Naota Nandaba
ナンダバ・ナオ太
Twelve-year-old Naota Nandaba is the main character. His name is derived from the Japanese word for “honesty” and his father named him Naota because of that (Fooly Cooly). Unbeknownst to him, he has the “right kind of head” to be used as an N.O. channel. He is obsessed with appearing mature and attempts to act nonchalant. This is most expressed in his monologues which open and close each episode where he continues to claims that “nothing amazing ever happens here” despite the show’s surreal and often absurd happenings. Naota idolizes his older brother Tasuku, carrying around Tasuku’s baseball bat, and even hanging out with Tasuku’s old girlfriend Mamimi. In Naota’s mind, Tasuku is the epitome of what it means to be an adult, as opposed to the other adults in his life (e.g. his father, his grandfather, and his teacher) who he perceives as being immature. Much like Amarao, Naota is picky about his drinks (disliking drinks which are sour, bitter, or contain pulp) and hates spicy foods (note thought, he is told to “cut back on the sour drinks” by Amarao).
His guitar is the Gibson Flying V which Haruko pulls out of his head in the fourth episode.
While at the beginning of the series he appears to be bothered by Haruko’s presence, over the course of the series he realizes his own feelings and admits that he loves her in the final episode. As Mamimi is his symbol of childhood, and Haruko is his symbol of adulthood, when they both leave Mabase, he is left right in the middle where he belongs, in adolescence.
