- "Little boss ♪ You can tell Big Sis anything ♪"
- —Sayuri
Sayuri (Japanese: サユリ) is a young, aspiring nurse who first appeared in the December 5, 2019 update version of the DMM version of Dead or Alive Xtreme Venus Vacation, as well as the February 13, 2021 update in the Singapore Steam version of the same game as a teaser, and later unveiled in full on February 24 of the same year.
History
Sayuri successfully trained as a nurse, and had a knack for making her patients feel comfortable. However, it is implied that she did her job too well, which caused her to be let go as her patients didn't want to leave. Eventually, she sought out the Venus Islands hoping to secure a job as its resident nurse, although she ended up getting a lot more than she bargained for when she was recruited for the local Venus Festival after nursing the islands' tenant from a bad case of heat stroke due to her ship running late on arrival.
Character
Appearance
Owing to her occupation as a nurse, her default and second attire is that of a bikini modeled after a nurse's outfit. She has fair skin, green eyes, and chest-length dark brown hair with a bun held with a white frilly hair band on the left side, as well as two beauty spots near her left eye similar to those of Tamaki. Her hair, with or without the hair band, is generally depicted with a Chiffon Wave-style, although she sometimes wears a ponytail. She also possesses fairly large and prominent lips. She is also shown to be extremely voluptuous, having the second-largest bust size of the DOA girls, being only one centimeter smaller than Honoka, as well as at least one centimeter larger than her in hip and waist measurements.
Personality
As expected of a nurse, Sayuri is extremely caring and friendly, often showing concern for the health of others and taking care of them, or offering advice on how to take better care of themselves. Similar to Tamaki and Momiji, she has a sisterly demeanor, although to a much greater extent, even referring to herself as "Big Sis" ("onee-chan" in the Japanese version) when talking to others. She implies that this demeanor is a holdover from her previous nursing job. On a similar note, owing to this personality, she sometimes abruptly pats girls on the head, which can catch the girls offguard at times.
Etymology
Sayuri is a common feminine Japanese name. Although there's no inherent meaning when written in hiragana, its common kanji form (小百合) translates to "small lily," and can also be a shorthand for "Sayuribana" (小百合花), another name for the lily flower in Japanese.
Relationships
Ayane
Sayuri met Ayane when the latter attempted to discuss with the Owner about setting up the former's welcoming party, due to the Owner being indisposed. They then had an amicable chat before Ayane began feeling tired. However, Ayane got irritated after waking up to find Sayuri had brought Kasumi into the matter.
Kasumi
Sayuri met Kasumi while Ayane was resting, and also filled her in on the events that transpired thus far. Kasumi didn't mind Sayuri's quirk of referring to herself as an older sister, even finding it nice.
Kanna
Sayuri met Kanna during the welcome party for her, with Kanna voicing her plans to take over the island. However, Kanna was unhappy when Sayuri ended up causing her "minion" Luna to defect to Sayuri's side by offering to make her some food.
While she didn't directly interact with Kanna during the Christmas celebrations themselves in the DMM version, she did encounter her in the aftermath, where she alongside Nagisa played along with Fiona and Kanna's apparent encounters with Santa.
Luna
Luna met Sayuri during the latter's welcome party. She was shown to like Sayuri's meals enough that she ended up "defecting" from Kanna's side in favor of Sayuri's.
Luna later worked together with Sayuri and Honoka to use a Chain Stratagem along the lines of Diao Chan's strategy from the novel and game Romance of the Three Kingdoms in an attempt to investigate the Owner's recent all-nighters, with Luna even coming up with the idea behind the strategy. Sayuri in particular serenaded to and danced in front of the Owner after Honoka tuckered him out via several laps around the island.
Luna later was paired up with Sayuri for the island's first official Butt Battle competition, with Luna and Sayuri, after briefly discussing what it entailed as they were about to start their match, proceeding to compete with each other, with Luna ultimately winning.
Misaki
Misaki met Sayuri in the aftermath of the welcoming party, where they made small talk about themselves and their families, including Misaki's older sister named Nagisa.
