FLCLimax

FLCLimax
Episode:	6
Kanji Title:	フリクラ
Romanji Title:	Furi Kura
English Title:	FLCL Climax
US Airdate:	August 13, 2003
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"FLCLimax" is the sixth and final episode of the first season of FLCL. Its English dub aired on August 13th, 2003 on Adult Swim.

Summary

There's a huge, giant hand looming over Mabase and the Medical Mechanica plant hasn't stopped smoking since the battle with the last robot. Both Haruko and Canti are wanted. Mamimi has found a new friend, a little robot that has a taste for eating mechanical things.

Synopsis

Miya-jun teaches Naota's elementary school class how to use chopsticks. She explains that chopsticks exercise the mind, which helps to prevent degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer's. Narration from Naota reveals that Haruko Haruhara and Canti disappeared following the emergence of Atomsk. Both have become wanted criminals. Moreover, white smoke has continued to billow from the Medical Mechanica plant nonstop since the last robot attack, effectively obfuscating the entire world beyond Mabase. Without a word, Naota Nandaba gets up and leaves. Eri Ninamori calls out, but he ignores her; even so, when Gaku Manabe and Masashi Masamune ask where he's going, Ninamori covers for him.

Meanwhile, aboard their Bureau of Interstellar Immigration spacecraft, Lieutenant Kitsurubami and Commander Amarao (while on his exercise bike) discuss the lithified hand robot. Kitsurubami asks whether the hand will grab the clothing iron, and the commander posits that the hand "wants to," but for some reason cannot. Kitsurubami, curious as to why, suggests the hand might want to "iron out the wrinkles" of the planet and those who inhabit it, like the wrinkles on a brain. Amarao, privy to the truth of Medical Mechanica and Raharu, simply tells his subordinate that Medical Mechanica, as a corporation, isn't interested in simply creating more brainless people, telling her that the "real idiot" is, and will always continue to be, Raharu. Kitsurubami muses upon the hand's missing terminal core, reasoning that its absence is preventing the 'hand' from activating and connect with the 'clothing iron' plant, which would activate it in turn. After accidentally drinking from Amarao's water bottle, Kitsurubami is disgusted; given that he only drinks sweet things, it's implied her disgust (which only registers upon looking down at the bottle) is purely due to sharing an indirect kiss with Amarao. Too busy exercising to notice his lieutenant heaving, Amarao resolves to give up finding Raharu and instead focus on tracking down the terminal core before it activates the Medical Mechanica plant.

Under the bridge, in pouring rain, Mamimi Samejima is seen looking for Takkun (the stray cat). On the adjacent road, a passing biker splashes a puddle all over Mamimi, who watches intently as it drives off.

Shortly after, Naota and his three friends walk past on their way home from school, and see Mamimi searching for the cat in the riverbank's tall grass. Gaku jokingly calls her "the wife", leading Naota to wander off, abandoning both Mamimi and his school friends. By this point, he has long since realized and accepted that Mamimi loves only Tasuku Nandaba in her heart of hearts: a fact which was confirmed to him atop the horn robot.

Alone by the river, Mamimi takes shelter under the bridge to light a cigarette. Suddenly, a small quadripedal robot crawls from the water. When she inches over to inspect, blowing smoke in its face.

Shortly after abandoning his friends, Naota is stopped by Commander Amarao. He chides Naota for performatively drinking a bitter drink, saying the brain needs glucose to function. Amarao tries connecting with him by voicing his struggle: that "every time something comes out of his head, it creates problems for everyone". Nearby, Takkun is shown to have fallen in love with a white cat. Commander Amarao slaps a pair of nori eyebrows onto Naota in approbation, telling him "cats should stick with other cats", as they were both victimized by Haruko. Amarao points out the girl needs help from someone more mature. Lastly, the commander tells Naota that 'Raharu' (which he believes to be Haruko's true identity) isn't coming back. He then briefs Naota on her scheme to capture Atomsk, an astral being said to possess so much N.O. he's capable of stealing entire star systems; this is believed to be the source of his epithet: the Pirate King. Amarao then explains that, ordinarily, Atomsk and Haruko would be enemies, but Atomsk was captured by Medical Mechanica, hence why Haruko came to this planet in the first place: to rescue him. Lastly, Commander Amarao ambiguously suggests Haruko is doing this out of "love."

