The following anime is something…oh it is definitely something alright. It is Flip Flappers.
Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama Science Fiction
Themes: Magical Girl, Parallel Universe, Yuri
Number of episodes: 13
G-Rating: 9/10
Plot Summary: Papika and Cocona hold the keys to open the door. When the two girls meet, their adventures in a different time and different overlapping dimension called “Pure Illusion” begin. Many things in Pure Illusion will stand in the girls’ way on their search for the mysterious crystal fragments that, when all gathered are said to grant any wish. However, when in danger the girls call upon the shards’ power to transform into magical warriors.
The best way I could describe Flip Flappers for a modern day audience would be a hybrid of Space Dandy and Yuri Kuma Arashi. It features SD’s “wild, crazy and random adventures to different worlds, dimensions and realities” style of narration with several references to both Western and Eastern media such as Mad Max: Fury Road, Tron: Legacy and some mecha series I am not familiar with to name a few. The YKA portion of the hybrid comes in the form of several symbolic images, character actions and illusions acting as puzzle pieces for both character development and the main plot. The puzzles range from obvious to complicated with some requiring a bit more research to understand until eventually the main plot unravels and MOST questions are answered while some, again, need researh to fully get or do not exactly have a solid conclusion. Suffice to say the main plot is a most interesting one provided the viewer enjoys the show enough to want to solve the puzzle and watch events unfold There is one more reason I brought YKA but we will discuss that later.
One of the show’s strongest themes is “Identity”. Without giving too much away for one, or possibly several characters, this wild and crazy adventure has the purpose of helping characters find the answers they are looking for about who they are, what they want in life and why they exist. Other themes include belonging, familial ties between older and younger relatives, philosophopical studies of the human mind, psychological exploration and of course the five senses, especially the sense of smell. As readers can tell from the drama tag in the genres section the show may be wild, wacky and zany but when it needs to get serious it does not fool around. Sometimes the seriousness can be straightforwarrd but other times it can get messed up to the max. The show looks colorful on the outside…
Next let us talk about the worlds our heroines visit. Each and every one features a different genre for action, adventure and drama. Every single one presents a different experience. Even the action and fight scenes, where most of them have the heroines and villains transforming, present a different kind of battle. It is not always magical girls vs enemy forces with the outcome or finishing blow being identical. ALL of the adventures, fights and experiences have different outcomes, giving the show an unpredictable feel to it so other than the small hints provided in this review it is best to approach this show as blind as possible for ultimate enjoyment.
It is funny that several anime shows feature female Super Saiyans but the original franchise where Super Saiyans come from has yet to feature one outside of video games as of this writing.
The show’s animation can be best described as paintings come to life. It is a style that is not easy to pull off, let alonne get right but in my opinion Flip Flappers does this quite well and I can only imagine how much fluid the motions, beautiful colors and zaniness will be on Blu-Ray. Simply put the show is a visual spectacle in the Pure Illusion worlds and pleasant to look at in the human world. The soundtrack fits the show perfectly with one of the best OPs of 2016 and a very charming ED. BTW, the ED is both fun to watch and features a narrative puzzle.
As far as the supporting cast go they are as random, zany and wacky as the show itself but of course when the show gets serious they too follow suit, eeven the mad scientist and crazy robot. Oh and there is one character in particular whose name starts with a Y that deserves the nation’s undivided attention.
As for the yuri…without giving anything away I will say that PapiCoco’s romance is one of the deepest and most compelling of 2016. This is not love at first. It goes much further than that, especially for Cocona. Just when you think the show can no longer surprise the viewer it pulls another rabbit out of the hat. Speaking of rabbits Uexkull is one of the most interesting members of the leporidae family I have seen in fiction.
Overall Flip flappers already sounded interesting thanks to its covers and plot summary but what we ended up getting far exceeded expectations. The show is fun, wacky and exciting in Pure Illusion while the Human world has its fair share of surprises. The best way to approach this anime is as uninformed as possible and expect the unexpected each and every episode. Like most things in life not everyone will praise the show as much as I do and that is fine. It is a part of life. However, whether it will blow away viewers or not it is highly recommended to open-minded animeniacs and especially Yuri Nation members. Like Izetta, I predict that Flip Flappers will become a future all-time yuri classic.
The Yuri Empire 
My mind is in a scramble between this finale and Hibike’s and so I cannot adequately form the words of what I want to say on this. I guess I’ll get it out in my own review, but for now, I will just reiterate that Flip Flappers was something very special and will undoubtedly be remembered for a long time as Yuri gold, along with Izetta and possibly others… PapiCoco is everything and Yayaka is bae, like seriously I love her. I can only hope everyone will live on happily together and always stay true to themselves. Flip Flappers has left a major imprint on me and I don’t know if I’ll ever be the same.
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I look forward to your reviews as always.
It will become a yuri classic.
PapiCoco tore the house down.
Yayaka is a lesbian warrior the Nation can be proud of and we all wish her well.
