Fooly Cooly smacks you in the face with a bass as quickly as you can say Furi Kuri. Playful, zany and action-packed, the show unfolds as a mysterious Vespa-riding girl bursts into the life of young, 12-year old Noata Nandaba, hitting him in the head and leaving him with a nasty mark in the first few minutes of the show, a foreshadowing of their relationship, awkward circumstances in a sleepy town called Mabase (inexplicably centered around a medical plant qua iron) and the weird oddities to emerge from his head for the next six episodes, each cleverly named and somehow representing challenges Noata must face as he grows up. Funny, careful animation which makes reference to itself, manga, other animes and even South Park drives home the point that this show, as all shows, exists within an environment of creativity, endlessly making references to one another. The show is full of tender moments shared by Noata Nandaba and Haruhara Haruko (Ruhara), the former a boy and the latter a self-proclaimed space police officer (never-verified). Their awkward engagements with Noata’s other suitors, his jealous family members, onlooking classmates and the succession of enemies make up the meandering, zig-zagging plot line of this show. Each episode begins with a struggle Noata is facing, and Haruhara, in her way, always somehow intervenes to help him realize his own inner-potential. Though her efforts are never selfless, as she self-avowedly claims: she seeks the to claim the power of Atomsk, the greatest of space pirates, the one driving all of the recent paranormal activity. And Noata always faces his challenge. Still, it’s never really clear if their love is of its own accord or a vehicle for her search for Atomsk’s power and his search for adulthood, but it’s touching all the same. Several times throughout the show, they share intimate moments when she tells him that he was the first she met, and also the only one with the head to contain Atomsk’s power. Even as each character seems to run from their own truth only to have that truth confront them later in some festered form, the only really self-actualized character is the most peculiar: Haruhara Haruko herself. When told once that selfish, impulsive decisions lead to bad things down the road, she instinctively and regretlessly says: then I will deal with them then. Even as one watches Haruko’s and Noata’s bond strengthen, the last episode’s introduction foretells the ending: Haruhara’s departure. She hints at taking Noata with her, although it’s never clear if she’s serious. But all the same, she leaves just as she came: riding into the sky on the Vespa. Still, she leaves her bass to Noata, who keeps it near his bed, and one of the strings, at the end, is still seen resonating, suggesting her possible, eventual return.
Bearer of Pity 