Commander Amarao

Commander Amarao (アマラオ・指揮官?, Amarao Kanrikan) is a special agent of the Bureau of Interstellar Immigration who, apparently, has some past history with Haruko and claims to "know who or what" she really is. Amarao's childhood seems to mirror Naota's.
==Profile==
Commander Amarao works for the Bureau of Interstellar Immigration. He is typically addressed by his subordinate, Kitsurubami, as "Commander" in the English dub and as "Kanrikan" (指揮官, lit. "Commissioner / Officer") in the Japanese version, which would indicate that he is in charge of the bureau's Mabase office. This agency, among other things, acts as a middleman for negotiations between the government and Medical Mechanica. Thus, Haruko is a big problem for them as she is bent on provoking an attack by disrupting communications. It is a likely inference from FLCL's story that as a child, he was approached by Haruko, just like Naota, and she tried using his N.O. to capture Atomsk. However, his N.O. channel is so weak that he can barely pull through something the size of a slingshot (actually a small guitar and used as intended). 
Despite not appearing in FLCL Progressive, Masurao, a man who also has red hair, is pointed out as his son due to their shared small eyebrows trait. This is later confirmed in the final episode which would make Aiko his granddaughter. However, it is unknown who his wife is.
In FLCL: Grunge, the bureau assigned him to work in Okura City. Medical Mechanica gets word of his arrival and holds an emergency meeting, viewing him as a threat. The local mayor is also upset with Amarao being sent to his city, as he had been making large donations to the bureau to look the other way. After Haruko is able to slip a flash drive into Director Yamaguchi's sushi that causes a virus to spread through the robot and city infrastructure, Amarao tries to enter to the city but is stopped by the police. Despite flashing his EBI (Extragalactic Bureau of Immigration) badge and informing them that he is a government agent, he nearly gets into a gun battle, just before Shonari runs past him and destroys the barricade, cutting off Amarao's eyebrows in the process. After failing to stop Haruko, he is last seen taking a nap on the shuttle that is also carrying Orinoko.
==Personality==
Amarao first appears in the fourth episode of the series, giving viewers the impression that he is virtually an omniscient character as he gives background information as well as making fairly accurate predictions. However, subsequent events would show him as extremely weak and very limited in foresight, though he seems to grasp what is happening better than almost all the other characters. He has a love for sickeningly sweet candy and drinks (which he claims will help bring people's brains back to normal), and hates spicy, sour, and pulpy foods — much like Naota.
==Appearance==
Amarao wears fake eyebrows made of nori, which he believes serve the dual purpose of protecting him from N.O. and making him look tough. He has blue eyes and red hair, though his trip to the hair salon in episode 5 suggests that this may not be its natural color. He always wears a black suit and tie, often paired with a green trench coat and sunglasses with yellow lenses.
In FLCL: Grunge, he originally had normal, full length eyebrows. When Shonari ran past him to enter the city, he unsheathed his sword near Amarao's face and barely missed him. After getting back up and wondering what just happened, his eyebrow hairs disappeared before his eyes.
In the novel, he is described as being in his late 20s, tall and muscular with the physique of a professional swimmer, and having strange, unnaturally thick eyebrows that look like they were drawn on, but kept shifting from their original spot. After his eyebrows fell off due to the gunfight with Haruko, they were described as thick black stickers rather than nori. It also noted that he used these eyebrows for the specific purpose of keeping his horn sealed within him, after his previously run-ins with Haruko and seeing her true form caused his horn to grow and leave him with cruel memories of her mocking the size of his horn.
==Items==
Amarao's vehicle of choice is a Fuji Rabbit, a motor scooter which was initially produced in 1946, six months prior to the initial production of the Vespa. Given that throughout the series, Amarao is constantly trying to impress Haruko, who rides a Vespa, one could conclude his ownership of a scooter is a further manifestation of his attempts to impress her — or, at the very least, a signal to the level at which Haruko had influenced him in his youth.
Amarao also wields a pair of M1911 Colt pistols with a decent amount of skill, though the bullets cause little harm to superior beings like Haruko, Canti or MM robots.
In FLCL: Grunge, he is able to turn his flip phone into a high tech rifle after being blocked by the Okura City Police from entering the district area.
==Relations==
=== Naota Nandaba ===
From their very first meeting, Amarao is constantly warning Naota about how dangerous Haruko is, and is thus trying to keep Naota from ending up like he did because of her. Amarao knows many details about Naota's life, too, meaning that Amarao had been watching him closely for some time. Naota has a much stronger N.O. channel connection than Amarao does, so Haruko actually finds him more useful to her than him. This and some other signs suggest that Amarao feels jealousy that Haruko chose Naota over him.
=== Haruko Haruhara ===
Judging by the way Amarao acts around Haruko or while talking about her, he probably has some feelings for her. However, she is a troublesome alien, so those feelings are diluted by his anger towards her for what she did to him, and the trouble she causes. He always calls her "Raharu," believing that is her real name. It is just as likely that that is simply another false alias, however. Haruko finds Amarao to be completely weak and pathetic for his weak N.O. channel, and doesn't fail to let him know.
=== Canti ===
Amarao never really interacts with the robot, but is aware of his connection to Medical Mechanica. He even seems to know about Canti's link to Atomsk before Haruko does. For these reasons, Amarao considers Canti to be a threat to the Earth's safety and tries to deal with him before MM or Haruko can use him for their own reasons.
=== Kitsurubami ===
Amarao's attractive young subordinate is often seen either giving out vital mission data, or on the field in investigations with Amarao. He hits on her in the final episode, but she resists him. In fact, Kitsurubami seems to be generally disgusted by the idea of romantic involvement with Amarao (and likely any form of physical contact), though she looks up to him as a superior and follows his orders loyally.
=== Atomsk ===
Although Amarao is the first to mention the Pirate King, his only information came from rumors and he had never seen him. In the final episode Amarao portrays Atomsk inaccurately, imagining Atomsk's appearance as a humanoid male figure with fiery red hair when he describes him to Naota. In an interview, the director clarifies that Atomsk's true form is indeed that of the bird, and Amarao's mental image was of a man because he believed that Atomsk and Haruko were lovers, which was later exposed to be false; Amarao looks very surprised when he sees Atomsk's true form. The director hinted that Amarao's misconception of Atomsk's form reflected his insecurity and jealousy, as he erroneously thought Atomsk was Haruko's boyfriend and therefore envisioned him as a masculine human male.
==Gallery==
Commander Amarao/Gallery
== Trivia ==
*In FLCLick Noise, director Kazuya Tsurumaki noted that Amarao was named after Brazilian soccer player, Amaral, who played for FC Tokyo from 1992 to 2003.
**He also noted that when he thought of the name, he built it upon the Japanese words, "Amaru" (余る, to have excess) and "O" (尾, tail)
*Amarao briefly appears twice during the ending credits for FLCL Progressive. One is a black and white line drawing of Amarao with his son, Masurao, while the other is of him next to Kitsurubami and Ninamori as Haruko drives past characters from the FLCL franchise.
*Amarao and Masurao are both voiced by the same Japanese actor, Kouji Ohkura, in FLCL and Progressive.
*In the character design sheet, his title in the bureau is "特殊入国管理官" (tokushu nyūkoku kanri-kan, Special Immigration Officer)
Category:Characters
Category:Males
Category:FLCL
Category:Grunge