In the DMM version of the first Atelier Ryza collaboration, after the Owner abruptly collapsed after Misaki and Fiona supplied him with a homemade anti-insomnia drug they had made, Misaki initially considered having Sayuri brought in to resuscitate him due to believing they accidentally poisoned him, although Fiona was certain the drug merely successfully put him to sleep.
Nagisa
During Christmas in the DMM version, Sayuri alongside a reluctant Nagisa worked together to act as substitute Santas for the Owner regarding giving gifts to Fiona and Kanna (as the latter, mistaking the Owner for Santa, inadvertently spoiled his attempted gift giving). Afterwards, they played along when encountering Fiona and Kanna's claims that Santa visited them. Nagisa also reluctantly joined in with Sayuri's insistence that they wish the Owner a Merry Christmas. The two later interacted during the New Year festivities alongside Marie Rose, with their eventually playing a game of Sugoroku together, although Nagisa eventually got annoyed when she learned that the contents of the game were trivia comments about Sayuri.
Fiona
In the DMM version, Sayuri during Christmas ended up going to Fiona's room to deliver a gift, with her largely succeeding without a hitch due to Fiona being deeply asleep. While there, she also discovered Fiona's romantic feelings for the Owner via the latter's sleep talk, viewing it as cute. The next day, Sayuri encountered Fiona as well as Kanna discussing with the Owner excitedly about Santa's visit, with Sayuri largely playing along.
Tamaki
Sayuri and Tamaki had an awkward meeting during New Year's due to both Tamaki's swimsuit design choice as well as Tamaki doing her own "health checkup" on Sayuri, though they largely got along. Sayuri also suggested that Tamaki lay off on consuming alcoholic beverages to prolong her health, although due to Tamaki insisting on drinking for New Year's, she offered that Tamaki at least drink soy milk cocktails during the event as a healthier alternative. They also both planned for a health event for New Year's that the Owner was to partake in.
Sayuri and Tamaki alongside Honoka also ended up forming a women's nightlife club at some point, with Sayuri concocting soy cocktails for herself and Tamaki as part of an earlier compromise (Honoka was exempt due to her still being under the legal drinking age). They subsequently became inebriated and Sayuri ended up humiliating herself in front of the Owner.
Leifang
Sayuri encountered Leifang near a rock climbing cliff, where she cleared Leifang's bill of health and was impressed by her more "Spartan" way of keeping healthy. Leifang also gave Sayuri a pep talk to climb up the cliff when the Owner apparently was in trouble during the climbing experience, citing that Sayuri was the only one who could climb without ruining her outfit (as Leifang was in a New Year kimono and thus could not do it herself).
Marie Rose
Sayuri and Marie Rose met each other during the New Year's festivities, where they acted as Japanese mikos, as well as playing a round of Sugoroku together. Marie did not particularly mind that the contents of the game contained trivia information about Sayuri, since it allowed her to learn more about her.
Honoka
During a hanami celebration, Honoka and Sayuri proceeded to team up to cook various meals for the celebration, including the favorite meals for the various girls. They also made small talk during this time, with Honoka in particular referencing Tamaki's arrival at the Venus Islands during that holiday (specifically, her making matching flower-themed swimwear between her and Marie Rose). She also got briefly upset when she saw Sayuri feeding sakuramochi to the owner, largely because she wanted to eat some herself, although Sayuri reassured her that she can have as many as she wished as she made plenty.
Sayuri worked with Honoka and Luna to induce a Romance of the Three Kingdoms-style Chain Stratagem to lure the boss to sleep so they could investigate why he was pulling all-nighters, with Honoka specifically doing enough laps around the island to ensure he got exhausted so Sayuri can serenade him to sleep.
