For the novel, please go to Yuko Sakaki (Novel). For the film, please go to Yuko Sakaki (Film).
Yuko Sakaki (榊 祐子, Sakaki Yūko) is a minor character in Battle Royale.
Backstory[]
Yuko was born to Kaori and Soichiro Sakaki. Since she was very young, Yuko and her family had been very religious. The problem with this is that Yuko would become very paranoid of certain events and think of some people as demons thanks to a pastor named Pastor Min. She would sometimes see a psychiatrist named Doctor Chiodo about her issues, but she didn't enjoy seeing him.
One day at school, Yuko witnessed a fight between Tadakatsu Hatagami and Mitsuru Numai. When she came home she had locked herself in her room and refused to go to school for a while. Kaori and Soichiro tried to comfort her but when Soichiro started to lose hope and tried to unlock Yuko's door, she tried to stop him and closed the door on her father's fingers causing them to bleed. He tried to reassure Yuko it was just a bump, but she saw the blood and knew he was lying. She apologized and agreed to speak to Dr. Chiodo.
Friends and Enemies[]
Yuko was friends with Yukie Utsumi, Haruka Tanizawa, Chisato Matsui, Yuka Nakagawa, Satomi Noda, Izumi Kanai, and Fumiyo Fujiyoshi.
In the Program[]
Yuko runs through the island in a complete panic when she witnesses the fight between Shuya Nanahara and Tatsumichi Oki. From her viewpoint, it seems that Shuya killed Tatsumichi, and she flees from the scene in terror. (After this she refers to Shuya as a "Demon Boy".)
Later on, the group of girls in the lighthouse discover Yuko, who joins the girls, in a clearly traumatized state. When Shuya was brought to them, unconscious and injured, she was terrified, and prayed that he would die. When Yukie Utsumi brought them the news that he would recover, Yuko decided she would kill him by putting some of the poison she had gotten as her weapon into his food. Her plan backfires, however, when Yuka Nakagawa tastes Shuya's meal and dies. The girls all become panicked, and after an extended battle, Yuko is the only survivor.
While she looks at the dead bodies of her friends, Shuya manages to get out of his room and enter the kitchen. Shuya, shocked at the deaths of the girls, mourns Yukie. Yuko shoots at Shuya, and runs to the top of the lighthouse, with Shuya chasing her. At the top of the lighthouse, when Shuya catches up to her, she shoots at him. Yuko loses her footing and slips. Shuya catches her and tries to pull her up, despite his severe injuries. Yuko realizes that Shuya is responsible for saving her life, even though he suffers agonizing pain, which leads her to realize that he was good after all; her friends died in vain. Yuko is deeply distraught that she discovers Shuya is not as bad as she thought, but also she feels she 'lit the fuse' for the lighthouse fiasco. Yuko pries her hand free of Shuya's, and falls to her death on a building's roof. She is then seen, limbs twisted and side open, but smiling sadly.
Shuya drags Yuko's body inside the lighthouse and Yuko is placed with her deceased friends, hand in hand. As Shuya laments their deaths, he confesses that he can't bring himself to hate Yuko, since it was the Program that had pushed her over the edge.
Appearances[]
Etymology[]
- The name Yuko means "help" (祐) (yu) and "child" (子) (ko).
- Yuko's surname Sakaki means "sacred Shinto tree" (榊).
Notes and Trivia[]
- Yuko was the last member of her group/clique to be killed and the only member of the group whose death cause was suicide.