Naota Nandaba Husbando

Naota Nandaba, or Ta-kun as he is called by Mamimi and Haruko, is the protagonist of the first season of FLCL, obsessed with appearing mature and nonchalant. He idolizes his older brother, Tasuku, who represents for Naota what it means to be an "adult." He also has a crush on both Mamimi and Haruko during the course of the season. Naota has short, dark brown hair and blue eyes. The clothing he wears most often consists of a light blue sweatshirt with what appears to be a hood on the back and brown shorts, blue socks and brown sneakers. He also wears a variety of different hats and bandages to hide his horns throughout the series. Naota is short compared to others his age. When Naota fuses with Canti, he transforms into a glowing red sphere. As shown in episode 5, the sphere is apparently very hot, as Eri Ninamori had to spray water on it before Naota could return to his human form. It also appears to be very heavy, since it crashed into a billboard and cracked the center, then fell onto a building, making it shudder, before crashing onto the ground and creating a small crater. Naota is a sullen and snarky person who is obsessed with appearing mature and attempts to act nonchalant at all times. 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. He is the least erratic of the cast, but constantly finds himself at the center of attention. He seems to be very frustrated with his life, and, in the opening episode, is musing about how uneventful and boring Mabase is. Naota is internally struggling with the recognition of his existence and independence from his brother. It is the journey of the series, however, that is the coming of age for Naota, and by the end, he has reached young adolescence, and is ready to start exploring life on his own.