Shigekuni Nandaba

Shigekuni Nandaba (ナンダバ・シゲクニ?, Nandaba Shigekuni) is Naota's grandfather, a retired baker and the current manager of Tasuku's former baseball team. He also appears to not be fond of Mamimi.
==Profile==
Shigekuni Nandaba is Naota's grandfather. He owns the family bakery, Shigekuni Bakery, and coaches the local baseball team, the "Mabase Martians." He has a grudge against Mamimi because he didn't approve of her relationship with Tasuku. Shigekuni values baseball more than anything else in the world — he is disappointed in his own son-in-law and younger grandson because they are lousy baseball players. He does not defend Naota as the other players mock him, because he holds too much pride for Tasuku. He enjoys taking advantage of Canti as much as Kamon does. He has an affinity for pornography: in the first episode, he mistakes "furi kuri" with "kuri kuri," a sound effect that is often used in hentai during any twisting motion, often involving the breasts or nipples.
In the novel, it is revealed that his only daughter had married Kamon, making him Kamon's father-in-law. The two met while working at the same magazine publication. Upon getting married, Kamon chose to adopt the Nandaba family name. It was also explained that after Tasuku was born, they decided to move back to her hometown of Mabase to raise their family. She had apparently died when Naota was in kindergarten, though the young boy noted that the rest of the family had told him that she was not dead, but her whereabouts were unknown.
==Personality==
Shigekuni is a stern, reserved man by most accounts. Director Yoshiyuki Sadamoto describes him as having a "strong personality" in his Newtype USA section. He is harshest on his family because they do not meet his standards. Whether it is Tasuku's relationships or Naota's baseball skill, Shigekuni does not let up. However, he does seem to judge Naota and Kamon harder because Tasuku is so good at baseball, something he takes pride in. His serious nature is only lost when Haruko is around, bringing out a perverted and "immature" one seemingly held by all FLCL adults. He, along with Kamon, have a tendency to change the subject to things of a sexual nature when their maid is around, often misconstruing her words. If not for his age, he likely would pine after her relentlessly like Kamon does.
==Appearance==
Shigekuni is a weathered, wrinkled man who doesn't try to hide his age. He has a large bald spot going from the top to the front of his head, leaving only short, scruffy sides. His eyebrows are grey, along with his hair, and have a large, angular arch. Having an incredibly short nose and large ears, he somewhat resembles a monkey and usually bears a tired, disapproving look. He almost always wears some pieces of a baseball uniform, sometimes ranging from just the jacket to the full outfit, with a long-sleeved shirt and sweatpants if necessary.
==Relationships==
===Naota Nandaba===
Although Naota seems to get along with his grandfather much better than his father, Shigenkuni does not seem to interact with his youngest grandson in the anime. Most of the conversations either consist of him telling Naota to take a seat with the rest of the family for dinner or chiming in to tell his grandson that Haruko went to Hawaii and brought back some spicy mentaiko (fish eggs).
In the novel, he does interact with him a bit more. In the novelization of "Marquis de Carabas", upon seeing Naota and Haruko arrive with Eri Ninamori, he mentions to Naota that he approves of his new girlfriend. 
The most notable example of interaction between the two is in the novelization of "Brittle Bullet", in which he actually praises Naota after watching him practice his bat swings in the backyard. He then tells his grandson that Haruko had told him about how Naota swung the bat to knock the satellite back into orbit by himself, putting Naota in a more upbeat mood. Afterward, Shigekuni admits to himself that while Naota is still a second-rate player compared to Tasuku, he also points out that Naota is still young and there is plenty of time for him to improve or at the very least, learn to appreciate the sport and give them something to bond over.
===Kamon Nandaba===
Despite Kamon being his son-in-law and trying to appease the elderly man, Shigekuni is typically disappointed with him and his lax attitude. In the first episode, he even went so far as to suggested that it would have been better if Kamon had died when Haruko had ran him over. Upon Haruko moving in and becoming their housekeeper, both men seem eager to win her heart.
===Mamimi Samejima===
Both he and Mamimi appear to have a mutual disliking of one another with the former seeming to always be disgusted upon seeing the latter, believing that Mamimi was no good for Tasuku. In the novel, Naota explained that Shigekuni's hatred towards the high schooler stems from jealously. He noted that Shigekuni loved baseball ever since he was a child and was excited to see his oldest grandson share in his passion, as well as have a natural talent for the sport. Seeing Mamimi come into Tasuku's life made Shigekuni fear that he would lose Tasuku and that his grandson would end up letting his talent go to waste.
In the novelization of "Fire Starter", upon seeing Mamimi in the yard with Naota and Haruko, he decides to mock her by bragging about the new clothes that Tasuku has sent him, knowing that she had not received any letters or phone calls from him. After she takes a picture of Canti, he yells at her and claims that she has no right to take pictures of their robot, before threating to call the police on her. 
==Gallery==
Shigekuni/Gallery
==Trivia==
*In one of the early planning pages found in The FLCL Archives, it is suggested that Shigekuni was not always going to be as hateful towards Mamimi as he was in both the OVA and Novels, it is said that he was only slightly mean to her out of jealousy, likely due to her relationship with Tasuku.
**In a rough draft proposal from March 31, 1999, he is only labeled as "Grandfather" and is described as being a 70 year old Edokko (a native of Tokyo who has certain personality traits). He constantly hurls insults at Kamon, but is kind to Naota. He is also described as being senile and uses it to justify his bad behavior. It also suggests that his senility is the reason as to why Haruko was hired as their housekeeper.
***A list of proposed ideas in the same draft included him and Naota peeping around to investigate Kamon's relationship with Haruko and another one with Shigekuni going wild with a Japanese sword in a moment of senility before finally coming back to his senses and saying something profound.
**A second draft from an unknown date added that he had played baseball as a child, always wears a jersey and often tells story from the good old days that may or may not be true.
Category:Characters
Category:Males
Category:FLCL