Characters / FLCL

This is the character page for the original FLCL. For their appearances in FLCL Progressive & Alternative, FLCL Grunge & Shoegaze, and other characters exclusive to those two seasons, see here and here.

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Naota Nandaba

Voiced by: Jun Mizuki (JP), Barbara Goodson (EN)

The 12 year-old protagonist whose life is flipped underside-down when Haruko saw apparently him to have the "right kind of head" to be used as an N.O. channel. He dislikes bitter drinks and spicy curry.

Naota 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 claim that "nothing amazing ever happens here" despite the show's surreal and often absurd happenings. Naota idolizes his older brother Tasuku and believes him to be the model for a mature adult.

At the beginning of the series, he's noticeably bothered by the situation with Haruko, but he gets over it as he develops a crush on her that overlaps with his initial crush on Mamimi.

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• 11th-Hour Superpower: At the climax of episode six, he full absorbs Atomsk, which not only allows him to stop the hand from grabbing the iron, but also soundly defeat Haruko in a brief skirmish before Atomsk escapes.
• Alliterative Name: Naota Nandaba.
• Amplifier Artifact: Naota is a living one, used as a sort of replacement for Canti's missing pieces so he can fight at full power.
• Batter Up!: In episode 4 he hits his dad with a baseball bat.
• Becoming the Mask: He tries to put on a mask of being a mature adult, despite being 12 years old. Various characters try to further this process or halt it. Haruko eventually convinces him it's okay to act his age.
• Be Yourself: Throughout the series, Naota attempts to act more mature than he really is, in attempt to both make up for his father's child-like behavior, and take the place of his older brother for Mamimi. Ultimately, Naota's arc revolves around the realization that it's okay for him to be himself and act his age.
• Bigger Is Better in Bed: Played With. In the FLCL world, the instrument weapons pulled from a man are symbolically treated as if they were their manhood due to them being phallic symbols. When Haruko pulls a sizable original 1958 Gibson Flying V from Naoto, Kitsurubami and Amarao's female subordinate are all so impressed and aroused by the sight that it causes all of them to Nosebleed.
• The Chew Toy: Frequently abused by Haruko and generally gets beat up during any of the robot fights.
• Coming of Age Story: The whole series is about his. Basically, Naota tries really hard to be an adult — or what he considers to be an adult — and picks up the slack for his absent brother, who has left to play baseball in America. This includes taking care of his brother's ex-girlfriend, not enjoying sweet things and trying really hard to come off as stoic and cool. However, after meeting Manic Pixie Dream Girl Haruko, he comes to realise that he should act his age — in this case, being selfish, having fun and acknowledging his childish crush on Haruko.
• Crash-Into Hello: With Haruko, who runs him over when they first meet.
• Deadly Upgrade: He's able to power up Canti by letting himself get eaten by him, though it really doesn't do much but faze him afterward, except make him smell of No. 2 when Canti excretes him.
• Did Not Get the Girl: He gets Ship Tease with Haruko, Mamimi and Eri throughout the series. In the final episode, he doesn't end up with anyone; Naota chooses to let Haruko go and she firmly decides that he's Just a Kid, while Mamimi also leaves the town after accepting that Naota isn't a replacement for his brother. He may have still a chance with Eri, but neither of them seem ready for a serious relationship yet.
• Digging Yourself Deeper: "How can you like someone who's insane?" He's talking to Mamimi, the pyromaniac arsonist, who isn't exactly the paragon of sanity.
• Does Not Like Spam: He hates sour and spicy foods.
• Dual Wielding: He dual wields guitars after absorbing Atomsk's power.
• Expy: His character design, usual mood and part of his character arc all evoke Shinji Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion, Studio Gainax's previous series.
• I Choose to Stay: When Haruko asks (and then reneges) Naota to join her in her pursuit of Atomsk, despite just having confessed his love for her, he doesn't seem heartbroken or rejected, implying that he would've played this straight if he'd had the chance to answer her.
• Innocent Blue Eyes: He's a young and inexperienced boy with blue eyes.
• Instrument of Murder: He eventually gets a Gibson Flying V and turns it into a weapon.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Sullen and snarky, but a good kid at heart. Most of his sour attitude is suggested to be the result of him putting on airs to look more mature.
• Just a Kid: Haruko decides to not take him with her because he's "still a kid."
• Kid with the Leash: Besides Haruko, Naota seems to have the most control over Canti.
• Love Confession: Gives an adorable one to Haruko at the climax of their fight in episode 6 despite it coming only seconds after stopping himself from smashing her with his dual guitars. It throws Haruko off so much she can only give a flustered blush and "Eh?" before he kisses her.
• Love Martyr: For Haruko. In the final episode, he confesses his love for her while she's trying to kill him. However, at the end of the episode, he wises up and decides not to follow her into space when invited to and she leaves to continue her chase after the Pirate King Atomsk.
• Made of Iron: How many times does Naota get run over in this series? It gets to the point where after getting run over by a truck in episode 5, he recovers in mid-air.
• Meaningful Name: His name is derived from the Japanese word for "honesty".
• Missing Mom: His mother is never seen or mentioned in the anime or manga. The novels, though, reveals that she vanished mysteriously when Naota was little. Also, she was a colleague of Haruko in the Space Police.
• Nothing Exciting Ever Happens Here: And he still seems to say it even after everything that's happened to him.
• Only Sane Man: Definitely thinks he's this, though whether or not he's correct is open to interpretation.
• Power Glows: He starts glowing red after absorbing Atomsk's power.
• Precocious Crush: He's 12 and most of his love interests are significantly older; Mamimi is 17 and Haruko at least looks to be in her twenties.
• Replacement Goldfish: Naota struggles with finding an identity of his own, as the people around him largely view him as a stand in for his brother. This is most pronounced and important with Mamimi, who actually calls Naota by a nickname meant for Tasuku.
• Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Savvy Guy to Haruko's Energetic Girl. She's crazy and unpredictable while he's much more serious, often playing the Straight Man to her antics.
• Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer: Inverted. A silhouette of an older Naota appears along with an older Mamimi in the ED of FLCL Progressive, but isn't even mentioned in the anime itself.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: Became a master of this at the end of episode 1.
• The Stoic: He intentionally tries to be this to seem more mature, acting as disaffected and bored as possible regardless of the insanity around him. He gets over it later on, however.
• Took a Level in Badass: In "Full Swing", when he finally "swings the bat" and stops the satellite bomb from destroying Mabase. However, this is deconstructed in the very next episode, when Naota begins to believe a bit too strongly in his own hype. He jumps at the chance to save the day again and prove himself to Mamimi, but is quickly dispatched and ends up as a useless lump while Canti and Haruko clean up the mess. He zigzags back around again in the final episode when he absorbs Atomsk and fights toe-to-toe Haruko, coming this close to beating her before holding back to deliver a Love Confession instead.
• Trademark Favorite Food: His dad claims it's Fermented Soybeans, but, considering that was a robotic double of his dad, the validity of the claim is suspect.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: He feels attracted to Haruko, Mamimi, and Eri. By the end, he has moved on from Haruko and Mamimi, but continues to have some tension with Eri, though it is much more healthy with her than it ever was with either of the other two.
• Unskilled, but Strong: He's an average civilian who, after absorbing Atomsk's power, becomes a demigod.
• Wacky Parent, Serious Child: Naota is fairly normal, but his father Kamon is extremely immature, suffers emotional mood swings and exhibits inappropriate sexual behavior.
• Weirdness Magnet: In just the first episode, a crazy woman riding a scooter hits him in the head with a guitar and then moves into his household as a live-in maid, and a horn grows out of his head that eventually turns out to be a robot with a TV for a head - which also moves in with his family. Things only gets weirder for him from there.

