Character Analysis: Haruko Haruhara

 

Before we start…

As those of you familiar with FLCL may know, there are actually 2 different Harukos that appear over the course of the FLCL franchise. These Harukos are FLCL’s Haruko and FLCL Alternative’s Haruko, who each exist in separate universes. For this blog, I will be focusing mostly on FLCL’s Haruko, with a small amount of mentioning/compositing of Alternative’s Haruko. This is because both versions of Haruko are mostly the same when it comes to their abilities and physical attributes.


Background

Very little is known about Haruko’s origins. She is an extraterrestrial investigator for the Galactic Space Police Brotherhood who made it her personal mission to hunt down and absorb Atomsk, the most powerful space pirate in the galaxy. In most FLCL entries, Haruko will meet a character with a powerful N.O. channel and use them in an attempt to draw out Atomsk and absorb him.


Weapons and Equipment

Rickenbacker

Haruko’s signature bass guitar. The Rickenbacker has many functions. It can be used as a hoverboard, fire shotgun rounds and missiles, and interfere with time-space. After the events of FLCL, Haruko acquires Atomsk’s Gibson EB-0 bass, which appears to have the same functions as her Rickenbacker bass.

  • FLCL ep 5 13:13 The Rickenbacker fires a missile

  • FLCL ep 5 14:40 The Rickenbacker fires bullets

  • FLCL ep 5 16:28 Uses the Rickenbacker to fly

  • FLCL Novel vol 1 pg 116 The Rickenbacker is stated to disrupt time-space and emits a powerful light that destroys a robot 


1967 Model Mustang

FLCL Alternative Haruko’s signature bass guitar. Unlike the Rickenbacker, the 1967 Model Mustang fires lasers instead of bullets and missiles.


Vespa SS180

A modified Vespa scooter that serves as Haruko’s main source of transportation throughout the universe. The Vespa is capable of flight and can be summoned to her location via whistling.

  • FLCL ep 3 17:46 Summons her Vespa by whistling

  • FLCL ep 6 26:47 Flies into space with her Vespa

Bracelet

A bracelet Haruko wears to track Atomsk. It points towards sources of N.O. and can generate red chains that are presumably designed to restrain Atomsk.

  • FLCL ep 6 23:38 The bracelet reacts to Atomsk’s power


Katana

A japanese sword Haruko uses throughout the events of FLCL Grunge.


Slingshot

A slingshot Haruko uses to fire small explosive red energy spheres.


Guns

Haruko can be seen using a wide array of firearms throughout the series.


Spring-Loaded Boxing Glove

“What in the Lupin?”

A spring-loaded boxing glove that comes out of Haruko’s…uh, let’s move on.

  • FLCL ep 5 3:48 Haruko’s spring-loaded boxing glove 


Skills and Abilities

Immortality

Due to being an alien, Haruko cannot age past 19.


Toon Force

Haruko has shown the ability to break the laws of physics with some light reality warping.

  • FLCL ep 1 5:15 Pauses the anime to comment on a slow motion shot

  • FLCL ep 2 16:57 Her eyes literally pop out of their socket

  • FLCL ep 6 8:47 Turns back into an anime after being turned into a manga

  • Progressive ep 2 13:38 Yelling “Cut!” creates a text font that slams into Ko Ide

  • Progressive ep 5 7:58 Turns into a flat, 2D figure


Hypnotism

Haruko has the ability to hypnotize weak-minded people into believing anything she wants. 

  • Progressive ep 1 19:35 Hypnotized a group of students into praising her and texting FLCL

  • Progressive ep 2 4:25 Implants fake memories in a group of students to make them  believe she’s a great teacher and makes them perceive bad drawings as photorealistic images


N.O.

N.O. is the power to mentally call objects through light years of space and bring them to the user. A person’s N.O. tends to manifest as a portal in their head. While Haruko (normally) doesn’t have access to N.O, she can use other people’s N.O. to summon objects.

  • FLCL ep 4 15:48 Amarao explains how N.O. opens up an inter-dimensional channel that can transport material from light years away

  • FLCL ep 4 18:05 Uses Naota’s N.O. channel to summon a guitar

  • Progressive ep 2 16:05 Uses Ko Ide’s N.O. channel to summon a robot

  • Progressive ep 4 14:30 Uses Hidomi’s N.O. channel to travel outside the Medical Mechanica factory

  • Progressive ep 6 4:10 Atomsk’s N.O. channel sucks Haruko into another dimension

  • Progressive ep 6 14:55 Uses Hidomi’s N.O. channel to leave said dimension

  • Alternative ep 2 16:00 Knocks a van out of Kana’s N.O. channel

  • Grunge ep 3 16:05 Pulls her Rickenbacker out of Shinpachi’s head


Absorption

Haruko seemingly has the ability to consume and absorb the strength of others, as seen in her attempts to absorb Atomsk and when she devoured Jinyu, her other half.

Atomsk’s Power

At some point after the events of FLCL, Haruko was able to track down and absorb Atomsk. While she was seemingly unable to fully contain his power, she absorbed enough to boost her physical abilities and gain unassisted flight in her fight with Jinyu.


