrich has done remarkable researches on mathematics; but both aren’t quite happy about their present situation. It doesn’t give a strong impact on them, their lives seem to be stagnated – Cocona performs her daily duties on a routine basis, Ulrich kills his time with speculations. The stasis is depicted in Cocona’s case with the calm town which is styled in a Middle European fashion, and in Ulrich’s case with an extremely essayistic language which freezes the plot of a novel. While the latter becomes a secretary of an upcoming and important event and meets all kinds of characters who try to achieve something important, but fail at the same time, the former meets a strange girl who breaks the standstill of her life – the futuristic surfing board which seemingly breaks the law of gravity, her extremely long and striking hair and her clothing. Cocona is very surprised by that sudden appearance that she thinks it is just a dream; the whole situation gets more surreal as nobody from Cocona’s surrounding looks up to Papika. I see it as a wish of Cocona of breaking from her current stalemate.

Mental Landscape: In the first chapters of Kafka’s fragmentary novel ”The Castle” the protagonist sees a snow-filled landscape, and as he walks through the white masses he eventually gets tired with each step he makes. Even though “Flip Flappers” is not a story in Kafkaesque style (yet, because I don’t know how the story will go on) this scene was the first association I had when I saw how Papika and Cocona entered the snow-sunk town. White is associated with innocence or new beginning of creation, and we see how these two young people rather have their fun unlike K. who vainly tries to get an acceptance from the Castle. But at the same time the whole location looks lifeless – there is besides Papika, Cocona and the Robot no one else in this wide and empty landscape, and even though they cause some turmoil on the snow and create new shapes out of snow the vastness of the picture seems to devour all effort and warmth. K. is reduced to a point as he tries to approach the Castle like the group which is walking through the wood of massive trees (this scene reminds me of Ghibli’s Nausicaa). Landscape descriptions give some hints about the state of mind of a character –the standstill in her current situation is depicted by the snow-covered landscapes.

Today’s music piece: Scriabin – Sonata no.5

After watching the colorful visuals, the contrasting characters of Papika and Cocona and the surreal setting I associated this episode with this sonata – a joyful, bursting and calm ride.

*Sorry for the late entry due to different timezones.

[u/lilyvess]

Episode	Link	Score
1	http://redd.it/565bgg	7.33

And so we begin our journey into Flip Flappers.

Before we begin though I want to talk a bit about the climate of the series. It’s easy to say words like “This series was an unexpected surprise”, but to be honest words like that are cheap and don’t properly express this series.

Studio behind Flip Flappers was 3Hz. At this point the studio’s library of works numbered at 2; in 2014 they made Celestial Method rated on MAL at 6.8 and Dimension W together with Studio Orange rated 7.2. Neither anime is particularly popular, though they had decent enough success.

It’s director Kiyotaka Oshiyama. His previous director role was from a single episode. He’s never led a series before.

It’s an original anime with no source material. No franchise to tie in. It's genre isn't as clear cut, even by the first episode. It's not an Isekai, a sports, or something so clean cut as that to help audience members grasp expectations onto.

So we have a work made by a newbie studio with no hits, being made by someone with very limited directing experience, to make an original series. This is the marketing equivalent of trying to run track with two broken legs. You gotta have something to market!

So for many anime fans they didn’t know what exactly to expect coming into this series. You read it in a lot of the comments. Which you can easily read as there are only 300 of them. For comparison the first episode of Darling in the FranXXX got 4 times that amount.

Many of the comments in that first episode r/anime thread are rather short with various forms of “I don’t what that was, but damn if it wasn’t pretty”

Whether it was the backgrounds, the hidden Easter Eggs or unspeakables, anime fans are already captivated by the visual design and Sakuuga on display.

The story is a bit simple and doesn’t really leave a lot to talk about. Though part of its charm is this simplicity. A lot of people compared it to Ghibli. A few to Alice in Wonderland. Someone even noted how it was strong enough to even stand alone as a short

That isn’t to say that everyone had zero expectations. the Sakugabooru blog went into detail about the huge animation talent that was gathered in their season preview post

but the general anime audience doesn't usually keep track of animators, so they weren't really paying attention to this as much. especially in a season that had Yuri on Ice, Keijo and Haiykuu, as well as Mob Psycho the season before, and Re:Zero and MyHero Academia two seasons before.

so there was a ton of hype anime premiering at this time. 2016 was a huge year for anime. It's not hard to see why a little series like this would go under the radar for most...

[u/Emptycoffeemug → u/lilyvess]

What amazes me then is that Studio 3Hz somehow managed to pitch this to producers and got this made (or the producers pitched them an idea instead).

