OVA
Description
Kamon Nandaba is the father of the series' protagonist, Naota Nandaba. He is a 47-year-old man who runs a family bakery in the town of Mabase, though his true passion lies in his work as a freelance writer. He is the publisher of a self-produced trashy tabloid magazine called Kamon-Mabase, a title that serves as a pun on the phrase come on, Mabase. Prior to his life in Mabase, he worked as an assistant editor for a counter-culture magazine based in Tokyo. It was during this time that he met his wife, and he later married into her family, taking their surname as his own.
As a character, Kamon is defined by his overwhelming energy and immaturity, which stands in stark contrast to his son Naota's serious and often exasperated demeanor. He is outgoing, does whatever he pleases, and seems to have his head in the clouds, often prioritizing his failing tabloid and personal interests over the slow business of the family bakery. His personality is heavily informed by his identity as a passionate pop culture enthusiast, or otaku. He frequently makes rapid-fire references to a wide array of anime and media, including Neon Genesis Evangelion, Lupin III, Hamtaro, Mobile Suit Gundam, and MTV. This tendency to view the world through the lens of his favorite shows often leads him to make bizarre and inappropriate analogies for everyday situations. Despite his typical childishness, Kamon occasionally demonstrates a surprising amount of seriousness and thoughtfulness, revealing a more complex personality beneath his ridiculous exterior.
Kamon's primary motivation in the story is largely driven by his immediate and intense infatuation with the alien investigator Haruko Haruhara. He is completely captivated by her from the moment they meet, going so far as to invite her to live with his family as a housekeeper. His feelings for her are blatantly romantic, and his pursuits are often comically over-the-top, culminating in acts like stripping and diving toward her. However, from Haruko's perspective, Kamon is merely a tool. She takes an interest in him because she believes he might possess N.O. capabilities, a psychic ability that allows for the teleportation of objects and beings from space. Kamon's role is therefore to be a decoy and a failed experiment; Haruko uses him for a time to test his potential as a portal, but ultimately discards him when his head proves to be an ineffective conduit, declaring that Naota is the only one who works.
His key relationships are central to the series' family dynamics. As the father to Naota, he is a constant source of frustration for his son, who frequently scolds him for failing to act like a responsible adult. Naota sees his father as an embarrassment, yet they live in a strange, co-dependent state, especially in the absence of Naota's mother, who is said to have disappeared when Naota was in kindergarten. Kamon also has an older son, Tasuku, who is away playing baseball in America, and his own father, Shigekuni Nandaba, with whom he lives. The Nandaba household is chaotic, with Kamon often acting more like a rambunctious older brother than a parent.
Over the course of the story, Kamon undergoes a bizarre and physically transformative development. In a significant turn of events, Haruko's attempt to use him as an N.O. portal backfires. Naota discovers that the man he thought was his father was actually a robot replacement left by Haruko after a failed experiment. The real Kamon is found in a closet, mummified and seemingly dead. He is comically revived by being rehydrated in a small bathtub, returning to life as if nothing had happened. This event, while played for laughs, underscores the series' themes of the absurd and ultimately leaves Kamon largely unchanged, remaining the same eccentric, lustful, and surprisingly resilient father figure he has always been. Aside from his apparent immunity to permanent harm in this instance, Kamon has no notable supernatural abilities; his primary traits are his relentless enthusiasm and his extensive, encyclopedic knowledge of pop culture trivia.
As a character, Kamon is defined by his overwhelming energy and immaturity, which stands in stark contrast to his son Naota's serious and often exasperated demeanor. He is outgoing, does whatever he pleases, and seems to have his head in the clouds, often prioritizing his failing tabloid and personal interests over the slow business of the family bakery. His personality is heavily informed by his identity as a passionate pop culture enthusiast, or otaku. He frequently makes rapid-fire references to a wide array of anime and media, including Neon Genesis Evangelion, Lupin III, Hamtaro, Mobile Suit Gundam, and MTV. This tendency to view the world through the lens of his favorite shows often leads him to make bizarre and inappropriate analogies for everyday situations. Despite his typical childishness, Kamon occasionally demonstrates a surprising amount of seriousness and thoughtfulness, revealing a more complex personality beneath his ridiculous exterior.
Kamon's primary motivation in the story is largely driven by his immediate and intense infatuation with the alien investigator Haruko Haruhara. He is completely captivated by her from the moment they meet, going so far as to invite her to live with his family as a housekeeper. His feelings for her are blatantly romantic, and his pursuits are often comically over-the-top, culminating in acts like stripping and diving toward her. However, from Haruko's perspective, Kamon is merely a tool. She takes an interest in him because she believes he might possess N.O. capabilities, a psychic ability that allows for the teleportation of objects and beings from space. Kamon's role is therefore to be a decoy and a failed experiment; Haruko uses him for a time to test his potential as a portal, but ultimately discards him when his head proves to be an ineffective conduit, declaring that Naota is the only one who works.
His key relationships are central to the series' family dynamics. As the father to Naota, he is a constant source of frustration for his son, who frequently scolds him for failing to act like a responsible adult. Naota sees his father as an embarrassment, yet they live in a strange, co-dependent state, especially in the absence of Naota's mother, who is said to have disappeared when Naota was in kindergarten. Kamon also has an older son, Tasuku, who is away playing baseball in America, and his own father, Shigekuni Nandaba, with whom he lives. The Nandaba household is chaotic, with Kamon often acting more like a rambunctious older brother than a parent.
Over the course of the story, Kamon undergoes a bizarre and physically transformative development. In a significant turn of events, Haruko's attempt to use him as an N.O. portal backfires. Naota discovers that the man he thought was his father was actually a robot replacement left by Haruko after a failed experiment. The real Kamon is found in a closet, mummified and seemingly dead. He is comically revived by being rehydrated in a small bathtub, returning to life as if nothing had happened. This event, while played for laughs, underscores the series' themes of the absurd and ultimately leaves Kamon largely unchanged, remaining the same eccentric, lustful, and surprisingly resilient father figure he has always been. Aside from his apparent immunity to permanent harm in this instance, Kamon has no notable supernatural abilities; his primary traits are his relentless enthusiasm and his extensive, encyclopedic knowledge of pop culture trivia.