Brittle Bullet
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 "When did you start to change and grow up and everything?" |
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Runners High Sad Sad Kiddie Nightmare Patricia Sleepy Head Advice Blues Drive Monster Little Busters |
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"Brittle Bullet" (ブラブレ Bura Bure?) is the fifth out of six episodes of the anime FLCL.
[edit] Summary
After Haruko rejects Kamon's pervasive advances, she proceeds to strongly come onto Naota, much to his embarrassment as Kamon watches in heated jealousy. They resolve to "duel" for Haruko which amounts to little more than an intense airsoft firefight with Canti as the formidable ally to Kamon, who, for some reason, has elected to dress up as a Nazi officer. As this absurd fight wages on, Lieutenant Kitsurubami takes the opportunity to blow Canti away, though she is thwarted by Haruko.
Mamimi, observing Naota's intimate relationship with Haruko, questions him as to how much Naota really likes her. Though he won't outright admit his feelings for Haruko, he suddenly whisks Mamimi away into town and confronts their own awkward attraction to each other, although she won't allow herself to become fully connected with Naota and is alarmed by his spontaneous actions towards her. Finally, his N.O. portal erupts with one of the largest objects yet while a gunfight rages between Commander Amarao and Haruko.
Unfortunately, the violent nature of the N.O. suddenly sprouts a leviathan robot out of Naota's channel and traps both he and Mamimi high atop the mechanical gun-wielding giant. Mamimi, incredibly frightened by the whole situation, begins chanting the name of Naota's brother to relieve her startled fit while Naota, enraged that Mamimi would call upon the distant Tasuku, screams that he will be the one to save her and bravely fuses with Canti whilst she stares on in disbelief. Despite his and Haruko's best efforts, the robot is unable to be stopped. The N.O. robot slams its way through the city towards the Medical Mechanica plant when Canti manifests the power of Atomsk by producing his EB-0 1961 Gibson guitar, to the bewildered amazement of Commander Amarao, and even Haruko. The guitar sends the robot, which is actually a gargantuan hand, rocketing over the plant and straight into the ground where it becomes a petrified monument, presiding over the plant. Haruko, having caught a glimpse of her ultimate "love", the famed Pirate King Atomsk, hypnotically stares at Canti in admiration while Mamimi, now safely on the ground, sympathizes with the disfigured Naota: "Ouch."
[edit] Trivia
- Kitsurubami yells about the similarity between the kanji for "mackerel" and "blue" in the Japanese version. In translation, this was changed to the differences between "cyborg" and "robot" for the English version.
- A scene in this episode is drawn in an animation style parodying South Park. The decision to do so was made once again by the art team. Much of the Japanese audience, according to the director, was unable to understand the reference; South Park never caught on in Japan due to too many American pop culture references. Later in the same episode Naota pulls on the hood of his sweatshirt very tightly, giving him an appearance similar to that of South Park character Kenny. In episode 3, Miyaji Junko's car has a Kenny key chain in it. In the intiate scene if you look at the reflection, it is similar to that of Mr. Garrison.
- The Daicon IV opening (also produced by Gainax) is spoofed in "Brittle Bullet" as well. Similarities include Haruko dressing in the same attire (a playboy bunny-ish suit with earrings), riding her guitar (as opposed to the Daicon girl riding a sword), and most obvious, entering the scene saying "Daicon V".
- There is a reference to the opening credits of Lupin III, as Naota's dad pounces out of his red suit and into Haruko's bed (who pulls a towel over her chest as a spring-loaded boxing glove flies out and hits him). The manner in which the title of the episode appears is also lifted from the same show. Naota's father also drops the name "Monkey-sensi," referring to the Lupin III creator Monkey Punch. Coincidentally, Lupin III started its run on Adult Swim around the same time as FLCL.
- In the English dub, when Haruko is dressed up as Elvis, she mentions bands and guitarists that would be familiar to Western viewers, including Filter, Slash, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rage Against the Machine, Jimi Hendrix, and Sir Paul McCartney, replacing the original Japanese references. Another reference in said version is Richard Cheese; Naota soon after points out that one of them doesn't fit the list.
- There are numerous innuendos in this episode that are noticeable by freeze-frame action only:
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- Toward the beginning of the episode, Nandaba Kamon walks in on Naota and Haruko kissing (while Haruko's rear-end is clearly shown, since she is only wearing a towel) and his face begins to turn several different shades of color. He finally screams at the top of his lungs, and if the animation is paused, a small demonic / mischievous character can be seen darting around in the back molars of his mouth.
- A small face can be seen inside Kitsurubami's mouth as she screams. This is assumed to be her tongue, but viewers tend to second guess themselves when they realize this "tongue" is also toting guns in its hands just like Kitsurubami is doing. Also, moments before this part when she first screams, if you do slow motion her breast falls out and reveals her nipple (12:31)
- With a smile on her face, Kitsurubami kicks Amarao in the back of the head with her bare foot towards the end of the episode. (19:54)
- During this episode, Kamon and Kitsurubami are seen thrashing about in the river. When this scene is put in slow-motion, it is obvious that Kitsurubami is actually pressing her exposed rear-end against Kamon with apparent pleasure.
- The giant robot is quite heavily armed; each of its five limbs (fingers) has its own hand, which is then provided with an individual (and curiously antique) scaled-up firearm. The little finger and thumb initially utilize a Winchester M1892 lever-action rifle; the thumb is also equipped with a single-action revolver, possibly a Colt Peacemaker. The middle finger is armed with an old model Mauser C96; it does not feature the detachable magazine of the World War II version. The index and ring fingers, normally used as legs for propulsion, are also armed with a Browning M1910 and a nondescript two-barrel derringer, respectively. Due to the robot's colossal size, these firearms are shooting battleship-caliber shells; a discarded shell casing (stamped "MEDICAL MECHANICA") nearly crushes Amaro and Kitsurubami, who are pursuing in a small car (probably a Polish Fiat 126p).
- Near the beginning of the episode, there is a reference to a John Woo film, when Naota and his grandfather are watching a movie you can hear "What are all of these pigeons doing here?" This homages a famous John Woo trademark.[citation needed] If you freeze frame this part you can see multiple pigeons flying out of the television.
- Near the beginning of the episode when Naota and his grandfather are watching TV, Haruko bursts through the wall on her Vespa. Behind her, Kamon can be seen, in the red Lupin III-like shirt, with his pants down and his backside waving in the air (some think that this is a reference to Crayon Shin-chan; the main character, Shinnosuke Nohara is shown in this same pose almost every episode of the show, however both are referencing the opening credits to the second Lupin III T.V. series. The opening credits of this episode are a further homage to this series.
- There is also a reference to Gundam when Amarao's troops come storming out; one of them (the guy on the far right) has the original Gundam's beam rifle. The rifle also appears when they try to pile on Haruko, but only the barrel is visible.
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| Characters - Items and Concepts |
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| Soundtracks |
| Addict - King of Pirates - FLCL No. 3 |
