Not that it's a bad thing, but isn't this pretty much the same idea as FLCL (but with aliens instead of robots (that later turn into aliens?))

yeah, if FLCL turned into gut wrenching horror by the end.

Wait, FLCL had a plot!? The one episode I was forced to sit through was literally random scenes with no continuity saturated with pop culture references. Nothing else.

You haven't watched all of FLCL?

Get out.

Dude, it was Teletubbies level of non sequitur. When your anime references Star Trek Voyager, something is horribly wrong.

watch it from the beginning and keep your stupid gaijin mouth shut!

Fuck no, you'd have to pay me to sit through that again. I could be watching Sailor Moon. Super Milk Chan was a superior anime.

Okay, bailing that, this isn't anything like FLCL. I'd say it's more like Evangelion on a much smaller scale, in that the main characters are thrust into terrible situations and are ultimately helpless against the forces pushing against their lives.

FLCL starts out in a setting somewhat similar to that, but it turns into something entirely different very quickly.

ooh gut wrenching horror! I got FLCL super early on bootleg around 2001, years before the Cartoon Network picked it up. The episode I caught on CN made my gut wrench but not in a good way: I'm not a snob about dubs or anything, but the voice acting really ruined the atmosphere: of 'WTF Japans,' it's about as 'WTF Japan' as you can get, like I could imagine a show like Venture Boys being for Japanese speaking audiences- it just doesn't translate, in FLCL's case literally.

given your enjoyment of tim&eric and Xavier, I think your problem isn't that it doesn't have an easily discernible plot but rather that it's good and has good and sometimes subtle humor.

I thought it was super obvious that FLCL was about puberty (amongst other coming-of-age issues).

I'm not going to build a case for watching it, because that feels really exhausting for something like this. Just, it's your loss if you remain stubborn and skip it.

I love both FLCL and Alien 9, but they are nothing alike aside from being about young kids. FLCL was Excel Saga infused with poignant moments; Alien 9 is David Cronenberg's Azumanga Daioh.

I'll say that the anime is probably far better than the manga, despite the crummy cliffhanger ending. It oozes with far more detail and atmosphere. The manga in contrast is way underwritten and also has a go-nowhere ending. Don't know if the "Emulators" sequel resolves any of that.

it didn't end. As often happens with non-mainstream anime, it ran out of money to be finished.