Maya Natsume - the sexy killer!

November 21, 2009

 

 

         

 

 

 

Maya Natsume is a beautiful, almost gratuitously well-endowed girl who has long silver hair (purple in the anime). She is the older sister of Aya Natsume, and the younger sister of Shin Natsume. She is the captain of the Juken Club, and an upper level martial artist. Maya is not shy about her body, she usually wears revealing clothing and has no problem with her underwear showing.

She has a long standing relationship with Mitsuomi Takayanagi and may still be in love with him despite their bloody and violent history. Souichiro Nagi is in love with her, but her actual feelings towards him are unclear, romantic-wise, but she does take a very active interest in his continuing development.

Maya tends to do things in an indirect way, such as starving Souichiro to move his power to his gut enabling him to learn reverse striking faster. When Aya and Souichiro go to Kyushu against her orders (she knew they would go anyway); she says she was kicking them out of the group. It was actually for the purpose of freeing them of their obligations so they could handle the issue there more effectively. She tends to do somewhat foolish things as well, such as trying to fight Tetsuhito Kagiroi despite Makiko Nagi telling her she could not beat him. Her actions are arguably to blame for the events of the past; Chiaki thinks it all happened because Maya was just being stubborn. Her “Katana hunting” may have contributed a great deal to Shin’s mental break down, and was directly responsible for Shin nearly killing the members of his own gang. She has Bob Makihara doing intense physical training (mainly running) which, as Mitsuomi points out, is pointless as Bob is already one of the physically strongest in school.

She blames Mitsuomi for her brother’s death and believes he has been corrupted by his power, she has set the Juken Club in opposition to him as a result. So far her resistance has not been very effective, the vast majority of her club was beaten up and most subsequently left school all together.

Techniques & Abilities

The Looping Blue Wood Dragon

It is revealed that Maya’s Dragon’s Gate is associated with the element wood, allowing anything made of wood to become a weapon for her. She even uses this power to make her necktie into a wooden blade.

Amaterasu Dragon’s Gate

Recently Maya had the symbol for the Amaterasu Dragon’s Gate appear on her chest.(only in manga)The gate has the ability to neutralize all special powers, in the past Sohaku found a way to reverse the gates power to actually awaken red feather powers worldwide. Bunshichi even suggests this gate is why only she could help Shin keep control. A person with this gate is only born once every four hundred years, the last being Senihime four-hundred years ago.

This ‘gate’ is extremely special in that it possesses the desired qualities that Souhaku needs in order to bring about his ‘ultimate plan’ of awakening those with any sort of extraordinary powers across the lands. While nearly everyone’s energy flows in a clockwise pattern, the holder of the Amaterasu Dragon’s Gate is opposite - their power flows counter-clockwise. This is also why Reiki was considered ’sealed’ when with Maya - her energy effectively ‘nullified’ Reiki’s - and a by-product is that she was able to calm Shin down so easily.

Techniques

Maya fights using a style invented by her family, Natsume Goushin-Ryū.

Uraate (裏当て^?)

Translation: “Backing”

CMX translation: “Reverse Striking”

This is fulcrum-based transference skill; an example of Ki transmission that teaches one to shift the point and force of impact by striking the dead center of an object. At expert-levels, a practitioner can transmit the force of impact wherever they please, as long as a medium exists to transmit their power through. This technique forms the basis for most Ki-based techniques used throughout the series.

Natsume-Style Form Refinement^[1]

A body manipulation technique. It allows Maya to take the shape of an 8 year old girl to conserve her ki. Her ancient ancestor (with the same name as her sister), the feudal era Aya Natsume used a similar technique to have the opposite effect of allowing her to appear as an adult despite only being 9 years old.

Natsume Goushin-Ryū Kongou Hasshiki: Taizan Hougou^[2]

CMX translation: Natsume-Style Advanced Exercise, 8th Degree: Mt. Tai Demolishing Roar

A technique which uses “reverse striking” transference through a stiff-shoulder charge to shift the force and impact of the blow over a distant; demolishing most anything upon impact with its pressure wave.

Natsume Goushin-Ryū Kongou Hasshiki: Renkan Tenpen Tetsukageki^[3]

CMX translation: “Natsume-Style, Advanced Exercise, 8th Degree: Linking Heavenly Iron Attack”

This move is a set of precise, bone-crushing blows.

Natsume Goushin-Ryū: Radotenko (棗剛真流 羅どう天靠^?)^[4]

CMX translation: “Natsume-Style: Eye-connecting Heavenly Twist”

A technique combining a fierce shoulder charge with an immediate release of Ki upon impact; that sends the opponent flying backwards.

Natsume Goushin-Ryu: Tsuba Otoshi (棗剛真流鍔落とし^?)^[5]

CMX translation: “The Natsume Sword Handle Drop”

A sword-technique that puts emphasis on the handle while dealing an overhead swing, upping the cutting force of the blade. However, when facing the Iron Skin of the Kagiroi family, this technique proves utterly ineffective.

Tetsushikō

Translation: Iron Finger

Known to be a particularly lethal technique. Using one finger, the user punches through the muscle and directly striking the internal organs, particularly the liver.

Ryukei Qigong Tashikou (龍形氣功鍛針功^?)

CMX translation: “Dragon-Ki Qigong Forged Needle”

The Takayanagi family’s greatest secret technique’ one of the technique of the so-called Hatsukei, or “power release“. Utilizing the skill “Uraate”, the user can transmit their power through the air itself. The first step is collecting the constantly accelerating rotational force that begins from the feet on up, until it is forged into a needle using their Ki. Next, this honed, atmospheric force is redirected from the circular motion to a straight line (via punch), and sent barreling into the target. Mitsuomi taught this technique to her, during their blossoming relationship.

Ryukei Qigong Tashikou: Shiryū Enretsu Sen (龍形氣功鍛針功•四龍炎裂孅^?)^[6]

CMX translation: “Dragon-Ki Qigong Forged Needle: Four Flaming Raging Dragons’ Massacre”

A Triple Forged Needle combi-attack, which incorporates her Forged Needle with Souichiro’s in addition to Mitsuomi’s Twin King Dragon Flame Strike, producing an all-consuming, four-headed dragon of Ki.

Reiki

At a young age, Maya was entrusted by her father to function as a guard/sheath for Reiki, an evil ceremonial nodachi that is the family’s heirloom. She was told by both of her parents to never allow anyone to touch it, particularly her older brother Shin. She was picked as Reiki’s guardian since she can’t activate it, or be driven insane by it.

Given that Maya can’t activate it, Reiki is nothing more than a long katana for her. With the assistance of her sister she was able to activate it temporarily. As the casing over the blade has shattered, revealing it’s “true blade”, Reiki became an even more deadly weapon even though it was wielded by someone who can not activate it. Maya is fairly skilled in swordsmanship, although not as good as Madoka Mawari. Maya is still better than her sister, so she is definitely a formidable enemy with Reiki.