Sayaka Yumi (弓 さやか Yumi Sayaka) is the main female protagonist and partner to Koji Kabuto in Mazinger Z. She is the daughter of Dr. Yumi as well as the pilot of Aphrodite A and later Diana A.
Much like Koji became a first for several main male protagonists, Sayaka broke the mold for her independent and hot-blooded attitude, which were uncommon for female characters at the time. Decades later, her traits would be associated with the tsundere archetype, now commonly found in anime and manga.
Appearance[]
Sayaka has long light brown hair which has a pink hairband in it and brown eyes. She is of average height and build of a teenage girl her age. Sayaka's first pilot suit was a yellow jumpsuit with a pink sash to avoid making it look revealing, a white helmet with a pink stripe and clear visor. After episode 40, Sayaka's pilot suit changed to a pink and white colored blazer with a mini skirt, an orange belt, and light grey gloves and knee-high boots.
Background[]
After her mother passed away, Sayaka was raised by her father, Gennosuke Yumi. Since her father was a man dedicated to his job, Sayaka decided to assist in his projects by becoming the test pilot of Aphrodite A, a humanoid robot he designed for manual labor purposes.
Personality[]
Sayaka is straightforward, brave and prideful. She is hot-blooded and does not hesitate to jump into action to action to protect the Photon Power Laboratory and Japan from Dr. Hell's Mechanical Beasts. However, she's still not as reckless Koji, being much less prone to fall for their enemies' provocations.
Beneath her tough exterior, she is a kind and compassionate, serving as the team's moral compass. In situations where it arises, she is the first to oppose the idea of using torture as a means of extracting information from captured Iron Masks and Iron Cross soldiers. At the time, she cited the need for adherence to the Geneva Convention when dealing with prisoners. When the public attacked Dr. Yumi in retaliation for all the damage caused in the battles between Mazinger Z and the Mechanical Beasts, she expressed desire to stop fighting in hope of keeping her father safe.[2] She felt responsible when her refusal to help Koji resulted in him almost dying in the fight against Bazuson M1. Since he was too injured to stop the Mechanical Beast after the fact, Sayaka tried to make up for it by piloting Mazinger Z herself.[1]
Despite her poor performance as a pilot, Sayaka's not one to let herself be talked down. Whenever Koji questions her usefulness, she's always ready to jump into action, often goading Boss into joining her, to face whatever Mechanical Beast threats Japan in order to prove her worthy. She also is pretty confident on her own appearance, being conviced Koji is attracted to her despite he claiming otherwise.
Relationships[]
Aphrodite A & Diana A[]
Sayaka shares a deep bond with her robots, treating them as partners instead of mere tools. She takes great pride in both of them, and often takes offense whenever Koji belittles the capabilities of either robot. She was devastated by the destruction of Aphrodite A and even experienced brief moments of hallucination, seeing her robot partner calling out to her.[3]
Gennosuke Yumi[]
Sayaka holds immense respect and love for her father, seeking his guidance and prioritizing his well-being, which becomes her vulnerability when it comes to her determination to fight against Dr. Hell. Sometimes, when her father goes to far in his defiance of Dr. Hell, showing willingness to self-destroy the Photon Power Laboratory or ignoring his threats, Sayaka pleads with him to let go of his stubbornness for the sake of his safety. Additionally, Sayaka displays more restraint when dealing with her father than she does with any of her friends and rarely talks back to Dr. Yumi, even when his words or actions leave her deeply upset.
However, their relationship is not without its flaws.
Despite generally being indifferent to her tomboyish behavior and accepting her role as a pilot, Dr. Yumi tends to side with Koji whenever he criticizes Sayaka, even when Koji questions her actions based on his perception of how a woman should behave. Furthermore, Dr. Yumi supported Koji in the vote regarding the upgrade for Aphrodite A, totalling the two votes needed to afford the opposition victory and preventing her from being powered up.[2]
Koji Kabuto[]
Koji and Sayaka have a fight
Koji serves as both Sayaka's partner in the battle against Dr. Hell and the object of her affection. However, their relationship is complex and often tumultuous. Due to Koji's brash attitude and Sayaka's strong-willed nature, they frequently exchange insults, argue over trivial matters, and occasionally resort to physical altercations. Nonetheless, there are instances where they genuinely enjoy each other's company.
