Name: Lindsay
Personal Journal: disasterkins
Contact Info: themushuzuki@gmail.com; disasterkins
Other Characters Played: Shounen Bat (Lil' Slugger) strike_you_out
Preferred Housing: 2237 Stevens; permission granted by house members and slot reserved

Character Name: Naota Nandaba
Character Series: FLCL
Character Age: 12

Background:

One | Two | Three

To summarize, Naota grew up in a fictional Japanese town called Mabase with his older brother, father and grandfather. No canon clues were given regarding the whereabouts of his mother but we can conclude she's been absent from Naota's life for a very long time. It's possible that she is deceased and is permanently out of the picture, perhaps long enough to evade Naota's memory. Otherwise, I'd assume there had been some mention of her at least once. Whether she died or simply left early in Naota's life, the impact of that loss is still present. Already, Naota was missing someone who would have played a major role in his life. But Naota found a role model in his older brother, Tasuku, who was well known and loved by everyone in the community as the star player of the Mabase Martians. Then, he too, stepped out of Naota's life and moved to the US to play major league baseball.

At the start of the series, Naota is living with his father and grandfather above a family owned bakery and it's been roughly a year since the departure of his older brother. Naota spends time regularly visiting Mamimi, a depressed high school girl in love with his brother. Her nickname for Naota is Takkun, a name meant for Tasuku. It's another constant reminder that Naota is hopelessly trapped in the shadow of his older brother. Rather than make plans to leave Mabase, Naota is resigned to the fate of being left behind in a town where nothing amazing ever happens.

Enter Haruko Haruhara, a pink-haired alien who reminds Naota of his brother with her powerful swing. Her arrival turns Naota's world upside-down after opening a portal inside his head called an N.O. channel. A series of bizarre events unfolds as battling robots emerge from the center of his forehead to wreak havoc throughout Mabase. Little did he know it, but Naota was caught in the middle of Haruko's quest to capture a powerful space entity known as Atomsk. Finally, Commander Amarao, leader of a mysterious anti-alien agency, enlightens Naota of Haruko's agenda and warns him not to succumb to her wiles. But in the end, Naota is just a 12 year old boy whose life has suddenly spiraled out of control against his best efforts.

The beginning of Episode 6 is the canon point from which I'll be playing him. By this point Naota will have learned to finally swing the bat in order to prevent a bomb from landing on the city; he'll have experienced rejection from Mamimi and the emergence of a massive, rampaging robot from his head; and the disappearance of Haruko which leaves him feeling the same abandonment he'd felt after his brother left.