The finale at last! With Papika having finally reached her beloved friend both physically and emotionally, the two stand together now, wearing new costumes that seem to fall halfway between wedding dresses and butterfly costumes. Even these costumes feel like a direct validation of their journey, with the bridal notes signaling their unified relationship, while the butterfly motif carries Cocona’s cocoon-inspired name to its logical conclusion. Having fought through terrible insecurities and even the stifling abuse of her long-absent parents, Cocona has emerged stronger than ever, standing proudly beside the girl she loves.
Tag Archives: Flip Flappers
Flip Flappers – Episode 12
Flip Flappers’ twelfth episode opens with Papika in an entirely new setting, trapped in a strange cave with bars over its entrance. Don’t expect any airtight explanation for this situation – we’re visiting the purgatory where she apparently spent time after colliding with Mimi in the past, but that’s about all the justification we’re gonna get for Papika’s age regression and strange current self. Like Yayaka’s nefarious organization, this setting underlines Flip Flappers’ clear lack of passion for narrative connective tissue; unlike Yayaka’s benefactors, Papika’s origin story actually is a pretty key element of this narrative, and so this cavalier handwaving certainly smarts. It essentially feels like a reprise of Penguindrum’s cages, devices the story placed a few of its characters for some nebulous amount of time because damnit, we gotta pull this story together somehow.
Flip Flappers – Episode 11
Flipflap has been destroyed! Mimi has revealed herself! The end is nigh! With three episodes left to go, it appears that Flip Flappers is already barreling towards the finish line. So what bombshells are dropped in this, Flip Flappers’ second-from-penultimate episode!?!
Well, mostly a bunch of sad stories from long ago. Though we open with the direct aftermath of last episode’s Mimi reveal, the better part of this episode is spent elaborating on the shared history of Mimi, Papika, and Salt, giving us context for both the modern Flipflap organization and their nefarious nemeses. As with the last episode, this context often feels dramatically rushed, and the show’s structural messiness continues to add a sense of “and then this happened” shapelessness to the dramatic proceedings. We’ve reached the point where characters don’t necessarily exist in a shared physical reality so much as they inhabit a shared dramatic space, and thus characters like Salt will jump from vaguely defined location to vaguely defined location in whichever way the narrative demands.
Flip Flappers – Episode 10
Flip Flappers’ tenth episode opens with Papika in a mood we’ve basically never seen her in – insular and depressed, crouched alone in the dark, reflecting on this mysterious “Mimi” figure. It’s an appropriate starting point for an episode that essentially tears up Flip Flappers’ status quo, abandoning its largely episodic structure and setting pieces in place for the grand finale. This is far from Flip Flappers’ best episode, but unlike episode eight, that’s not really its fault. This is an unabashed transition episode, and though its turns aren’t all the most graceful, it’s all working in service of the great cataclysm to come.
Flip Flappers – Episode 9
Flip Flappers has explored Cocona’s feelings and general mindscape from every conceivable angle, excavating her self-image, interrogating her feelings towards Papika, and generally articulating the richness of her personal world. We’ve also received some insight into Papika’s character, who has expressed herself consistently and opened up to Cocona in spite of still being a relatively mysterious figure. But Flip Flappers’ third pole has never been granted the luxury of understanding. Yayaka’s character has been articulated largely in contrast; her suspicions towards Papika, her would-be rivalry with the two other leads. Yayaka’s feelings have been as assumed by the narrative itself as they often seem to be by Cocona; but here in episode nine, Yayaka’s world is finally the focus. So what lurks inside Yayaka’s head, what animates her most deeply held feelings?
Flip Flappers – Episode 8
It’s time for Flip Flappers! Let’s explore… what is unfortunately, undoubtedly the worst episode of the series. Sorry to be a bummer, but episode eight just does not match the standard set by the rest of this altogether wonderful show. But exploring how things go wrong can be just as illuminating as exploring what they get right, and it’s not like this is a bad episode by general anime standards, anyway. So let’s get started on Flip Flappers’ biggest flop, and see what we can glean from its mistakes.
Flip Flappers – Episode 7
Episode seven opens with the unexpected, unwanted consequences of Cocona and Papika’s emotional meddling. Having “solved” Iroha Irodori’s childhood trauma, it appears they’ve also stolen her passion for artistic self-expression. A need to create is often born in a desire to articulate and perhaps come to terms with your scars; with Iro’s relationship with her childhood friend now resolved without regrets, she currently sees no reason to paint, claiming her works “just take up space, anyway.” Cocona feels guilty for this shift, and the ambiguity of her feelings points to a greater general truth. We don’t need to be ashamed of our unhappiness or our strangeness or our trauma – those are all a part of us, and even if we can’t see anything positive in our pain, that pain may still contribute to our finest qualities in its own way. We shouldn’t fetishize suffering, but also shouldn’t be ashamed of being wounded or imperfect – a fact Cocona herself is only slowly coming to realize.
Flip Flappers – Episode 6
Flip Flappers’ sixth episode is about Iroha Irodori, Cocona’s painting-inclined classmate. It’s also likely the most emotionally searing interrogation of any of Flip Flappers’ mindscapes, and also one of my favorite episodes of all time. I can’t watch this episode without crying, consistently, at every new revelation and emotional blow. It’s about childhood neglect and the contradictions of self-expression, about the fragile necessity of loving and being loved, about the forms we contort ourselves into to survive, and the lingering scars those contortions leave behind. It’s for anyone who finds their heart in the things they create, and learns to love the damage that made them who they are.
Flip Flappers – Episode 5
Flip Flappers’ third episode introduced us to the barren world of Cocona’s psychology, an inhospitable place defined by the dichotomy of fierce self-denial and total hedonism. Cocona escaped that place, with the help of Papika, and seemed by the end of that episode to at least be able to acknowledge Papika’s friendship. In its fourth episode, we turned from Cocona’s world to Papika’s, where our two leads learned to trust each other far more completely than ever before. By the end of that episode, it seemed like Cocona was ready to accept Papika’s love, and perhaps even reciprocate.
Here in episode five, Pure Illusion offers a vision of what society has to say about all of that.
Flip Flappers – Episode 4
After three straight episodes of wild adventures in Pure Illusion, Flip Flappers’ fourth episode sticks entirely to the real world. As our mad scientist friend details in the first scene, Cocona and Papika’s “impedance is all over the place.” Without a clear emotional bond and mutual understanding, it’s impossible to control their own journeys into Flip Flappers – to be in control in these emotional landscapes, you must first understand and synchronize your own feelings. And so the two of them are tasked with living together for a few days, in hopes of “understanding and accepting one another.” It’s essentially the Evangelion DDR episode, a chance for our two leads to actually bond.