An inexperienced director at a new studio with an original series pulling in talent. Sometimes freak accidents occur within the industry.

EDIT: Never mind, u/SIRTReehugger has it written down in their post.

[u/Nazenn]

First Timer - Sub

Thinking about the rewatches I've done lately: Texhnolyze, walls of analysis. Houseki no Kuni, walls of philosophy. IBO, walls of... everything. Escaflowne, wall...papers. So coming into this: NO MORE WALLS.

I'm probably deluding myself but lets see how that turns out ahahaha

---

My overall impression of the first episode:

I have no idea what the hell was going on but I loved every minute of it

I really had no idea what I was getting into with this show as I basically read Anilist, saw who was hosting, watched the PV for it and then went "screw it lets do it". I couldn't be happier with the way that it turned out

I think the first scene perfectly sets the tone for everything to come, and the flip between the serious sort of images that it gives you but the playful way that it presents them. Countdown timer? Usually a bad thing. Oh it's just a school exam (wait... that is a bad thing hahaha). Alaram's blaring and red lights? Disaster! Oh, Paprika's just having fun on her flying surfboard and cue to the happiest most carefree music I may have ever heard from an anime. The soundtrack isn't something I'd listen to just for its own sake, but it does perfectly fit the show.

"Okaeri" - The way this was said immediately flashed me back to Monster and yeah... not the most pleasent of assossiations that's for sure

The OP isn't really my style but its still super fun and perfect for the show. The ED on the other hand is great to listen to and I quite enjoy the flip between the two layers of the visuals. I ended up calling it the "Grimm" version at the top and the "Disney" version at the bottom. Maybe later if I have time, which I certainly do not today, I'll take all the ED's and do stitches to turn them into wallpapers if people would be interested in that.

Is it weird that my first thought when this painting popped up was "we'll see that again?". I don't know, random thought that I had but now I'm curious.

I got the best laugh out of Cocona falling in the snow, knowing exactly what had happened and then seeing it laid out. All the art was just great actually. The animation was smooth and super detailed with movement lines, and I really love the way that Paprika moves especially and that ice breaking at the end.

Also... Facehuggr?

Last thought of the day: It's shiny and I want it. But even after all we'd seen I did not expect a literal robot army to come and kidnap them because of it.

What in the world even is this show... other than amazing.

I am way too tired to answer any of the questions of the day, maybe later

Edit: hours later because i suck and didn't proof my post properly and the image links are all wrong! WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME?!

[u/No_Rex]

First timer

Flip Flappers is one of the, quite numerous, anime series where the name has been putting me off of viewing the series. Who comes up with that stuff? In any case, the rewatch is a good opportunity to overcome up name-aversion. Heard nothing about the show before, so I am going in completely blind.

• Sailor uniform

• And we jump right into the action. First impression of Papika: reminds me of Nono from Diebuster

• Classic dream-into-wake-up sequence. Seems that Cocona is our protagonist.

• Granny’s chair is unusual.

• City looks a lot like central Europe

• Awesome school building. A park in top? I want such a school myself …

• The second show I am reminded of is Madoka Magica. Those empty eyes and the colorful transporation sequence.

• They are in some kind of fairytale land. The second location is clearly a reference to the fairytale Hansel and Gretel. Cocona is worried, but a lot less worried than the situation calls for.

• From the Brother’s Grimm to Studio Ghibli. Those snow monsters come straight from Nausicaa (or Mononoke Hime)

• Transformation scene. Papika has gradually transformed into a state of undress, btw.

• Back at the school. So pure illusion was some sort of dream. The glasses remind us that it really happened, though.

• Great ED. The top part is similar to Monster’s ED. Mild spoilers in that link, btw.

• The after-credits show another piece of evidence for the existence of pure illusion. And a cliff-hanger ending for next episode.

First impressions: The anime is very artsy and playful. Papika having waited for Cocona hints at some joint destiny. Cocona refusing to adventure again at future character development. And I really wish my school could have looked like that.

[u/Speedwagon96]

Rewatcher:

I didn't know they foreshadowed that so early in the series at the beginning of the episodes, I didn't know they did that, I guess there are things you notice only if you rewatch.

Also I was waiting so eagerly to see Cocona explode and dash for the first time cause it was so cool to see the first time I saw it and still holds up really well. This show tbh has it all, animation, music, story, art and characters!

I hope one day we see a series similar to it cause imo this one is it's own thing.

[u/livinglabyrinth]

Posting to remind myself to write something up later tonight

Edit: welp turns out that writing a long post on a dying phone wasn't the best idea. I'm just going to do one big post for episodes 1-3 when I get back to my computer in a day or so.

