List of FLCL characters

This is the list of characters for the anime and manga FLCL. The English edition of the anime preserves the Japanese naming order for characters.

Atomsk

Atomsk (アトムスク, Atomusuku), also known as the "Pirate King" (海賊王 Kaizoku-Ō), is an enigmatic character, and apparently the most powerful "space pirate" in the galaxy. His N.O. is great enough to steal entire solar systems. His physical appearance is that of a bird-like creature, resembling a phoenix. He has a nose ring identical to the metal Ring on Haruko's bracelet, which allows her to detect Atomsk's presence or the activation of N.O. in general. (This was explained in the commentary of an episode where the director states that in the original story line Haruko was a space officer and Atomsk was her prisoner with whom she fell in love. They scrapped the idea but kept the bracelet).

Amarao portrays him inaccurately, imagining Atomsk's appearance as a humanoid male figure with fiery red hair when he describes him to Naota. In an interview, the director clarifies that Atomsk's true form is indeed that of the bird, and Amarao's mental image was of a man because he believed that Atomsk and Haruko were lovers, which was later exposed to be false; Amarao looks very surprised when he sees Atomsk's true form. It is the desire to obtain him and gain his power for herself that drives Haruko to constantly follow Atomsk, and not care which planet is destroyed, so long as she gets to Atomsk. Atomsk's guitar is a 1961 Gibson EB-0.

Atomsk is named after the novel Atomsk, by Carmichael Smith (a pseudonym of Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger, better known as Cordwainer Smith). In the director commentary on the third DVD, the director states that he is unsure as to how it's really pronounced (in FLCL it is pronounced "atomisk" or "atomos'ku").

Commander Amarao

Japanese Cast	English Cast
Kôichi Ôkura	Dave Mallow

Commander Amarao (アマラオ) works for the department of Interstellar Immigration. This agency, among other things, acts as a middle man for negotiations between the government and Medical Mechanica. Thus, Haruko/Raharu is a big problem for them as she is bent on provoking an attack by disrupting communications. Amarao has fake eyebrows made of nori which he believes serve the dual purpose of making him look macho and protecting him from N.O. Amarao seems to have had a past relationship with Haruko similar to Naota's. It is also predicted that Amarao was known as "Taro-kun" as a child. (In episode 1 when Haruko runs over Naota, she keeps calling him "Taro-kun" saying that she probably thinks that Naota is Amarao.)

In the first episode he appears in (the 4th episode of the series), the viewers get the impression that he is virtually an omniscient character, giving background information as well as making fairly accurate predictions. However, subsequent events would show him as extremely weak and very limited in foresight. He seems to grasp what is happening better than almost all the other characters.

It is a likely inference from the story that as a child he was approached by Haruko/Raharu, just like Naota, and she tried using his N.O. to contact/capture Atomsk. However, his N.O. channel is so weak that he can barely pull something the size of a slingshot through. (Upon closer examination a very small guitar is pulled out, which is used as a slingshot.) When the prior happens in episode 5, Haruko says "Small, as usual.", again suggesting a previous relationship between the two, or that she has tried it with other men. One could also argue that a youthful entanglement with Haruko could have led to his career with Interstellar Immigration. There are some traces of him feeling jealous that Haruko has chosen Naota over him.

In episode six Amarao plants large eyebrows upon Naota. During episode five he fights with Haruko/Raharu, when his eyebrows are removed he seems to bear affection to her. Other than protecting him from N.O they seem to block Haruko/Raharu's "charms". He desperately tries to find them after they fall off, signalling their importance. This belief is also reinforced when in episode 6 Amarao fires upon Haruko (to stop her from completing the terminal core) without showing any affection towards her.

He has a love for sickeningly sweet candy and drinks (which he claims will help people's heads back to normal), and hates spicy, sour, and pulpy foods - much like Naota. His vehicle of choice is a Fuji Rabbit, a motor scooter which was produced initially in 1946 six months prior to the initial production of the Vespa. Given that throughout the series Amarao is constantly trying to impress Haruko, who rides a Vespa, one could conclude his ownership of a scooter is a further manifestation of his attempts to impress her - or at the very least a signal to the level at which Haruko influenced him in his youth.

