Flip Flappers (2016) User Reviews

A surreal Japanese animation

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 12 March 2017]

Cocona is an ordinary, rather quiet middle school girl whose life is changed when she meets Papika, a very outgoing girl who tells Cocona that she has been looking for her. Papika takes her into a tunnel that leads them to a strange world which she says is called 'Pure Illusion'. Here Papika tells her they must find treasures known as 'fragments'… they aren't the only people looking for them. It later emerges that Papika is part of an organisation known as Flip Flap. Later on they meet another girl, named Mimi, who bears a striking resemblance to Cocona.

This is a distinctly surreal series which slightly reminded me of 'FLCL'; perhaps due to the strangeness but also due to the characters. Early on I got hooked but then found myself getting a bit confused; I suspect watching it over a shorter time period would have been better; something that is possible now it has finished airing. The characters are fun and the world of Pure Illusion is delightfully imaginative. The story is nicely wrapped up at the end which should please anybody who isn't keen on loose ends. Overall I'd recommend this to anybody looking for something a little different.

These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.

A creative, colorful, but flawed adventure.

[pjpears · 8/10 · 23 October 2019]

Whats good?

• Its Alice in Wonderland on Drugs - many of the first episodes are self-contained stories set in a different 'reality' of Pure Illusion. This allows the madman director to use some very different styles to tell a standard story, let me illustrate...

• Lead Animator - 'Director, episode 3 needs to show the girls first transformation sequence and adventure, what story shall we tell?'

Director - 'Mad Max meets Dragonball Z'

• Lead Animator - 'Director, episode 5 needs to grow the relationship of the two characters, we could do a dinner episode?'

Director - 'HORROR house'

• Lead Animator - 'Director, its time for the required swimsuit episode 7, shall we do a beach party or a swimming lesson episode?'

Director - 'MECHA'

And so forth. What i'm trying to get across (with some help from Reddit) is that there is a wide range of very creative environments our characters visit and this is one of the strongest elements of the show. Episode 3, 5 and 7 probably being some of the best episodes.

• Colour - The series animation is average, but the use of style and colour elevates it above the standard level. Its jazzy, exciting and the different worlds are done in various different styles, great stuff!

• Yuri - The series explores the relationship of Cocona and Papika quite boldly, while I think it could go further (much further) here its still one of the better series for looking at romantic relationship between the two girls.

• Voice Actors - Universally good for the Japanese voice-over (as you would expect), the English dub is better then some - recommended.

• Opening/Closing - Fantastic intro and fantastic closing song, very visually kinetic songs in any anime

THE BAD

• We've been here before (story) - Around the episode 9 mark the series tries to bring forward the story. It does this with mixed success. The last few episodes are still good - but I would argue quite predictable.

• Characters - Our main two are quite good, Ayaka (the childhood friend) is also well developed. But most of the other characters are undeveloped or one note, a shame.

• Grounding (and rules) - There are elements here which are just confusing, I still don't understand what a 'amorphous' is and the story is very disjointed...why are those guys dressed as KKK members, i just, don't quite get it. The series would have benefited from some strong characters in 'our' real world (in Madoka this is fulfilled by her mother mainly).

• Fan Service - I read numerous reviews being highly critical of this but...i don't really think there is much here? I really didn't see much - although when it does happen its quite uncomfortable due to the girls age

• Music - Other then the excellent credits pieces its a mixed bag.

Conclusion Worth a watch if you like magical girls or really want to watch something while high. This is a colourful, exciting series that could have been something special, instead its just above average but no less enjoyable for it.

It's not perfect, but it's pretty damn fun

[masonfewel · 7/10 · 8 May 2021]

Let's start off with the good.

First of all, I cannot overstate how much I love the visuals. They aren't the most technically impressive anime visuals I've ever seen, but they give off some impressive vibes. If this looked more like a "normal" anime, I definitely would have given it a 6. This show might be worth watching just for those alone. The soundtrack is also pretty good, but it's not special like the visuals are. I liked the characters and the way they interacted as well, even if it got confusing. The fight scenes were a blast as well, and I thoroughly enjoyed all of them. (Also the names of everyone in this show are awesome, they are all super satisfying to say)

Now with the bad. I'm about to say a bunch of stuff I didn't like, but remember overall I really liked this show and I would recommend it.

First, the worldbuilding and explanations sucked. They barely gave any explanations for anything that happened, it all just was kind of happening. If you are going to introduce a world this confusing, the least you could do is explain it! Characters were doing one impossible thing after the next, and they gave like no explanation either. The ending was rushed and ill-explained as well, it felt like they could have benefitted from an extra episode to try and explain how things ended a little better.

