Fooly Cooly (episode)

"Fooly Cooly" is the first episode of the first season of FLCL. Its English dub aired on August 5th, 2003 on Adult Swim.
==Synopsis==
Fooly Cooly starts out with Naota walking home with his older brother’s ex-girlfriend, Mamimi. Out of the blue he is hit by an alien girl on a yellow Vespa bike carrying a 1976 Rickenbacker bass guitar. 
This all happens in the town of Mabase, dominated by the Medical Mechanica factory. The very next day Naota finds that the alien girl, Haruko, has been hired as the housekeeper at his father’s bakery.
==Summary==
Naota Nandaba, a 12 year old elementary school student, is sitting by the riverbed and doing his homework, while his older brother's delusional "girlfriend", seventeen-year-old Mamimi Samejima, swings a baseball bat. As he tries to finish up his work, Mamimi comes up from behind and hugs him while nibbling on his ear, telling the boy that she needs to do this or else she will "overflow". After collapsing with Mamimi on top of him, Naota mentions that nothing amazing ever happens in their town of Mabase, as smoke from a nearby building blows up into the sky. 
Sometime later, Mamimi uses Naota's money to buy a can of lemonade from a vending machine, despite telling her that he hates sour things. She then offers him the remaining half, as he begins to realizes that his lips would be drinking from the same area her lips were just at, leading to an indirect kiss. As he throws the can aside and attempts to tell her about what his older brother is doing in America, he is suddenly struck by a Vespa driver, knocking him out. After taking a picture of the event, Mamimi runs over and tries to protect the injured boy from the woman who just ran him over. The woman then performs CPR on the unconscious Naota, much to Mamimi's shock and briefly revives him, before hitting him in the head with her bass guitar and quickly driving off. This turns it into an N.O. channel, from which objects and other beings can be pulled out. 
Later that night, 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, as rumors about a "Vespa Woman" begins to spread around school. After school, he decides to go to the hospital, but on his way there, the woman from yesterday spots him and asks if anything has happened, causing him to quickly run away. During his examination at the hospital, he soon finds out that the nurse who was conducting the exam was the mysterious woman. As she attempts to hit him again with her guitar, she continues to ask him what is underneath the bandage. He flees before she can strike him again with her guitar and makes it back home, falling asleep for several hours.
Upon waking up for dinner, Naota screams in horror, as he sees his mysterious assailant sitting at the dinner table with his father, Kamon and grandfather, Shigekuni. After the mysterious woman revealed that her name is Haruko Haruhara, Naota is even more upset upon discovering that his father has hired her to be their live-in housekeeper, as she had also ran over Kamon earlier that day. Things become even more hectic as Haruko reveals to Kamon and Shigekuni that she has witnessed Naota hanging around Mamimi, causing Shigekuni to remark that Mamimi is nothing but trouble. She then tells them that besides Mamimi, she is in a "mouth-to-mouth" relationship with the young boy, causing Kamon to go after Naota and ask what is under the bandage. 
Later that night, after taking a bath, he finds Haruko in his bedroom, as they will be roommates. After learning from Haruko that she is "an alien" and becoming frustrated with her as she continues to prod him about what is underneath his bandage, he goes downstairs. In the kitchen, Naota is stopped by Kamon, who then asked if Naota is against having Haruko live with them. Upon hearing Naota tell him that he can do he pleases, Kamon suddenly perks up and reveals that he knows about Naota also being ran over by Haruko, while holding up a few photos. Realizing that those were the photos that Mamimi had taken, Naota asked when did she stopped by. Kamon reveals that she came over to ask for leftover bread and crusts and that he had given her some in exchange for the photos, before asking Naota if she and her family are really that poor.
Naota runs off into the night and eventually finds Mamimi hanging out by the bridge and smoking a cigarette. After clutching the bag of crusts that Kamon gave her, she then hugs Naota from behind as she explains what she likes about Naota's brother. No longer wanting to hold back, Naota finally tells her that his older brother sent him a letter and revealed that he is now dating a blonde woman in America. Upon hearing the news, Mamimi begins to tear up and clutch her head, as she claims to be "overflowing" before suddenly collapsing. The now frightened Naota tries to revive Mamimi, before suddenly hunching over in pain, as a robot, followed by a detached, robotic hand, suddenly emerges from the horn on his head, and begin to fight. As the iron-shaped building begins to activate, Haruko gets on her Vespa and speeds off to the bridge. After the robot triumphs, it is struck by Haruko with her guitar. Upon seeing her deliver the final blow with her guitar, Naota mentions to himself that seeing Haruko's swing reminded him of his brother.
The next morning, Naota reveals that his horn has disappeared. As he tells his family and Haruko that he is heading to school, they are all in the kitchen, as the robot is now being trained to work there as a baker's assistant. On his way to school, he finds Mamimi by the bridge and drinking another can of lemonade. After telling him that he did not need to run to meet up with her, she offers him the rest of the juice. After looking at the can and her lips, he says that he still does not like sour things. But, after a brief pause, he finally forces himself to drink it.
==Monologue==
Nothing amazing happens here. Everything is ordinary. The huge factory that can be seen from our town, the Medical Mechanica plant. All the adults got exited when it came here, like it was a really big thing. The white steam that bellows out everyday at the same time, it looked to me like smoke that signified some kind of omen, smoke, that spreads out and covers everything.
==Songs==
* "One Life"
* "Runners High"
* "Stalker"
* "Come Down"
* "Bran-New Lovesong"
* "Advice"
* "Sleepy Head"
* "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
*Junko Miyaji: Yukari Fukui
*Miyu Miyu: Hideaki Anno (uncredited)
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
*Junko Miyaji: Jessica Straus
*Miyu Miyu: Steven Blum
==Gallery==
Fooly Cooly (episode)/Gallery
==Trivia==
*Mamimi's opening line about "Legs spread, shoulder width apart..." is a reference to the boxing anime and manga series, Ashita no Joe. 
