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This article is about a character in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Mei. |
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This article is under construction and may be incomplete.
Please be patient while the rewrite is in progress. |
Nao Houtani (鳳谷菜央 Houtani Nao) is a character appearing exclusively in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Mei.
Profile
A girl from Tokyo. It seems she visited Hinamizawa for a certain purpose, but her real intentions are unknown. Has absolute confidence in her good sense and intuition, and never breaks from her bullheaded attitude.
(Translated from the official Mei website by DoctorDiablo.)
Appearance
Nao has medium-length orange hair with a blue bow. She wears a black dress, white stockings and black Mary Jane shoes.
Personality
Nao is self-confident, having a strong and optimistic personality.
Background
Nao is a mysterious girl who just like Kazuho and Miyuki time-traveled from 1998 to Hinamizawa of 1983 and can fight tsukuyami. Chapter 8 reveals that she is Rena's half-sister. After Rena's parents divorced, Rena's mother married a man named Akihito Houtani and had Nao with him shortly after the Great Hinamizawa Disaster.
Nao's parents divorced while she was in elementary school. She had dreams of becoming a designer like her mother and went to a private school. At some point she learned that she had a half-sister named Rena, who died in the disaster. Her grandmother always mistakenly called Nao "Reina". During a recession, Ms. Houtani's company went bankrupt, and Nao became unable to continue attending school since she couldn't pay her tuition. Nao asked Akihito for help but he refused, which Nao thought was because he was seeing another woman.
One day, Nao's mother came home and destroyed her sketches, telling her to do something more productive. She also said they were going to move and attend public school, but Nao ran away from home. She contemplated suicide, believing that her existence caused so much unhappiness in people. Nao visited the locked-down Hinamizawa, believing that her spirit would linger there when she dies so she can meet Rena and atone for her sins, and ended up time-traveling to 1983 Hinamizawa.
Relationships
- Kazuho Kimiyoshi (friend)
- Miyuki Akasaka (friend)
- Chisame Kurosawa (friend)
- Rena Ryuugu (older half-sister)
- Reiko Ryuugu (mother)
- Akihito Houtani (father)
Story
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Mei
In Chapter 4, Nao and company head to a toy store in Okinomiya and meet Keiichi, who in this world is a mean bully. Nao challenges him in a video game and the setting changes to where they must fight tsukuyami. After defeating the monsters, the world turns back to normal where it seems as though Nao has beaten Keiichi in the game. Nao later discovers a notebook in Kazuho's house with Keiichi's name written on it, and they realize he was the boy they met earlier.
In Chapter 7, Nao and company are caught amidst chaos when villagers start attacking and killing each other.
In Chapter 8, Kazuho, Miyuki and Nao prepare to return to their own time. Nao reveals to Rena that she is her half-sister and explains her story. Rena is glad that she got to meet Nao and comes to terms with her previous life as Reina.
When the group heads back, it doesn't go well; Kazuho is still in 1983 while Miyuki and Nao have returned to a 1998 Hinamizawa that has been submerged underwater.
