'FLCL: Grunge' To Air This September

Toonami was one of the earliest homes for anime in the United States.  It proved so successful it began co-funding its own anime. These were generally either more episodes of a show that had proved successful or original concepts that were the kind of thing that were popular with western audiences.

An example of the former is FLCL. A big hit on Toonami,  Kazuya Tsurumaki,'s series was originally released in 2000.  It was produced by fan favourite studios Gainax and Production IG in association with King Records. The six-episode original featured 12-year old Naota Nandaba whose life is turned upside down by the arrival of the Vespa riding Haruko Haruhara. The series is considered to be hugely influential and is regarded a classic.

In 2016 a sequel was announced, that would span two new seasons for a total of 12 episodes. FLCL Progressive aired in June 2018 and FLCL Alternative aired in September 2018. The sequel series were produced by Production IG, Toho and Toonami/Adult Swim. In Japan the series had theatrical screenings as compilation films.

Adult Swim must have been pleased with the result as they revealed in 2022 that they were announcing a further two seasons, to celebrate Toonami's 25th Anniversary. The first of the two is called FLCL Grunge and is set to air on Saturday, September 9 at Midnight ET/PT on Adult Swim

The new season is actually a prequel: "while the adults have no hope for tomorrow, the youth accept the decline and poverty of the city as an ordinary part of their reality, until Haruko throws the city into chaos." Grunge is directed by Hitoshi Takekiyo at Mont Blanc Pictures, A Japanese visual arts studio with little anime experience.

The fourth season FLCL Shoegaze is apparently due to air later this year and is produced by Production IG X NUT. Both seasons are executive produced by Jason DeMarco (creative director of Toonami, and senior vice president, action and anime for WarnerMedia) and produced by Maki Terashima-Furuta of Production IG USA.