Haruko Haruhara

Intro

Haruko Haruhara (ハルハラ・ハル子?, Haruhara Haruko) is a central character of the FLCL series, Mabase's newest resident, and an extraterrestrial investigator for the Galactic Space Police Brotherhood. She becomes the Nandaba household's maid while working to find Atomsk, the most powerful space pirate in the galaxy. She leaves Earth in FLCLimax, but returns as a teacher in Mabase in FLCL Progressive.

Profile

Haruko Haruhara is an energetic, spontaneous girl. She has light pink hair and is an investigator for the Galactic Space Police Brotherhood. She proclaims to be 19 years old, but it is unknown if that is true. In the first episode of season 1, she runs over Naota with her Vespa and hits him in the head with her guitar. Shortly after, she was hired by Naota's father, Kamon, as a housekeeper. here She is called Haruha Raharu (ハルハ・ラハル) by Amarao and Jinyu; this could, however, be just another nickname, or perhaps her real name based on its use by Jinyu and the credits of Progressive.

Personality

She has a tendency to switch between a variety of different dispositions to others on a dime, making her difficult to read and unpredictable. She can be very persuasive and stand-offish sometimes to get what she wants. When around the Nandaba men, she is often either promiscuous or found in suggestive situations. She can also act like a mom, a lover or a maid depending upon her mood.

Physical Appearance

Haruko is a tall, slender and unearthly young woman with cat-like facial features. She sports a pale complexion, salmon-colored bob cut styled into a medium-length flare, and yellow-colored eyes that are almond-shaped.

Outfit

Her usual outfit is a bright red coat, black pants, white boots, a white scarf, and a pair of goggles. She also wears a chain bracelet on her wrist

Alternate Outfit

When she's inside she wears a red hoodie and black pants while keeping her chain bracelet on

Powers

Powers:Haruko has a wide array of abilities, both from the tools at her disposal and her own natural strength. Most notably, she rides a super-powered yellow Vespa that allows for flight and super-speed and wields an electric bass guitar that opens N.O. channels. She can move at incredible speeds, as seen in FLCL when she dodges bullets from guns pressed to her body, and she also possesses superhuman strength, such as when she launched a bomb into space and when she fights the Medical Mechanica robots who tower over her. She can also consume and absorb the strength of other beings, as seen in her attempts to absorb Atomsk and when she devoured her other half, Jinyu. She survived being electrocuted by a Medical Mechanica robot in Fire Starter and in LooPQR, Raharu and Jinyu generate a red and blue aura, respectively, during their fight. It is possible that they both carry remnants of Atomsk’s power. She is fast enough to dodge bullets and has also demonstrated that she can hypnotize weak-minded people. In Our Running, it is revealed Haruko’s bracelet can produce red chains, which she tried to use against Atomsk. In Alternative, she is able to make an ordinary car fly and control it like a surfboard, suggesting that other things she's been using to fly may not normally be capable of doing so.

Bat

Bat:Haruko's first bass in FLCL is a 1974 left-handed Azureglo Rickenbacker 4001c64 electric bass guitar, first seen in episode one of FLCL when she hits Naota in the head. It seems to have a saw attachment that can improve its melee capabilities, and can be used as a gun and hoverboard. It is also used by Haruko as a bat and is referred to as such on a few occasions. It's indestructible and is her main tool. At the end of FLCL, she leaves it behind with Naota, but seemingly gets it back at the end of Progressive.

Vehicle

Haruko drives a yellow Vespa SS 180. This vehicle can fly, reach incredibly high speeds, and can almost stop on a dime. It is also able to weave through tight traffic despite its incredible speeds.

Relationship with Naota

Haruko first meets Naota when she runs him over with her Vespa and proceeds to beat him in the head with her bass. He thinks she is insane, especially when she continues to follow him and eventually gets a job working as a maid in his house. He tends to be very outraged at her wild behavior, save for when she does something cool or impressive. Over the course of the series, he develops feelings for her, which he reveals in the final episode. However, to Haruko, Naota is nothing more than a tool in her grand plan— all she really needs from him is his head, which is an N.O. channel from which Atomsk can be freed. She merely manipulates his feelings, since she doesn't care much for anyone or anything besides her own desires.

Relationship With Mamimi

Mamimi and Haruko do not have much in the ways of interaction, but as Naota's personality changes because of Haruko, Mamimi finds herself liking him less and rejecting him more. While Mamimi never shows jealousy or anger toward Haruko directly, she cuts off all ties with Naota and leaves completely in the final episode, even though she knows Haruko has left.

