Ryu Natsume

**Profile**
Gallery

## Profile

A childish but mysterious rapper and member of The Cat's Whiskers. Ryu was found by Naoakira prior to the series. He is currently under Yohei's tutelage, training to be a bartender. Ryu is also good friends with Hokusai from Akan Yatsura.

## Appearance

Ryu is a slender male with pale skin and purple eyes. He has white hair that is cut in an asymmetrical fashion with an undercut and is tied at the back. He wears baggy clothes that are a loose fit for him. He wears an asymmetrical black shirt with blue collar revealing his belly. He also wears a pair of blue suspenders with orange stripes and a cat paw brooch is pinned at the right suspender.

On top, he wears a loose-fitting white jacket with thin black stripes with matching pants of the same color. His pants are cut on the right side and kept suspended with the use of garters. Ryu wears a lot of cat-related patterns, as he has a cat patch on the left side of his pants and wears a pair of white loafers with cats. He also wears a white studded choker with a cat pendant, skeleton bracelet and an anklet. Ryu is heavily pierced and has multiple piercings on both of his ears, one eyebrow piercing, tongue piercings, and he also has his belly pierced. He also has several tattoos on several parts of his body.

In his Exhibition Show outfit, Ryu wears a cropped white shirt with light pinstripes and purple trim. The shirt is lined with a colorful pattern of green, orange, and pink cat silhouettes on a chartreuse background, which can be seen on the lapel and sleeve cuffs. He also wears dark purple suspenders with a lavender stripe and the same black and green cat paw brooch on the right-hand suspender. A similar strap also hangs from his right-hand sleeve. On his bottom half, he wears matching, loose-fitting pants as well as what appears to be the bottom half of his cropped shirt, which has a large cat head with a halo on his left-hand side. For shoes, he has black loafers with a purple midsole and a lime green outsole with a cat paw print where the ball of the foot it. He retains his accessories from his default outfit, including his bracelets, collar choker, and piercings.

## Background

(The following section contains spoilers. Please read with caution)

Over the course of the first Paradox Live competition, Ryu's background is mostly kept a mystery because he does not seem to remember much of his past. He recalls living "in a big home with white walls" with many people. The details of how he came into Naoakira and Yohei's care is also unclear, but he was taken in before Shiki was.

In Voice Drama "FATE", Ryu is revealed to have been a subject of phantometal experimentation at the same Alter Trigger facility as Itsuki and Rokuta from 1Nm8, who remember him as "Zero". Ryu does not remember his identity as "Zero" nor does he recognize Itsuki or Rokuta from the past.

At one point in TCW's part of the Hidden Track "MEMORY" novel, about 9 years before the main canon, young Ryu escapes from the facility and ends up near a hospital, where he encounters Yohei after hearing him sing to himself. Ryu explains he's looking for an older brother figure, the only person who was kind to him in the facility he came from. The person appears and reunites with Ryu, though it's implied that Ryu was eventually taken back by the facility. The identity of this other person is unclear.

## Personality

Ryu is an eccentric, energetic person, often saying nonsensical things and acting in a way that can be bewildering or annoying to others. Though he is unrestrained by social norms and can come across as insensitive sometimes, he seems to have no malicious intent and is described as a kind person by Shiki and Hokusai.

There are times where Ryu is shown to have a better understanding of his surroundings than he lets on and seems to know things he seemingly shouldn't be able to. For example, he seemed to know what the adults were talking about in Voice Drama "JUSTICE" despite not being there, was able to find the Akanyatsura kids and Shiki at Raimentei "with electromagnetic waves" in Voice Drama "Exhibition" Part 2, and gave a vague warning to Hajun in Voice Drama "PRIDE", telling him he "doesn't have much time left." This foreshadowed Hajun's affliction with metal erosion later in Voice Drama "VIBES". When Ryu is confronted or questioned, however, he often reverts back to speaking in nonsensical, indirect answers.

Ryu finds his lack of a trap reaction boring, saying in Voice Drama "PRIDE" that he feels left out and sometimes worries that it "definitely means [he] couldn’t build a connection with anyone." In Voice Drama "Exhibition" Part 2, Hokusai also describes him as kind yet lonely, stating "He is connected with everyone, but also can’t connect with anyone… Ryu is lonely like a stray cat, but…he is a wonderful boy…"

## Timeline

Timeline is from the Official Fan Book.

* **Age 0:** Sprung from the cracks of a boulder
* **Age 5:** 5 years old
* **Age 623:** Winner of Pluto's Spinach Eating Championship
* **Age 38:** Successfully replenished the toilet paper that was running out
* **Age 189:** Graduated from humanity
* **Now:** Indestructible!

## Relationships

* **Naoakira Saimon**: His "boss". Naoakira treats Ryu like his own son.
* **Yohei Kanbayashi**: His "master". Yohei acts as Ryu's caretaker and often scolds him for his troublesome behavior. Despite having Ryu under his wing as a bartender-in-training, Ryu often makes bizarre and disgusting combinations of drinks.
* **Shiki Ando**: Shiki is often the target of Ryu's peculiar antics. However, they have a close friendship, and Shiki describes Ryu as a kind person despite his eccentricities. Ryu stays by Shiki's side during his trap reactions, and there are times where he feels remorseful for causing Shiki trouble, such as when Shiki panicked during Ryu's test of courage in Voice Drama "Exhibition" Part 2, or when he felt responsible for angering Nayuta and causing him to leave in Voice Drama "Rooftop Friends".

-Shiki, talking about Ryu in Voice Drama "Exhibition" Part 2

* **Hokusai Masaki**: Ryu is good friends with Hokusai, and the two go on walks together sometimes. Hokusai likes Ryu for his eccentric behaviors and describes him as a kind yet lonely stray cat. Ryu enjoys being doted on by him and affectionately calls him "Fuu-chan".

-Hokusai, talking about Ryu in Voice Drama "Exhibition" Part 2

## Character Hashtags

Translated hashtags from the character profiles on the official website.

# Memories Mixed Like Juices

## Phantometal

Ryu’s phantometal accessory is the Compliance Tongue Piercing (コンプラ舌ピアス). It is shaped like an X.

## Appears In

### Voice Dramas

*This section is a work-in-progress.*

* Opening Show - Part "The Cat's Whiskers"
* Opening Show - Part "Akanyatsura" (one-liner)
* "JUSTICE"
* "PRIDE"
* "Exhibition" - Part2
* "Exhibition" - Part4
* "LOVE"
* "LIVE" - Part3
* "LIVE" - Part4
* Shuffle Team Show vol. 1 - "Opening"

## Etymology

* The name **Ryu** is written in katakana (リュウ), which has no special meaning. However, when written in kanji (竜/龍), it could possibly mean "dragon".
* Ryu's surname **Natsume** means "jujube" (棗).
	+ **Ziziphus jujuba**, commonly called **jujube**, **red date**, **Chinese date**, is a species of Ziziphus in the buckthorn family.

## Trivia

* Ryu does not get trap reactions, regardless of how much he uses his phantometal.
* Ryu's official height is 173 cm, as revealed by Planarico, the art director and illustrator of Paradox Live, at CA BASE NEXT, a CyberAgent Developer Conference by Next Generations.

## Sources

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Voice Drama "Exhibition" - Part2
2. ↑ https://twitter.com/paradoxlive\_PR/status/1213007086319263744
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Voice Drama "WILL"
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Voice Drama "PRIDE"
5. ↑ Voice Drama "Hokusai with Akan Cats-ura"
6. ↑ https://twitter.com/ryukunkawaii/status/1453650781563875330?s=20