Later, Honoka and Sayuri ended up complimenting each other on more glamorous outfits (later revealed to be made by Tamaki to reflect "adult life"). The two alongside Tamaki later ended up forming an adult women's nightlife club, although because Honoka was still under the drinking age, she was provided with juice as compensation while Sayuri and Tamaki had soy cocktails that Sayuri crafted. Honoka also ended up shocked when she witnessed both Tamaki and Sayuri engage in more drunken behavior, even telling Sayuri what had happened when she regained senses afterwards.
Although Honoka did not directly interact with Sayuri during this instance, she did offer Tsukushi to take her over to Sayuri for a medical checkup just prior to their Butt Battle match due to mistaking Tsukushi's ecstasy over competing with a Venus as her suffering from a fever due to her blushing.
Sayuri later aided Honoka alongside Tsukushi in helping to promote a struggling soft-serve ice cream stand that appeared on the island, both due to her loving ice cream as well and because she was amused with Honoka's dressing up like her doll Mr. Moo and wanted to join the action, also proceeding to do a poster photoshoot after Tsukushi suggested it as an idea for additional marketing.
Patty
She and Patty met when they were tasked with finding a particular flower that acted as a necessary ingredient for varying lotions and gels. However, largely due to Patty's more energetic nature, Sayuri was surprised at Patty leaving her quickly to find the flower. After an attempt at finding the flower inside the jungle failed, Sayuri suggested she instead head towards the beach to find the flower due to it having more sunlight exposure, and advised that they go together this time. After finding it, they then underwent a beauty treatment together, with Sayuri putting her medical skills to use after discovering that Patty had minor cuts from her prior excursion into the jungle.
Sayuri and Patty later stumbled upon each other on the beach during the island's third anniversary when trying to take their mind off things to stargaze (Sayuri due to being slightly inebriated from drinking with Tamaki, and Patty passing out on the beach from overdoing food at the festival). Sayuri expressed initial concern over Patty possibly developing a cold, although Patty in her usual peppy manner dismissed the worry. They also briefly witnessed fireworks, with Sayuri then educating Patty on a particular cultural element from where she came from when she yelled "Tamaya" in front of Patty, causing Patty to emulate her and do her own variation.
Momiji
The two directly interacted with each other during a Summer Festival, where Momiji helped Sayuri distribute candied apples at a stall when she was barely getting customers. Sayuri then patted Momiji on the head while thanking her for her help, with Momiji briefly being startled. Sayuri assumed that meant she didn't like it only for Momiji to admit she merely was taken aback slightly by the act, and admitted she herself often acted as a big sister in her home village. She alongside Misaki later returned the favor by lighting sparklers alongside Momiji during the end of the festival.
Tsukushi
Although the two did not directly interact during this instance, Honoka offered to have Tsukushi see Sayuri for a checkup due to mistaking Tsukushi's ecstasy in competing with a Venus as her becoming feverish due to her blushing, with Tsukushi suggesting against it.
Tsukushi and Sayuri worked together alongside Elise for a lesson on drowning rescues. In particular, Sayuri was assigned to act as a test dummy for Tsukushi to do chest compressions, with Sayuri suggesting to Tsukushi that she "sing a song" to break tension while doing the necessary treatment, which Tsukushi later took to heart by humming an anime song.
Later, Tsukushi alongside Sayuri, at Honoka and the Owner's request, worked together to help promote an otherwise struggling soft-serve ice cream stand at the island by dressing up in costumes modeled after Cows (or, more accurately, Honoka's doll Mister Moo).
Shandy
Shandy met Sayuri when the latter arrived for a drink just as the bar was about to close. Shandy was nevertheless happy to provide her with a drink as she was about to get bored. After closing shop, the two had a heart-to-heart talk regarding the island, the boss, and the various girls having fun, with Shandy taking this to heart especially regarding taking hobbies seriously, with Sayuri also referencing her occupation as a nurse when Shandy beat herself up over "venting to [her] customers." Shandy then agreed to give a drink to Sayuri "on the house."
