FLCLick Noise - Episode 4

[Table of Contents available here]

STORY: Haruko has become a full-fledged member of the Nandaba household. While during the day she is an active player in the town's baseball team, she spends her nights being affectionate with Kamon off in his room. Amidst Naota's growing frustration with her behavior, a mysterious man named Amarao appears before him.

Meanwhile, a fallen artificial satellite approaches the city of Mabase. Led by Haruko, Naota ends up at the top of the Medical Mechanica Plant sleeping in the city, to confront the approaching satellite...

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Interviewer: By the way Tsurumaki, I didn't ask before, but were you the one who chose the names of the characters?

Tsurumaki: Yes, that's right. I think Enokido decided on the name Nandaba Kamon, and I decided on the rest.

Interviewer: The names are a bit strange; is there any rule behind them?

Tsurumaki: Rule, huh? I’d say I just like the naming style of Yoshiyuki Tomino¹.

Sadamoto: I knew it (laughs)

Tsurumaki: I like repeating sounds. Something like "Amandra Kamandra²" (laughs).

Sadamoto: "Haruhara Haruko" kind of fits that style too, right? Where does "Nandaba" come from?

Tsurumaki: "Nandaba" is similar to "Wandaba³" in terms of sound; and when you see its kanji it gives a familiar impression as the common name "Kusuda-nami⁴", but when you hear only how it sounds you start to wonder, "What kind of character is this?" I was trying for something where the sound of the words and the image of the characters were out of sync.  There's a lyric in a song by [J-pop singer] Yumi Matsutoya that goes, "The sound of Morioka feels like Russian⁵." When you hear the word "Morioka," you naturally imagine the characters along with it, so there's no sense of incongruity. But when you isolate the sound alone, it does sound like a Russian word. I like that kind of thing.

Interviewer: Okay, let's move on to Episode 4 of "FLCL". It feels like the story definitely progresses here, right? Haruko seems to become the main focus in this episode.

Tsurumaki: Yes, that's right. Naota grows up a little, and it seems like Haruko's true identity starts to gradually get revealed.

Interviewer: In this episode, Amarao and Kitsurubami make their appearance. And they are...

Tsurumaki: They are part of the Immigration Bureau, which is like the public security organization in Mabase. You might also say they serve as the diplomatic point-of-contact for other planets.

Interviewer: To pick up the earlier thread, where did the names of these two characters come from?

Tsurumaki: Well, Amarao is based on a soccer player, Amaral. He used to play for FC Tokyo but has since retired and is working as a coach for a corporate team. He's Brazilian, and his name doesn't have any kanji or meaning behind it, but I always thought of it as "Amaru" (to have an excess) + "O" (tail) = "Amarao." As for Kitsurubami, I wanted to give her a strange name, but I couldn't come up with anything. Then, at Enokido’s house, there was a dictionary of color names in Japanese, and as I was flipping through it, I came across a yellow-brown color called "Kitsurubami-iro".

Sadamoto: Oh really, what is the color like?

Tsurumaki: I think it's somewhere in between yellow and drab olive. It doesn't go as far as yellow-green, but it's like in between a muted orange and a muted yellow-green. It's a subtle color.

Tsurumaki: I wanted to include a baseball story in the show.

Sadamoto: Ahahaha (laughs).

Tsurumaki: If the third episode was all tied up with curry and cats, in this episode we focus solely on baseball. So, from beginning to end, it's all about baseball jokes.

Interviewer: (Looking at the baseball teammates) Who designed the background characters in this scene?

Tsurumaki: That would be Nobutoshi Ogura, the storyboard artist and animation director for this episode.

Sadamoto: This is Ogura's taste, huh?

Tsurumaki: Well, this whole episode is Ogura's taste. The unique sense of direction, facial expressions, and character poses are typical of him.

Interviewer: How did you end up asking Ogura to work on the show?

Tsurumaki: Ogura was one of the key members involved in "Kare Kano," alongside Tadashi Hiramatsu. He's skilled and has a distinct style, so I really wanted to work with him on one episode. He said that he wanted to storyboard and serve as animation director, and since Mr. Ogura likes to use vulgar expressions (laughs), I thought that would be OK for "FLCL" even though it would not have worked for the shoujo-inspired "Kare Kano".