Haruko Haruhara

Voiced by: Mayumi Shintani (JP), Kari Wahlgren (EN)

An energetic, spontaneous pink-haired woman from outer-space and the main character of the series overall, riding a sunglow Piaggio Vespa SS 180, carries a blue Rickenbacker bass guitar on her back and claims to be 19. Claiming herself as an investigator for the Galactic Space Patrol Brotherhood/Stellar Fraternity, Haruko enters Naoto's life by running him down with her Vespa and later does the same to Mr. Nandaba so she can keep tabs on him the Nandaba household's maid. Despite helping Naoto's personal life and being constantly attacked by robots, Haruko has ulterior motives.

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• Aliens Are Bastards: Her lack of empathy and chaotic disposition hammer this in even before her Evil Plan comes to light.
• Ambition Is Evil: Haruko has been searching for Atomsk in hopes of absorbing his infinite power for herself and is willing to destroy the Earth in order to get it.
• Anti-Hero: At the end, it's made obvious that all the robot battles and other trouble started with her attempt to steal Atomsk's power through Naota, and her private and selfish war with Medical Mechanica.
• Ax-Crazy: She presents herself as insanely unstable and violent, though she actually does have motivations for her antics.
• Badass Biker: Haruko alone inspired many people to get a Vespa, learn to play guitars and live a life of endless badassery.
• Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: The Brawn. Out of the three main female characters, Haruko is the Badass Biker wielding an electric guitar with a chainsaw-pull-string mechanism which she uses as, among other things, a Hover Board and an Improvised Weapon.
• Betty and Veronica: Apparently the wild and chaotic Veronica against Mamimi's sweet, steady down-home Betty.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Don't let her crazy and quirky antics fool you. Haruko is a dangerous fighter with a bass guitar she's not afraid to use and also a ruthless manipulator.
• Boyish Short Hair: She's a tomboyish Badass Biker with short hair.
• But Now I Must Go: Double Subverted. After Atomsk escapes from Earth, Haruko leaves to chase after him. She asked Naota to join her, but immediately retracts the offer because he's "still a kid."
• Cloudcuckoolander: She comes across this way to Naota, though her crazy perspective is matched by the equally crazy universe they're living in.
• Cool Big Sis: She's a crazy older sister figure to Naota, though he'd never admit it.
• Cute and Psycho: She's very cute, energetic and funny. She's also a complete maniac and a cruel Manipulative Bitch.
• Cute Little Fangs: Her teeth are always shown to be quite sharp, befitting her manic personality.
• Crash-Into Hello: Does this most frequently by running people over.
• Dark Action Girl: The only female in the series to get into action. She's also the most sadistic and manipulative.
• Devil in Plain Sight: She's clearly up to no good, but no one notices it and people just take her actions as Haruko being Haruko.
• Drives Like Crazy:
  • Haruko has caused more than her share of accidents — on a motor scooter, no less. In one episode, she pulls out in front of traffic which causes the entire lane of cars behind her to spontaneously begin flipping end over end (presumably from slamming on the brakes so hard). Her Vespa is also her means of FTL Travel, so obviously she can go at supersonic speed on it through the town. No problem!
  • Her idea of a fun time is driving by the beach... at top speed, popping wheelies, swerving several times into the wrong lane, all while carrying a twelve-year-old passenger who isn't wearing a helmet. Naota points out how dangerous it is, but she laughs and keeps going.
• Easily Forgiven: Minutes after trying to kill Naota for harnessing Atomsk's power, she's right back to being friendly with him again once Atomsk escapes, even offering to let Naota come with her. Naota, in turn, doesn't seem to bear any grudge against her for both using him for her own gain and then trying to kill him.
• Evil Plan: Haruko attempts to feed Naota to the Terminal Core of Medical Mechanica's doomsday device, knowing it would destroy the Earth and kill all humans, simply to get her hands on Atomsk. Naota foils her plan by asborbing Atomsk and later releasing it into space after defeating her in a final fight.
• Female Rockers Play Bass: Her Weapon (and instrument) of Choice is a bass guitar, and she's a highly feminine character, as a sexually-aggressive rocker chick whose appearance and bass are puberty-inducing. In one episode she gives Naota, whose burgeoning male sexuality is the focus of the story, the ability to use similar instrument-based attacks, and he gets a 6-string electric guitar (specifically, a Flying V).
• Genki Girl: Haruko calms down for maybe thirty seconds an episode, and sometimes not even that much.
• Goggles Do Nothing: Downplayed in that she occasionally wears them while riding her vespa.
• Handy Feet: At episode 3, she can be seen picking her ear with her foot.
• Heel Realization: Heavily downplayed due to being openly and happily sociopathic, but in the final episode, getting beaten down by Naota and seeing Pirate King Atomsk save the world from a disaster she nearly caused leaves the normally Ax-Crazy girl speechless for a few minutes. She could've easily taken revenge on Naota during that time, but instead decides to chase Atomsk and leave Naota behind, perhaps realizing that bringing the kid along isn't the best thing for either of them.
• Human Alien: At first glance, though it might not be her true form.
• I Have Many Names: Amarao refers to her as Haruhara Raharu in Episode 4, suggesting that she's used psuedonyms in the past and her current one might be one as well.
• Incoming Ham: How she introduces herself in "Fooly Cooly" and "FLCLimax":
  Haruko: (revs up moped) Awright! (blasts off at breakneck speed) LUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNCCCCCCCHHHHHH TTTTTTTTIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMEEEEEE!!!!!!! (runs over Naota with Vespa)
• Instrument of Murder: Her Model 4001 Rickenbacker bass guitar seems to have an engine in it, shoots bullets and can apparently levitate.
• It's All About Me: Her Fatal Flaw. It takes a good punch or two before she calms down.
• Jerkass: She's very hard to be around in most circumstances, to the point where her Pet the Dog moments, though poignant, are quite few.
• Lack of Empathy: She's basically a borderline sociopath.
• The Lad-ette: She's loud, crass and frequently rude in all senses.
• Large Ham: She's energetic, spontaneous, and hammy as hell.
• Luminescent Blush: When Naota gives her a Love Confession in episode 6 (despite her trying to kill him seconds prior and him almost smashing her with his guitar), her face noticeably lights up as she stares in confusion before he kisses her.