Over time, their friendship deepens and evolves. Koji undergoes a significant change, becoming more understanding and reducing his antagonistic behavior towards Sayaka. This transformation is evident in his complete shift in perspective regarding the decision to provide Sayaka with a proper combat robot to aid in their fight against Dr. Hell's Mechanical Beasts [3] —something that once caused intense animosity between them.[2]
Sayaka kisses an unconscious Koji
Koji is fully aware of Sayaka's feelings for him and often playfully teases her by asserting that he would never get into a relationship with someone with her personality. From her side, Sayaka's shown to get jealous whenever Koji receives attention from other women, especially when he appears to reciprocate.
Although the two of them never get to become a couple in the original series, they do go on to form a relationship by the time of Mazinger Z: Infinity.
Boss[]
Sayaka mainly sees Boss as a friend despite his obvious crush on her. Back when Boss was still a bully, Sayaka would often berate him for such acts. He is often the only thing that annoys Sayaka more than Koji's recklessness.
History[]
Mazinger Z[]
Sayaka first meets Koji after she stops him from accidently stomping Shiro with the then out of control Mazinger Z. Her father quickly recognizes the machine and deduces the pilot's identity. She takes him to the Photon Power Laboratory where they discuss Juzo Kabuto's death and Dr. Hell's ambitions. After Koji vows to stop the evil scientist and goes on to face Garada K7 and Doublas M2 who are attacking the city. Even though Aphrodite A isn't able to do much against the Mechanical Beasts, Sayaka still helps Koji by instructing him on Mazinger's control scheme allowing him to win. The duo then goes on to face several other Mechanical Beast in the following days.
In one such instance, namely the battle against Bazuson M1, Sayaka refused to help Koji as result of an argument they had earlier. Without her support, Koji had to rely on a risky maneuver to stop the Mechanical Beast which resulted in him getting seriously injured. Feeling guilty over not helping him, Sayaka kisses an unconscious and vows to destroy the Mechanical Beast in his place. As her Aphrodite was no match for Bazuson M1, she sorties in Mazinger Z instead. Unfortunately, her unfamiliarity with the robot meant she was unable to accomplish much on her own. When the still injured Koji arrives in Aphrodite A, the two of them change back to their respective robots and are able to win with help from Boss Borot. As Koji dies in her arms following the battle, Sayaka confesses her love and desire to one day be his wife only for Koji to reveal he was only faking. [1]
Sayaka piloted Aphrodite A until the robot's destruction. During Mazinger Z's fight with Harpia Π7, Sayaka had to sacrifice Aphrodite in order to save Koji and Z.[4] As a result, she got deeply depressed until her new robot, Diana A, was completed. Sayaka proceeded to use Diana A as her robot ever since.[3]
Following the Mycenae Empire's first attack, Diana A was heavily damaged. She was sent alongside Koji to study abroad leaving the defense of Japan in the hands of Tetsuya Tsurugi and Jun Hono.
Great Mazinger[]
Sayaka's first appearance in Great Mazinger turns out to be a fake-out. In one of her ploys, Marquis Janus disguised herself as a amnesiac Sayaka to gain acess to the Photon Power Laboratory.
Sayaka's actual return happens at the very end of the series. She arrives in the Science Fortress Laboratory in the midst of the final battle against the Mycenae Empire. Although Dr. Yumi denies her requests to be allowed to deploy, she does so anyway taking Shiro - who had asked to be brought to see the deceased Dr. Kabuto - with her. After leaving the boy in the Photon Power Laboratory, Sayaka's Diana A join forces with the other photonic robots and manages to help destroy Demonika putting an end to the war.
