Sayaka Yumi (TV)

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 Aphrodite A and later Diana A.

Much like Koji had become a first for several main male protagonists, Sayaka broke the mold for her independence 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
Sayaka was raised by her father Gennosuke Yumi after her mother passed away. Since her father was a man very dedicated to his job, Sayaka decided to assist in his projects and became Aphrodite A's pilot.

Personality
Compared to most female characters in 1970s manga and anime, Sayaka is a bit hot-tempered and tomboyish rather than the Yamato Nadeshiko concept present in most media of the time.

Sayaka is very straightforward, brave, prideful and independent often physically abusing Koji whenever he says or does something insulting to her such as his sexist claims like "go back to the kitchen". Similar to Koji, she is hot-blooded and does not run from a fight when something is at stake despite the danger. However, she is not as reckless and takes advice from her father compared to the act first, think later disposition of Koji. Beneath her tough exterior is a calm and compassionate person often comforting Koji whenever he is injured or distraught.

Sayaka also has a vulnerable side. 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. 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.

Much like the other pilots, Sayaka shares a deep bond with her robots. When Aphrodite A was destroyed, she was affected to the point of having hallucinations about the machine.

Gennosuke Yumi
Sayaka is very close with her father in spite of how much time he spends on his job. The whole reason she became a pilot is because she wanted to spend more time with him. She never questions his advice when in battle, showing a high level of trust and often berating Koji for when he doesn't listen to Prof. Yumi.

Koji Kabuto
Koji is Sayaka's partner in the battle against Dr. Hell as well as her love interest (and occasional pet peeve). They often argue with Koji saying sexist comments which gets him physical retaliation from Sayaka, they nonetheless care about each other very much. She also gets jealous of other girls that give Koji attention and gets annoyed when Koji expresses interest. There are times when Sayaka blames Koji for things he didn't do, like using a fishing line to take off her towel after she was in the shower, when it was really Shiro trying to get his toy.

She is also very protective of Koji whenever he gets seriously hurt or injured. When Koji was accused of killing a dog by Saijo and being beaten up, Sayaka grabbed Saijo using Aprhodite to get him to stop. When Koji was injured in a fight against a Mechanical Beast, Sayaka was distraught that she couldn't protect him and tried to make up for it by piloting the Mazinger (it didn't go out well). Prior to setting out she visited the unconscious Koji and kissed him. All of this in mind, Sayaka truly loves Koji and wants to fight with and protect him as much he wants to fight and protect her.

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.

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.

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. 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.

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
(...)

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
'Yumi' is Japanese for 'Bow' 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.
 * 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