| “ | W-why is this happening? | „ |
| ~ Natsuki Shinohara, in regards to the chaos caused by Love Machine. |
Natsuki Shinohara is the tritagonist and lead heroine of the 2009 anime film Summer Wars. She is a popular 18-year-old at Kuonji High School and a close friend of Kenji Koiso. She invites Kenji to meet her large extended family for her great-grandmother Sakae Jinnouchi's 90th birthday. She originally invited him because she had promised her great-grandmother to bring her a boyfriend/fiancé. This was because she was frantic, thinking Sakae was going to die and made a mindless promise.
She is voiced by Nanami Sakuraba in the Japanese version and Brina Palencia who also voices Ciel Phantomhive, Tamama, Eve, Isuzu Sohma, Holo, Miharu Rokujo and Rei Ayanami in the English version.
Appearance[]
Natsuki is a teenage girl of average height with long, dark-blue hair that reaches down to her waist and dark blue eyes. She is usually seen wearing a blue shirt and skirt combo, though in the final scene, she is also seen wearing a blue kimono with white patterns.
Personality[]
Natsuki is generally a very sweet and polite girl; she cares a great deal for the people close to her and is well-liked by family and friends alike. She acts as a voice of reason to the troublesome Wabisuke, who genuinely likes her and actually listens to what she has to say. Even her deception of her family (i.e. that Kenji is her boyfriend) is ultimately well-intentioned; she doesn't wish for her grandmother to worry about her, as she believes that this will be her last birthday and summer, a belief that ultimately turns out to be correct.
In contrast to the socially awkward Kenji, Natsuki is generally a very confident and outgoing person. However, she can also be rather impulsive, having a tendency to make promises without even knowing if she can keep them, even promising Sakae that she would bring over a fiance for her 90th birthday. This is rather odd, as she is quite popular at school and Takashi thinks any man would be lucky to get to pretend to be her boyfriend. Natsuki also has a talent for hanafuda, and uses this as a means to combat the Love Machine.