Naota's life isn't simple: he lives with his eccentric father and grandfather in a two-story house above a family-owned bakery in a town marked by a gigantic factory at its heart. The factory looks suspiciously like a hand iron, replete with a steam release at the top -- not the most typical landmark. Life is already strange enough, but to top it off, his older brother's ex-girlfriend starts making extremely suggestive passes at him ... and an impish, playful alien smacks him in the head with a bass guitar and then infuses herself into his family.

FLCL (Furi Kuri) was published in tankoubon (graphic novel) form in 2000 by Kodansha in Japan. There was also a hit FLCL anime series from Gainax and Hideaki Anno (who also teamed up on Neon Genesis Evangelion) and several fascinatingly enigmatic FLCL text novels by scenarist Yoji Enokido.

Hajime Ueda/GAINAX
GAINAX is one of the most renowned animation studios in the world. Their productions include:
Nadia
Gunbuster
Wings of Honneamise
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou
FLCL (Furi Kuri)
Mahoromatic
Puchi Puri

FLCL is the brain child of Tsurumaki-san, the young director that brought to life the End of Evangelion, a miasmic animated adventure. The manga was written by Hajime Ueda adapted from the anime.

English Version By: Stephanie Sheh

Naota
A high school freshman who lives in the shadow of his older brother, a baseball player who has since moved to America to seek his riches. Naota can hardly fill his brother's shoes, nor does he want to. All he wants is to be left alone. That's hardly what he's going to get, though!

Mamimi
Naota's brother's ex-girlfriend who has moved down the fraternal ladder. She's also a bit of dimwit and has some rather anti-social tendencies, something to do with matches and video games.

Haruko
A space alien who has connived her way into Naota's family. She seems to be there simply to cause him trouble but turns out to be a warrior from a distant galaxy to save the Earth from certain doom.

Canti
A warrior robot that has been reduced to cleaning dishes in Naota's house.