Canti

Template:Genchar Canti (カンチ, Kanchi) is a medical robot with what looks like a television set for a head. He was manufactured by Medical Mechanica, but taken over by Atomsk as a way to escape MM. After having his head broken by Haruko he is recruited by her as an assistant, however he proves to be no good for much other than washing dishes and fetching drinks for the family. It is later revealed that Atomsk can manifest through him, with Naota being the catalyst. Atomsk's symbol appears on Canti's screen when he absorbs Naota; the symbol is a corruption of the kanji characters for "adult" (大人). This symbol also appears on him when Naota "swings the bat" in Full Swing and when Canti is absorbed by the terminal core in FLCLimax.

The emotions of Canti are very human-like, despite his looks. He is embarrassed about his broken head (where Haruko hit him) and is looking for the pieces to glue back together in episode two. He wears the box on the back of his head for the same reason- shame. He is also extremely polite, extending a helping hand to Lieutenant Kitsurubami even after she attempted to destroy him.

Canti also dons a halo and fake wings (which Haruko was wearing in early episode two). Mamimi is convinced that Canti is an angel. She calls him "Canti-sama" after "The God of Black Flames" in a video game she plays. The rest of the cast call him by this title throughout the rest of the series. Apparently, he can also eat curry with his "mouth," but it is never really explained how.

In the manga

While in the anime Canti rarely speaks to any character, in the manga adaptation, he tends to speak to Naota more frequently, as well as be more sympathetic to Naota's situation earlier in the story, to Naota's annoyance. When first synchronized with Naota, the mouth is less monstrous as opposed to the anime. Also unlike the anime, Naota fully connects with Canti through a plug that goes in his eye, where as he connects through a screw-in light bulb inside Canti in the anime. His cannon form is also referred to as "Overdrive Technique".

Haruko Haruhara

Japanese Cast	English Cast
Mayumi Shintani	Kari Wahlgren

Haruko Haruhara (ハルハラ・ハル子, Haruhara Haruko), 19 (or so she claims), is an energetic, spontaneous pink-haired girl from outer-space and investigator for the Galactic Space Patrol Brotherhood/Stellar Fraternity. Mamimi observes that she looks at least twenty years old but, considering that she is of an unknown alien species, neither Mamimi nor the viewer has a relevant frame of reference. She rides a yellow Piaggio Vespa (and is also known as The Wasp Woman, a pun on the word Vespa, which means wasp) and wields a blue, left-handed Rickenbacker bass guitar model 4001 (similar to the 4001 used by Paul McCartney, whom she mentions in Episode 5), with a pull-cord motor on the back, as a bizarre weapon of sorts. Her bass is able to shoot bullets, act as a rocket launcher, fly, and is used several times to open an N.O. channel in Naota's forehead. She leaves it for a more powerful double-necked guitar (a fusion of the Gibson Flying V, drawn from Naota's N.O. channel, and the 1961 Gibson EB-0, from Atomsk's, that Naota creates while harnessing Atomsk's power) when she departs from Earth in Episode 6.

Everyone Haruko/Raharu thinks may be useful falls in love with her (i.e Naota, Kamon, and Amarao). This is one of her powers (or possibly just an acquired skill). In episode five Haruko/Raharu fights with Commander Amarao: during the series he appers to have no attraction to her until he loses his eyebrows. After the fight Amarao asks Haruko/Raharu: "what do you see in that grade school kid!?", and "what's he got that I haven't got?!" (showing more of his interest). Over the course of the anime (more time with Haruko/Raharu) Naota shows more and more of his affection, eventually admitting his love in the final episode.

She becomes the Nandaba household's maid and plays on a rival team of the Mabase Martians, seemingly for extra money, but in fact to knock a satellite out of Earth's orbit with the baseballs she hits. She has also apparently had past relations with Amarao, most likely similar to her relationship with Naota. This mysterious character is the catalyst for FLCL's entire plot. She is called Haruha Raharu (ハルハ・ラハル) by Amarao; this may be another alias, however.

Haruko has connections to the Nandaba family cat, Miu Miu. The cat serves as a "walkie talkie" to her superiors. The cat does not speak (besides its "meows" and grunts) but it is obvious that Haruko is getting some kind of reply as her conversations with Miu Miu are reminiscent to that of a telephone conversation.