Sadamoto: By the way, the original design for the grandpa (Nandaba Shigekuni) was based on the former manager of the Yakult Swallows baseball team, right?

Tsurumaki: You mean Katsuya Nomura?

Sadamoto: Yes, yes.

Tsurumaki: Ah, I see (laughs).

Sadamoto: Was that a specific request?

Tsurumaki: No, I don't think so. But Naota's brother is studying abroad to play baseball, and the one who is most happy about it is his grandfather.

Sadamoto: Oh, that's the reason for choosing Nomura. He looks kind of like Nomura, right?

Tsurumaki: That fierce look he has, yes.

Interviewer: Ah, here are the vulgar scenes you mentioned.

Tsurumaki: Yes, that's right. In addition to these, Ogura had several requests like "please include a scene like this," and among them were some incredibly indecent things that I couldn't include at all.

Sadamoto: Ahahaha (laughs).

Tsurumaki: Like for example, a scene of Naota taking a dump in an old Japanese-style squat toilet, and Haruko would come up from behind him and take a dump in the same toilet while saying, "Mix it up, mix it up!" (laughs). They requested incredibly vulgar things, and I had to say, "I can't possibly do this!"

Sadamoto: (Referring to the scene of Haruko and Kamon erotically eating the same fried egg) This part, too, is quite something.

Tsurumaki: There was a scene like this in a Japanese movie, right? The one with a raw egg.

Interviewer: Ah, maybe it's Juzo Itami's "Tampopo⁶".

Tsurumaki: He probably wanted to do a scene like that.

Sadamoto: Oh, what a great voice Koji Okhura [Amarao’s VA] has. I definitely want him to do voice acting again for something, its such a nice voice.

Tsurumaki: I think he can pull off really cool characters, don't you think?

Interviewer: Does the license plate on Amarao's scooter, "U-0303," have any meaning?

Tsurumaki: When you turn it sideways, "0" becomes a face, and the character "3" becomes like ears, so it looks like a rabbit. Amarao’s scooter is a Fuji Rabbit, so... (laughs). Haruko's scooter also has a license plate "5656," which comes from the sound of a cat purring, "go-roku go-roku⁷".

Interviewer: Speaking of Amarao, let's talk about his eyebrows...

Sadamoto: Oh my, well when we were ordering production materials, we had instructions to make it look like we had stuck seaweed on him (laughs).

Tsurumaki: At first, Amarao's image was completely different. You know in "Twin Peaks⁸", there is the character Cooper, who constantly talks into a tape recorder. You don't really know if there is ever anyone actually listening to the other side of that tape recorder, which creates a kind of strange feeling. I wanted Amarao to have that kind of weirdness. And when I was searching for something like that, in terms of the show’s themes, I thought he was a man who wanted to express extreme masculinity. Amarao believes that having thick eyebrows is a way to do that. But from an outsider's perspective, it's quite weird, right? So he eventually settled into being a character with that kind of ‘gap’ or disparity in how he is understood.

Sadamoto: At what point did you decide that the eyebrows were not just going to be designed to look like seaweed, but actually were seaweed stuck on? Initially, it was just a design, right?

Tsurumaki: That's right.

Sadamoto: I remember at some point, there was a discussion about including a scene where he has a passcase wallet full of seaweed, and he would decide which one to stick on for the day (laughs).

Tsurumaki: And the eyebrows arent there for fashion; they guard against Haruko using her abilities on him. I don't remember when I came up with that idea at all (laughs). In my rough drafts, he had normal thick eyebrows. He had a rugby player’s physique, a shaved head, a strong face like Saigo Takamori⁹; he was a tough, athletic guy.

Sadamoto: Personally, since I usually draw characters with thin eyebrows, I thought it would be nice to draw thick ones for once (laughs). There is a guy with thick eyebrows in "Gunbuster 2!¹⁰", right?