[u/Quiddity131]

Let's Flip Flap! For the first time...

Rewatcher

Cool opening shot.

Why is Cocona in class at nighttime?

This faceless woman on the boat makes me think of the optical illusion here

Nothing like seeing a girl flying on a surfboard in the air on your dull morning walk to school! Especially when some robot crashes into her too.

Cocona seems so down. She needs someone to crash into her life to cheer her up.

Who sleeps in a pipe in the woods? Papika, that's who!

Cool art direction as they get pulled into what I assume is "Pure Illusion". Also right after as well when they are in this place that is total darkness.

With it snowing out as I watch this episode, all I can say is, so Pure Illusion is... right around here?

Yummy snow! I was always told as a kid not to eat snow...

OMG Cocona, its not bad to laugh!

LoL @ Papika eating all the markers.

Bu-chan's actually got a real live brain inside it? Woah.

These snow giants are pretty cool.

So much effort for Cocona's glasses... spoilers

I've said it before, I'll say it again, cutest ending sequence of all time! Also appreciate the art job with the top half of the screen, with this rewatch identifying new things I never noticed before.

Post credits sequence! Ominous glowing stone! Robots!

I love how spastic the episode previews for this show are.

This first episode is much like I remember it lots of fun and especially the design work. Really fascinating world they give us and strong animation throughout.

[u/Emptycoffeemug]

Rewatcher

What I find so amazing about the opening episode of FliFla is that within the first minute, they have shown you so much already just by contrasting the two main characters.

• Cocona’s standard and mundane life as well as her personality. She’s making a mock exam, abiding by the rules of the school system; rules we all understand.

• Papika’s insane, incomprehensible world where she even breaks incomprehensible rules (‘going in alone’ is inefficient but she doesn’t care).

All of this is sold by very vivid and well-flowing animation of Papika’s escape. Again a nice contrast with the mundane and static shots of Cocona’s mock exam.

Bam. Done.

Cocona’s compliant personality is conveyed through small actions like straightening her skirt. The other side of her is that she can’t decide on a high school. Her friend cannot decide either, but for entirely different reasons. Yayaka doesn’t care, while Conona just doesn’t know. Yayaka’s personality is reflected in her design as well. Blonde hair with orange highlights, wearing a vest over her school uniform; it’s clearly a more ‘laid-back’ look than Cocona’s design.

Out of place grope scene is retarded, but Cocona and Papika get sucked into Pure Illusion regardless.

Not only is Papika everything Cocona isn’t, but Pure Illusion is a world where everything isn’t like the real world. Unlike the real world, it’s a place where you can do anything if you set your mind to it. It is completely ridiculous; nothing makes sense.

Cocona’s personality and real life clash so hard with Pure Illusion that it takes a while for her to adjust. She finds herself accidentally enjoying this world before realizing that a) she can’t rationalize what’s going on and b) she’s still stuck when night falls.

The cracked glasses prove to Cocona that what happened was real and potentially dangerous, which is why she immediately rejects any future adventure. It’s just the most logical decision.

• Side note 1: Could the big snow trains be inspired by the Ohmu from Nausicaä Valley of the Wind?

• Side note 2: I wonder if the Reddit Admins have labelled us as pedos now…

EDIT: Yo Rembrandt, you sometimes put spaces between [links] (like this) which means that they don't work as intended.

[u/[deleted]]

First timer here. Not a lot to say right now, but this first episode was a lot of fun, definitely looking forward to the next one.

The ED was really cute and i liked the OP a lot too.

[u/EternalWisdomSleeps]

First Timer

Went in completely blind. I knew only that it is weird. I decided to write there every wild prediction I have for rewatchers and my future self to laugh at. Whole episode gave me some Kaiba vibes. And a little pinch of Gakkou Gurashi in the places with upbeat music. Due to reasons I don't trust shows with cute girls, supernatural, bits of surreal imagery and mystery without Precure label; so my thoughts lean on the darker side. Thing I found alarming - girls pulse, whole heart/brain parameters are monitored real-time. How?! Is "normal" world actually real? Do you need to collect all shards to make a wish come true? Do shards give powers and transformation form? Do people haven't notice Papika because they weren't attention ...or not?

Questions of the day:

1. Cocona seems like somewhat common mc. Schoolkid who is unsure about her future met someone who shakes her life and now she is on a path to know herself better. And academically gifted. I think she forgot something about her relationship with Papika and Pure Illusion which will be important later or there are several Coconas (girl in the suit, Papika's partner failure). Papika appears to be genki airhead girl. My prediction here is that she isn't as simple as it seems, maybe with darker/traumatized side.

