Natsume
Kyusaku: one of the finest minds ever to grace the
field of cybernetics. A loon.
Kyusaku
studied under Professor Yoshikawa, the 'Father of
Biotechnology,' and went on to work in the R&D
department of Mishima Heavy Industries, a major
military equipment manufacturer. He married Akiko,
the granddaughter of the company's owner, and its
President. They had one son, Ryunosuke, and
everything was fine up to a point.
That
point came when Grandfather Mishima started
pressuring Kyusaku for an early release of the
android he was developing. Since it would take
years to make the android a functioning member of
society, Kyusaku realised that Mishima must want it
solely for a war machine. His own principles
wouldn't allow him to go along with that. Concerned
about the sort of upbringing Ryunosuke might get if
he left him with Akiko, he piled the boy, the
near-complete but still inactive android and
assorted equipment into a junky old Land Rover and
ran away on Christmas Eve.
Kyusaku's
character is pretty much summed up right there -
technically brilliant but somewhat naive (why on
earth did he think Mishima was funding his
research?), well-intentioned but often insensitive
(Akiko, naturally, was both heartbroken and furious
about him taking off with Ryunosuke), a weird
combination of quixotically flaky and
responsible.
Despite
everything, Kyusaku is a pretty good father. He
loves Ryunosuke, obviously, and doesn't talk down
to him just because he's a kid. In fact, he
addresses him as 'Ryu-san,' to show that he
respects him as an equal - and also to bring it
home to Ryunosuke that he has to try to be mature
about his situation. That's a lot to lay on a kid,
but Ryunosuke seems to be coping.
Part
of the reason for Nuku Nuku's inclusion in the
Natsume family is to provide Ryunosuke with routine
and reliable care. Kyusaku's own living patterns
are apt to be erratic, to say the least. He'll go
without sleep for several days straight if he's
working on something special, and at these times
gets very punchy and disoriented. He'd also
probably live on fast food if left to himself. He
has a little den in the apartment he shares with
Nuku Nuku and Ryunosuke (it looks like a storage
cupboard with a sliding door) where he keeps his
computer and spends hours tapping away and smoking
one cigarette after another. To support his family,
Kyusaku has found work as a teacher at the high
school Nuku Nuku attends, and has probably
developed something of a reputation as a dead shot
with a stick of chalk.
Kyusaku
believes in old-fashioned family values, and
putting your loved ones first. He can be a tiny bit
of a male chauvinist sometimes, and tends to assume
he knows what's best for everyone. (What is it with
people who build androids and playing God?) In a
highly scientific study of every Nuku Nuku
episode, it was found that you never once see
Kyusaku's eyes.
What's
not immediately apparent about Kyusaku is that he
still loves Akiko dearly. He can't compromise his
principles enough to live the life she would like
them to have, but has never stopped caring for her.
Although it's easy to feel dubious about him
building such a cute female android, he really is
just a good dad to Nuku Nuku. And Nuku Nuku loves
her Papa-san!
Omake
for Otaku
Kamiya
Akira, Kyusaku's voice actor, has been working in
anime for donkey's years and was even in the great
old series Urusei Yatsura, in which he
played Mendou. Plus, he was the voice of Professor
Tomoe in Sailormoon S, so he's obviously got
this mad scientist thing nailed!
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