Tsurumaki: Yes, Nicola.

Sadamoto: Yeah, yeah. You asked me to make Nicola with eyebrows like that, but I'm not good with thick eyebrows, you know (laughs). Tsurumaki always requests characters with round eyes or thick eyebrows, which I don't draw much. That's Tsurumaki for you.

Tsurumaki: Ahahaha (laughs). Yeah, there aren't many characters with thick eyebrows in anime these days, unfortunately.

Interviewer: On the other hand, Kiturubami, his subordinate, is a character with blonde hair and tanned skin, right?

Sadamoto: Yeah, as you can imagine that was inspired by Electra from "Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water¹¹". When I designed Electra, the combination of a dark skin tone and slightly pale, golden hair turned out really beautiful, so I thought of trying it here too. And later, I did it again with Lal'C in "Gunbuster 2!"

Tsurumaki: At the time, there were already characters with white hair and dark skin in video games, but there weren’t so many in anime.

Sadamoto: If I say so myself, I think she is a great character.

Tsurumaki: This part here is amazing too. It has such eccentric directing, and that cut where Kamon's head falls to the ground with a thud...

Sadamoto: I have no idea what's going on here! (laughs)

Interviewer: Ahahaha (laughs).

Tsurumaki: I don't understand it either (laughs). I think it is intended to express an atmosphere of disquiet or uneasiness, not something that has concrete meaning. Well, maybe Ogura had something in mind.

Interviewer: So, it's not depicted in the script?

Tsurumaki: Not at all. Ogura is also a fan of supernatural films from the 1960s and 1970s, from before the “J-horror¹²” genre emerged, so he might have been aiming for that kind of feeling.

Interviewer: After this, there's a scene where Naota hits Kamon with a bat; well, that isn’t exactly true, but the scene gives you that impression. The timeline is jumbled up, creating a misdirection for the audience.

Tsurumaki: I remember that Enokido resisted this idea during the scriptwriting. The debate was about whether it's okay for Naota to hit his father, even if he's a robot. Well, Naota doesn't know that his father is a robot, so it's more about if it's okay for him to beat to death something he believes is his father? So, we indirectly implied that he hits the TV, the clock flies off and that hits him, leading to his death (laughs).

Interviewer: The actual moment of hitting the TV is only depicted right at the beginning of the cut.

Tsurumaki: The cuts where the cat is assaulting Haruko wasn't in the script either, it was Ogura’s improvisation. So again there's an unsettling atmosphere, and Naota is becoming cornered. I hoped to convey that feeling.

Sadamoto: I also don't understand the depiction of electricity being used.

Tsurumaki: If you watch it a few times, you'll understand.

Sadamoto: What's up with this Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes-like uniform?

Tsurumaki: Ah, that's because I like the Buffaloes uniform (laughs).

Sadamoto: So you're a fan of Taro Okamoto¹³ (laughs).

Tsurumaki: And yet, at that time everyone thought the Buffaloes uniform was tacky or something. Then, the person who was the model for Ninamori...

Sadamoto: Ah, Kazue Fukiishi¹⁴. That's right, Ninamori was modeled after Kazue Fukiishi. I just remembered now (laughs).

Tsurumaki: She is the daughter of Tokuichi Fukiishi, who used to play for the Buffaloes. At that time, Kazue Fukiishi had recently debuted in film and did the ceremonial first pitch at a game, so she wore the Buffaloes uniform. It was modified for a girl, with hot pants, and she looked incredibly cute in it, so I said, "Please use this!" (laughs)¹⁵.

Sadamoto: The Kintetsu Buffaloes, they don't exist anymore, right?

Tsurumaki: They merged with the Orix Blue Wave team.

Sadamoto: Yeah, yeah. As a child, I hated that Okamoto Taro-designed logo.

Tsurumaki: Oh, it's a scary or creepy design, isn't it?

Sadamoto: Scary, or maybe, to put it in modern terms, it's just tacky. I thought, "It's a cow!" (laughs).

Tsurumaki: Well, it can't be helped since it's a buffalo, right? (laughs)

Sadamoto: Ahahaha (laughs). Maybe I just preferred something more sharp. I didn't like the organic feel of it, you know?