Still under the bridge, Mamimi dials Tasuku's old number. The robot snatches her phone. However, after brief contemplation, Mamimi commits to the solemn decision by giving the robot permission to eat her phone, effectively cutting herself off from Tasuku Nandaba forever. Both grow as a result: the robot physically, and Mamimi emotionally. Even so, the finality of her decision leaves her distraught. To cope, she names the robot Takkun--the fourth time she's used the name, after Tasuku, Naota, and the cat.

Back at the Nandaba residence, Naota is seen wearing the nori eyebrows Amarao gifted him, plucking languidly at Haruko's bass. Eventually, he goes downstairs for dinner: and is shocked and angered to see Haruko has inexplicably returned. At this realization, his nori eyebrows fall off. Kamon Nandaba tells Naota he let her take a vacation to Hawaii, despite her being a known fugitive. Antics and wordplay ensue, including several fourth-wall breaks as Kamon prods Naota, the "main character", on what FLCL actually means. Naota insists he doesn't understand or care about FLCL. During the chaos, Haruko smacks Naota with her bass guitar again.

Later that night Naota overhears Haruko, Kamon, and Shigekuni while showering. He touches his bandaged forehead, where Haruko's bass struck him; elsewhere in the town, an ominous red light appears through tendrils of smoke. Naota goes to bed. Haruko sleeps on the top bunk. Later that night, Naota calls out to her but receives no answer. Thinking she's asleep, he asks who--and what--she is. Haruko reveals she was awake, teasing that he was about to confess his great love for her. Naota asks why she came back. Haruko says "to see you", calling him Takkun and saying Naota's head is the only one that works. Naota calls her a liar, but Haruko leaps down from the top bunk and, as earnestly as ever, tells him it's the truth. Naota asks if she's going to leave again, and Haruko offers to 'take him with her'. Naota asks about her sudden kindness, and she says he's "still just a kid". Left in tears, Naota clings to her, asking why she left without saying anything. Again, a distant red light glows through the smoke: this time accompanied by a second red light: and they're revealed to be shining from the top of the Medical Mechanica plant.

The next day, a distraught Mamimi is seen feeding her new pet robot "Takkun" again, using an entire bag full of cell phones she's stolen from her high school classmates; later, it is implied she targeted phones belonging to those who have previously harassed and bullied her.

Briefly, Naota and Haruko are seen driving off somewhere on her Vespa together.

During P.E. class at Naota's elementary school, his classmates are seen doing high jumps. Miya-jun raises the horizontal bar another 10cm and asks for volunteers. However, the students are too busy discussing their classmate Naota, who has been missing for days. Some correctly propose that he ran away, with Gaku even guessing that he eloped with the 'kiss-kiss lady' after she returned. Masashi reveals that Miya-jun will be going to the Nandaba residence after school for a parent-teacher conference. Ninamori says that Naota simply needs to "say what he really feels" and "cry and stuff", like she did with her mother and father. Gaku and Masashi respond with confusion, but Ninamori does not answer again: before rushing off and clearing the raised bar of the high jump with ease. The entire class applauds her effort.

In their search for the hand's missing terminal core, Commander Amarao and Lieutenant Kitsurubami's team excavate a tangle of wires and outer connective pieces from the river. It landed in the water after being defeated by the Atomsk-absorbed Canti... although not before bonking off Kamon's head, of course. According to documents reviewed by Kitsurubami and her team in the spacecraft's maintenance room, one week prior, they suspect the hand's missing terminal core somehow went rogue and is acting independently despite lacking the usual power supplied by its connective circuits.

Under the bridge, as Commander Amarao and Lieutenant Kitsurubami's team drive off it, Mamimi continues feeding her new Takkun. She wonders if the robot might need something bigger than phones, soon.