Relationship with Kamon

Naota's father is interested only in his wants. His main desire is the lovely Haruko, who would make the perfect young bride. Since Kamon pines almost blindly for her, Haruko is easily able to use him for her own motives.

Relationship with Canti

Canti is the robot that pops out of Naota's head in the first episode because of Haruko hitting him with her bass. Thinking that by hitting him, she will free Atomsk, she hits Canti, only to break the connection between him and Atomsk (thus, he turns from red to blue). He becomes an obedient, helpful robot afterward, and listens to both Haruko's chore commands and her orders when engaged in battle with other robots.

Miyu Miyu

While Miyu Miyu (Naota's cat) tends to be unfriendly, he allows Haruko to play with him quite a bit, and rather roughly. Haruko uses him as a method of communicating with the mysterious Fraternity, which she is a part of.

Amararo

Amarao was Haruko's channel in the past, and thus is trying to keep Naota from ending up like he did. However, Naota has a much stronger channel connection than Amarao does, so Haruko actually finds him of use, unlike Amarao. Judging by the way Amarao acts around her and while talking about her, it is hinted that he has some feelings for her, just as Naota does. However, she's a troublesome alien for someone in his line of work, so those feelings are diluted by his anger towards her, both for what she did to him and the trouble she causes. Haruko finds Amarao to be completely weak and pathetic and doesn't fail to let him know

Fooly Cooly Episode 1

Naota Nandaba, while walking with his older brother's delusional "girlfriend", seventeen-year-old Mamimi Samejima, is struck by a Vespa driver, who revives Naota and hits him in the head with her bass guitar before driving off. This turns it into an N.O. channel, from which objects and other beings can be pulled out. Naota discovers a horn protruding from his head where he was hit, concealing it with a bandage. He keeps the horn secret from his classmates the next day and goes to the hospital, where he again encounters the mysterious woman disguised as a nurse. He flees before she can strike him again with her guitar. At dinner, Naota discovers that his father, Kamon, has hired his mysterious assailant, Haruko Haruhara, to be their live-in housekeeper and moreover, that they will be roommates. After learning from Haruko that she is "an alien" and becoming frustrated with her, he goes downstairs and discovers that Mamimi had stopped by. Naota runs off and meets her at a bridge, where a robot, followed by a detached, robotic hand, suddenly emerges from the horn on his head, and begin to fight. After the robot triumphs, it is struck by Haruko with her guitar.

Fooly Cooly Episode 2

Mamimi is obsessed with a hand-held video game called Fire Starter, which involves the player performing the role of an arsonist in order to please the Lord of Black Flames. The robot who had emerged from Naota's head is kept occupied doing chores at the Nandaba residence, while Haruko, despite being the maid, performs little to no work. Mamimi comes into contact with the robot while he is recovering the parts from his head that Haruko had damaged, and names him Canti, believing him to be the Lord of Black Flames from her game. Haruko tries to break into the Medical Mechanica plant in town, which is in the shape of a giant iron, but fails and is taken home by Naota. A series of fires, meanwhile, are erupting around the city, and Naota visits the site of one of these fires with two of his school friends. On the way home, he sees Mamimi down by the river and learns from his friends that she is being bullied at her school. Naota realizes it is Mamimi who is starting the fires, and that she truly believes her game to be reality and the robot to be Canti, the Lord of Black Flames from her video game. Naota finds her performing a 'fire ritual' by the water bank. She explains she burnt down her old school house when she was younger because she 'hated the place', and had been saved from the flames by Naota's brother, which is the reason she loved him. A robot emerges from Naota's head then, and starts to battle Canti. Naota merges with Canti, and is able to transform into a large, howitzer-like weapon to destroy the robot. At the end of the episode, Naota wonders what he can do for Mamimi, and promises to always be by her side.

Fooly Cooly Episode 3

The father of Naota's classmate, Eri Ninamori, who is also the mayor of Mabase, is caught up in a scandal involving an alleged separation with her mother over having a mistress. Ninamori is more focused on the class' upcoming play, Puss in Boots, in which she plays the lead opposite Naota, who was voted to play the cat. Naota is unenthusiastic about his casting and skips the day's rehearsal. Upon meeting with Mamimi, she discovers that he now has cat ears growing from his head. Ninamori retreats to a train station to get away from the media circus that has developed outside her home, where Naota finds her. Haruko comes racing down the street, and falls off her Vespa when she swerves to avoid hitting a cat. The Vespa slams into Naota, knocking him into Ninamori and revealing his cat ears to her.Kamon invites her to spend the night at the Nandaba residence due to the current turmoil at her home, and while in Naota's room, she reveals that she rigged the class votes to have him cast as the cat and herself as the Marquis. The next day, the two get into an argument over the play. After Ninamori angrily reveals Naota's cat ears, he retaliates by revealing her vote rigging. This triggers the emergence of a massive creature from her head, which Haruko and Canti manage to defeat with the help of curry. The class goes through with the play.