Shizuku
At some point, Sayuri proceeded to "spoil" Shizuku, though she then discovered the latter's abnormally high temperature, seeking to treat it due to believing she had a fever (it's implied that this was actually her normal temperature as a Kitsune, but Sayuri did not realize it due to believing Shizuku to merely be cosplaying instead of an actual Kitsune). Kitsune reluctantly obliged and went to the hospital despite hating them mostly because of her own reluctance to divulge her true species to her. However, she eventually found herself forced to flee the room after Sayuri implied she was going to give her a shot, although not before apologizing for being "a bad fox." Sayuri, feeling guilty for scaring her, yet still concerned about her "fever", proceeded to leave pills to treat the fever at Shizuku's bedroom.
Owner
Sayuri met the Owner when she arrived at the island to look for work as a nurse. Because her ship was late getting to port, the Owner had begun suffering from heat stroke by the time she arrived, though she fortunately put her medical skills to good use and treated him before advising him to take rest. She also attempted to refer to the Owner by the proper title of "-san" after an awkward moment where she referred to him as "-chan" (In the English version, this is instead translated as her calling him "little Boss" while struggling to refer to him by more proper terminology.).
Appearances
Dead or Alive series
- Dead or Alive Xtreme: Venus Vacation (playable character, 2019)
Non-Dead or Alive appearances

Although Sayuri does not feature in the second collaboration of Azur Lane: Vacation Lane, she has a brief cameo appearance in the background of the full version of Luna's key art "Venus of the Beach", where she is seen playing in the nearby ocean with Misaki and Honoka.
Music themes
The following are the music themes used for Sayuri throughout the series.
Theme | Game appearances |
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"Lullaby" | Dead or Alive Xtreme Venus Vacation |
Gallery
Promotional images |
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Scans |
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Bromides |
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Merchandise |
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Trivia
- She is currently tied with Tina Armstrong as the oldest human character in Xtreme Venus Vacation at age 24, being a year older than Helena Douglas.
- She is the third character to explicitly give her measurements, after Nagisa and Monica (the three characters did so via their second episode).
- She also implies that her measurements as given may have changed from the previous year (namely, her waist might have grown bigger), as they were from a health exam from that time.
- Similar to Honoka's cow-themed apparel, Sayuri's favorite food and drink, as well as the name of her debut SSR and both her SSR accessories and her favorite color, are all named after or reference milk.
- In her second episode, she indicates her reason for Soy Milk Pudding being her favorite food is due to its soft and jiggly texture. Her breasts also jiggle slightly as she says this, implying it was part of wordplay.
- Sayuri's nationality was not listed due to Xtreme Venus Vacation not having a nationality section for the girls' bios. However, it was nevertheless heavily implied to be Japanese due to her name being spelled in Hiragana instead of Katakana, as well as her mentioning to Patty that her hometown often chants "tamaya" whenever fireworks go off during the third anniversary (referring to a cultural element of Japan that referenced the fireworks maker during the Edo period of Japanese history, most notably during the Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival).
- On a similar note, her comment about her hometown chanting "Tamaya" whenever they see fireworks implies that Sayuri hailed from the Asakusa district of Tokyo, as the Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival that popularized chanting Tamaya during firework explosions occurs near that area on the Sumidagawa river. She also implies during the event episode Gardening Together that she lived in a high-rise apartment with a balcony, due to mentioning maintaining veggies and herbs at a balcony garden.
- Sayuri is known to wear perfume, and is the second girl confirmed to wear it, after Monica (who admitted she may consider wearing it for card games with Patty as a deterrent to her sensitive sense of smell).
- During the second Destiny Child collaboration, Sayuri wore Mona's outfit.
- According to Sakura D in Famitsu's third anniversary coverage, Sayuri was created to fill the role of an older sister archetype. He also made her the type to outright spoil the Owner in order to give her a differentiating factor from Momiji, who technically already filled the role of an older sister characterization. He also mentioned that her backstory of being fired from the hospital due to making her patients too comfortable had been suggested by one of his staff.[2]
- The same section also unveiled concept art which depicted her with slightly different hairstyles, with colors ranging from a green to a reddish tint while still being dark colored overall.