Naota and Haruko stop their Vespa ride for food, revealing the nature of his days-long disappearance: that Naota has decided to 'run away' with Haruko--which, in reality, amounts to them wandering Mabase together, living off ramen and sleeping on random benches. Naota warns Haruko not to buy the larger, generic-brand ramen, but she ignores him. Realizing it's disgusting, she forces them to switch. He tries telling her to not be selfish since "bad things will happen", but Haruko denies his advice outright and even turns the lesson onto him: teaching him the importance of making mistakes, even saying "they can be kinda fun". She then comments on the plant's immense outpouring of smoke, and after Naota asks her about why she fights Medical Mechanica, Haruko reveals the corporation took something she really wants. Naota asks if she can get it back. Haruko says she can: as long as she has him. Naota then calls her "selfish as ever" when she refuses to trade-back the bad ramen she chose.

Later that evening, Mamimi is seen scouring the town for metal to feed her new Takkun. Specifically, she tracks down a bike: namely, the bike which splashed a puddle on her the previous afternoon, revealing she memorized its license plate while watching it drive away. As payback, Mamimi promptly commands Takkun to eat the entire bike, watching it feed while smoking a cigarette. Takkun grows exponentially as a result, but Mamimi urges it on: to "the next one". As they leave, a third glowing red light is seen descending towards the Medical Mechanica plant from high above.

While walking to school the next morning, Ninamori spots a familiar Vespa parked off the street, which she recognizes from her own encounter with the Vespa-driving woman. This leads Ninamori to find Haruko and Naota sleeping together on a park bench beneath a cardboard blanket. Without so much as waking them, Ninamori turns and leaves, knowing full well that Naota must face whatever problems he's dealing with for himself.

In an alleyway elsewhere in town, Mamimi is still walking Takkun around Mabase. The robot has grown massive and strong, while Mamimi herself has become utterly disheveled, implying she has been out feeding the robot metal all night long. Mamimi states she'll "finally be able to forgive 'them' after this", revealing that not only did Mamimi write down the stranger biker's license plate: she has been cataloguing every single instance of wrongdoing that's been inflicted on her for a long time. And now, using that list, Mamimi has meted out vengeance on them all using what she calls "Mamimi's Revenge List."

Nearby, in Masamune's Liquor store, Gaku and Masashi discuss the recent series of perceived-vandalisms in Mabase. After stepping out, they run into Mamimi. After recognizing her as "Naota's wife", the one "he dumped", she gets angry: which unintentionally causes Takkun to protect her, turning aggressive with a glowing red eye. Mamimi begs Takkun to stop, telling the robot they aren't on her Revenge List. Takkun ignores her and goes berserk, devouring the delivery truck Masashi's father uses for the liquor store and growing yet larger. The robot promptly runs off on its own to devour more metal; counting Tasuku himself, who the 'pet' name is referencing, Naota and the cat: this now makes four Takkuns in a row who have abandoned Mamimi Samejima.

At the parent-teacher conference between Kamon and Miya-jun, Naota's father tells his teacher a story; once, while in sixth grade, he was charged with taking care of the class hamster, named Hamtaro, but after missing a few days with a cold, Kamon returned to find the hamster dead. All the students called him "Hamster-killer", despite not once taking care of it themselves. Miya-jun tells Kamon to focus on his son, who is still missing, but Kamon is unworried: saying "unlike a hamster, Naota can take care of himself".

Commander Amarao is seen with Kitsurubami in her car; the windows are patched with cardboard from her failed assassination attempt on Canti, whereupon Haruko used her bass to deflect the lieutenant's sniper bullet back and explode the car. Amarao asks what she does in her off-time. Kitsurubami doesn't want to answer, and he tells her not to be cold, placing his hand over hers while she is controlling the stick shift. Kitsurubami says his behavior is a problem, but Amarao says that problem is comparitively "nothing". Right on cue, Takkun barrels into the street from an alleyway with Mamimi dangling off the side. The robot has grown taller than the surrounding buildings. Commander Amarao, after hearing Mamimi call it "Takkun", immediately identifies the robot Takkun as the rogue Terminal Core. Takkun's approach sends the two flying from Kitsurubami's car and out onto the street. And before Amarao can even stand: he looks up to find Canti in a green skirt, who had apparently been living as a crossing guard, helping children cross the street. Though the former Nandaba family robot was completely innocuous a moment prior, the moment Canti turns and sees Takkun, a strange symbol appears on Canti's face-screen: and massive wings made of compacted human brains erupt from Canti's back, unfurling and intermingling with the Terminal Core robot. Takkun then pulls Canti into its mouth, at which point Commander Amarao realizes something: all this time, Canti hasn't been a mere rogue unit from Medical Mechanica, but a core component of the hand robot's Terminal Core. With its 'Canti' component reintegrated, the Takkun robot grows exponentially larger, soon towering over all of Mabase, akin to the leviathan. It roars, waking Haruko atop her and Naota's bench from halfway across town.