• Magical Girlfriend: Played with. She's a beautiful alien girl who suddenly enters in Naota's life as his household's maid after running him over and that's just the start of the crazy things that happen in this story. However, her motives and actions are far darker than one would expect and it eventually becomes clear she's only using Naota for her plans.
• Male Gaze: She gets quite a bit of them toward the end of episode 5. First, she comes out of nowhere wearing a Playboy Bunny outfit, without explaining why or where she got it from. Then we get a big view of her surprisingly big boobs which bounce as she attacks Atomsk. Then throughout the fight, we get several gratuitous shots of her ass.
• Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Haruko seems like one of these, attaching herself to soulful brooding main character Naota and being the main impetous behind his Coming of Age Story. She's actually a subversion; she has her own agenda, and Naota only plays a small part in it.
• Manipulative Bastard: She slyly manipulates people and hides her true identity, goals and personality throughout the series. If Amarao is anything to go off of, she has been doing this for decades.
• Master of Disguise: She tries at least. Most of the time her disguises are pretty transparent, but when she really wants to disguise herself, she's capable of changing her voice and mannerisms so completely that her victims don't realize the difference. That is, until they hear their nurse's voice change mid-sentence, and then look up to see her sporting a great big Slasher Smile.
• Monster Roommate: She's a violent alien housekeeper living at Naota's place.
• Ms. Fanservice: The biggest one on the show. She frequently wears form-fitting and/or revealing outfits that highlight her curvy figure, such as her Naughty Nurse Outfit and her Playboy Bunny suit, and there tons of closeups of her ass and boobs throughout the show.
• Mysterious Past: It's never revealed who she is or where she comes from, though there are least a few more hints.
• Naughty Nurse Outfit: She wore this kind of nurse outfit once she takes and ties up Naota in a patient bed in the hospital.
• Nose Nuggets: She can often be seen nonchalantly picking her nose (and once, even eating it).
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: Her jerkassery was played off as being Comedic Sociopathy in the first four episodes. Then her true motives were revealed, and her actions are then portrayed in a much darker light.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: She's far more ruthless and calculating than her Genki Girl zaniness would suggest.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Amarao says her real name is Haruha Raharu, but given how unreliable his information is that's probably not entirely true. "Haruko Haruhara" might indeed be just an alias, though.
• Pet the Dog: In spite of her excessive selfishness and manipulation, and feeding Naota to the Terminal Core, she seems to have truly become fond of Naota by the end. Notice how, by the end, she offers Naota to join her in her pursuit of Atomsk, but rescinds it once she remembers that he's a kid.
• Playboy Bunny: Puts one on for no immediately discernible reason during the battle in episode 5. It's a reference to the videos for the Daicon fan conventions that Gainax created when it was first starting out.
• Pretty Freeloader: She moves into Naota's house after his father hires her as a housekeeper. It's rare to see her actually help around the house, though.
• Psycho Pink: She's pink-haired and her Establishing Character Moment features her running over Naota with a freaking MOPED. She only gets more dangerous and psychopathic as the series goes on.
• Rage Breaking Point: In episode 6, Haruko becomes absolutely livid after Naota absorbs Atomsk's power. Her defeat really seems to have mellowed her out by the end.
• Repetitive Name: Haruko Haruhara. Borders on Tongue Twister to boot.
• Sarcastic Confession: Haruko tends to give people outrageous answers, knowing she won't be believed:
  Naota: Who are you, and what do you want?
  Haruko: I'm just a wandering housekeeper.
  Naota: Tell me the truth.
  Haruko: I'm an alien.
  Naota: Right, and this afternoon you were a nurse.
• Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Energetic Girl to Naota's Savvy Guy. She's crazy and unpredictable while he's much more serious, often playing the Straight Man to her antics.
• Scarf of Asskicking: She wears a scarf quite often. Since her main mode of transportation is a supersonic Vespa, it makes a bit more sense than most... until you remember she doesn't use it or her goggles while flying.
• Screaming Warrior: Both just screaming and bizarre onomatopaeias for God knows what. Of course, she fights with a pull-start, multi-purpose giant club/grenade launcher/ref board/robot tool/bass guitar, so not screaming would just spoil the awesome.
• Second Love: Naota steadily moves past his crush on Mamimi onto her over the course of the series. He seemingly gets over her by the end of the series.
• Slasher Smile: One of her most common expressions is a shark-toothed grin.
• The Sociopath: She's a selfish and greedy manipulator who takes advantage of Naota's feelings for her and hides behind the charming (though unpleasant) veneer of a Genki Girl and Trickster Mentor to Naota.
• Space Police: Haruko claims to be a police officer from space. If she's telling the truth, she's apparently gone rogue.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: She can appear and disappear without warning and without anyone noticing, even when she's driving her Vespa.
• Supernatural Gold Eyes: She has yellow eyes and she's an alien.
• The Tease: She enjoys teasingly flirting with Naota, and engages in similar behavior with his father and grandfather (who are both much more receptive).
• Town Girls: The Butch to Eri's Neither and Mamimi's Femme. Haruko is a very tomboyish and chaotic Badass Biker with no vulnerable or sensitive traits whatsoever, contrasting the other two girls' feminine traits.
• Transformation Sequence: She parodies this in the second episode, going through long, elaborate motions in a blinding light with a long drumroll just to restyle her hair, sport a halo and purple wings, and large, extremely goofy sunglasses on top of her stolen nurses' uniform.
• The Unfettered: In order to free the Pirate King Atomsk, she continually manipulates Naota and his family.
• Vague Age: She claims to be 19, but Naota has his doubts about that. It's later implied that when she and Amarao first met, he was Naota's age. It should also be noted that since she's an alien, it could very well be that she is 19.
• Villain Protagonist: She's technically the female protagonist, but it's hinted through the series that her motives aren't heroic and she doesn't have the bests interests of anyone but herself in mind. It's confirmed in the final episode where she's revealed to only be seeking to absorb Atomsk's power and fights Naota when he takes the power she wants for himself.
• Yellow Eyes of Sneakiness: Haruko's eyes are yellow, a hint that she's really a vicious Manipulative Bitch.