One of 2016’s best shows that’s for sure.
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I was really bummed we didn’t the kiss, but we got the confession! That’s something, right?
Besides, the show does talk quite a lot about sexuality in episode’s 2, 5 and 7 that anybody looking beyond the surface knows that Cocona W A N T S Papika more than most other shows are willing to suggest 😉
The adventuring was wonderful, with gorgeous popping colours. I thought the plot itself was a bit weak though, and made the final few couple of a little weak as they focused so much on them.
Definitely the most yuriyuriyuri show of the year though!
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Considering all that’s happened it makes up for the lack of an on-screen kiss.
I Dunno what it was you were expecting from the main plot.
One of the gayest.
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Flip Flap went far beyond my expectations! Everything was fantastic! I personally love the animation and art style, it is unique and fresh from traditional anime art and animation. The plot was almost always written smoothly and the Pure Illusion worlds were crazy awesome. All of the characters had so much personality to them. Even the characters in Pure Illusion and the characters that were only seen for a little while had lots of personality. And of course, the yuri was great!
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The show gave viewers so very much. It will most definitely go down in history as a yuri classic.
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Another one of the shows this season that I had no real idea about before the start of the season, but which surprised me with the first few episodes (particularly the amazing Episode 3), and then only kept getting better and better each episode. Or at least that’s the feeling I got quite a bit. Though for the final 2 episodes, I no longer felt it got better as such, but maybe that just means it had already gotten as awesome as it could, and could get no more awesome anymore. Partly could also be due to having been tired for the last two weeks or so due to uni period finals and Christmas preparations and an OC contest for another series. So maybe I was just a bit too tired to catch all the references and other hidden details in the final bits.
But, that said, this is definitely at least in my top 2 of the season, if not my #1 (competing with Izetta). Especially episodes 3, 5, 7 and 10 were truly amazing episodes, ones that just left me thinking about nothing else than what just happened in the episode for a few hours afterwards. They were just that good.
And as to the Yuri, a bit sad we didn’t see a kiss, but it’s understandable considering the age the characters are portrayed as. But a confession is wonderful too.
(Though considering what we learned in the last episode, has Papika actually lived through 3 separate lives worth of time (in the PI bit when Cocona and Papika met, Cocona mentioned that Papika had been the Papika we saw with Mimi in the past, then an old woman, then a younger woman again, then a teenager, then a baby, until finally being a teenager again like she appears now. At least, that’s how I understood what she said. Could be wrong. Wouldn’t really surprise me though if Mimi had been messing around with their aging processes in PI to get them to be the same age or something.)
Guess Yayaka ended up alone for now (taking care of Uexkull while Cocona is away I guess). Hopefully she finds happiness eventually. She sure deserves it after all that.
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By episode 10 the show had accomplished all it could and what was left was to wrap things up, which it did quite nicely.
PapiCoco’s love is real and we are all very thankful for that.
Papika’s flashback is puzzling but ultimately the outcome is what matters.
Yayaka will hopefully find her happy ending one day with another girl.
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Papikana was a normal kid who aged normally into an adult. Mimi did that crazy thing, basically hijacking PI(Pure Illusion), and trapping Papika with her. Papika de-aged for whatever reason while imprisoned. My theory is the Mimi that still had kindness left in her did it so Cocona could have Papika as a friend her age.
Anyway, Cocona grows up, and Papika grows up with Cocona till they’re little kids. At this point they form some sort of bond, but at some point they get torn apart and ripped out of PI. Memories are faulty and forgotten, likely because they were all crafted inside of said PI. So, Papika gets found by Salt, and becomes a part of his organization, while Cocona got nabbed by the crazies and put in that hospital where Yayaka meets her.
So, she grew up twice. Not thrice xD
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Supposedly the main theory was that Papikana got trapped in a “limbo” sort of dimension of PI and time was twisted in there so she de-aged both physically and mentally, basically starting over with her old memories being stored away deep in the deepest recessses of her mind…or something like that. As for how Cocona got in there, she is Mimi’s daughter so it’s not implausible for her to have been there for a long time.
As you said though Papika grew up twice, not thrice.
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This was one hell of an emotional ride for me, hit all the right spots to make my GOAT list and i’m already missing it mere hours after the final episode what with our lovebirds PapiCoco continuing their adventures offscreen. It’s kinda sad Yayaka continues the Dreaded Yaya curse like most expected but let’s be honest, it won’t be long till there are other girls falling over themselves to get a piece of the kat, she was just so cool.
Last but not least my favorite funny part of the episode was the near the end of the “episode 1 retread” part Papika quietly staring at Cocona while she’s checking her thigh just made me burst into laughter.
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Lots of fun, intense and emotional moments were had watching this show.
I’m sure Yayaka will find a girl to love one day.
It was a funnier repeat of the first time they met.
