Nao Sadatsuka (貞塚 ナオ Sadatsuka Nao) is a 92nd Tōtsuki Generation student.
Appearance
Nao has a Sadako-like appearance due to her very long jet black hair that flows down to her lower back. Her long flowing bangs commonly covers her right eye, even when she ties her hair back whenever she cooks. Despite her creepy appearance, she wears a neat standard school uniform during school hours and wears a standard chef's uniform whenever she cooks. Compared to the rest of the female cast, Nao's red eyes are much more sinister, lacking the luster and shine of normal female eyes. Instead, her irises are much more pronounced. During her "exorcism," her long hair gained much more luster and her eyes changed to the standard female eyes while her face became more normal.
Two years prior to Sōma's entrance into Tōtsuki, when Nao challenged Hisako to a Shokugeki, her hair was much shorter, at about shoulder length and had an umbrella shape to it. Her bangs still covered her right eye.
Personality
Nao in a nutshell
Nao holds a deep harboring affection towards Erina Nakiri. Nao would do anything to get close to Erina including sending her 30 letters daily or watching her from afar using binoculars. As a girl who has strong obsession, her pride and desire to fulfill her fantasies often clouds her judgment. In her mind, Nao labels anyone close to Erina as her "mortal enemy". She will not hesitate to crush her "love rivals" and place herself as Erina's personal associate, even if that person is close to Erina, such as Hisako Arato. Her jealous aura is so strong that it even unnerved the academy security guards.
She also appears to be a masochist, wishing to have Erina insult her and only her. Originally, Erina was her only target of affection, but after tasting Hisako's Autumn Election Preliminary dish, Nao developed affections for Hisako as well.
Nao has gained a profound amount of respect for Sōma due to their shared interests in making food that are disgustingly delicious. This respect was so great that she was able to forgive Sōma for spending a whole week with Hisako during the Stagiaire period.
History
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Nao, 2 years ago during her middle school Shokugeki
The origins of Nao's obsession with Erina is unknown, but has existed at least since two years prior to the story. Approximately two years before Sōma's transfer into the academy, Nao challenged Erina's secretary, Hisako Arato to a Shokugeki for the right to become Erina's secretary in a losing effort. As a result from this defeat, she was not allowed to come within 50 meters of Erina. She worked around this by staring at her idol from a distance using binoculars and continuously sent 30 letters each day to Erina. While enduring her humiliating defeat, Nao harbored a deep grudge against Hisako.
Plot
Life at the Academy
Main article: Introduction Arc
Much of Nao's Tōtsuki high school life is unknown, but it is shown in the anime that she was present during Sōma Yukihira's speech during the orientation ceremony. However, she did not particularly care for his speech as her attention was focused only on Erina. Because Nao was still present in Tōtsuki during the participant announcement for the 43rd Annual Tōtsuki Autumn Election, Nao was among the 628 students to have survived the Tōtsuki Friendship and Rapport Training Camp.
The 43rd Annual Tōtsuki Autumn Election
Main article: Tōtsuki Autumn Election Arc
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Nao's jealousy boils as she sees Hisako walk beside Erina
Several months after the camp, Nao was chosen as one of the 60 participants for the 43rd Annual Tōtsuki Autumn Election. She was placed in the "B" block. While everyone else was checking the names for the election, Nao sat in a tree and looked Erina from afar with her binoculars. As always, Nao praised Erina for her beauty and her desire to be punished by her. In the same view however, she also saw Hisako beside with her. Infuriated by the scene and jealousy in her mind, Nao vowed herself to defeat her in the Autumn Elections in order to get close to Erina, while begin to laugh hysterically. Her laughter caught the attention of the academy security guards, but they were deterred by her dark aura.
Tōtsuki Autumn Election: Preliminary Round
See also: 43rd Annual Tōtsuki Autumn Election
After the summer break where she spent choosing her recipe for the preliminaries, Nao joined the 59 other students and listens to Nakiri Senzaemon's speech about the many past Elite Ten members who battled in the very halls they are standing in. Senzaemon officially started the challenge and Nao quickly headed to the "B" Block to begin the preliminaries.