Mamimi Samejima

Voiced by: Izumi Kasagi (JP), Stephanie Sheh (EN)

A truant high school student with pyromaniacal tendencies, she's apparently Naota's brother Tasuku's girlfriend, but appears to have entered into some sort of relationship with Naota since his brother left Japan. 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. It is implied that she is often bullied at school, causing her to often ditch.

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• Affectionate Nickname: Mamimi calls Naota "Ta-kun" during the series, which was her petname for Tasuku. However, in the epilogue, she says "See you later, Naota" in goodbye, showing that she was no longer using Naota as a substitute for Tasuku.
• Barefoot Loon: She loses her footwear not once, but twice, while fooling around in a river on two separate occasions. The first time, she asked Naota to bring her some sandals to wear, but the second time, she simply made due with her two bare feet.
• Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: The Beauty. Out of the three main female characters, Mamimi is the Cloudcuckoolander bordering on Brainless Beauty.
• Betty and Veronica: Apparently the sweet, steady down-home Betty against Haruko's wild and chaotic Veronica. Deconstructed, though — Mamimi is so steady she has no ambitions whatsoever, and isn't interested at all in the future.
• Broken Bird: She has been bullied her entire life, may or may not be homeless, and spends almost all of her time moping around. Under this, however, she is actually quite perky. She becomes even more of one after Naota seemingly dumps her in episode six. She manages to come around.
• Bully Hunter: In episode six, when she encounters the Terminal Core while she's in a mess for Naota apparently dumping her, she uses it to teach her bullies a lesson by making it eat their bikes.
• Bullying a Dragon: It's implied that she burned down her elementary school because she was bullied in it.
• Bully Magnet: It's implied that she is often bullied at school, causing her to ditch.
• Camera Fiend: Her first reaction to Naota and Haruko's Crash-Into Hello is to take pictures of it.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Mamimi is weird. Among other random stuff, she thinks Canti is the Lord of Black Flame, the god character of her video game.
• The Cobbler's Children Have No Shoes: She is only interested in Naota as a replacement of sorts for his brother Tasuku, who gave her the silent treatment and then got an American girlfriend. This doesn't stop Mamimi from pointing out that Naota only goes to see her when he's frustrated with Haruko.
• Cute and Psycho: She might be adorable, but her obsession with Naota's brother shows that she isn't exactly mentally stable.
• Damsel in Distress: She gets kidnapped by the Monster of the Week in almost every episode. Played with in that several cases she is the reason that the monster is even a problem at all.
• Delinquents: She skips class and smokes.
• Disproportionate Retribution: It's implied that she started a fire when she was in elementary school because she was bullied.
• The Ditz: She acts like a clueless airhead most of the time.
• Dub Name Change: For some reason, the Spanish dub changes her surname to "Samemiya".
• Freak Out: She loses it when she finds out Tasuku has an American girlfriend.
• Going Commando: She accidentally had her panties yanked off by Naota in the baseball episode. It's amazing she didn't notice it suddenly got a little breezier down under, a testament to her ditziness. Nor did her piggyback mount notice she was a mite too bare on the undercarriage. The reason this happened in the first place? Your guess is as good as ours.
• Informed Attribute: Naota refers to her as "my brother's girl", implying that she is, or at least at some point was, Tasuku's girlfriend. Later episodes heavily imply that this most likely wasn't the case, and that her obsession with Tasuku is actually one-sided hero worship that stems from him being the only person to ever show her kindness that the naive and immature Naota is incapable of fully understanding. Though as the series dances around completely addressing the issue, the truth is never fully revealed.
• Joshikousei: She's a high school student and seems to be always wearing her school uniform.
• Journey to Find Oneself: She ends up leaving school and Mabase to pursue a career in photography.
• Kid with the Leash: She does this with the Terminal Core, a disembodied robot with a dog-like personality and a ravenous appetite for machinery, which she uses to get revenge on everyone who did her wrong.
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: She adopts a stray cat which she names "Takkun". Since she isn't allowed to keep pets at home, Mamimi keeps him under a certain bridge she hangs out.
• Loving a Shadow: She projects her love for Tasuku in his little brother Naota, who dislikes her advances but can't quite get rid of her because she's too pushy. When he starts growing more independent and starts to like hanging out with Haruko, Mamimi starts to get really annoyed because she can no longer feel like loving him. When Naota dumps her, she falls into depression and only gets better after the Terminal Core incident is over.
• Manic Pixie Dream Girl: A deconstruction, as her strange actions and her inappropriate advances on Naota are signs that she has serious issues of her own to work out.
• Psychopathic Womanchild: She acts closer to an elementary school student despite being a high schooler, and is very clearly mentally unstable. This is one of the few things not played for any laughs. Made more blatant in the original Japanese; Mamimi uses Third-Person Person (normally used by young children) to refer to himself instead of pronouns like "watashi" expected of someone her age, showcasing her immaturity.
• Pyromaniac: Her favorite video game is about burning down buildings to make space in an overcrowded city, and it's implied she burnt down her elementary school. The causal relationship between her playing the game and being an actual arsonist is unclear.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: She gets red eyes during episode six to indicate that she's finally gone off the deep end.
• Rescue Romance: She fell in love with Tasuku after he rescued her from the elementary school fire that she may have started herself.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: In episode 6, she feeds the "terminal core" of a robot and makes it take revenge on those who ever hurt her.
• Sanity Slippage: At the beginning of the series, Mamimi is aloof and a bit of The Ditz, but she's fairly cheeky and lighthearted. But her obsession with Canti and Tasuku combined with Naota's growing independence from her due to Haruko causes her to become more weary and depressed, to the point of completely mistaking Naota for his brother and jumping off the deep end for some payback on her bullies in the final episode in pure disregard for her own rest and health.
• School Uniforms are the New Black: She's always in her school uniform despite never going to school.
• Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer: Inverted. A silhouette of an older Mamimi appears along with an older Naota in the ED of FLCL Progressive, but isn't even mentioned in the anime itself.
• Skipping School: She never goes to school and only walks around the town all day.
• Smoking Is Not Cool: She is the only character in the show who smokes. However, this isn't seen as a positive thing by the other characters and whenever she starts chain-smoking, it's usually a sign that her mental state is on a downward curve.
• Third-Person Person: She refers to herself in third person, highlighting her childish tendencies.
• Town Girls: The Femme to Eri's Neither and Haruko's Butch. Mamimi is the most obviously feminine and emotionally fragile of the trio.
• Verbal Tic: In the Japanese dub, she has a tendency to slur the ends of her sentences ("desu" becomes "-ssu", etc.).

