|
Character Study: Nandaba Naota
First appearances can be deceiving. Naota is the 12-year-old central character of FLCL and appears, at first glance, to be your typically depressed anime boy. He starts out with what is believed to be a normal life and is then thrust into unusual circumstances where he must defeat or be defeated by the adversities which transpire. This all sounds like standard anime fare and could even be compared to other Gainax characters like Evangelions Shinji, until a thorough study is conducted. Naota is a more out going and straightforward boy than Shinji, but still retains a similar air of shyness.
The right-handed Naota's family life is disturbingly out of the ordinary. He lives in the fictional Japanese everytown of Mabase with only his father and grandfather; there is no mention of his mother throughout the entire series. This lack of a mother figure causes problems for Naota in his personal interaction with all females as he searches for both romantic and motherly love during this liminal time in his life. Not only affecting his interaction with women, Naotas motherlessness is outwardly expressed as he himself becomes the mother of a robot birthed from his head. In a unique role reversal, Naota is the robots male mother while a female alien, in a brutal act of symbolic insemination, becomes its father.
He also has a brother, but the brother no longer lives with their family as he has left Japan for America in search of a career in baseball. Naota both idolizes his brother because of his accomplishments and despises him for the constant reminder that he is not as good.
The townspeople of Mabase remember Naota's brother as a success story produced by this otherwise unimpressive city and even the women in his life become a constant reminder of his brother. He is even asked to break the news to his brothers local girlfriend about the new girl he is dating in America. Naota is almost always seen dragging a baseball bat, reminiscent of the brother he admires, behind him even though he is no good at the game and does not even really like to play.
At this liminal stage, Naota constantly wants to do things he sees as adult. He eats spicy food that he normally would not eat, drinks sour drinks when he really likes the sweet ones and even plays baseball even though he is not very athletic and does not reap any enjoyment from the sport. Naota is not only portrayed as liminal because of the stage of life he is currently living through; he also becomes the personified representation of the liminality of modern day Japan. As Dr. Frenchy Lunning said in her paper Cyborgs in Anime: Figures of Pivoting Fortune, Naota represents the potential of Japan, on the edge of a new period of maturation. Naota as Japan is pulled in many directions by the other characters and the aspects of history, modernity and future that they each represent.
Character Study: Samejima Mamimi
The first and only consistent female figure in Naota's life just happens to be his brothers girlfriend Mamimi. She has become sexually frustrated and entirely lonely since her one friend and emotional pillar, Tasuku, left for America. Mamimi is poor and possibly lives under a bridge in Mabase.
The viewers are never shown or told about her family and it is assumed that she is surviving on her own. She eats day old bread given to her by Naotas father, smokes far too many cigarettes, plays video games and is an avid photographer, taking pictures even at the most inappropriate times.
Mamimi is also a pyromaniac. It is revealed that, years earlier in a moment reminiscent of the uproar over Dungeons & Dragons, Mamimi was influenced by her favorite video game, Firestarter, to set fire to her school. She was found there by Tasuku who helped her find stability. When he left for America, Mamimi fell back into her old routine and mysterious fires began appearing around Mabase. Naota finds her at one point in an occult-looking circle of lit cigarettes in a seance for her god, Cantide. Mamimi is a right-hander who wishes she could have been born a lefty.
Even though Tasuku left Mamimi behind and has found another girlfriend, she holds out hope for his return to her life. In the mean time, she has found a substitute outlet for her sexual urges in the younger Naota. The opening scene shows Mamimi about to overflow, nibbling on Naotas earlobe to quench her desire. He does not like it when she does these things because he still respects the relationship she has with his brother. Naota does find outright sexual advances appealing in his liminal state, but he is unsure of himself and his loyalties.
Mamimi represents traditional Japan in contrast to Naotas liminal Japan. She is the complete opposite of Tasuku's version of Japan which relies heavily on American influence. She is even called native girl outright, signifying how she is thought of in this context. Mamimi's heritage is discredited to the point that Naota's grandfather becomes infuriated when he finds out that they are friends. In Naota's mind, the decision of his future, and therefore the future of Japan, is completely tied up in whether he is loyal to his brother or his friend. But things are never as simple as black and white.
|
