Officially,
Nuku Nuku's name is Natsume Atsuko. Virtually
no-one ever calls her this, and she says her
real name is Nuku Nuku. That sounds strange
enough, but consider this - the name Nuku Nuku
means something like 'Snuggly Wuggly.' It also has
an echo of 'neko,' the Japanese word for cat. Isn't
that just cute enough to rot your teeth?
*^.^*
Nuku
Nuku has another name, to which she responds
equally readily - NK-1124. This is really her
serial number from Mishima Heavy Industries, where
her robot mainframe was constructed. What makes
Nuku Nuku special from a technological point of
view is that she has the brain of a cat -
presumably significantly augmented by some kind of
neural net doohickey. Hence her, uh, interesting
mannerisms.
In
terms of personality, Nuku Nuku is basically a
sweet, perky, curious, friendly kitten. She is very
protective of Ryunosuke (her designated function is
big sister and bodyguard) and looks up to Kyusaku
as her 'papa-san.' Despite the vexed situation
between Kyusaku and Akiko, she accepts Akiko as
family and loves her as 'mama-san.' Although Nuku
Nuku would really like to be friends with everyone
she meets, she can fight like a tiger when
necessary. It's just that she tends to see most
fights as a game.
Nuku
Nuku is someone who enjoys life 100%. She likes
bike-riding (which she does like a bat out of
hell), all sorts of sports, and playing in the
water, although she can't swim without special
equipment, because her robot body won't float. Her
main hobby, though, is basking in the
sun.
Her
favourite thing to eat is mackerel and horsemeat
catfood, but she also likes grilled sardines,
taiyaki pancakes (shaped like fish *^.^*) and
Kentucky Fried Chicken. She's a good cook,
too.
Despite
appearing scatterbrained sometimes, and not always
knowing the 'normal' way to behave in a situation,
Nuku Nuku can be very efficient when necessary. She
was a competent and charming waitress (until the
restaurant, through no fault of her own, blew up)
and cheerfully and deftly organises Kyusaku and
Ryunosuke through their daily routine - although
even she can't get Kyusaku to go to bed when he's
feeling inspired.
Because
Nuku Nuku is so goshdarn adorable, with a figure of
the kind that causes construction workers to fall
off their scaffolding, she attracts a lot of
attention from the men she meets - attention to
which she appears almost entirely oblivious. She's
very innocent, and a lot of the comedy of the show
comes from how foolishly these smitten guys behave
around her. If anyone ever did get too fresh
with her, she would be entirely capable of putting
a stop to it.
Nuku
Nuku's long-term goal is the same as that of many
robots and androids in fiction: in the words of
Edward Furlong in T2: Judgement Day, 'to be
more human, and not such a dork all the time.' She
doesn't always manage it, but even her screw-ups
are more endearing than dorky.
Cute
detail: Nuku Nuku wears a cat collar, with a bell
on it, as a bracelet. I recently saw a picture in a
magazine of Mick Jagger's daughter Jade wearing cat
collars this way at a fashion show. I hope it's
going to catch on in a big way!
Lovable
and loving, powerful and gentle, a cross between
Hello Kitty and the Terminator's little sister:
that's Nuku Nuku!
Omake
for Otaku
Nuku
Nuku's voice actress is Hayashibara Megumi, a
remarkably talented and versatile woman who has
brought to life such characters as Ayanami Rei in
Neon Genesis Evangelion, Lina Inverse in
Slayers and Ranma-chan in Ranma 1/2.
The other really cool thing about Megumi is that
she had (still has?) a radio show called Tokyo
Boogie Nights. And my cat is named after her. I
just wanted to air that! *^.^*
If
you aren't already convinced that she's the coolest
person in the world next to Sarah Michelle Gellar,
she was the original voice of Musashi in
Pokémon - English-speakers may know
her better as Jessie of Team Rocket. Of course her
voice got dubbed over for that character, but you
can still hear her doing the 'Pijooo!' scream for
Pidgeotto.
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