Tsurumaki: Certainly, the Hiroshima Carp, the Buffaloes, and the old Nankai Hawks had this image of being tacky.

Sadamoto: The Carp design is fine, at least.

Tsurumaki: No, no, that's because you're from a place near Hiroshima. In Eastern Japan, Carp’s design is considered tacky.

Sadamoto: Well, it's not a big deal (laughs). But it does have this intense and passionate vibe, you know? (laughs)

Tsurumaki: But like, it's neither cool nor impressive, and it doesn't even look strong (laughs).

Sadamoto: But its because there are carp in the Ota River [near Hiroshima], you know? And carp also have this reputation for swimming up waterfalls.

Interviewer: This scene is also quite nasty, isn't it?

Tsurumaki: The scene with the cockroach (laughs).

Interviewer: Were there any instructions for this scene in the script?

Tsurumaki: I don't think there was.

Sadamoto: Wow, it looks so real.

Tsurumaki: We applied some texture animation for this. I remember Ogura asked if we could create a 3D CG cockroach. But since it wasn't in the script and it wasn’t that significant of a scene, I thought it was a bit unnecessary to go fully 3D... So I took a 2D photo texture of a cockroach and applied it to the object we rendered.

Sadamoto: This part has a bit of a Studio 4℃¹⁶ vibe, doesn't it?

Tsurumaki: I think the orange color tone gives that impression.

Interviewer: The presence of the transmission tower also contributes to it.

Tsurumaki: In this scene, Kamon has his wet hair down, and I thought it would make him look a bit cool; but I don’t think it quite worked out (laughs).

Sadamoto: From about here, it starts becoming very sci-fi. Though it's totally all over the place (laughs).

Tsurumaki: Ahahaha (laughs).

Interviewer: What is this picture of Haruko that Amarao is holding?

Tsurumaki: What is this? I think it's something that is to Ogura’s taste (laughs). He seems to like girls who are picking their noses.

Interviewer: Are you trying to pass everything off as “Ogura’s sense of humor”?

Tsurumaki: Ahahaha (laughs). (While looking at Haruko sticking her hand into Naota's head) This scene is Enokido's fetish. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a girl grind around inside your mind! I remember Enokido saying something like that.

Interviewer: And then, the nosebleeds gush out like a flood! (laughs)

Tsurumaki: Of course, this wasn't in the script either (laughs). But there's this science fiction writer named James Tiptree Jr¹⁷, and her novels often feature aliens. Moreover, these aliens always serve as metaphors for a kind of sexually superior being. While the novels don't explicitly describe the aliens in detail, it suggests that, man or a woman, they are both always irresistibly drawn to these alien’s extreme sexual allure. So I had the idea in mind that those with exceptional cosmic abilities are also sexually attractive. That's why I thought it would be okay to portray the nosebleeds here (laughs).

Interviewer: And then, Naota swings the bat. It is the first step forward for the boy.

Tsurumaki: Yes, that's right. Well, he is also being pushed into the situation. This part, you drew it, right Sadamoto?

Sadamoto: Yes, that's right, the part where Haruko jumps in.

Interviewer: After the hit, the town really goes crazy (laughs).

Tsurumaki: That's not in the script either, but I guess Ogura wanted to do something DAICON-like¹⁸ (laughs).

Sadamoto: Is this scene done by Yoshinari or Sushio¹⁹?

Tsurumaki: I can't remember who did this one. I don't think it's Yoshinari though.

Sadamoto: Well then, maybe it's Sushio [TN: it is Sushio].

Tsurumaki: Since Ogura-san doesn't ride motorcycles, Haruko’s posture on the Vespa is a bit too far back. The balance is interesting.

Interviewer: And then, Amaro's seaweed eyebrow falls off (laughs).

Sadamoto: What kind of punchline is that? (laughs)

Interviewer: What everyone has been thinking all along would happen, finally happens in the end (laughs). So, what is Amaro's official position in all of this?

