I still really love Production IG’s attempt at the Trigger esque sakuga scenes of Gainax’s original, but I think what Progressive and Alternative truly lacked was depth and heart. FLCL original felt like it started off as an incredibly well animated joke for a bunch of talented voice actors and artists to relax on, but quickly proved all of us wrong with amazing depth and characters that are memorable FOREVER. Nothing captures this better than the Pillows music, which captures the show’s tone perfectly. Meanwhile these new seasons mostly reuse music from the old show (no matter how great the new stuff is) just like thewhole idea of the show rehashes old ideas without ever being as memorable or deep. How absolutely fitting.
Even then, I didn’t HATE, these seasons. Still gonna give them a 7 purely because of how much I loved the sakuga moments.