Feats

Strength

  • FLCL ep 1 9:25 Destroys an x-ray machine

  • FLCL ep 1 9:40 Shakes and twists a hospital building while fighting Naota

  • FLCL ep 4 0:03 Hits a baseball into the sky until it disappears

  • FLCL ep 4 20:31 Knocks a giant baseball bomb into space, damaging the surrounding area and dispersing a large mass of clouds

  • FLCL ep 5 16:30 Staggers a skyscraper-sized robot with a slingshot

  • FLCL ep 6 23:50 Clashes with Atomsk

  • Progressive ep 3 16:58 Breaks the arm on Jinyu’s car mech

  • Progressive ep 3 17:20 Knocks away a huge tendril of junk with her guitar

  • Progressive ep 4 18:46 With Atomsk’s power, knocks the giant Medical Mechanica building backwards

  • Progressive ep 5 7:00 Deflects Ide’s strikes with her feet

  • Alternative ep 1 18:30 Smashes a big robot into the ground, cratering it, and making it explode

  • Alternative ep 2 18:55 Spins a robot hard enough to tear it apart and make it explode

  • Alternative ep 4 19:10 Smashes a basketball through a robot

  • Alternative ep 5 13:25 Staggers a giant hand monster with one hit

  • Alternative ep 5 15:33 Rips out a giant hand monster’s teeth

  • Alternative ep 6 17:24 Slices a robot in half with her guitar

  • Grunge ep 3 16:31 Throws her Rickenbacker through a robot


Speed

  • FLCL ep 5 6:24 Deflects a sniper rifle bullet back at the user

  • FLCL ep 5 12:35 Slices through multiple bullets with a razor

  • FLCL ep 5 13:10 Dodges bullets as if they’re moving in slow motion

  • FLCL ep 5 17:25 Dodges building-sized bullets at close range

  • FLCL ep 6 30:43 Flies interstellar distances with her Vespa

  • FLCL manga ch 7 States that her vespa is “light-speed”

  • Progressive ep 2 17:37 Blocks several energy blasts with her guitar

  • Progressive ep 4 17:08 With Atomsk’s power, outflies several missiles 

  • Progressive ep 5 7:56 Moves fast enough to vanish


Durability

  • FLCL ep 2 19:22 Survives a massive explosion unharmed

  • FLCL ep 5 17:30 Gets shot out of a building sized gun that destroys a building

  • FLCL ep 5 18:33 Gets shot by five building sized bullets at the same time

  • Progressive ep 2 19:27 Survives another massive explosion

  • Progressive ep 3 14:34 Seemingly tanks an explosion big enough to cover part of the Medical Mechanica

  • Progressive ep 4 17:50 With Atomsk’s power, flies through several a series of missile explosions unharmed

  • Alternative ep 1 18:33 Survives another massive explosion unharmed

  • Alternative ep 6 0:38 Gets knocked into a metal tower hard enough to make it fall over

  • Alternative ep 6 21:02 Survives a blast that launches her into orbit

  • Grunge ep 3 15:00 Survives getting blasted by a robot


Scaling

Naota Nandaba

FLCL’s main protagonist. Haruko is usually depicted as being physically stronger than Naoto outside of his Atomsk power-up, so she should scale to him.

  • FLCL ep 4 20:02 Naota withstands the kinetic energy of a giant baseball bomb

  • FLCL Novel vol 2 pg 114 Naota sends a satellite flying at “warp speed two”  


Canti

A robot manufactured by Medical Mechanica. Haruko has fought the same enemies as Canti and was even able to damage him, so she should scale to him.


Hidomi Hibajiri

FLCL Progressive’s main protagonist. Haruko fought with Hidomi, so she obviously scales.


Atomsk (Debatable)

The most powerful character of the FLCL franchise. While Atomsk is obviously stronger than Haruko, there are arguments that can be made for downscaling. Not only do the light novels state that she is Atomsk’s closest rival, but she was able to successfully restrain him as well (albeit, he was injured when she did this). Haruko also absorbed Atomsk’s power in FLCL Progressive. With this amp, Eye Patch mistook Haruko’s power to be Atomsk himself. Of course, this is debatable, so it’s up to the reader to decide if Haruko scales or not.

  • FLCL ep 6 5:35 Atomsk’s N.O. is powerful enough to steal entire star systems  

  • FLCL ep 6 23:25 Atomsk empowered Naota knocks a gigantic hand into the air

  • FLCL ep 6 25:37 Atomsk lifts Medical Mechanica

  • Progressive ep 4 15:30 Eye Patch mistakes Haruko and Jinyu to be Atomsk

  • Alternative ep 6 19:07 Atomsk empowered Kana shoots a beam that disperses clouds

  • Alternative ep 6 19:55 Atomsk empowered Kana threatens space-time

  • Grunge ep 3 18:35 Atomsk disperses clouds while flying away

  • Shoegaze ep 3 5:21 Atomsk empowered Kana split the world into two dimensions


Weaknesses

Haruko is an insane woman that lacks common sense and almost always takes reckless actions without thinking. Also, N.O. channels require people with strong brainwaves to open, so it’s not guaranteed that the opponent she fights would have N.O. channels for her to access. Of course, with Atomsk’s powers, Haruko should be capable of opening N.O. channels on her own.


(Special thanks to Flip for making the Haruko and scaling images)

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