Nothing much has happened to Flip Flappers this week, which I can really summarize the plot in one sentence: Cocona and Papika live together for a while and they spend their time getting foods and taking baths and sleeping together. In fact, there’s not much to say in this episode. This is so far Flip Flappers’ most mundane and ordinary episode and frankly compare to the first three episodes it’s a clear step down, but then again you can’t expect a show to hit home runs week after week.
As you probably know me I’m never a big fan of forced plot so forcing the two girls to stay together until they can sync again doesn’t bode well for me. It seems really like a plot excuse to gather them together and worst of all, in this episode all the girls do is just hanging around in search for the plot. Now I never mind the fact that the show keeps us in the dark regarding Flip Flappers world but this is the first time I get the feeling they don’t give us enough info because they have little to say. Usually for an episode that supposed to be a break between two big episodes, they can either fleshing out the world, giving more context to the side characters, or deepening the main characters; unfortunately, this episode achieves none of that. Cocona and Papika’s chemistry just isn’t strong enough to carry the whole episode and as a result the story feel drags at times; there’s no real urgency to the plot and little ‘world-wonder’ like we encountered previous episodes.
In any case, this episode still gives some more insights (albeit very little) to work with. We have an extended dream of Cocona this time that she was in a floating boat with a mysterious woman (a nod to the very well usage of optical illusions) and for now I’m guessing that the mysterious girl is another version of Cocona. To align with her masked persona last week, Cocona might be a girl with many faces, because she doesn’t have any real identity to begin with so she’s easy to be manipulated into other personalities. This series is going to be Cocona’s journey to find her real self. On other notes, I found it rather amusing that Papika seems to un-noticed the art-club unnamed girl again, that made me feel like that art-club girl is some kind of a ghost/ spirit (or mushi if I let myself loose). Cocona gives a bit of context on her lost parents and her wish to meet them again. As of now all I think of is her parents’ death/ disappearance might be a result of one of the Pure Illusion world, so she might actually get to meet them later in the Pure Illusion reality.
At least, the girls were sucked into another Pure Illusion world so I know in next episode we will have a good time. It might sound harsh of me regarding this episode but it is simply because at this point I have a high expectation for Flip Flappers. I get to Flip Flappers expecting to experience something unique and I know the show is capable of delivering that, so spending an episode to see those girls just hanging around and waiting for the plot to kick in is simply not good enough.
No insights? What about how Papika lives by herself in a pipe and has to scrounge for food in the forest?
I wouldn’t call it insight either as I see it more as the show’s quirks. In fact, the show still doesn’t give us anything on the life of Papika before meeting Cocona, that made her more of Manic Pixie Dream girl – a character stock who has no real backstory, just appear to be on the main character’s side and assist the MC go through his crisis. On that same note Victor in Yuri on Ice function like one (Manic Pixie Dream Boy!!!!!). The only insight I gather from that section was red fruits burn when you eat them. Maybe red represents Papik…. No, I won’t go there. That’d be reading way too much.
there was definitely some stuff here to unravel through the visual alone. This ep appeared to be mundane, and for the most part it was; however, this ep was once again a good display of visual directing and storytelling. When you look at this episode through the lens of “what happened”, then yea it seems uneventful. This is an episode more about “how things happened” both on an atmospheric and technical level. This was yet another effective episode for me. There is a write-up on anime evo that perfectly encapsulates why this episode works so well. I guess it’s different strokes for different folks with this one