**In both the Japanese and English dub, she finishes the line by saying "Kakin!", which is the Japanese sound effect of a bat hitting a ball.
*As explained in the FLCL Ultimate Edition accompanying guide, the name that Mamimi gives Naota, "Takkun", is a contraction of his brother's name, Tasuku Nandaba and "kun", an honorary suffix added tp a person's name. It is typically used to address males who are the same age or younger than the person speaking to them, such as a teacher talking to a male student or a senior manager addressing his male employees. It can also be used by females to show affection to their male partner.Japanese Honorifics: An Easy Beginner’s Guide
**Additionally, the guide also explains that in their first meeting, Haruko refers to Naota as "Taro-kun", which is a rather common boys name in Japan that starts with "Ta".
*While at school, Gaku mentions that the "Vespa Woman" has a bike like "Yuusaku". 
**This is in reference to the television series Tantei Monogatari and lead actor, Yūsaku Matsuda. In the series, he played Shunsaku Kudo, a detective who drove a white Vespa.
*During the manga sequence scene, Kamon says "It's Naota's Gundam Hammer.. that Tomino-Esque thing.. saying it's Gundam but basically it's Giant Robot Anime, right?"
**The line is in reference to Yoshiyuki Tomino, the creator of the Mobile Suit Gundam anime franchise.
**The "Gundam Hammer" line is a reference to a large weapon used by the RX-78-2 Gundam similar to a flail. 
***It is also a term used to describe something that contradicts a previous statement. It stems from Tomino introducing the series as being more mature and showing the harsh realty of war and humanity. A few episodes later, when the "Gundam Hammer" was introduced, critics complained that it was nothing more than a ploy to sell toy robots. Tomino says "What do you expect? It's just a Giant Robot show after all". Gundam Hammer definition on Urban DictionaryTalk:Fooly_CoolyThe "Gundam Hammer" incident 
**A RX-78-2 Gundam and the Gundam Hammer can also be seen in the panel behind Kamon.
*During the conversation between Kamon and Haruko in the manga sequence, the Japanese version uses wordplay:
**Kamon:あ、ところで, ハル子さんはどうですか？(a, tokorode, haruko-san wa dou desu ka?, Oh, by the way, how is it, Haruko-san?) 
**Haruko: 銅? (dou?, copper)
**Kamon: そのクリクリとかそーゆう (sono kuri-kuri to ka souyuu, That "kuri-kuri" and stuff like that)
**Haruko: 栗? (kuri?, Japanese chestnuts)
**Kamon: いや栗とかリスとかそういうははなしじゃなくてですね (iya kuri toka risu to sou iu wa hanashijanakute desu ne, No, we are not talking about thing such as chestnuts and squirrels, right?)
***Note, the line "kuri toka risu" is meant to sound like the word, "Clitoris". The joke stems from the anime / manga series, Oruchuban Ebichu, which was produced by GAINAX, the studio that was involved with the making FLCL.
**Haruko: DEATH?
***Note Haruko is mistaking the sound of "desu ne" as Death.
**Kamon: このこうゆう方面クリックリッてゆう。。。 (kono kouyuu houmen kurii kurii te yuu... This kind of "kuri-kuri" relationship is heading in a direction called...
**Haruko: 麺? (men, Noodles?)
**Kamon: だから!! (dakara, Like I said!!)
**Haruko: 空? (kara, Empty)
**Kamon: あらーﾝ、元編集長、こォンな若い奥さんがいらしたンですかァァァ。ﾝモゥクリックリィィィていうドリムな方面ですよ (araa, moto henshuuchou, konna wakai okusan ga irashitan desu kaa? Mou kuri-kuriii te iu dorimu na houmen desu yo. Oh my! Mr. former editor-in-chief, did you just arrive with your lovely young wife? My dream that is called "Kuri-Kurii" is already heading in that direction)
***In the English dubbed version, some of the lines are changed noticeably, such as "dakara" turned into "I mean like MTV" and "kuri" turned into "Kool-Aid".
*When Kamon reveals that Mamimi came over to the bakery asking for leftover bread and crusts, in the Japanese version, he makes a joke using the word "mimitabu" (耳たぶ, earlobe), as "mimi" (耳) can mean "ear" or "crust", while "tabu" (たぶ) sounds similar to the English word, "taboo". This can also be seen as a shortening of her name in the context of the English dub, as jokes are often lost in translation. 
*In the preview for the next episode, Haruko asks "Who said men think with their brains, but women with their uterus" before suggesting that it was Mizuno Haruo. She then corrects herself and says that it was Fujio, but more specifically it was the "Flash" one and not the "Ace" Fujio. She then finally admits that everything she mentioned was a lie.
**Mizuno Haruo was a famous movie critic in Japan, who eventually changed his focus and started starring and directing his own films.
**The "Fujio" she refers is the duo known as "Fujiko Fujio" the creators of the manga series, Doraemon. The duo differentiated themselves by having one use the pen name "Fujiko Fujio A." and the other "Fujiko F. Fujio."
***In the English dub, Haruko talks about the Game Boy Advance before admitting that the original Game Boy hold a place in her heart. She then points out how the original only came in plastic grey, while it successor, the Game Boy Color had an array of colors. She finally concludes by saying that there is no longer a demand for the Virtual Boy system. It should be noted that in all instances, she is unable to say the actual "Game Boy" name and only uses the model name (Advance, Color, Virtual) to differentiate them.
==References==
Category:Episodes
Category:FLCL