Kanchi/Canti

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 them. 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.

When called into battle, he can access Atomsk's power using Naota as a catalyst.

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• Badass Cape: Sports an extremely cool one in episode 5.
• Barely-Changed Dub Name: His Japanese name "カンチ" is pronounced "Kanchi", though "Canti" is more-or-less equivalent as Japanese lacks a "ti" sound (some romanisation system do write the charater as "ti", but it's still meant to be pronounced "chi"). The Spanish dub uses "Kanchi".
• BFG: When powered up, he gains the ability to transform into an antitank gun. Some fans theorize it's a pitching machine.
• Butt-Monkey: Generally treated as little more than an errand boy by the other characters, though they all seem to respect him when he gets serious.
• Caught with Your Pants Down: Haruko apparently catches him in the act in episode 2. Made especially bizarre by the fact that he's a robot.
• Covert Pervert: Seems to mostly spend his free time looking at porn.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He's a bumbling robot who gets embarrassed easily, but he kicks ass and takes names once Naota's inside him.
• I Choose to Stay: Implied. He can be seen doing chores in Naota's house at the end of Episode 6.
• Losing Your Head: Well, only the back part of it.
• Monster Roommate: Well, super humanoid fighting robot roommate.
• Mundane Utility: He's a super-powerful robot of ambiguous origin that is used primarily for mundane housework.
• Nice Guy: His body language generally makes him come across as clumsy, good-natured and easily flustered.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: He is first called TV Boy, Lord Cantide, and then Canti, but none of those are his real names and he probably doesn't even have one.
• Power Glows: His screen starts to glow as he transforms into his red form.
• Replacement Goldfish: He subtly acts as a stand in for Naota's older brother Tasuku, most notably in Mamimi's idolization of him.
• Ridiculously Human Robots: Not only does he express human emotion, he can also eat curry with no trouble at all... even with no mouth.
• The Silent Bob: At one point, he and Naota apparently have a conversation, with no sign of Canti Talking with Signs.
• Super Mode: Eating Naota causes him to turn red and become several times stronger and better at fighting. It's eventually revealed that he's channeling Atomsk's power during these instances.
• Super Robot: Along with being an extremely strong fighter, he is seemingly fully emotive.
• The Speechless: Never so much as utters a grunt.
• Talking with Signs: Often expresses himself through pictures shown on his TV head. On a single inconsequential occasion he uses text.
• To Serve Man: Subverted, he eats Naota to power up, but then he excretes Naota fully intact when he's done with him.
• Transforming Mecha: Cannon mode.
• Turns Red: His body turns red when he powers up.
• TV Head Robot: His head is a television. Kamon even calls him "TV Boy" and tries to pass him off as a TV to Ninamori.

Eri Ninamori

Voiced by: Mika Itou (JP), Melissa Fahn (EN)

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.

She projects a proper, even slightly stuck-up personality, and conceals personal information to an almost obsessive degree. 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 in a play version of Puss in Boots and have Naota cast opposite her, which (along with other instances) hints at a crush on him.

