Natsume Kudo

Natsume Kudo (工藤 なつめ) is one of the supporting protagonists of Kindred Hearts: Esper Chronicles. He is the disowned son of the head of Kamiyama clan, Shinzo Kamiyama. He was formerly Natsume Kamiyama (上山 なつめ) before being disowned, but changed his surname to Kudo after he was adopted by the Kudo family, who happened to be his mother's relatives. Later on, he changed his last name again to Natsume Izumi (泉 なつめ) after his marriage with his fiancé, Suika Izumi.

## Appearance

Natsume is an Esper boy with a bowl-cut light brown hair and a pair of reddish brown eyes. He wears a white shirt with a brown vest on top, a pair of matching pants and a pair of black glasses. His physique is not as toned as most of the main protagonists, but rather normal like an average Esper boy. When using his Sigil, his irises turn into a bright orange. Underneath his clothes are stitched scars and burn marks, apparently what's left from his days as a Kamiyama, being Shinzo's lab rat and toy.

## Personality

Natsume is a friendly yet aloof person. He has been friends with Alfredo since their childhood in Aomori, and he also happened to be a "stan" of Yurika and her idol group. He kept stalking her just to win her heart, only to end up as Alfredo's punching bag. However, Natsume lacks a sense of pain and he doesn't mind being beaten up, toasted and injured by his friend and others. Even if he's mortally wounded, he still thinks he's fine. In reality, it was actually a result of the abuse he faced back when he was in the Kamiyama household. He never tasted love and he was often tested by Shinzo as if he was his own lab rat.

## Family and relatives

* Shinzo Kamiyama (father, disowned him during the events of Kindred Hearts Zero)
* Mrs. Kamiyama, né Kudo (mother, murdered by a furious Shinzo for pleading him to stop abusing Natsume)
* Mr. and Mrs. Kudo (maternal uncle and aunt, Natsume's adoptive parents)
* Suika Izumi (fiancé)
* Asumu Izumi (son)
* Reina Izumi (daughter)

## Abilities

* Gale Assault: A wind-based Sigil which enables him to propel himself to the hair or blow enemies away. He could create tornadoes and even strong gales with it. It came with unnamed EX skills which was never shown to be used.

## Trivia

* Natsume was inspired by Youhei Sunohara from Clannad, Kouta Tsuchiya from Baka to Test, Hideyasu Jonouchi from Kamen Rider Gaim, Kazumi Sawatari from Kamen Rider Build, Zhou Yu from Dynasty Warriors, Kousaku Hata from No-Rin, Whimpu from SMG4's videos and Kenji Tomochika from Persona 3.
* During his free time, Natsume usually reads books at the library. He's a bookworm and loves to read anything from mangas to light novels. Aside from that, Natsume also loves basketball and often challenges Alfredo to a game of one. He usually uses his Sigil to help him win, though Yurika always told him that's cheating.
* Natsume is one of the Espers who could fly. He usually uses his Sigil to fly from home to school.
* During the development phase back in 2019, Natsume was going to be Yurika's boyfriend, but the idea was scrapped and Alfredo became her boyfriend instead.
* Natsume has three different surnames, making him the character with the most name changes in Kindred Hearts.
* His favorite treats are peanut butter sandwiches and fish-shaped pastry filled with custard cream or red bean paste.
* Natsume's English voice actor, Christopher Niosi is known for his Flash animations of Nintendo characters on Newgrounds back in the late 2000s. He's also known for making the Rawest Forest music video, which was adapted from Super Mario RPG's soundtrack, as well as the Brawl Taunts video series alongside fellow voice actor Kira Buckland (a.k.a Rinachan), who voiced Nicole Evans.