Natsuko Akai

Natsuko Akai
Nationality	Japanese
Occupation	Student
Status	Alive
First appearance	Request 14: Träumerei

Natsuko Akai is a character in Flower, Sun, and Rain. She is a student, and a regular guest at the Hotel Flower, Sun, and Rain. She has a relationship with Gunji Takaoka.

Appearance and Personality

Natsuko is a young girl in a purple dress and wearing green lipstick. In-game her hair is blue, while in her art it is silver. She spends most of her appearances in a strange state that leaves her disinterested with everything. She mostly only speaks in short bursts, just enough to get across what she wants. She seems to have love for Gunji, and after she snaps out of her emotionless state, she shows gratitude for being reunited with him.

History

Backstory

Natsuko is said to be a student, and a regular guest at the Hotel Flower, Sun, and Rain, bringing a different man with her each time. One day she met Gunji Takaoka at a movie theater during a showing of Tonight Tonight. In the first 8 seconds of the film, a scene plays showing a man and an alien holding hands. This caused Natsuko to hold Gunji's hand, which made him fall in love with her. At some point after this, she entered a non-responsive state where she was constantly disinterested. Gunji later travelled with Natsuko to Lospass Island to get her to show emotion again.

Flower, Sun, and Rain

Natsuko first appears in Request 14: Träumerei, staying in Room 408 of the hotel. Gunji sends Sumio Mondo to her to ask "what sounds reasonable". She replied only in short responses to indicate that she wanted disco music to be played from the radio into the wheat field outside Randelman Garden. According to Edo Macalister, she wanted to play music to encourage the plants to grow. Mondo was sent back by Gunji again to ask about reasonability. She gave more short responses to ask for jazz music to be played. Mondo returned a final time to relay Gunji's message, to which she responded "No good". She then indicated that she wanted the requests station to be played. Having finally gotten a response from her, Gunji returned to the hotel and brought Natsuko to the movie theater on the fifth floor. She got Mondo to play the first 8 seconds of Tonight Tonight, making her snap out of her disinterested state. She said that she had finally woken up from her dream, and that she was happy to be with the one she admires again. The two kissed as the movie screen showed the plane exploding.

Natsuko and Gunji appeared again in Request 15: L'Après-Midi d'un Faune, standing in the wheat field to meet Mondo again. Gunji said that this is the place where he and Natsuko communicate, and that her signal conquered him. Natsuko tells Mondo about the Forest Navigators in the maze ahead, and that they might try to trick him. She says that at this point she and Gunji have moved beyond the need for a physical bond, and are now connected telepathically.

Official profiles

A consistently disinterested girl. Takaoka's companion. A student. Place of Birth: Far East

Trivia

• Natsuko's first meeting with Gunji being related to a film scene of a man and an alien, and her ability to seemingly communicate telepathically with him may indicate that Natsuko herself is some kind of extraterrestrial being.

Gallery

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  Portrait
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  Natsuko's profile in the DS version