The classic anime series that won the “Best Comedy Series” and “Best Short Series” at the first American Anime Awards show, FLCL is returning for two more seasons. The announcement was made via the Toonami crew’s Tumblr and Facebook page that 12 new episodes of FLCL would be produced in co operation with Production I.G.
The upcoming episodes will be split into two individual seasons which will serve as sequels to the popular series which was broadcast on Adult Swim’s anime block in 2003. The revival will serve as a direct sequel set years after the distinctive sci-fi comedy, which wrapped in Japan back in 2001.
The official synopsis of the series was published by Adult Swim: In the new season of FLCL, many years have passed since Naota and Haruhara Haruko shared their adventure together. Meanwhile, the war between the two entities known as Medical Mechanica and Fraternity rages across the galaxy. Enter Hidomi, a young teenaged girl who believes there is nothing amazing to expect from her average life, until one day when a new teacher named Haruko arrives at her school. Soon enough, Medical Mechanica is attacking her town and Hidomi discovers a secret within her that could save everyone, a secret that only Haruko can unlock.
But why did Haruko return to Earth? What happened to her Rickenbacker 4001 she left with Naota? And where did the human-type robot ‘Canti’ go?
“The original FLCL is an anime classic and has been a fixture on Adult Swim since we first laid eyes on it,” said Adult Swim On-Air, SVP and creative director, Jason DeMarco. “I’m beyond thrilled to be able to produce a sequel with the original creators, for Toonami, where it belongs.”
Along with the returning characters, staff members from the first season will come back to work on the new episodes, the company said. FLCL series creator Kazuya Tsurumaki will be seen serving as supervisor with director Katsuyuki Motohiro (Psycho-Pass) and character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (Neon Genesis Evangelion). Also joining this season is writer Hideto Iwai (Last Dinner).
Despite only lasting six episodes, Production I.G. and co producer Gainax’s original series quickly developed a cult following and Toonami has since then ran and re-ran FLCL (Fooly Cooly) in English for stateside audiences several times over the past 15 years.
The new seasons of FLCL will air from late 2017 to early 2018 on the Toonami programming block.