- Her sharing a similar character archetype to Momiji is most likely the reason why the latter replaced her in the White Christmas ~ Snowy Island ~ event episodes in the Singapore Steam version.
- On a similar note, the Singapore Steam version included a reference to Sayuri during that version's second anniversary by Misaki, due to her being added in prior to the anniversary.
- Her and Momiji's sharing of archetypes was later given a direct nod in the first episode of the event arc "Summer Festival Memories ~ Fleeting Moments ~", where Momiji briefly gets shocked at Sayuri patting her on the head before admitting she herself had a similar big sis disposition due to having to raise several of the kids at her home village.
- In the Singapore Steam version, she is the second girl to receive a teaser prior to formally debuting after Nagisa, as well as the fourth overall (as she technically had her teaser occur after Lobelia's in the DMM version). She is also the first add-on girl to have a Steam-exclusive paid outfit (though it would later be added into the DMM version during her second anniversary gacha).
- Also in the same version, an extra scene was added to the first episode of the "Year by Year with little boss" story arc featuring a narration stating that the following episode occurred a few months ago, most likely because the episode was translated as-is even though it was released in March. This also makes her the only character to have this occur that didn't occur on Tanabata (Misaki's birthday), nor did it even show a scene/a character talking before the narration.
- During the Diamond in the Rough aesthetics episodes, Sayuri was implied to wear perfume, as when Patty commented on Sayuri having a gentle smell emanating from her, Sayuri, confused, pondered whether Patty was smelling her perfume.
- She is the fourth DOAXVV-debuting character to hold an explicit job on the Venus Islands besides participating in the festivals, after Misaki (who acts as the part-time Supporter for the Owner), Tamaki (who designs various wardrobes for the events), and Monica (who runs the local casino). In Sayuri's case, she acts as the island's resident nurse.
- Although Sayuri's primary job was acting as a participant in the Venus Festivals, some of the episodes imply that she also does a side job of acting as the island's resident nurse.
- In the DMM version of the first Atelier Ryza event, Sayuri was briefly mentioned by Misaki where she suggested bringing her in after fearing she and Fiona may have ended up poisoning the Owner when he abruptly passed out from medication he had them create via alchemy. This was altered in the Singapore Steam version to simply have her ambiguously call in a doctor due to Sayuri not debuting in that version yet.
- The event episode arc "Let the Pinches Bloom" revealed that Sayuri was an avid gardener, although not to Lobelia's extent. She also indicated that despite her enthusiasm for the activity, she had fairly little experience beyond growing vegetables and herbs on a balcony garden before then.
Notes and references
- ↑ Implied by the Hiragana spelling of her name.
- ↑ Famitsu 3rd anniversary DOAXVV coverage, page 82
v · e · d | |
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Starting Characters | Kasumi • Momiji • Hitomi • Helena Douglas • Marie Rose • Honoka • Nyotengu • Kokoro • Ayane • Misaki |
Post-launch Characters | Luna • Tamaki • Fiona • Leifang • Nagisa • Kanna • Monica • Sayuri • Patty • Tsukushi • Lobelia • Nanami • Elise • Koharu • Tina Armstrong • Amy • Shandy • Yukino • Shizuku • Reika • Meg |
Minigames | Beach Volleyball • Blackjack • Butt Battle • Pool Hopping • Rock Climbing • Roulette |
Terms | Gift Giving • Pictorial Scenes • Stats • Swimsuits • Virtual Pictorial • Zack Dollars • Girl Mode • Owner Mode |
Venus Islands Locations | New Zack Island • Hotel (Owner's Room) • Casino • Nikki Beach • Pool and Poolside • Private Beach • Jungle • Bass Island • Accessory Shop |
Transcripts | Year One • Year Two • Year Three • Year Four • Year Five • Year Six • Extra Episodes |
Miscellaneous | Soundtrack • Costumes • Item Collection Datasheet • Collaborations • Merchandise (Official 4-koma Manga) • Nagisa True Colors Webmanga |