Naota calls Haruko Haruhara "Haruko", Kamon calls her "Haruko-san", and Mamimi refers to her as "Haru-san". Amarao, who believes her real name to be Haruha Raharu, refers to her as "Raharu".

At the end of the manga adaptation, a character identical to Haruko appears from Naota's forehead. She claims to be "Haruha Raharu's superior [...] Superior Raharu" and that Haruko is on the run from the Galaxy Space Police Brotherhood. It is not clear if this is a separate character, or Haruko pretending to be someone else.

Lieutenant Kitsurubami

Japanese Cast	English Cast
Chiemi Chiba	L. Villa

Lieutenant Kitsurubami (キツルバミ) is an attractive young woman and second in command on Amarao's staff (Interstellar Immigration Bureau). In episode 5, Haruko refers to her as being a commando. She is often seen either giving out vital mission data, or on the field in investigations with Amarao. Amarao hits on her in the final episode, but she resists him. In fact, Kitsurubami seems to be generally disgusted by the idea of romantic involvement (and likely any form of physical contact) with Amarao (e.g. she freaks out when she accidentally drinks from Amarao's water container), though she looks up to him as a superior decision-making power and follows his orders loyally. She also seems to become smitten with Canti, despite her initial efforts to attack him. During episode 4, she and two other members of Amarao's staff get nosebleeds (which is in contrast with other anime series, where the men are the ones who get nosebleeds in situations like this) when Haruko pulls the Gibson Flying V from Naota's head. In Japan, there's an old wives tale that nosebleeds are caused by sexual arousal, in this case the size of Naota's Guitar being a not-so-subtle analogy to penis size.

Kitsurubami is named after a light brown traditional Japanese color, which happens to be the color of her skin. Thus, her name could be interpreted as "Lieutenant Brown", although the color Kitsurubami is not the common "brown." She appears to be the only "Normal" (or for that matter mature) adult in FLCL.

Junko Miyaji

Japanese Cast	English Cast
Yukari Fukui	Jessica Straus

Junko Miyaji (ミヤジ・ジュン子, Miyaji Junko) is Naota's eccentric sixth grade teacher. Her students have given her the nickname "Miya-Jun". She seems to be constantly troubled by the shallower problems which Naota seems to create, such as the destruction of her car (which happens twice over the course of the series) or the terrible interruption of a lesson. Even on 'normal' days, however, she is pathetically inept: her attempt to teach chopstick usage to a generation of students raised on sporks ends with the revelation that she is unable to use them herself.

She can be viewed as symbolic of the ineffectiveness of educational institutions imparting any truly important or useful knowledge: Naota constantly characterizes the adults around him as "unable to grow-up". In his mind, Miya-Jun's inability to act like a normal adult (similar to his father, grandfather, Ninamori's father, Amarao, and many others) confirm his theory. Adults like her are contradictions in Naota's life; he wants to become an adult, but the adults around him don't act like adults at all.

Kamon Nandaba

Japanese Cast	English Cast
Suzuki Matsuo	Joe Martin

Kamon Nandaba (ナンダバ・カモン, Nandaba Kamon), 47, is Naota's father, a former pop culture journalist working as a freelance writer, with his own trashy tabloid: "Kamon-Mabase" (the title is a pun on "come-on mabase"). He makes the most references to pop culture: EVA, "Monkey-sensei" (referring to the creator of the series Lupin III), Hamtaro, Mobile Suit Gundam, and MTV to name a few. Kamon has taken a liking to Haruko, but she only wants to use him as an N.O. Portal. In the fourth episode, Naota discovers that Haruko tried to use him but "his head didn't work" and that she had left a robot replacement to putter around the house. The real Kamon is found dead in a cabinet but is brought back to life by being hydrated in a small bathtub. Haruko's true intentions of coming to Mabase are revealed through her interactions with Kamon. After realizing that his head didn't open the N.O. portal, she discards him and returns to using Naota, saying "you're the only one who works". Like the other adults in FLCL, Kamon is extremely immature, normally more so than the other adults. But he shows a surprising amount of seriousness and thoughtfulness at some points in the anime.

