FLCL was one of those shows I hated the first time I watched it at age 19, but I also got a vibe that there might be some subtext and metaphors that I missed. About a year later, I saw that it was on Netflix and decided to give it a second chance.
I'm glad I did, because it's become one of my favorite animes at this point. I think a lot of the veiled references to erections and the analogies strangeness of a 14-year-old-boy forcing his way through puberty were lost on me the first time, and it took until I wasn't a teenager anymore to step back and view it in an almost "nostalgic" sense.
NOTE: I have only seen the first six-episode run of it. I can't speak to the newer reboot series that came out in 2016.
If it makes you feel any better, I saw FLCL at twice your age and only now that you've said it did I realize what the whole forehead-robot-bulge thing was a reference to.
I'm glad I did, because it's become one of my favorite animes at this point. I think a lot of the veiled references to erections and the analogies strangeness of a 14-year-old-boy forcing his way through puberty were lost on me the first time, and it took until I wasn't a teenager anymore to step back and view it in an almost "nostalgic" sense.
NOTE: I have only seen the first six-episode run of it. I can't speak to the newer reboot series that came out in 2016.