Meanwhile, back at her and Kamon's parent-teacher conference, the rampaging robot destroys Miya-jun's new car... again.

Lieutenant Kitsurubami tries shooting at Takkun, but Commander Amarao has to push her aside to save her life: getting snagged on Takkun's body and carried off with Mamimi in the process. As the robot carries Mamimi and Amarao through the air towards the massive lithified hand, Haruko drives towards it on her (apparently-flying) Vespa with Naota clinging to her from behind. There, she turns and tells him, "it's the climax."

Amarao and Takkun crash onto the hand first, and Kitsurubami frantically calls to ask if the hand is going to activate. Amarao answers to the contrary, saying it still appears to be "missing something," even after the core absorbed Canti. Haruko and Naota arrive on her Vespa, intent on the core, and so Amarao shoots the Vespa down from the sky to stop her. Commander Amarao proceeds to confront Naota on why he removed the nori eyebrows Amarao gave him a few days prior. Naota does not answer him. Amarao tries to convince the boy to join him and save his friends and family and Mamimi, reminding Naota that he warned him from the start that Haruko is manipulating him for her own personal gain. And yet, despite Amarao's increasingly-enraged pleas, Naota simply turns away and walks over to Haruko. She gently embraces Naota and whispers that she needs his help to get what she wants: then suddenly hurls him up in the air, swinging her bass guitar at Naota's head: launching him straight into the enemy robot Takkun's mouth. This causes Takkun to slot perfectly into the hand's palm, fully reintegrating the core into the hand. The glowing sigil appears in the hole's place. Commander Amarao continues to scream out in despair at what Naota has done, telling the boy he has fallen into Medical Mechanica's trap. He explains that the corporation have been destroying planets all over the galaxy by flattening them, smoothing out the wrinkles to prevent the people from thinking. Though seemingly contradicting his earlier assessment of Lieutenant Kitsurubami's judgment as it pertained to Medical Mechanica's motives, Amarao's plea explicitly reveals that the corporation's giant clothing iron is merely one of many. Lastly, Amarao reiterates that even Atomsk couldn't break free from Medical Mechanica despite limitless power. The corporation merely used Atomsk to lure Naota in, and it worked, dooming Earth to the same destruction as countless other planets: at the hands of Medical Mechanica.

Haruko suddenly cuts Commander Amarao short, saying she doesn't care about anything he's said, not even the planet itself: only Atomsk. As the now-animated hand begins to move, Amarao slips under it, placing him flush between the hand and iron: doomed to be squished once the two connect. They do just that, the hand gripping the handle of the plant's 'clothing iron' firmly. Lieutenant Kitsurubami, having seen this from afar, screams into the radio for her commander, but Amarao does not respond.

However, upon zooming in between the hand and clothing iron: it's revealed that a red (Atomsk-powered) Canti has re-emerged from the hand and is holding it up, preventing Amarao's death. Canti's screen shatters, and from its void emerges Atomsk, much to Haruko's approval. However, her excitement is short-lived, when she glimpses its form: this time, the power of Atomsk has been absorbed into the body of Naota Nandaba, turning him bright and molten red. Red Naota smacks the entire robot hand away with visibly little effort: showcasing the true power of Atomsk. In this form, red Naota dual wields his flying V and Canti's Gibson EB-0, which later fuse together into a double-neck guitar. Haruko is enraged that Naota stole what she believes is "her" power, and immediately flies at Naota in a fit of rage, hellbent on destroying him to acquire the power of Atomsk. A fierce evenly-matched battle between red Naota and Haruko ensues over the skies of Mabase. The shockwaves of their every clash is felt throughout the town.

