Insignia of the Galactic Space Police Brotherhood as seen on Haruko's helmet in some versions of her concept art, this Insignia was replaced with an emblem that says "DAVIDA" over the initials DM in the anime and manga.
The Galactic Space Police Brotherhood, (フラタニティの宇宙捜査官 furataniti no uchuu sousakan, lit. "The Fraternity of Space Police Investigators") also known as the Fraternity or Galactic Fraternity, is an extraterrestrial organization.
Background[]
Very little is known about this organization other than Haruko being associated with it. She references the group's name in the manga and the original Japanese version of "Fire Starter" during Naota's head examination, while in the English dub version of the episode, she only says that she is a "1st Class Space Patrol Officer".
It is currently unknown if this organization is a government, a society or just a unified military force; though it is likely at the very least the latter as it's implied that they are at war with Medical Mechanica and they have an apparent military ranking system.
Additionally, the Bureau of Interstellar Immigration (mainly Commander Amarao and later, the bureau chief, Tsukata Kanda) is typically depicted as trying to keep her under control in order to prevent her from aggravating Medical Mechanica.
FLCL director Kazuya Tsurumaki described the relationship between the Brotherhood, Medical Mechanica, and the Bureau in the book, FLCLick Noise, using the Cold War as analogy: the Brotherhood represents the United States and Medical Mechanica as the Soviet Union, as these two are the major powers fighting for control of the universe. Meanwhile, the Bureau is the Japanese police in Cold War-ear Japan, who are in a weak position and cannot do much.
Staff[]
Haruko is sometimes seen talking to Miyu Miyu, first referring to Naota as useless when his N.O. channel doesn't immediately yield results and later trying to convince someone that she doesn't have feelings for Atomsk. She's presumably using the cat to communicate with her superiors; it's possible that this works by using the cat's brain to transfer sound in the same way that Naota's N.O. channel can transfer matter. This is represented again in FLCL Alternative when Haruko is seen demanding confirmation of her message from a pack of small brown dogs by having one bark, which causes all of them to start barking and heightens her frustration with the fickle form of communication.
References in the series[]
Anime[]
Haruko's badge in Alternative
In the first season of the anime, the only real presence of the Galactic Space Police Brotherhood is Haruko's communications with them through Miyu Miyu.
Haruko does identify herself as a member and presents a badge to Kana and her friends in Alternative, though she tosses it aside immediately.
Novel[]
In the novelization of "FLCLimax", the organization is described as a security force as well as "an organization that operated under the assumption that people should make their own decisions about what gave life value". Their feud with Medical Mechanica stems from the venture going against the law of the universe by turning genetic makeup into a product and essentially profit off of human lives, as well as engaging in other black market deals. They had begun to conduct human experiments to create the ultimate donor who could serve as a life support for a select few once Medical Mechanica reached its ultimate goal of smoothing out the whole of space.
One of the test subjects was a young boy named Atomsk who eventually escaped and was pursued relentlessly. The boy would grow up and eventually become known as the feared "Red Pirate King". The Brotherhood found out about the escape and wanted to bring Atomsk to their side, seeing as they both had a common enemy. Though, despite their pleas, the Pirate King chose to ignore them and maintain his independence, leading to the Brotherhood also fighting with him. The Brotherhood's top investigator, Raharu, had fought with Atomsk and was the closest to being his top rival. They had fought numerous times to the point where a possible romance was starting to develop between the two.
After sustaining an injury, Raharu finally caught Atomsk, placing a shackle on his wrist as well as hers to ensure he could not escape without her. While on a civilian boat that was serving as a convoy, Medical Mechanica finally caught up and captured him. As Raharu was left with only the remaining shackle on her left wrist, it was believed that Atomsk had sacrificed himself in order to not let her be captured as well.
Sometime later, Raharu was sent by the Brotherhood to Mabase under the guise of "Haruko Haruhara" to capture Atomsk, as well as investigate the illegal activities conducted by Medical Mechanica. Though it is also implied that she went in order to pursue her romantic relationship with the Pirate King.
Amarao mentions that the bat that Haruko pulled from Naota's head in the novelization of "Full Swing" looks like the "guitar shaped time-space interference weapon" used by the Galactic Space Police Brotherhood. He also noted that Haruko is considered a top notch expert when it comes to handling the weapon.
Manga[]
In the manga, however, Haruko states that they are "the good guys," but they order an airstrike on Mabase in order to attack Medical Mechanica with disregard for the city's inhabitants. The Galactic Space Police Brotherhood is more ambiguous in the anime, while in the manga, they seem to be malicious or just generally unconcerned with the safety of any innocent bystanders. However, the destruction of Mabase, trapping of civilians, and wide-scale laser attacks from Medical Mechanica as a result of Fraternity's amusement park attack in Progressive shows an increase in this negligent behavior outside of the manga.
Gallery[]
