Doll

Karen's Relationship With Nataku

Describing Nataku can be a bit of a challenge, to say the least, due largely to the issue of its gender identity. This creates a problem with pronouns. According to the story, Nataku is both soulless and genderless, so generally it is treated as a non-human. Because of this, “it” is often used by people describing the story as the pronoun to describe Nataku to address this genderless identity. On the other hand, Nataku appears male in that he has no breasts, and there is a tendency to label unmarked things as whatever the dominate class is (in other words, breasts are a marking, and male is the dominate class), so he is often labeled male and thus people use the male pronoun “he”. Nataku is actually a clone of a deceased little girl named Kazuki, but it was constructed with DNA from both the girl and her father. This means that “she” would be just as accurate as “he”, if one wanted to use a gendered pronoun in place of the dehumanizing “it”. To complicate matters even further, after its encounter with Karen, Nataku’s human side starts to surface and she remembers being the human girl. At this point, Karen and Fuuma begin addressing her as Kazuki and the female pronoun becomes appropriate since she is identifying as human and female. As for me, I’ve decided to refer to Nataku as “she”, because it is just as valid as the pronoun “he” and I feel uncomfortable using it rather than the pronoun “it”. I know this will probably cause a little confusion for those who are unfamiliar with the story, but hopefully this explanation will clear things up a bit.

Nataku, as previously mentioned, is a clone of the little girl Kazuki who was destined to play a role in the end of the world. When she died, her father gave his life so that a clone could be created of his beloved daughter, but what was created appeared to be a soulless, genderless being, much like the god for whom she is named. She can kill on command without rage or remorse, making her a very formidable enemy on the side of the Dragons of Earth. Still, Kazuki’s grandfather, the person in charge of Nataku’s creation, loved her very much and did not want to see her involved in the end of the world struggle. He has Nataku steel the sacred sword so that he can discover a way to destroy it in order to avoid the battle for the end of the world. Ultimately though, the sword calls for its owner and Nataku kills almost everyone in the lab and gives the sword to the Dark Kamui (Fuuma).

Nataku fights with physic powers and (oddly enough) ribbons that she can manipulate for both cutting and pounding purposes. They are as deadly against humans as they are damaging against buildings. Her reason for fighting appears to be little more than the desire to help Dark Kamui. While Nataku appears to have no feelings, she develops a relationship with Dark Kamui, who apparently reminds her of Kazuki’s father. Dark Kamui promises that he will fulfill Nataku’s wish if it will serve him and help destroy the kekkai in Tokyo.

It is on one of these missions that Nataku first encounters Karen. When she hears that the Yamanote Line is under attack, she goes by herself to face whoever is causing the damage. After she raises her special kekkai, the two begin to fight, with Karen coming out as a clear winner. She points out that the people on crushed by the trains the young Angel derailed wanted to live, just as she does, so she should not attack the city again. Nataku replies that she has no particular desire to live and attacks Karen again, resulting in her forcing her down again with another fire attack. She approaches her as she lies on the ground, heavily wounded, and observes that she is like a small child. Furthermore, she suggests that she really does have feelings, since she is alive, and she probably only has convinced herself that she has none. Karen gingerly touches Nataku’s face—the loving gesture of a mother to a child—when Yuuto attacks Karen with a blast of water. In the end, the battle ends in a draw, but Karen has already touched Nataku’s heart and she begins to develop a new wish.

The next time Nataku appears, it is in the Ginza district, with the specific goal of destroying a clock tower, and both Karen and Seiichirou go there to face her and stop her from destroying the kekkai. They begin to fight, but both Karen and Seiichirou realize that there is something different about this battle—it is as if Nataku is trying to miss them. Karen faces her down and points out that Nataku is deliberately trying to avoid hurting her, which shows that she actually does have some feelings. Nataku explains her origins as well as the reason Kazuki’s grandfather had her steal the sword. He found out about the end of the world and decided to try to prevent it because he could not stand the thought of losing his granddaughter twice in on life time. Karen holds her in a tight embrace and says, “Oh! I’m so glad for you! It is a joy to know that there was someone who loved you!” Nataku seems confused so Karen explains that her grandfather must have loved her very much if he was willing to go so far to prevent her destiny. Nataku also confesses that she fights for the Angels because she wants to be close to Dark Kamui—the one person she loves.