Next is character motivations, actions, and relationships. The relationships were all really interesting, but there are tons of flaws. There are wayyyyy too many battles that are solved literally only with the power of friendship (I'm not making that up) and it seems that even characters who don't know anything can still do lots of stuff they shouldn't be able to do. I like how yayaka and Cocona's friendship developed, and I liked how Cocona and papika interacted, but the writers aren't really good at making extremely believable characters.

One thing I had to mention is that there is a single episode that is scarier than anything I've seen in anime so far, and I've seen a lot of anime. I kinda liked the change of pace, even if it did creep me out.

Overall, this is a ton of fun if you can look past a lot of the huge flaws and issues.

Wildly Imaginative and Touching

[arorashadow_2003 · 10/10 · 18 September 2017]

Flip Flappers is an original series than aired in Fall 2016 from Studio 3HZ. Initial impressions I got were mostly a "meh" but then it turned around gave me a surprise and became one my favorites from 2016. Whether through grand design or behind-the-scenes trouble it's a fascinating show to watch from its first half to the second half.

The first half of the show is largely adventure-of-the-week style, with our main characters Cocona and Papika going through to all kinds of unusual and crazy worlds. A remote tropical beach, a haunted version of their school combined with a Groundhog Day loop, a world created through abstract art and even a surreal journey through the psyche of a girl who lost her meaningful connection with someone dear to her heart.

But it doesn't stop there as the girls gain magical powers that allow them to morph into powerful fighters, giving this show some magical girl elements to it. We expect this will be a show where Cocona and Papika will have to embark on "Gotta-catch-em-all" adventure of the week for the show's 12 episode run but in the middle suddenly everything is turned on its head as we reveal the identity of a mysterious girl that we've seen since the start is Cocona's mother, Mimi then ending in a climactic battle of Papika and the choices between mother and daughter.

In regards to the story, I do like the fact we shifted from the episodic structure into the main crux plot but it's odd they chose the last few episodes to do this. Frankly I think this is to be blamed on the short length of the show but what can you do, these days anime is lucky to get out of 12-13 episode range, especially if you are original. While I am satisfied I do think Flip Flappers would have benefited from having 24-26 episodes giving enough breathing room to transition from the episodic structure to the plot but as it stands I don't think it's bad, just a little abrupt.

The show's art and animation is awe inspiring. One of my favorites has to be the fight between Yayaka and Cocona in the dome with the childhood memories flashing and literally being shattered. It's probably a bit blunt but I just appreciate the weight into the visuals here. The ending animation is pretty interesting too, taking on a Hansel and Gretel vibe with its imagery.

The overall art direction has been something unique too. The town is pretty interesting looking, forsaking the usual Japan styles of modern or rural life for a more Euro-centric feel even though it's still a Japanese story to the core, especially with the school uniforms, the use of Japanese honorifics and some interior designs that are more inherently Japanese. Naturally when it comes to Pure Illusion you have all sorts of interesting and dynamic environments to look at. Simple desert, abstract art, futuristic Blade Runner style city, and creepy ghost school with a giant clock tower, etc. The unique art direction and animation style is why my first impressions of the series felt this might be more of a visually driven show with plot and characters taking a back seat so maybe some people are let down by this change when they might have wanted something more akin to FLCL.

The music for Flip Flappers was handled by the group TO-MAS and overall I loved the soundtrack. There's a few really memorable score pieces that stand out but the real star has to be their ending theme, this song is endlessly catchy and entertaining.

Much like Erased, Flip Flappers was a real surprise for me in 2016. Times I thought I might had the show figured out it constantly surprised me. For losing its head writer in the middle of production, it certainly doesn't feel like it adversely affected the production beyond maybe a few unanswered plot threads such as that weird cult. And maybe you could argue the little girl who was brought in to replace Yayaka but I'm more leaning towards she could have been a red herring as I and many others assumed she was probably Mimi turned evil. An original anime is always filled to the brim with potential even if there's no guarantees that it will be amazing it's great to see when that potential can be realized. With Flip Flappers wildly imaginative spirit it's no wonder this made my top list for anime in 2016.

It's a pretty decent colourful anime but I think having it as a film would be much better as well as having better sub actors

[Irishchatter · 7/10 · 21 June 2019]

I really liked this anime but I think having it as a 13 episode just would make it equally good as a film. Also I thought the sub actors just didn't match good with the main characters in my personal opinion. The voices sounded off for me and don't get me wrong, sometimes I think sub is better then dub. In this case, dub was not available in kissanime so I had to go with the sub. However it didn't put me entirely off watching this anime because the wackiness and art that was put into so much hard work, does make the whole thing truly pay off.

If you like Kunihiko Ikuhara's work, then this is totally up your alley!!!