Episode 238: Anime Binge Club: FLCL Episodes 3 & 4

Spencer opens by casually mentioning that Spenpai is stuck in mandatory HR training after some “incidents,” which is a sentence that raises more questions than it answers. Spencer soldiers on with Kevin, and the show kicks off with him describing in visceral, increasingly disturbing detail how he sliced his thumb open while cutting a Costco rotisserie chicken with entirely the wrong knife. Just when you think the medical drama is over, Spencer reveals he then contracted shingles, which he has traced directly to a catastrophically awkward lunch that sent him spiraling for three straight days. He makes a compelling case that social anxiety can, in fact, cause viral flare-ups.

Between doctor’s notes and nerve pain, Spencer has apparently been home watching anime, and boy does he have thoughts. He gives enthusiastic breakdowns of Beastars (anime for furries where a wolf has complicated feelings about a rabbit) and Orb: On the Movements of the Earth (anime where people get executed for looking at stars), before we dig into FLCL episodes three and four. Kevin and Spencer discuss cat ears, school plays, parental affairs, robots that need to use the bathroom, the Eva parallels, and what it all means about being a teenager who suspects adults are frauds. We round things out with a breathless recap of the Arlong Park arc of One Piece, which somehow involves a fish man pulling out his own teeth, a woman stealing everyone’s wallets, and a coward setting someone on fire with rubbing alcohol. It all makes sense, somehow.

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Starring: Spencer Crittenden and Kevin Day
Executive Producer: Kevin Day
Director: Kevin Day
Distributed by: Schrab Home Video