Character Analysis: Haruko Haruhara

Background

Haruko Haruhara is an energetic and spontaneous 19 year old alien girl whose made it her personal mission throughout most of the series to chase down and absorb Atomsk, a powerful space pirate king. Aside from that, little is known about Haruko.

Equipment

Rickenbacker

Haruko's signature weapon is a bass guitar. Not only is she capable of using this as a melee weapon, but it can also shoot missiles/shotgun rounds.

• FLCL Ep. 5 (13:04) - Haruko firing bullets from Rickenbacker

1967 Model Mustang

Haruko's bass guitar used in FLCL Progressive and Alternative. The 1967 Model Mustang has nearly the same abilities as the Rickenbacker, but can fire lasers instead of bullets.

• Alternative Ep. 2 (16:40) - Haruko firing lasers from her 1967 Model Mustang

Vespa SS180

A modified Vespa scooter that serves as Haruko's main source of transportation. The Vespa is capable of flight and can be summoned by Haruko with a whistle. Haruko has stated that her Vespa is light speed, which is likely true given that she uses it to chase down Atomsk through the universe.

• FLCL Ep. 3 (17:43) - Haruko summons the Vespa with a whistle
• FLCL Ep. 6 (26:40) - Haruko flying with her Vespa
• FLCL Manga Ch. 15 (Pg. 47) - Haruko stating her Vespa is light speed

Ukulele Gun 

A ukulele disguised as a machine gun. Used in Chapter 7 of the FLCL manga.

Uzi Submachine Gun

A submachine gun used by Haruko. Uzi Submachine Guns have a rate of fire of  600 rounds/minute and have a muzzle velocity of around 895 mph.

• FLCL Ep. 5 (1:00) - Haruko using an Uzi Sabmachine Gun

Slingshot

A slingshot used by Haruko. With it, Haruko can fire small explosive red energy spheres capable of staggering skyscraper sized robots.

• FLCL Ep. 5 (16:20) - Haruko using a slingshot

Spring-Loaded Boxing Glove

A spring-loaded boxing glove that comes from Haruko's...let's move on.

• FLCL Ep. 5 (3:45) - Haruko's spring-loaded boxing glove

Abilities

4th Wall Breaking/Toon Force

Throughout the series, Haruko has shown the ability to break the laws of physics with some light reality warping. She can pause the anime to comment on events, stretch her limbs and body, and can even turn the anime itself into a manga panel.

• FLCL Ep. 1 (5:14) - Pauses the anime to comment on a slow motion shot
• FLCL Ep. 2 (16:45) - Stretches her eyes
• FLCL Ep. 5 (4:03) - Stretches her body
• FLCL Ep. 6 (7:34) - Turns the anime into a manga

Flight

 Haruko has shown the ability to fly without her Vespa.

• Progressive Ep. 5 (20:28) - Haruko flying on her guitar

Atomsk's Power

During the events of FLCL Progressive, Haruko was able to absorb the power of Atomsk himself. While absorbing Atomsk' true power proved to be too much for her to handle, Haruko was able to tap into a portion of his power during her fight with Jinyu. The portion of his power tapped into while fighting Jinyu was likely residual energy left in her body after trying to absorb Atomsk the first time. 

• Progressive Ep. 4 (14:54) - Taps into Atomsk's power
• Progressive Ep. 4 (20:27) - Devours and reabsorbs Jinyu into her body

Feats

Strength

• FLCL Ep. 1 (9:25) - Destroys an X-Ray machine
• FLCL Ep. 1 (9:40) - Cartoonishly makes a hospital twist and jump into the air
• FLCL Ep. 1 (20:30) - Bashes her guitar bass through metal
• FLCL Ep. 4 (0:00) - Hits a baseball out of the atmosphere
• FLCL Ep. 4 (20:35) - Hits a giant baseball bomb into space and damages the surrounding area
• FLCL Ep. 5 (16:20) - Staggers a skyscraper-sized robot with a slingshot

Speed

• FLCL Ep. 5 (6:22) - Deflects a sniper bullet
• FLCL Ep. 5 (11:40) - Dodges and deflects gunfire at close range
• FLCL Ep. 5 (13:00) - Dodges bullets in slow motion
• FLCL Ep. 5 (17:15) - Dodges building-sized bullets
• FLCL Ep. 6 (30:36) - Flies out of the solar system
• Progressive Ep. 2 (17:37) - Blocks lasers
• Progressive Ep. 5 (7:55) - Moves FTE
• Alternative Ep. 2 (19:00) - Spins fast enough to create a vortex
• Is capable of driving her lightspeed Vespa

Durability

• Consistently endures point blank explosions
• FLCL Ep. 5 (17:20) - Gets shot by multiple building-sized bullets
• FLCL Ep. 5 (18:18) - Gets shot by five building-sized bullets at once
• FLCL Ep. 6 (24:10) - Takes hits from an Atomsk-empowered Naoto
• Progressive Ep. 2 (19:30) - Survives an explosion that creates a massive crater

Scaling

• FLCL Ep. 6 (5:28) - Atomsk is stated to be capable of stealing star systems. While Haruko does not fully scale to Atomsk, she is capable of tapping into a portion of his power
• FLCL Manga Ch. 15 (Pg. 19 - 20) - Canta jumps to space in seconds
• FLCL Novel (Pg. 114) - Naoto hits a meteor at warp speed two

Accomplishments

• Chased Atomsk across the galaxy
• Defeated an army of gun wielding goons with her guitar
• Along with Canti, fought a skyscraper sized robot
• Defeated and absorbed her other half, Jinyu
• Would eventually catch up to Atomsk and absorb his powers 

Sources
FLCL, Progressive, and Alternative anime: https://www.adultswim.com/videos/flcl