Mazinger Z: Infinity[]
Abilities and Equipment[]
Piloting[]
Sayaka appears to be a decent pilot. She doesn't have any difficult controlling Aphrodite A or Diana A and is able to express impressive acrobatic skills in both robots. It's unclear when Sayaka boarded Aphrodite A for the first time. As she is already familiar with robots' control schemes before the anime started, even guiding Koji, it is reasonable to assume she had practice.
Much like Koji did when trying to control Aphrodite A, Sayaka had trouble controlling Mazinger Z the one time she tried. However, she was able to effortless pilot Diana A for the get go as she, unlike Mazinger Z, was very similar to Aphrodite A.
During the battle against Dr. Hell's Mechanical Beast, Sayaka was only able to defeat four of them in the entire show. She did provide support to Mazinger Z in most battle be it holding enemies off until his arrival or creating openings for Koji to attack. Her track record can be attributed in part to Aphrodite A's lack of offensive options. During her fight with Abdora U6, she could have possibly won if not limited by two missiles. However, even after receiving Diana A her overall performance in battle didn't improve. An argument could be made for either her lack of piloting skills or for Diana A not being a good enough of a upgrade against the Ghost Mechanical Beasts and powerful Mechanical Beast being sent at the late stages of the anime.
Sayaka also has some proficiency with motorcycles.
Vehicles[]
- Motorcyles: Standard two-wheeled motor vehicles for personal transport
- Scarlet Mobile: A special motorcycle that serves as the command center for Diana A
- Hover Pilder: A hovercraft used as the command center for Mazinger Z. Sayaka wasn't able to control it properly the one time she tried resulting in the foldable wings being chipped when it docked with Mazinger Z.
- Missile Hesensha Z: A large tank used to assist Mazinger Z in fights, Sayaka once operated it with relative ease.
Etymology[]
- The name Sayaka is written in hiragana (さやか), which has no special meaning. However, when written in kanji (沙也香, 沙耶香, 沙也加 or 紗耶香), it could possibly mean:
- 沙也香 - "sand" (沙) (sa), "to be, also" (也) (ya) and "fragrance, fragrant" (香) (ka).
- 沙耶香 - "sand" (沙) (sa), "question mark" (耶) (ya) and "fragrance, fragrant" (香) (ka).
- 沙也加 - "sand" (沙) (sa), "to be, also" (也) (ya) and "add, increase" (加) (ka).
- 紗耶香 - "thread, silk" (紗) (sa), "question mark" (耶) (ya) and "fragrance, fragrant" (香) (ka).
- Sayaka's surname Yumi means "archery bow" (弓), which fits as Sayaka's second robot in the anime is based on the Roman Goddess of the hunt who is armed with a bow.
Trivia[]
- Sayaka had the most voice actors of all characters in the original series with three in total.
- Unlike the other characters, Sayaka often changes outfits between episodes.
- In the Tranzor Z English dub, Sayaka is renamed as "Jessica Davis", which shares the same surname as Tommy Davis (Koji Kabuto), which probably changes their relationship as a brother-sister one.
- In SRW T, staying true to Mazinger Z: Infinity, Sayaka is a unplayable character and is reduce to a support role along Boss who is also unplayable one being a supporter for one stage. Sayaka does not pilot her old Diana A off screen like it is implied in the movie.
- Sayaka was originally supposed to appear in Grendizer as another Spazer pilot but the staff changed their minds and instead created Maria Fleed. However elements of her intended role lingered into the show proper, including her relationship with Koji and her intended pilot suit being reused for Maria's.
- Unlike her friends, Sayaka does not attend high school. It's possible she is either home schooled or graduated early.
- Sayaka destroyed four Mechanical Beast during the series. They were: Minerva X, Gumbina M5, Yubrin T9 and Gilania β5
Gallery[]
References[]
|