Gunji Takaoka

Gunji Takaoka is a character in Flower, Sun, and Rain. He is an employee of a construction company, and a guest at the Hotel Flower, Sun, and Rain. He has a relationship with Natsuko Akai.

Appearance and Personality

Gunji is a middle-aged man, and wears a business suit and glasses. He also appears in a series of absurd outfits for each meeting he has with Mondo. He is extremely rude and demanding to Mondo, but changes his tune when Natsuko returns to normal, and becomes apologetic and grateful to him. He shows love for Natsuko and feels that she reminds him of his school years.

History

Backstory

Gunji Takaoka is an employee of a construction company. He led a hard life, which is only discussed off-screen. One day he met Natsuko Akai in the movie theater during a showing of Tonight Tonight. In the first 8 seconds of the film, a scene played showing a man and an alien holding hands. This caused Natsuko to hold Gunji's hand, making him fall in love with her. At some point after this, Natsuko entered a non-responsive state where she was constantly disinterested. Gunji later travelled with Natsuko to Lospass Island to get her to show emotion again.

Flower, Sun, and Rain

Gunji first appears in Request 14: Träumerei, standing in the road through the wheat field leading to Randelman Garden. He tells Sumio Mondo that he saw Catherine fly into the field. He begins scolding Mondo for being rude to him, and demands that he repay him by asking Natsuko "what sounds reasonable". After Mondo pipes disco music to the field, Gunji is seen again wearing a schoolgirl's uniform. He demands to hear how Natsuko was, and tells Mondo to tell her about being reasonable. Mondo returns after playing jazz music, and finds Gunji dressed in a two piece bathing suit. He orders Mondo to ask Natsuko if his reasonability has reached her. Mondo returns a final time after playing the requests station, and finds Gunji in a bunny costume. He tells him that Natsuko said "No good", which makes Gunji overjoyed at having gotten a reaction from her. Gunji decided to visit the theater again with Natsuko and thanked Mondo for helping. In the theater, Mondo played the first 8 seconds of the film, causing Natsuko to snap out of her disinterested state. Gunji was happy to have her back and swore to protect her. Gunji apologized for causing trouble, and the two kissed as the movie screen showed the plane exploding.

Gunji and Natsuko appeared again in Request 15: L'Après-Midi d'un Faune, standing in the wheat field to meet Mondo again. Gunji said that this is the place where he and Natsuko communicate, and that her signal conquered him. Gunji warns Mondo about the maze up ahead in Randelman Garden, and that beyond it is one of the most secret areas of the island. Natsuko says that at this point the two have moved beyond the need for a physical bond, and are now connected telepathically.

Official profiles

A middle aged man who longs for a return to his school years. Occupation: Employee of Construction Company Place of Birth: Far East

Trivia

• The Lospass Guidebook mentions that the Lost & Past Highways that connect Lospass to the surrounding islands were built by a large Kanto construction company. This may be the company that Gunji works for.

Gallery

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  Portrait

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  Gunji's profile in the DS version