Fooly Cooly Episode 4

Haruko proves to be a star baseball player with phenomenal hitting and pitching skills, nearly single-handedly defeating the Mabase Martians, who are coached by Naota's grandfather Shigekuni. Naota, however, is ignorant of the game and gets hit by one of Haruko's pitches. At home, Kamon and Haruko indulge in odd behavior that raises Naota's jealousy. He meets Commander Amarao for the first time, who warns him about Haruko. Commander Amarao, who works for the Bureau of Interstellar Immigration alongside his subordinate Lieutenant Kitsurubami, later discovers that a satellite damaged by one of Haruko's hit baseballs is rapidly falling towards Earth. It homes in on a sudden burst of light from the N.O. channel in Naota's head that is triggered by his anger towards his father, targeting Mabase. Naota confronts Kamon and nearly attacks him with his baseball bat, discovering that his father has been replaced by a robot. He finds the corpse of his real father and revives him with hot water. After receiving a message that Commander Amarao had asked Naota to pass on to her, Haruko takes Naota to the top of the Medical Mechanica plant, where she extracts a Gibson Flying V guitar from Naota's head, which she calls his "bat." She then leaves as the falling satellite heads straight for Naota. It unfolds into the shape of a baseball glove and launches a bomb that looks exactly like a baseball. Naota swings his "bat" and manages to halt the bomb, which begins to detonate. Haruko returns to rescue him by swinging her guitar and knocking it back into space.

Fooly Cooly Episode 5

Haruko begins to switch her attentions from Kamon to Naota, arousing the former's jealousy. They resolve to "duel" for Haruko, which amounts to little more than an intense airsoft firefight with Canti allied with Kamon. During the fight, Lieutenant Kitsurubami tries to unsuccessfully blow Canti away. Mamimi, observing Naota's intimate relationship with Haruko, questions him as to how much he really likes her, leading him to confront her about their relationship. Finally, his N.O. channel erupts with one of the largest objects yet, a leviathan robot, while a gunfight rages between Commander Amarao, his group of backup gunmen and Haruko. Trapped on top of the robot, Naota is outraged that Mamimi called his brother's name for help instead of him. Before he fuses with Canti he angerly tells her that his name is Naota and to never call him "Ta-kun" ever again, leaving her speechless. Despite his and Haruko's best efforts, they are unable to stop the giant robot, which rampages towards the Medical Mechanica plant. Canti then manifests the power of Atomsk by producing his EB-0 1961 Gibson bass guitar, to the amazement of Commander Amarao and Haruko. Canti defeats the giant robot, which is actually a gargantuan hand, rocketing over the Medical Mechanica plant and straight into the ground, where it becomes a petrified monument, presiding over the plant.

Fooly Cooly Episode 6

Haruko and Canti have disappeared and become wanted criminals, while smoke has continued to pour out of the Medical Mechanica plant since the last robot attack, shrouding Mabase in mist. Naota and his friends see Mamimi searching for something in some grass. When he finally realizes that Mamimi will never return his feelings, he decides to ignore her. Mamimi finds a small, dog-like robot by the river. It runs away with her cell phone, which she lets it eat, and it grows as a result. Haruko returns to the Nandaba residence at dinner, causing Naota to later ask her in tears why she left. Commander Amarao and Lieutenant Kitsurubami attempt to find the "Terminal Core" of a robot piece they haul out of the river, which is revealed to be the creature Mamimi has been feeding. It absorbs part of Canti before Haruko feeds Naota to it, then it merges into the giant hand near the iron. From this, Haruko hopes to extract Atomsk, the celestial being whose power she desires. Before the giant hand can fully grasp the Medical Mechanica plant, Canti stops it as Naota emerges from his head, glowing with the infinite energy of Atomsk. Stunned, Haruko flies into a rage, bent on acquiring the power of Atomsk by destroying Naota. Before he can finish Haruko off, Naota stops short and, declaring his love for her, kisses her, allowing Atomsk to fully emerge from his N.O. channel. Atomsk consumes the Terminal Core and blasts off into space. Before leaving, Haruko asks Naota if he wants to accompany her on her search for Atomsk, but she quickly retracts her offer, reasoning that Naota is still "just a kid." Haruko takes Naota's and Atomsk's fused guitars, presumably keeping it as a memento, and zooms away towards the sky on her Vespa, leaving Naota to find her guitar lying among the rubble.