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• A-Cup Angst: Her chest is fairly small. She works around this by layering her tops.
• Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: She's a purple-haired girl with a mature and distant personality. It may be somewhat of an act, though.
• Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: The Brains. Out of the three main female characters, Eri is the most sensible and academically accomplished, being Naota's Class Representative.
• Becoming the Mask: She explains to Naota that her interest in the Puss in Boots story is that the titular cat managed to turn his fake identity into truth at the end, something that Eri wants for herself.
• Broken Record: During the dinner scene in Episode 3. "I don't think it's any big deal." She even repeats the same animation over and over while she says it. This is actually symbolic; whenever she says that, it's in response to stuff regarding her (being run over by Haruko's vespa more specifically). She starts speaking something else when it comes to Naota's dad wanting to call her parents.
• Class Representative: She's the president of Naota's sixth grade class.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: She's visibly irritated when Masashi refers to Mamimi as Naota's wife, and is clearly jealous of Haruko's closeness with Naota, something Haruko quickly picks up on and taunts her over.
• Demoted to Extra: She has A Day in the Limelight in Episode 3. Then she's mysteriously absent throughout all of Episode 4, and when she appears again in Episodes 5 and 6, she has a very small part.
• Distaff Counterpart: It has been noted how she's basically a female Naota who is willing to do more childish things and still keep a serious air around her without looking like she's being overly mature.
• Girlish Pigtails: In Episode 5, she ties her hair into a pair of low pigtails, which is more fitting for her Tsundere character.
• Going Commando: She briefly loses her gym bloomers and panties when an alien robot took over her head. Luckily, Canti was able to quickly get them back on after blushing.
• Important Haircut: It's short as of the last scene of Episode 3. Close inspection of the episode reveals that Eri's hair is damaged and ripping into shreds when she is severed from the robot that was bonded to her head, so presumably she had to bob it down to make her hair neat and pretty again until it regains its proper length and shape. It can also constitute Traumatic Haircut for this reason, but the "important" aspect is seen in that Eri herself now behaves with more compassion and sincerity, evidence she's matured and overcome/resolved some familial anguish weighing on her.
• Kick Chick: When the alien took over her head, it made her counter all of the attacks directed at her by kicking them away. It worked pretty well.
• Last Girl Wins: She is the last girl out of the three love interests that was introduced, and is most likely the one that gets the boy in the end, because she is the only one that still interacts with him.
• Leg Focus: She gets one or two shots of her legs while she's faced away from the camera in episode 3. It becomes especially jarring when you remember that she's only 12.
• Maybe Ever After: She might have a chance to get together with Naota in the future, given that she's the only one of his love interests that's still around and close to him after Haruko and Mamimi leave the town.
• Not So Stoic: Rare but it occasionally happens when she's alone with Naota.
• Ojou: Less than other examples, though. While she's the daughter of the mayor of Mabase, she doesn't really flaunt this.
• Only Sane Woman: About the only female in the cast who doesn't go bonkers over anything.
• Puppeteer Parasite: An alien robot takes over her head in episode three, effectively using her as part of its body. Fortunately, it didn't last long.
• Purely Aesthetic Glasses: She wears a pair of eyeglass frames (with no lenses) while onstage as the Marquis de Carabas.
• Stepford Smiler: She tries to hide the fact that her parents' marital troubles bother her. She eventually reveals in episode 6 that she went to therapy with her parents, so this is no longer an issue.
• Sweet Tooth: She likes popsicles.
• That Came Out Wrong: Asking if "Tonight is okay?" in regards to hanging out with Naota, after he says that they shouldn't hang out for a while starting tomorrow, lest people start rumors about them. Cue Luminescent Blush on Naota's part, and a quick addition of, "Not like that," when she realized the way that her previous line could be taken. And then she begins engaging in some rather sexually aggressive behavior.
• Third-Option Love Interest: For Naota. She's also the only one who's his age and unlike Haruko and Mamimi, Eri's feelings seem genuine. By the end, she's the only option that's still around as well.
• Town Girls: The Neither to Mamimi's Femme and Haruko's Butch. Eri is more forward and forceful than Mamimi, but is fairly girly and nonviolent when compared to Haruko.
• Tsundere: Towards Naota. She has a crush on him, but her stuck-up personality drives her to only give him mixed signals. Also a deconstruction; though this makes her by far the sanest of Naota's potential love interests, her tsun-tsun behavior also makes her the least pleasant to be around and this causes Naota to act distant towards her.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: With Naota. She has a crush on him and he might find her attractive, but both are still too immature to express their attraction properly.
• "Well Done, Daughter!" Girl: Her perfectionism and ambition is all a desperate attempt to get her parents to notice her. She hopes that if she's cast as the lead, her parents will just have to come (and come together) and this will patch up their imploding marriage.
• Wise Beyond Her Years: Everyone believes this due to her stoic mask, though it doesn't come true until later in the series.

Commander Amarao

Voiced by: Koji Okura (JP), Dave Mallow (EN)

An agent from the Department of Interstellar Immigration, a The Men in Black-like agency. This agency, among other things, acts as a middle man for negotiations between the government and Medical Mechanica. Thus, Haruko is a big problem for them as she is bent on provoking an attack by disrupting communications.

Unlike other adults, such as Naota's father and teacher, he is mature and serious about his job. He has a pair of eyebrows so large, people can't help but drop everything they're doing and just stare at them. He seems to have had a past relationship with Haruko similar to Naota's, and knows more about her than anyone else in the series.