Naota comes out on top, knocking the bass straight from Haruko's hands. However, just before he finishes her off, Naota flies up to Haruko at light speed, his twin bats crossed, only to revert into his normal child body. There, he simply says: "I love you". Naota kisses Haruko.

The kiss causes massive crimson wings to emerge from Naota's N.O. channel: followed by the rest of Atomsk's true body: a massive phoenix like bird, from whose beak dangles the same chain as the one attached to Haruka's wrist. The so-called 'Pirate King' then begins drawing cars and other massive structures such as buildings upward into its own head, absorbing more and more until finally consuming the power of the Terminal Core. Only then does Atomsk soar into space, vanishing from sight within seconds. And thus, Haruko Haruhara has once again failed to obtain the power of Atomsk, helpless but to watch it go free. Of course, she blames Naota, but she does so with a smile.

Before she leaves on her flying vespa, Haruko again asks Naota if he's interested in accompanying her on her search through for Atomsk across the galaxy. Only, this time, she quickly retracts her offer, saying he is "still a kid." Haruko then takes Naota's and Atomsk's guitar bat--the fused double-neck flying V and Canti's Gibson EB-0--presumably as a memento. And so, Haruko flies off into space on her yellow Vespa, and this time, Naota is the one left watching her leave: forever.

Only once Haruko is gone does Naota climb atop a pile of rubble, to where she last stood, where he finds her old Rickenbacker 4001 bass guitar lying. As he picks up the bass, Mamimi emerges from the rubble to find Naota atop the tower of rubble, looking up at the sky for Haruko despite her being long gone. She then pulls out her camera and takes one last picture of him.

By now Mamimi has realized that, through repeated emotional reliance on four different Takkuns--and the cumulative baggage borne by her home--that she cannot grow as a person while remaining in Mabase. And so, the picture she took of Naota staring at the sky from atop the rubble, serves equally as Mamimi's last memento: of Naota Nandaba, and of Mabase altogether.

Mamimi Samejima's final words before leaving Mabase forever were to him, using his proper name, at long last: "So long, Naota."

In the epilogue, some time has passed since Haruko's disappearance. Spring has come, and life has returned to normal in Mabase. By this point, Mamimi has already left Mabase to pursue photography, and her last photo of Naota won the "Fresh Cameraman Photo Contest" and was published in a magazine. Mamimi titled his photo: "Fooly Coolly". At the Nandaba residence, it is shown that Naota apparently kept Haruko's Rickenbacker 4001 bass in his room as a memento; whether he learned to play it or not is unknown. Downstairs in the bakery of the Nandaba residence, his father and grandfather Kamon and Shigekuni are arguing, while Canti cleans a futon up on the balcony. Meanwhile, Naota is seen crossing the Mabase bridge with his friends and bickering over drinks as usual--only this time, it's with Eri Ninamori, signifying both his growth and, by extension, that Naota is far from grown. The four have since begun junior high school. As he finishes his final monologue, Naota reiterates the same sentiment he expressed at the start of the first episode, contrasting the events of FLCL: "Nothing interesting ever happens here in Mabase."

The final shot is a close-up of Haruko's bass in Naota's empty room; one of the four strings suddenly plucks on its own.

At the very end of the credit sequence, Haruko is briefly shown driving her Vespa across the galaxy.