Karen, in a rather smart move for the Seals, asks who told Nataku’s grandfather about the end of the world, but before she can tell her, Dark Kamui appears and is rather upset that Nataku is not destroying the kekkai. Upon seeing him, Karen instinctively holds her arm out protectively, shielding Nataku with her body. Dark Kamui realizes that Nataku has a new wish, so he decides to test to see which is stronger by attacking Karen. Nataku swiftly picks her up and carries her to safety, but Dark Kamui offers him an ultimatum, either let him destroy Karen or die. Karen replies that Nataku must make up her own mind depending on what her heart tells her to do, explaining that she will be able to take care of herself if Nataku chooses Dark Kamui. In that instant, she makes up her mind and Dark Kamui declaims that he will grant her new wish. She is heavily injured protecting Karen from the rubble as he destroys the clock tower. Dark Kamui than approaches them, as they lie on the ground, Nataku/Kazuki guarding Karen with her body. Karen tells her to move, but Kazuki refuses, replying that Karen will not be able to defeat him and that she wants to have her wish granted. In one swift movement, he uses his hand to cut through Kazuki’s body while she lies protectively on top of Karen. With her dying breath, she informs Karen that Hinoto was the one who told her grandfather about the end of the world and she thanks Karen.

Karen is heartbroken when Dark Kamui lifts up Kazuki’s body and starts to walk away. It is only Seiichirou’s quick timing that stops her from running towards Dark Kamui and continuing the fight. As Seiichirou holds her back, she demands to know, as tears stream down her face, why he would kill Kazuki. Dark Kamui replies that it was her wish—she wanted to die at the hands of the one she loved in order to protect the person who meant the most to her. In a sense, Dark Kamui was like her father and Karen was like her mother. Karen tries to argue with him, pointing out that he should not have killed her if he knew that she thought of him like a father, but Dark Kamui points out that it was Kazuki’s choice. Karen replies that Kazuki’s death, even if it was meant to protect her, would never bring her joy so it was a terrible wish, but Dark Kamui rather smoothly replies that Karen herself has a similar wish. Karen wants to continue the fight, but Dark Kamui replies that they should honor Kazuki’s wish and let the fight go, so that Karen can survive, for that one day at least. He leaves the body with Karen because that is what Kazuki would have wanted.

Ultimately Karen buries Kazuki’s body next to the place where Kotori is buried. She explains to Kamui, when he comes to find her, that while she did not know her very well, she came to love Kazuki and think of her as her own child. Now that she is gone, her heart is almost broken. She also tells Kamui that Dark Kamui also knows this pain and that Kamui should talk to him about his true wish. With that, Kazuki is laid to rest.

While this relationship is clearly important in terms of Nataku’s character development, it also plays a major role in illustrating Karen’s personality. Despite being locked in a life and death battle, Karen was still able to use empathy and compassion to try to reach out to the young Angel. She saw her own lost eyes when she looked at her, and wanted to save her from the pain that once haunted her. She was able to give Nataku the kind touch that she did not receive when she was a child. While Karen is clearly motherly towards the other Seals, this relationship shows just how deep her motherly affection goes and how it can change the people around her. Nataku’s death and Karen’s response to it also shows her feisty, fiery side, which stands in contrast to her generally laidback temperament.

Karen’s influence majorly impacted Nataku’s life. She went from thinking that she was a soulless creature, unworthy of love and affection, incapable of feeling anything, to a person who was willing to die for the person she loved. It was Karen’s kindness and tenderness that touched her and made her find her own heart’s desire, in spite of everything she had ever been told about her identity. Of course, Nataku also touched Karen’s life. She has seen that her wish to die cannot bring anyone else happiness, just as Kazuki’s final wish did not make her happy. Perhaps because of this encounter, she will reevaluate her life and see that the people around her really do love her and that her life is worth living for their sake and their happiness.

CLEAR