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• Abhorrent Admirer: Kitsurabami is disgusted by drinking from the same bottle as him, and is incredibly put off when he starts to make advances towards her in episode 6.
• Adults Are Useless: Played with. He knows more about what's going on than any other human character, but he's ultimately unable to keep Naota from making the same mistakes he did.
• Badass Normal: He can hold his own against Haruko as long as his guns have bullets.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Made of nori. FLCL Grunge reveal he had normal eyebrows before they were sliced off.
• Bowel-Breaking Bricks: His enormous nori eyebrows serve this purpose beginning near the end of episode 4-6.
• Covert Pervert: Stealthily ogles Kitsurabami in various scenes, and eventually comes onto her in the final episode. This perversion is one of the earliest signs that he's not quite the bastion of maturity that he presents himself to be.
• Demoted to Extra: Barely appears in the manga at all.
• Does Not Like Spam: Like Naota, he hates spicy food.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: His N.O. ability is pretty small, which means when a guitar is pulled out of him... well...
• Establishing Character Moment: Appears suddenly to Naota (by calling out to him from behind rather than through a Crash-Into Hello) on a scooter (a Japanese-made Fuji Rabbit rather than an Italian Vespa) and coolly tells him not to swing his bat (which is used throughout the series as a metaphor for taking risks), all in all immediately establishing himself as a Foil to Haruko.
• Fake Ultimate Hero: He initially seems like the ideal adult that Naota strives to be, but is later revealed to, like Naota, put up a false front of maturity to hide his own weaknesses.
• Guns Akimbo: "I'm not a child anymore, I'm an adult. I can buy my own insurance and everything!"
• Knight of Cerebus: A very mild example, but the plot finally starts to advance as soon as he appears.
• Know-Nothing Know-It-All: While he knows significantly more about Haruko and Medical Mechanica than the rest of the cast, he still knows next to nothing and rather fills the gaps in his knowledge with his own incorrect guesses.
• Manchild: Word of God says Amarao is basically an adult version of Naota with the same flaws.
• Magic Feather: His eyebrows are implied to be this. While he claims they block N.O. usage, there's really no evidence that supports this, coupled with all of his talk about how macho they make him and his immediate breakdown after losing them, they're more for confidence than anything.
• The Men in Black: His organization is made up of them, though he and Kitsurabami are the only ones we really meet formally.
• Mister Exposition: His ramblings about Medical Mechanica and the Pirate King Atomsk help to tie the more surreal parts of this series together.
• Not Growing Up Sucks: His "fake" attempts to come off as mature (such as his eyebrows) only make him look more childish and pathetic.
• Not So Above It All: After spending all of episode 4 being cool and mysterious, episode 5 prominently features Amarao acting like the manchild that he truly is. He attempts to save face in episode 6, but by that point the cracks in his mask have already revealed themselves and it's impossible to take him seriously.
• Only Sane Man: Initially comes off as the only adult in the entire series with the maturity that Naota seeks to replicate. While he is this to some extent, his maturity is just a front and he's overall no wiser than Naota.
• Phrase Catcher: "Those eyebrows..."
• Power Limiter: His fake eyebrows supposedly block N.O. usage.
• Shadow Archetype: Like Naota, he puts up a face of maturity to hide his weaknesses. Naota eventually grows out of it, however, and Amaro retains that particular Manchild trait.
• The Stoic: He remains calm and composed throughout all of his interactions with Naota, in contrast with the rest of the cast. Once he's forced to actually get out and do things, however, he's revealed to be a loud crybaby.
• Sweet Tooth: He adds way too much sugar to his coffee, and at the hair salon he asks for a lollipop.
• Teeny Weenie: In contrast with Naota's guitar, Amarao's is barely slingshot-sized. This is implied to be the reason why Haruko abandoned him.
• Unreliable Expositor: He gives us the closest thing we get to exposition on the series' overarching plot and Haruko's backstory, but his past with her makes it all suspect. FLCL Progressive, however, ends up exonerating him on one key detail, as it turns out he was completely right about Haruko being in love with Atomsk (she just so happened to desire his power as well) and Haruhara Raharu being her real name. Atomsk even has a humanoid form, though it looks nothing like the rendition that's shown when Amarao is describing him.

Kamon Nandaba

Voiced by: Suzuki Matsuo (JP), Joe Martin (EN)

Naota's 47 year-old father, a former pop culture journalist working as a freelance writer, with his own trashy tabloid: Kamon-Mabase (the title is a pun of "come-on mabase"). He makes the most references to pop culture. Like the other adults, Kamon is extremely immature, notably more so than the other adults. However, he shows a surprising amount of seriousness and thoughtfulness at some points in the anime.

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• Abusive Parent: On top of becoming jealous of the relationship that Haruko and Naota develop, leading to him challenging his own son to an airsoft match for her love, his general manchild tendencies are hinted to be the main reason that Naota tries to act like an adult.
• Adults Are Useless: The most noticeable example. He doesn't do anything of note due to his immature personality.
• Butt-Monkey: Things usually don't go his way.
• Dirty Old Man: Towards Haruko. He's not that old, but he certainly fits this.
• Dumbass Has a Point: Despite being a completely immature manchild, he's surprisingly insightful. He figures out Mamimi's family situation long before Naota simply though her buying habits at the bakery, recognizes that Ninamori is only pretending to act mature and also hates him for publicizing her father's affair, and in episode 6 covers for Naota's absence at school since "he's enjoying his freedom."
• Gag Penis: Gets one during the second round of manga visuals in episode 6.
• Hidden Depths:
  • He delivers some surprisingly insightful lines throughout the series, and it is subtley suggested that he is comfortable enough with his identity that he doesn't try to pretend to be something he isn't, which is the problem that Naota struggles with.
  • Notably, he's the only adult in the entire series who notices Mamimi's situation and tries to do anything about it, since we see him giving her left-over food in episode 1.
• Madness Mantra: "Fooly...? Cooly...?"
• No Fourth Wall: Whenever he goes on one of his rants.
• Only Mostly Dead: At one point, he was Left for Dead in the closet while he was replaced with a robot.
• Otaku:
  • He makes the most pop culture references in the show, after all. Case in point, the picture of him up there? He's wearing Lupin's outfit.
  • According to Naota, he wrote a book on the deep mysteries of Eva.
• Smarter Than You Look: He's hinted to be perhaps the only character to fully understand the moral of the show of being yourself. He's still a weirdo though.
• Wacky Parent, Serious Child: He's a wacky and irresponsible parrent to contrast with his serious moody son Naota.

Shigekuni Nandaba

Voiced by: Hiroshi Ito (JP), Steve Kramer (EN)

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, and it is suggested that he didn't approve of Tasuku dating her. Shigekuni values baseball more than anything in the world — he is disappointed in his own son and younger grandson because they are lousy baseball players. Though like his grandson, he cannot stand spicy curry.

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• Ascended Extra: In the manga, he gets flashback scenes, and even participates in the final battle by bombing Medical Mechanica.
• Dirty Old Man: He makes Canti buy him porn magazines.
• Madness Mantra: Makes a constant habit of rapidly dropping the title whenever something perverted is mentioned or occurs right next to him.