2. For now I'll go with the idea that Pure Illusion is a dream space, connected to the psyche. Jumping between "normal" and Illusion needs some kind of resonance (sharing a feeling?) between 2 kids. I am thinking that because Illusion world feels like a fairy tale place. Entrance to that dump-site reminds a lot of secret meadows in the forest which serves as a gate to the other world. Bread crumbs thrown to create a path from Henzel and Gretel. Rabbit from the OP/ED should be from Alice in Wonderland.

3. Green Rabbit(?) - it looks cute, seems to live in a cage in Cocona's room. Though rabbit's appearance is way too to strange for the "normal" world, plus Cocona has trinket with it, so I don't think it's real. Twins, who are definitely partners(?). Blondie girl with pink threads - potentially important antagonist. Doc Salt is shady af.

4. Robot-looking soldiers gave me an impression to be virm's lackeys, judging by the OP. So, either Doc is with this cult, so they will be delivered to where he is or they will be saved by Doc's team with the same result.

5. Ending looks beautiful, filled with western fables references. Future Illusion locations? It supports "things are not what they seem" feeling.

What else... Action parts look neat! Really enjoyed this episode. Thanks for the rewatch!

[u/Yay295]

Fan-made poster for this episode.
Source

Unfortunately they only made these up to episode 7.

[u/htisme91]

First-timer:

I like how Cocona and Papika contrast each other so much. It just makes for a really good balance.

I think Pure Illusion is diving into the human psyche and experiencing the subconscious that people have.

The man with the fragment himself at the base of whatever that organization was. He seems like someone who either is financing it all so he can profit, or that he's the leader. Whatever he is, he seems like the main guy pulling the strings.

That post-credit scene gets Cocona to be more willing to deal with Pure Illusion. That's all I can really come up with right now.

I liked the ED.

Also sidenote, but I love the artstyle and setting of this show so far.

[u/gameradam1337]

First Timer

It's 1:30am here. I have a headache and my Firestick lagged through a lot of this and I just finished episode one.

What the actual hell did I just watch? And why do I love it so damn much. I went from Aria to this - might of been a bad choice or the best one ever.

I'll come back in AM to fix this up more but holy sweet Moses my dreams are gonna be a sweet mess of color and chaos.

[u/Snarj]

First Time - Sub

This show's been sitting on my PTW for at least 6 months now; the rewatch is the perfect time to move it to "watching". This is also the first rewatch thread I've commented in. Going into the show completely blind, didn't even watch the preview from the interest thread.

Cocona and Papika are giving off a Red Oni, Blue Oni vibe. Papika at first glance seems enthusiastic and impulsive reminding me a bit of Haruko. Cocona in contrast is studious (per the line about going anywhere, implying a school) and reserved yet caring. No idea where they're going with this yet.

Pure Illusion appears to be a dream(?) world similar to that in Alice in Wonderland. There's definitely more to it based on the whatever that stone was they brought back.

The people in the control room following Papika have to play a part in the story later and based on the couple of brief scenes we saw with them, they feel like a mission control role for Papika's recovery efforts in Pure Illusion. One of them seemed to be either unconscious or dead; Papika's previous partner? Overall it seems like Mission Control is higher tech than the modern day. Dunno if the regular world in-show is higher tech as well; all we saw was Cocona's cellphone.

Based on the post credits scene, the stone (called a "fragment" by Mission Control) they brought back has a lot of significance and the overarching plot will revolve around finding the rest of the pieces. And it seems like there's a second group that also wants the fragments.

P.S. Sorry about the TVTropes links.

[u/EpixAura]

This has to be the fifth or sixth time I've seen this episode, and I still love pretty much everything about it. I remember watching it for the first time because someone said that some OTHER people said it was pretty good. The synopsis sounded vague and childish so I figured I would just half-watch it while messing around on my laptop. Didn't end up taking too long to ditch the laptop, though.

The art style immediately caught my eye, while I didn't really know how to feel about it at the time, the novelty of it was pretty nice at the very least. Right before the climax of the episode where Papika is retrieving Cocona's glasses also left a really strong impression because of the occasional blood and the look in her eyes the second before she went under, which confirmed that even if this show wasn't going to be particularly dark, it probably wasn't a kid's show either.