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The final episode of Flip Flappers was all about acceptance. Mimi had to accept that her daughter had her own identity and a life without her. Salt had to accept his role in Mimi’s despair. (Instead of trying to go back and undo his mistakes, he embraced them and left the future to Cocona and Papika. Bu-chan had to accept that he was never going to be a badass robot. Yuyu and Toto had to accept that they were much more than the organization made them.
Yayaka had to accept (rather painfully) that Papika was first in Cocona’s heart.
Cocona had to accept herself and her own relationship with Papika. She had to accept all the parts of their relationship, even the parts that make her uncomfortable. (check out episode 7 for the Papika Dating Sim.)
Cocona and Papika area couple. They’ve been together since they were young. No wonder Cocona felt so lost at first. She was missing her Papika. Even though Papika had lost her memories, she immediately sought out Cocona, on instinct alone. The best part was the flashback to when they first met (again). We got to watch them fall in love. It was everything!
It’s not at all ambiguous. Cocona and Papika will continue their rainbow-colored adventures. Together.
Flip Flappers is my Yuri anime of the year AND my anime of the year. Nothing even comes close.
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Well done summing up the finale and how everyone had changed during it.
Poor Yayaka is cursed like all other lesbian Yayas but like the others she will surely find her happy ending one day with another girl who accepts her.
PapiCoco belong together. Their love for one another is undeniable.
Great choice Miss AJ.
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a cute adventure series with strong subtext, definitely a fun ride. I’ve been shipping Cocona x Papika all the way so I’m very glad they got a happy ending.
Poor Yayaka, she should probably change her name then she’d get a girlfriend in no time 😛
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Can’t call it subtext when they made their relationship public.
Being a Yaya is still suffering.
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After digesting the little disappointment of no-kiss, the ending left me in a happy mood – because we had all the mutual lovey-dovey confirmation one could wish for. And the way the two snuggled on the hoverboard at the end was all the intimacy I require to wrap up this emotional rollercoaster of an adventure~
It’s just so much more than a romance story. It’s about coming of age, identity and the subconscious mind; the desires and wants of the ego, the it and the super-ego. It’s an adventure and an analysis. It’s a colorful past-time and an in-depth psychological dissertation. …and I loved it!
The Outro will certainly be on my playlist for a long time to come.
Soo…. Mimi messed with Papika’s aging and eventually Papika remained Cocona’s age, because Cocona liked / wanted her that way? Did Cocona dream her way into Mimi’s PI (and even back then had some power in it), because at around that age she met Yayaka in the real world – and later she couldn’t remember her encounter with Papi…?
Is this the real life?
🙂
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Their love is pure and real.
Precisely. It was a study of the human mind disguised as a cracker jack wild and wacky adventure through multiple dimensions and minds.
Papika’s flashback needs some research. Ultimately what matters is the outcome rather than how they got there. It is possible Cocona had some power at an early age. She is Mimi’s daughter after all.
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About the “two Salts” theory I mentioned? I overthought that. That guy from earlier was just his past self…who got a bullet through his head.
Anyway, FlipFlap was a wild, fun and interesting ride and from the look of things, PapiCoco’s Bizarre Adventure will continue.
In the scene where it was impossible to go back to PI, I actually thought it was the real world. However, after seeing Uexkill, I realized that something was off. That Uexkill was too real (lol). Then there was how different their school uniforms were.
As for Mimi, it looks like she’ll just live in PI as she always has been doing. It’s like she ascended to a higher plane of existence, kinda like General Iroh in Korra.
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More than likely the case.
That real world scene was a nice swerve to the “Till we meet again”not very fulfilling endings we sometimes get, especially in yuri shows.
Pretty much. Dark Mimi’s been tamed and OG Mimi will quietly watch over her loved ones.
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It was good.
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That it was good sir, very much so.
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That ending left a warm, fluffy feeling, the badend tease was very convincing. Definitely one of the better anime of recent origin.
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Flip Flappers is my anime of the year, heck one of the best anime I’ve ever seen. I love everything about it, animation, story and voices are perfect. Funny thing about their seiyuu, Cocona seiyuu is the genki one (she can’t stop talking) and Papika seiyuu more calm and collected.
And for yuri, no kissing but there a lot of confession, for me that’s very gay. They’ll continue their love making stuff off screen. Thou Cocona already kissed Papika on the cheek when they falling from the sky in the ending scene.
Side note, Yayaka maybe alone right now but she’ll be popular among girls. Even i wanna be her girlfriend cause she’s so cute and bad ass at the same time.
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This anime is too good to need a word from me.
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I liked the series, but Yayaka was my best girl, and in spite of that she was “happy” for Cocona I think that they should give her a better ending, maybe add another girl in the series but she was alone at the end, I want on OVA with she finding another girl that she can love!
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It would have been nice if she found a girl of her own on-screen but she technically did in the little one.
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ah! This show was so amazing. I need a rewatch soon.
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It’s a great show no doubt.
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Yayaka was going to get a boyfriend in the show but the voice actress of Iroha Irodori-senpai left and Yayaka got put into the role of love rival of Papikana instead of her.
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