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Nao during the Preliminaries
As the Preliminaries began, Nao set to work on her dish for the curry theme. As she prepared her dish, she watched Hisako from afar with spite, muttering to herself that her time with Erina is nearly up. At that time she was making a roux, however it had an odd black color to it rather than the standard yellow, white, or dark brown color which caused all the spectators to feel as if they were watching witchcraft instead of cooking. As judgement time finally came, Nao was the among first to present her dish, a Jet Black Curry Laksa. The judges were initially shocked by the putrid aroma of her dish which smelled like an unwashed toilet to Sendawara Orie, the head judge of the "B" Block. She explained that she used squid ink to give the roux its strange black color and the basis of her dish comes from Kusaya, a dried fish known for its strong bad smell, which accompanied the Laksa noodles base, completing her dish. The smell alone nearly caused her to fail the challenge if not for Orie's insistence on fulfilling her role as a judge. Despite her initial wariness of the dish, to her surprise, Orie found it delicious and all of the other judges began to try the dish. As each of the judges tasted her dish, even though the horrid smell is powerful, the taste of the dish was enhanced by the strange ingredients which eventually overwhelmed the aroma. Much to the surprise of the audience, Nao was given an 84 for her score, the first person in the "B" Block to achieve a score over 50 at that point. Nao was delighted over the result as she hoped that Erina will one day try her dish.
Nao vs Hisako
As she snapped out of her delusion, she realized that the next person to present their dish is none other than her rival, Hisako, whom she declared that she now has the chance to defeat in public. Nao reminded Hisako of their previous Shokugeki and promised to defeat her here in the preliminaries and rectify her defeat all those years ago. Unfortunately Hisako's dish invigorated the judges and overpowered the impression on Nao's dish.
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Nao's exorcised form
Still unconvinced, Hisako handed her a sample of the dish. As Nao ate the dish, her sinister thoughts slowly began to fade away, as if being exorcised. Nao temporarily assumed a much more pure and innocent appearance before returning to her creepy persona. Though Hisako garners a 92, beating her score and becoming the leader of the block, Nao oddly developed a crush on Hisako as well. For the rest of the preliminary judging, Nao remained in a daze, muttering "Hisako Onee-sama" to herself as her score eventually became the 8th highest score. Hence, she is not qualified to advance to the Main Tournament.
Tōtsuki Autumn Election: Main Tournament
On the second day, Nao appeared within the crowd and cheered for Hisako, much to everyone's speechless reaction.
Cooking Style
- Boiling Dishes - Nao is an expert in the crafting of boiled cooking. When she cooks, if one is watching her do so, it is said that her cooking preparation resembles witchcraft.
- Foul-smelling Ingredients - Nao's most notable trait is her preference in using ingredients with strong, often stinky, odors such as kusuya and squid ink. As a result, her dishes have extremely unpleasant smells. However, despite the horrid smell, her dishes have a unique flavor that actually taste delicious. Nao's main cooking philosophy is that beautiful appearing dishes hold no artistry compared to the hidden beauty behind her strange dishes.
Dishes
Original Dishes
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Jet Black Curry Laksa
- Jet Black Curry Laksa - Nao's very first dish shown. The initial impression of the dish is completely suffocated by the dish's incredible nose-curling stench which will remind the eater of an unwashed toilet. However, behind the foul smell, the dish has an incredible flavor that is actually complemented by the unruly odor. Be careful when eating, lest you fall under the witch's spell.
Cooking Duels Record
Official Shokugeki
| Rivals | Culinary Theme |
Dish | Stipulations | Results | Record (W-L-D) |
|---|
| Hisako Arato | Unknown | Unknown | Win: Hisako will give her position as Erina's new secretary.
|
Loss - Nao must not come within 50 meters of Erina and Hisako will maintain her position as Erina's secretary. | 0-1-0 |
| Ikumi Mito | Unknown | Unknown | Win: The Don RS would have to give up their booth to Nao for the Moon Banquet Festival.
|
Loss - The Don RS keep their booth for the Moon Banquet Festival. | 0-2-0 |
Trivia
- Nao, if written in kanji (直), can mean "honest". Sadatsuka (貞塚) uses the kanji for "chaste" (貞 Sada, an alternate pronunciation for Tei) and "mound" or "hillock" (塚 Tsuka).
References
| Isami Aldini • Takumi Aldini • Daigo Aoki • Hisako Arato • Ken Dakekanba • Madoka Enomoto • Akira Hayama • Miyoko Hōjō • Shun Ibusaki • Takumi Ishiwatari • Urara Kawashima • Ryō Kurokiba • Zenji Marui • Subaru Mimasaka • Ikumi Mito • Alice Nakiri • Erina Nakiri • Nao Sadatsuka • Ryōko Sakaki • Yua Sasaki • Shōji Satō • Megumi Tadokoro • Yūki Yoshino • Sōma Yukihira |