Songs

• "Carnival"
• "Funny Bunny"
• "Come Down"
• "One Life"
• "Another Morning"
• "Beautiful Morning With You"
• "Nightmare"
• "Last Dinosaur"
• "I Think I Can"
• "Little Busters"
• "Ride on Shooting Star"

Credits

• Original Concept: GAINAX
• Directors: Kazuya Tsurumaki, Masahiko Otsuka
• Executive Producers: Toshimichi Ohtsuki, Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, Hiroyuki Yamaga
• Planning: Hirotaka Takase, Masatoshi Nishizawa, Hiroki Sato

Japanese Cast

• Naota Nandaba: Jun Mizuki
• Haruko Haruhara: Mayumi Shintani
• Mamimi Samejima: Izumi Kasagi
• Kamon Nandaba: Suzuki Matsuo
• Shigekuni Nandaba: Hiroshi Ito
• Eri Ninamori: Mika Itou
• Gaku Manabe: Sho Miyajima
• Masashi Masamune: Kazuhito Suzuki
• Commander Amarao: Kouji Ohkura
• Kitsurubami: Chiemi Chiba
• Junko Miyaji: Yukari Fukui
• Miyu Miyu: Hideaki Anno (uncredited)
• Takkun: Jun Mizuki

English Cast

• Naota Nandaba: Barbara Goodson
• Haruko Haruhara: Kari Wahlgren
• Mamimi Samejima: Jennifer Sekiguchi
• Kamon Nandaba: Joe Martin
• Shigekuni Nandaba: Steve Kramer
• Eri Ninamori: Melissa Fahn
• Gaku Manabe: R. Martin Klein
• Masashi Masamune: Steven Blum
• Commander Amarao: Dave Mallow
• Kitsurubami: L. Villa
• Junko Miyaji: Jessica Straus
• Miyu Miyu: Steven Blum
• Takkun: Barbara Goodson

Gallery

FLCLimax/Gallery

Trivia

• In the Adult Swim broadcasts Kamon's censored nudity is digitally removed by raising a painting.
• Furthermore, in Groundwork of FLCL, a brief manga panel featuring Kamon can be seen uncensored.
• This episode's end credits differ from the previous ones, upon the conclusion we see Haruko ride back into space.
• During the manga scene, Shigekuni brags about how Haruko brought them Fukuya Mentaiko as a gift from her vacation in Hawaii, before Naota points out that they are not made in Hawaii.
  • Fukuya is a popular brand of mentaiko (spicy cod roe) from Fukuoka prefecture and are often sold as souvenirs.
  • In the English dub, he say that they were "spicy fish eggs".
• When Naota tries to walk away from Haruko in the manga panel, she mocks him by saying he is embarrassed before throwing him onto the ground and screams "Denki Anma" in the Japanese version while stomping on his crotch.
  • Denki Anma (電気あんま lit. Electric Massage) is a type of Japanese prank where the victim is placed on the floor and has their legs hoisted up by their tormentor. The tormentor then proceeds to put their foot on the victim's crotch and either grind or repeatedly stomp on the area.
    • In the English dub, Haruko screams "The People's Crotch Attack", likely referring to actor / former professional wrestler The Rock, who addressed himself as "The People's Champion" and named his techniques "The People's (x)", such as "The People's Elbow" and "The People's Eyebrow".
• The bowl of instant ramen that Haruko stole from Naota appears to an actual brand called Maruchan Menzukuri.
• As Gaku and Masashi exit the shop and talk about how Fuji-pyon's older sister had her moped destroyed, Gaku refers to her as a yankī (ヤンキー), a term used to describe juvenile delinquents who rebel against Japanese cultural norms, usually starting in high school. They often dye their hair blonde and/or style it in a pompadour, wear baggy, heavily decorated uniforms and are usually associated with Bōsōzoku (Japanese biker gangs).
  • In the English dub, he uses the English pronunciation, "yankee" while describing her as having bleached hair.
• When Amarao and Kitsurubami see Canti in public, she refers to the robot as "midori no obasan" (緑のおばさん lit. "Auntie in Green"), a term used for "crossing guards". The name stems from their distinctive green coat and hat and how the occupation was originally done by older women who were left as widows after World War II.
  • In the English dub, she just says "In a green skirt?".
• Upon Miya Jun opening the sliding door at the Nandaba residence, Kamon is briefly heard talking about the fictional hamster, Hamtaro from the manga and anime of the same name.
• When Naota and his friends are shown in their middle school uniforms, Ninamori is drinking a bottle called "KaraC". The name is a play on juice drinks that end with "-C", such as "Hi-C" and "Karashi" (辛子), the Japanese word for "mustard" or something that is spicy.