Naota Nandaba

Japanese Cast	English Cast
Jun Mizuki	Barbara Goodson

Naota Nandaba (ナンダバ・ナオ太, Nandaba Naota), 12, is the main character. His name is derived from the Japanese word for "honesty" and his father named him Naota because of that (Fooly Cooly). Unbeknownst to him, he has the "right kind of head" to be used as an N.O. channel. He is obsessed with appearing mature and attempts to act nonchalant. This is most expressed in his monologues which open and close each episode where he continues to claims that "nothing amazing ever happens here" despite the show's surreal and often absurd happenings. Naota idolizes his older brother Tasuku, carrying around Tasuku's baseball bat, and even hanging out with Tasuku's old girlfriend Mamimi. In Naota's mind, Tasuku is the epitome of what it means to be an adult, as opposed to the other adults in his life (e.g. his father, his grandfather, and his teacher) who he perceives as being immature. Much like Amarao, Naota is picky about his drinks (disliking drinks which are sour, bitter, or contain pulp) and hates spicy foods (though he is told to "cut back on the sour drinks" by Amarao). While at the beginning of the series he appears to be bothered by Haruko's presence, over the course of the series he realizes his own feelings and admits that he loves her, along with embracing her with a kiss, in the final episode. As Mamimi is his symbol of childhood, and Haruko is his symbol of adulthood, when they both leave Mabase, he is left right in the middle where he belongs, in adolescence. His bass is the Rickenbacker 4001 which was Haruko's, but she leaves it behind when she takes the new combination of his Gibson Flying V and Atomsk's Gibson EB-0.

Shigekuni Nandaba

Japanese Cast	English Cast
Hiroshi Ito	Steve Kramer

Shigekuni Nandaba (ナンダバ・シゲクニ, Nandaba Shigekuni) is Naota's grandfather. He owns the family bakery and coaches the local baseball team, the Mabase Martians. He has a grudge against Mamimi for unspecified reasons, but it is suggested that he didn't approve of Tasuku dating her. Shige-kun values baseball more than anything in the world - he is disappointed in his own son and younger grandson because they are lousy baseball players. He does not defend Naota as the other players mock him, because he holds too much pride for Tasuku. He enjoys taking advantage of Canti as much as Kamon does. Has an affinity for pornography.

Tasuku Nandaba

File:Tasuku.JPG

"I got me a blond girl!" This is the clearest image of Tasuku Nandaba shown in FLCL. The envelope is a very old American air-mail stationery design.

Tasuku Nandaba (ナンダバ・タスク, Nandaba Tasuku), 17, is Naota's older brother who moved to America to play baseball. Mamimi believes that, since Tasuku saved her from the fire at their old elementary school, he likes her. The actual depth of their initial relationship is unknown. In the first episode, Naota receives a postcard from Tasuku, revealing that he now has an American girlfriend.

Although he never actually appears on screen, he is very significant to the storyline. As the former star of the baseball team, Naota idolizes him, but he is afraid of not living up to his brother's legacy, and because of this never swings the bat when at the plate.

There are examples of scenes in which Naota yells out "Tasuk--"; the Japanese audience, at first assuming that he will exclaim "Tasukete" (Help me!), may be surprised when he instead says "Tasuku," the name of his older brother. It is said in one episode that Tasuku resembles Haruko.

Eri Ninamori

File:Ninamori.JPG

Eri Ninamori.

Japanese Cast	English Cast
Mika Itô	Melissa Fahn

Eri Ninamori (ニナモリ・エリ, Ninamori Eri), 12, is Naota's classmate. In the series, she is referred to as 'Ninamori', her last name. She is the daughter of the mayor of Mabase and is class president. Ninamori has N.O. powers as well: Naota's third robot, which appears at first as "cat ears" transfers to her instantly in the 3rd episode, while the two of them are fighting, as the Medical Factory's siren blows, while in the manga, an octopus like robot comes forth, before running away with Naota and appears very little after that until it is later seen helping her save Naota from an angered Haruko. She projects a proper, even slightly stuck-up personality, and conceals personal information to an almost obsessive degree; she does not even let her classmates know that she needs corrective lenses, instead wearing contacts while at school. Even with her class president status, however, Eri isn't above breaking the rules to get what she wants. She rigs the voting during the casting for the school play in order to get the lead role and have Naota cast opposite her, which (along with letting him see her wearing glasses) hints at her crush on Naota. Other hints are her expressed dislike of Mamimi and a final scene with Naota by a vending machine that mirrors Mamimi and Naota's early-series interactions. Ninamori is highly intelligent, if a little jaded. Much like Naota, Ninamori attempts to act mature, and although her parents' problems trouble her deeply, she refuses to admit it until near the end of the series.