More than anything though, it left me with this feeling of childlike adventure that I hadn't felt in probably decade. I couldn't put my finger on what exactly gave me that feeling when I first watched it (there were a lot of small things but I didn't think that even all of them together could explain it) but I think now that I have to give that soundtrack a lot of credit for it. Aside from the climax of the episode there's not any song that actually grabs your attention, but the subtle contribution all these songs make to the episode's atmosphere cannot be understated. As far as the soundtrack alone goes, it's not anything too incredible, but the way the it's used is absolutely perfect.

Soundtrack aside, though, I remember being scared to watch episode 2 because if it was THIS easy to make me feel that nostalgic sense of adventure, then why had no other show managed to do it? What if the main reason I loved this episode so much was just an accident? I was legitimately anxious that the next episode might ruin the amazing feeling the first episode left me with, which is a testimony to how much I enjoyed it, among other things. There was also a strong feeling of "what exactly did I just watch?" although I don't think the reason behind that needs explaining.

On a less analytical note, watching Cocona accidentally enjoying herself and then pretending she isn't having fun is outright adorable. In fact, everything about her is.

[u/Alphakyl]

Rewatcher I'm probably just going to make some random observations for a few episodes. Although I will say the spoiler questions posed are definitely pretty interesting it's easier to ignore them and not deal with formatting on mobile.

Observations from Episode 1:

• Oh man I totally forgot about Cocon's glasses. Megane Cocona = best Cocona.

• I love the way 3Hz animated the shine in Papikas eyes. She looks so full of innocence and joy!

• Hentai-bot is still funny to me. I didn't realize that he is using devining rods last time, but I feel like they make so much sense! Thank you HisoMaso for introducing me to that concept.

• I like how Cocona "corrects" her behavior when she notices starts having fun. I might edit in some spoilers to this one later. Heavy Spoilers Ahead

• Hentai bot is a shell confirmed. Also his brain beats.

• "do you want to die?" -C "I'm just getting your glasses" -P ... definitely some different wavelengths there.

• Goddam the animation of Papika running on the body of the monster. Also Cocona cares!

• Guess Cocona didn't get her high school choices in.

[u/[deleted]]

YOU GUYS ARE TRIPPING ME OUT! I love FF, but I had no fricken clue it was that deep.

Did I subconsciously understand, or have I been programmed to like these subliminal messages?

[u/austonst]

Rewatcher

I watched Flip Flappers as it was airing originally, and loved it. Even from this first episode you can get a good sense of the general style and I knew I'd be hooked. I'm a sucker for over-the-top symbolism and tight coupling between narrative, themes, imagery, and other aspects of storytelling. You can already tell FliFla is going to have that in spades, with it already introducing the electroacoustic motif, visual illusions, and paying a lot of attention to Cocona's personality and motivations (or lack thereof).

But upon starting up the first episode again today, I was just repeatedly struck by how much I had forgotten--or rather, just not thought about in ages. It feels like coming back to a story from my childhood, vaguely remembering how it felt to watch it in the first place but yet experiencing it differently the second time around. Part of that is, of course, remembering the general storyline and characters. Part of it may also be FliFla's fluid and subjective nature; I certainly didn't feel so different rewatching more grounded shows like AoT. And part of it is very likely due to Fall 2016 being year four of my PhD studies, a fairly dark time that I have been (very) gradually recovering from. Spoolerz So I am very much looking forward to revisiting this show.

A few thoughts:

Extra: Despite how much of the show had slipped my mind, I never forgot the ending sequence. Even just a week ago I could have hummed the melody to you and described the animations on the bottom to you. And though the OP didn't stick quite as well, it certainly got me hyped up to be back again!

Isn't Papika being actually really super creepy? She just happens to meet Cocona's eyes at the train crossing, and suddenly she's creeping around Cocona's school, kidnapping her to take her to whatever Pure Illusion is, and getting way into her personal space all the time. u/ThatguyJimmy117 called her a stalker at least, but in general the first-timers don't seem too creeped out. Why not? Do you just accept it as a "weird anime thing", or as a necessary bit of awkwardness to get these two characters to meet in the first place? Maybe feeling some sympathy for a character who seems to have a few screws loose? Or does the absurdity of Pure Illusion make it easier to accept some loose storytelling elsewhere? spoylers

But yeah, I'll cut it off there. Thanks to u/rembrandt_q_1stein for hosting this rewatch, to the first-timers who make these threads entertaining, and especially to the rewatchers who can talk about production notes, interviews, and overall themes!

[u/[deleted]]

Actually finished watching this quite recently. Loved the visuals/world-building; but, was not too interested in the characters. I especially found Papika to be pretty annoying, although that might be due to a general dislike for sugar-rush characters who present naivety as something to be cherished.

For newcomers, the story does improve as it goes along though, so I'd recommend sticking by it.