Tsurumaki: It's like the Japanese police being involved in a spy battle between the United States and the Soviet Union set in Cold War-era Japan. Even if the spies commit illegal acts, all the police can do is watch helplessly with their fingers crossed.

Interviewer: Ah, so the United States and the Soviet Union represent The Fraternity and Medical Mechanica, respectively.

Tsurumaki: The Fraternity and Medical Mechanica are major powers that fight over control of the universe. This planet with Mabase is like a city living in the midst of those two major forces as a subordinate power. And Amaro is like a police officer serving a nation in such a weak position. Meanwhile, Haruko and Medical Mechanica, although they superficially abide by Mabase's laws and agreements, in reality don't really care. If it would benefit them, they wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice Mabase.

Interviewer: As of the 4th episode, all the main characters have finally appeared. From your perspective, Sadamoto-san, who is your favorite?

Sadamoto: I like all of them, but Amaro is definitely great. His colors, atmosphere, and even his voice, I find the character interesting as a whole. It's something that I hadn’t seen in the anime I've participated in before, you know, something new.

Tsurumaki: And we haven’t seen anyone like him since! (laughs) I do think he is unique. Personally, I didn't draw Amaro as a cool character; I drew him as a character trying to be cool, but not actually cool. Probably Enokido thinks of him the same way. However, fans consider him a cool character. That's what makes it interesting. It's like he's "loved", which is a success I didn’t intend. He was meant to be seen as somewhat of a loser, but he's loved for that and considered cool. Characters like that are rare, I think. It's truly reminiscent of a "Young Magazine²⁰" style of flawed youth.

Sadamoto: And Kamon, too. It's not often that such a flawed middle-aged guy appears in an anime (laughs). I like him.

Interviewer: "Adults are no good" is the worldview of the show, but not everyone is like that.

Tsurumaki: That's right. They are certainly flawed adults, but that's not all they are. That's what Naota couldn't understand. It flips the common idea that there is an amazing world that children can't see. By not simply resolving the story in terms of "good" or "bad", I think it adds some breadth to it that it wouldn't otherwise have.

Sadamoto: I like the fact that none of the characters seem to be a good person (laughs).

Interviewer: Well, everyone has their own ulterior motives.

Tsurumaki: There's this American crime drama called "Damages²¹", where all the characters, including the protagonist, are liars, and that makes it more exciting to watch (laughs).

Interviewer: I don't know if it's a trend in the world, but it feels like everyone today thinks it's better to speak their minds, to directly say what they're really thinking. "FLCL" is a bit different from that, I think.

Tsurumaki: Exactly. In normal anime or shonen manga, the things the main characters say are considered "right," and at the very least, they're speaking their true feelings. But back in the days of "Young Magazine," those stories depicted things differently. "FLCL" as a work shares that worldview.

Sadamoto: The people who appear in "Young Magazine" manga aren't exactly good people, right? The first thing I did when I entered this industry was "Wings of Honneamise", and consciously, it was a work where not a single good person appeared. Rather, it was a story about gathering together flawed people. But I think that, as a way of thinking, it's realistic. If you look around yourself, there aren't many people you'd say, "This person is a good person" (laughs). Humans have both good and bad sides, and if you look from the perspective of others, the bad side often stand out. But even so, people can live within that reality, and it makes life not boring, you know? I think that kind of feeling is conveyed in "FLCL".

1. An anime director and storyboard artist born in Kanagawa Prefecture in 1941. After graduating from Nihon University College of Art, he joined Mushi Pro. He worked on the first TV anime series "Astro Boy" and then worked as a freelance storyboard artist in the industry. In 1972, he directed his first work, "Triton of the Sea," and has since directed many more shows. He is particularly famous for being the chief director of "Mobile Suit Gundam" (1979).

2. TN: A character from the 1984 anime Heavy Metal L-Gaim, which Tomino directed

3. Refers to the background music (BGM) used in scenes where the protagonist gets ready to fight in tokusatsu shows and other programs (it is said to have been first used in "Return of Ultraman"). By extension, it can also be used to refer to situations that are typical or stereotypical, such as the appearance of a monster. The name comes from the unique scat singing chorus style featured in the music [TN: which in the Ultraman theme sounds very similar to the word ‘wandaba’ - you can check it out here].