Masashi and Gaku

Voiced by: Kazuhito Suzuki (Masashi - JP), Steve Blum (Masashi - EN), Akira Miyashima (Gaku - JP), R. Martin Klein (Gaku - EN), Jordi Vila (Masashi - SP), Joaquim Sota (Gaku - SP)

Two of Naota's friends/classmates, both 12 years old. Masashi generally sounds slightly depressed and always has a look of apathy while Gaku is somewhat hyper and is obsessed with kissing and other things of sexual behavior while constantly saying "chu" ("Smooch" in the English version.) Masashi also has a job as a delivery boy, and drives his dad's truck around, even though he's only in grade school.

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• Ascended Extra: They spend a lot more time hanging out with Naota in the manga.
• Broken Record: Gaku. Particularly episode 1 "Pervert! He's a Perverrrrt!" and also "Smooch! SMOOOOOOOOCH!!!!!"
• Expy: They look quite similar to Kensuke and Toji, Shinji's best friends from Neon Genesis Evangelion, only with their personalities (and glasses) switched. They also remind of secondaries Aoba and Hyuga from the same series.
• Greek Chorus: Are pretty much just commentators and observers to what's going on in the series.
• Large Ham: Gaku. "SMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCCCCCHHHHHH!!!!"
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Gaku is more hyper and active than perpetually bored looking Masashi.
• Verbal Tic: Gaku picks up many throughout the course of the series, but the one that stuck with him is "SMOOOOOOCH~!"
• Those Two Guys: They are usually seen around and appear to be friends of Naota, but they don't really matter.

Lt. Kitsurubami

Voiced by: Chiemi Chiba (JP), Jessie Gabrielle Silveira (EN)

A lieutenant in the Department of Interstellar Immigration. She is perhaps the most mature of all the characters, and is a competent right hand to Amarao and an expert sharpshooter. However, Kitsurubami has a touch of fangirl in her that pops out from time to time.

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• Abhorrent Admirer: Her boss Amarao has a crush on her, but she is utterly repulsed by his unwelcome advances, his peculiar "eyebrows", and his feigned maturity.
• BFG: Wields a tank cannon in Episode 5.
• Clothing Damage: In episode 5. Getting cannon fire knocked back at you will do that.
• Covert Pervert:
  • In Episode 4, she has a very blatant Nosebleed at the sight of Naota's huge guitar.
  • She becomes googly eyed at Canti in Episode 5.
• Demoted to Extra: Like Amarao, she barely shows up in the manga.
• Friendly Sniper: She's an expert sharpshooter, but still has a friendly personality.
• Meaningful Name: It's the name of a light brown color, which matches her skin tone.
• Not So Above It All: At first she appears to be the only normal behaving adult in the FLCL universe, but she sometimes displays some childish or lustful behavior.
• Number Two: She's the second-in-command in Amarao's staff at the Interstellar Immigration Bureau.
• Youthful Freckles: Despite her position of authority, she's quite young, and even has freckles to illustrate this.

Medical Mechanica

The secretive and ominous corporation whose buildings resemble giant irons. Besides somehow making citizens ignore its particular building that lacks entrances or exits, it wishes to channel the Pirate King's power for...something.

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• Corporate Conspiracy: Though we don't know much about them, Medical Mechanica apparently has some sort of plan to use giant irons to smooth out the wrinkles in human brains, thus eliminating free will.
• Evil, Inc.: Medical Mechanica wants to eliminate free thought and has some killer robots and a giant clothing iron with which to accomplish that goal. And that's all you ever find out about them.
• Spell My Name With An S: "Medical Meccanica" is the spelling shown on in-universe signage.
• The Unreveal: Supposedly they want to claim Atomsk's power and use it to activate the giant irons and remove wrinkles from the brain to eliminate thought. We learn absolutely nothing else about the organization or its structure, and the only members we meet are two security guards for the Mabase iron who don't know anything else either.

Atomsk the Pirate King

The enigmatic figure sought by Haruko. According to Amarao, he is the most powerful "space pirate" in the galaxy, and he possesses an incredible N.O. that can pull in entire solar systems. His appearance is similar to a colossal bird, and his body glows with a bright red light. He also has a nose ring identical to the chain link on Haruko's bracelet, which allows her to detect Atomsk's presence or the activation of N.O. in general. Canti is able to channel his power for brief periods of time, allowing him to perform superhuman feats.

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• Chessmaster Sidekick: Whenever Canti eats Naota and turns red, it's Atomsk doing all of the fighting, despite Naota getting all of the credit.
• Chunky Updraft: Which is how it looks, with an entire city block.
• Dimensional Traveler: Revealed to be so in FLCL Shoegaze
• Energy Being: Certainly looks the part, though the specifics of what he is are unknown.
• Even Evil Has Standards: In the last episode, he absorbs the exploding Terminal Core and flees with its energy, preventing an Earth-Shattering Kaboom... though to be fair, he may only qualify for this trope since Haruko was willing to blow up the Earth just to get Atomsk's power.
• Feathered Fiend: Resembles a bird.
• Last Episode, New Character: He is only referred by name before finally making an appearance in the final episode.
• Living MacGuffin: He's what Medical Mechanica has and what Haruko wants.
• Meaningful Name: Named after the novel Atomsk by Carmichael Smith (a pseudonym of Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger, better known as Cordwainer Smith).
• Pet the Dog: Depending on your interpretation of Canti and Atomsk, he almost literally does this with an Affectionate Gesture to the Head to Mamimi after the battle in the second episode.
• Physical God: He's a giant, glowing bird-like Eldritch Abomination that's so powerful that he has his own orbit (so to speak).
• Power Floats: His N.O. is so immense, it screws with the Earth's gravity.
• Power Glows: When he's showing his true form, he glows bright red.
• Powers via Possession: Channels his powers through Canti. And, briefly, Naota during the final fight.
• Red Sky, Take Warning: When he's freed.
• Sealed Inside a Person-Shaped Can: Was inside Naota’s head, maybe.
• Shout-Out: To the Cordwainer Smith novel of the same name.
• Space Pirates: This is how others describe him, but what that means is never explained. He certainly can steal planets if he wished.

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