Search - FLCL, Vol 1

The anime this is based on is brilliant. Unfortunately, the randomness, humor, and frenetic energy that made me love it didn't transfer well to manga form. Perhaps the scratchy, messy, penciled-in style of the art is done purposefully in an effort to capture and emphasize the insanity of Fooly Cooly, but half the time I could barely make out what was happening - granted, that could be the whole point, but I just found it distracting. The story and dialogue didn't flow very well, making it more confusing (yes, it's possible) than the anime, and the jokes felt pretty flat, as did the characters. Overall, I was pretty disappointed by this.

The manga follows the same lines as the anime. The art style is fairly scratchy and rough, somewhat like the American company Slave Labor Graphics' output, which fits the story well.

Plotwise, it's a fairly poignant coming-of-age comedy. It runs to slapstick humor that centers around the stoic protagonist's reactions.