4. TN: This is the kanji reading for the name Nandaba, but is normally written in kana instead

5. TN: The song is Ode Of Morioka / Midori No Machi Ni Maiorite; Morioka is a town in northern Japan and a popular vacation spot & cherry blossom viewing location.

6. A film director and essayist born in Kyoto Prefecture in 1933. He joined Daiei Film in 1960 and worked as an actor. After leaving Daiei, he continued to appear in TV dramas and films as a unique and influential actor. In 1984, he made his directorial debut with the film "The Funeral" and went on to create multiple hit movies. "Tampopo" is a film of his from 1985. It is a comedy that depicts various episodes related to food, and the raw egg scene mentioned is from this film. [TN: the scene in question]

7. TN: Probably obvious but just in case, the Japanese number ‘5’ is pronounced ‘go’, ‘6’ is ‘roku’, and yeah this is the common Japanese onomatopoeia for the sounds cats make like ‘purr’ in English.

8. A television drama directed by David Lynch that aired from 1990 to 1991. It received wide acclaim due to its unique visual sense and mysterious plot, becoming a big hit not only in America but also in Japan. The "tape recorder" mentioned in the interview refers to one of the characters, FBI agent Dale Cooper, who records memos whenever something happens.

9. TN: “The Last Samurai”, he was one of the founders of the modern Japanese state and leader of the failed Satsuma Rebellion of 1877 that fought the radicalism of the changes he himself had helped usher in.

10. An OVA series directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki, released from 2004 to 2006. It is a sequel to the OVA "Gunbuster", which was directed by Hideaki Anno. The story revolves around a girl named Nono, who aspires to be a space pilot, and a girl named Lal'C, who controls the Buster Machine as a type of pilot known as a "Topless". Sadamoto worked on the character design, while Yoji Enokido handled the screenplay. Many key members of Gainax were also involved in the staff, maintaining the same team structure as "FLCL".

11. A television anime directed by Hideaki Anno that aired from 1990 to 1991. It is based on Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and "The Mysterious Island", and depicts the adventures of a boy inventor named Jean and a mysterious girl named Nadia. Sadamoto participated in the series as the character designer.

12. TN: A movement in Japanese horror films starting in the 80's, whee the films were less focused on gore and monsters and more atmospheric and psychological.

13. TN: A famous avant-garde Japanese artist... who also happened to design the Buffaloes logo that was in use at the time.

14. TN: Popular gravure model and actress at the time

15. TN: Here is a picture her doing the pitch in her outfit, from 1999. Its not that cute, Tsurumaki just has a huge crush, its very adorable.

16. TN: An animation studio founded in 1986, who at the time of FLCL would be most known for making the cyberpunk short film anthology “Memories”, with Akira creator Katushira Otomo as well as Satoshi Kon as a screenplay writer. They would also make much of the Animatrix films in 2003, after FLCL had been made.

17. A science fiction writer born in 1915. A female author, she was initially thought to be a male author due to her robust and direct writing style. She made her authorial debut in 1968 and produced numerous masterpieces throughout the 1970s. She is also known for actively addressing gender issues in her works.

18. TN: Compare ~20:45 in the episode to the final sequence from DAICON IV here if you are interested.

19. An animator born in Saitama Prefecture in 1976. After graduating from vocational school, he joined Gainax. He was in charge of key animation for "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and has participated in various other works by Gainax, including "ONE PIECE," "Ojamajo Doremi," and "Steamboy." He is known for his expertise in action and effects animation.

20. TN: As discussed before, one of the most popular seinen manga magazines of the time, producing edgier content aimed at teen male audiences.

21. An American TV drama that has been airing since 2007. It revolves around the cutthroat world of litigation at a major law firm, where anything goes to win a case. Season 2 has recently been released and focuses on the success of lawyer Patty Hughes. Season 3 has already been confirmed for production [TN: In 2010 of course!].