Flip Flappers

Flip Flappers is one of the most bizarre and artsy anime I've seen to date, but while I enjoyed it, I think it tried to do a bit too much for its own good.

Flip Flappers is a magical girl show about Cocona and Papika, two girls who abruptly meet and are tasked by an organization called FlipFlap with exploring these bizarre alternate worlds called Pure Illusion in search of wish-granting gems called Amorphous. Throughout most of the show, Cocona and Papika have to fight for the gems against Cocona's childhood friend Yayaka, who is tasked with getting Amorphous for her own mysterious organization. The first two-thirds of Flip Flappers are mostly episodic with a light overarching storyline in the background. Each episode introduces a unique Pure Illusion world that reveals more about the characters. However, eventually we start to learn that Pure Illusions can rewrite reality and memories, and that opens a whole can of worms, introduces the final antagonist, and reveals that a lot of what we previously thought was true isn't quite the case. I don't quite love the heavily serialized final third as much as the episodic stuff early on, as it can be pretty convoluted and leads to a jarring shift in pacing, but it still brings the characters to a pretty good place once the series ends.

However, while the overarching plot can be a bit convoluted, Flip Flappers is at its best when it's focused on the characters, especially Cocona and Papika. The anime starts with Cocona leading a pretty directionless life. She's scared of change and lacks any ambitions. Meanwhile, Papika is far more excitable and willing to take risks. Even with the lore and world-building, Flip Flappers feels like it's truly about Cocona and Papika's relationship. There are multiple episodes that deal with Cocona's struggle to accept her feelings for Papika, and it's only natural that the climax of the series has them express their love for each other. The Pure Illusions also do a good job of unveiling layers to not just Cocona and Papika but several other characters as well, while also making sure to remain fun and unique with bizarre visuals, genre tributes, and a buttload of symbolism. Flip Flappers is at its most enjoyable when it's a weird episodic character study, and as the overarching plot gets more and more overwhelming, the anime kind of loses a bit of that appeal. 

On a presentation level, Flip Flappers looks absolutely fantastic. The characters move incredibly fluidly, the backgrounds can look great at times, and don't even get me started on the visually striking Pure Illusion worlds. From the colorful and trippy Uexkull world, to Iroha's sepia-toned flashback world, to the detailed and futuristic mecha world, each Pure Illusion looks incredibly distinct. The best-looking thing about Flip Flappers, though, are the fight scenes, which are fluid, exciting, and smear-happy in the best way possible. The visuals aren't perfect, there is a bit too much fanservice at points (most notably the mecha episode), but generally this anime looks fantastic. The voice acting is also pretty great, the music is upbeat and cheery, and the whimsical ending theme quickly became one of my favorites to date.

At its best, Flip Flappers does boast some pretty fantastic episodes:

Pure Echo: Easily one of the most unique episodes in the series, Pure Echo is a love letter to horror films, with a grainy color grading, terrifying antagonists, and jumpscares aplenty. It manages to be eerie while keeping the anime's sense of fun, and reaffirms Cocona's struggle with conformity. It also ends on a killer final battle in a twisted MC Escher-esque clock tower.

Pure Play: This was my favorite episode in the series, managing to work perfectly on both an episodic level and a serialized one. On one hand, it's a heartbreaking self-contained story about minor character Iroha, using color grading to show the stark difference between her abusive home life and her time with the old woman. The reveal that said old woman is facing dementia is heartbreaking, especially with the added context of Iroha's parents. But most shocking of all is the reveal that Papika and Cocona's time in Iroha's Pure Illusion changed reality, as it's not only a big plot shift but a gutsy ending to the episode. Sure they fixed Iroha's childhood, but was it even theirs to fix?

Pure Howling/Audio: These two episodes formed a pretty great finale to the series. Pure Howling has a fun race through all the Pure Illusions we've visited as Yayaka and Papika finally get over their differences, and it ends with Cocona completing her character arc in spectacular fashion. Pure Audio has the big final battle with Mimi with tons of bonkers action and the big confession of both love and honesty I've been waiting for the whole anime.

Overall, while I did really enjoy Flip Flappers, I think it bit off a bit more than it could chew. It worked best in its early episodic episodes, juggling striking visuals with fascinating character work and a strong central relationship. But while the overarching plot got a bit too convoluted, it at least stuck the landing fairly well.

3/5 Stars