Gaku

Gaku.

Japanese Cast	English Cast
Akira Miyajima	R. Martin Klein

Gaku, age 12, is another one of Naota's classmates and close friends and is obsessed with kissing and other things of sexual behavour. In episode three, Marquis de Carabas, he plays the part of a mouse in the school play. Gaku also uses the word "chu" constantly, especially when referring to Haruko. This is a pun in Japanese, because "chu" is the Japanese onomatopoeia for both kissing and the sound a mouse makes. In the English version, "chu" is replaced with "smooch" to make more sense to English speaking audiences. He's somewhat hyper (compared to the bored composure of his friends) and is usually seen with Masashi. He is an encyclopedia of bizarre rumors and legends, many of which are sexual in nature. He consistently refers to Mamimi as Naota's "wife"

Masashi

File:Masashi.JPG

Masashi.

Japanese Cast	English Cast
Kazuhito Suzuki	Steven Blum

Masashi, age 12, is yet another of Naota's classmates. He is friends with Naota and is often seen hanging out with Gaku, Ninamori, and Naota. Masashi also has a job as a delivery boy, and drives a truck around, even though he is only in grade school. His truck is later eaten by the terminal core when Mamimi loses control of it. Masashi, like Naota, generally sounds slightly depressed.

Mamimi Samejima

Japanese Cast	English Cast
Izumi Kasagi	Stephanie Sheh(credited as "Jennifer Sekiguchi")

Mamimi Samejima (サメジマ・マミ美, Samejima Mamimi), 17, was Tasuku's girlfriend, though she hits on Naota since his brother left Japan. She is a truant high school student with pyromaniacal tendencies; she also smokes a lot and spends most of her time under a bridge. She is often seen with a camera, and always smokes a worn cigarette with "Never Knows Best" written onto the paper.

She has the peculiar tendency to name people and things "Ta-kun" (sometimes spelled "Takkun"), after her personal nickname for Naota's brother (and Naota himself). The "-kun" suffix is an informal and intimate honorific primarily used when addressing males of equal or junior status. Mamimi is likely using Naota as a substitute for Tasuku and therefore refers to him as "Ta-kun" which can be short for both Naota and Tasuku. (Naota is well-aware of the similarity between his nickname and his brother's name.) Mamimi also calls Tasuku "Tasuku-senpai" since he is an older classmate.

The story originally sets forth that her fascination with fire stems from Tasuku having rescued her from the elementary school fire, although it is later hinted that she was the one who started that fire. Mamimi holds an almost quixotically weak grip on the difference between fantasy and reality; for example, she believes Canti to be the manifestation of Cantido, the video game god to whom she burns things as sacrifices. She also emanates an aura of benign vapidness that causes much of the cast (Naota's classmates especially) to look upon her with disdain. In fact, Mamimi can be exceedingly destructive - although only when nobody is watching. She spends much of FLCLimax exacting retribution against those who have wronged her - only to have her plan backfire.

Mamimi can be seen as lacking control over her life or willpower, hence the near-constant smoking and child-like reliance on others, whether Naota or his older brother Tasuku. This could also explain why she loves taking care of things that are weak-willed, which she leaves (or which escape, like Ta-kun the black kitten) when they start to show independence. This leads to her eventual disinterest in Naota and ultimately proves a disaster for her when her last adoptee, the terminal core from a robot, goes haywire and overpowers first her and then the military.

As far as high schoolers go, she seems to be rather sexually frustrated, as she often pursues an uncomfortable level of intimacy with Naota (most likely because she sees him as his brother's replacement), which annoys Naota greatly. When he asks why she constantly clings to him, she responds "If I don't, I'll overflow."

At the end of the series, she leaves Mabase to become a professional photographer.

Most characters refer to Mamimi simply as Mamimi, but Naota's friends refer to her as "Naota's wife", and Haruko calls her "Sameji", a shortening of her last name. Amarao refers to her as "that high school girl".

References

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