Sayoko Uehara is a character in Persona 4. A nurse working in the Hospital of Yasoinaba, her flirtatious personality towards the Protagonist shares a resemblance with Lilith's interactions with the Protagonists from Shin Megami Tensei series.
Appearances
- Persona 4: Devil Arcana Social Link
- Persona 4 The Animation: Devil Arcana
- Persona 4 Golden: Devil Arcana Social Link
- Persona 4 The Golden Animation: Cameo
Design
Sayoko works as a nurse at the Inaba Municipal Hospital with short black hair tied into a ponytail and has brown eyes. She has a mole on the upper left side of her chin. She wears a white nurse outfit with accompanying pink blazer. In the animation, her outfit changes to a light pink.
In Persona 4 The Animation, she wears a light purple long sleeved shirt, and a tan skirt. During the summer festival, she wears a purple kimono.
Personality
Sayoko is mischievous and flirtatious, often making advances on the protagonist. Behind this, she is lonely and saddened that all patients leave once they are better. She does have a genuine love of helping others in need, which at some point is overshadowed by her own loneliness.
Profile
Persona 4
Concept Artwork of Sayoko Uehara.
Sayoko Uehara represents the Devil Arcana Social Link, however, she does not create one with the Protagonist during their first meeting. As Sayoko is working as a nurse, she can only be interacted should the Protagonist take up the part-time job of working as a Janitor in the Hospital. Furthermore, the Protagonist' 'Diligence' status must be at least at the Lv. 'Strong' before being able to take the job, as the job is only available during night time.
During the Protagonist's first encounter with Sayoko, he witnesses a Doctor talking to Sayoko. Noticing the Protagonist, Sayoko attempts to flirt with the Protagonist, but exclaims that she'll continue the next time the Protagonist comes here, and tells him to go home. Upon the second meeting with her, she openly tries to seduce the Protagonist, and took a liking towards him, telling that she might change her time shift just to meet the Protagonist, thus creating the Devil Arcana Social Link with the Protagonist.
Through the Protagonist' interaction with Sayoko, Sayoko reveals her dilemma of losing her goal in life, and her motivation of taking care of others. She also reveals that prior she was transferred to this hospital, she established a relationship with a doctor. However, the doctor was already married, and under the circumstances, she broke up with the doctor and was transferred to this hospital. After their break-up, however, the doctor continues to flirt behind his wife’s back again, and the doctor's wife makes a special trip to the Hospital in Yasoinaba to scold Sayoko of being a sultry woman.
Later, Sayoko's dilemma is further fueled after hearing the death of a young patient she genuinely cared for in the last hospital. After hearing the incident, Sayoko becomes a workaholic, and continually demands others to work harder as well. However, under the constant work, Sayoko began stressing out herself, and eventually collapsed.
Sayoko eventually realized that her sudden change of attitude at work was actually a way to escape her true feelings, and in reality, she herself was the main reason why she has lost her original goal. Realizing the Protagonist is responsible for her realization, she cheekily remarks that a "teenager with a rag" was the one helping her to realize her faults, but thanked the Protagonist from the bottom of her heart nonetheless.
By the end of the Social Link, Sayoko informs the Protagonist that she will be transferring to another hospital soon, and exclaims that in reality, even though she felt that she was just a temporary item to take care of a patient, her original motive of becoming a nurse was because of a simple reason - she cared for others, and hopes to take care of them. Thanking the Protagonist, Sayoko gives the Protagonist her Hospital ID as a remembrance of her realization, and bids farewell to the Protagonist. Before leaving, Sayoko tells the Protagonist that what is one's purpose of existing in this world, what is that individual's goal, are all actually hidden inside oneself, and it is up to them to decide their roles.
Completing the Devil Arcana Social Link with Sayoko also bestows the ultimate form of the Devil Arcana, Beelzebub, the Prince of Lies.
In the epilogue, the Protagonist learns that Sayoko has joined a volunteer medical organization dedicated to help the poor countries, and had already gone to Africa. The other nurses remarks that Sayoko is actually their hardest worker, and while they're intrigued by the rumors of the Midnight Channel, Sayoko was studying foreign languages and medical books. Sayoko's resolution and determination, however, inspire the other nurses to work harder, with one of the nurses remarks that Sayoko's determination might have been inspired by her 'younger boyfriend', implying that Sayoko may have fallen for the Protagonist.
Persona 4 The Animation
In the anime on August 18th, she is seen stringing Yu along somewhere. During the Summer Festival, she was seen with a different man, and she notes that Nanako was cute, after the girl runs past her. During the firework show, she happily greeted Nanako while the child blushed.
Previously, on August 17th, she explained to Yu that an elder woman had been admitted after a thief knocked her down. Disregarding this soon enough, she starts to flirt with Yu, trying to cajole him into taking her out on the town. He refuses her offer, saying he had too much work. He leaves, and she, apparently unfazed by his rejection, playfully calls out it was ‘too bad.’
She meets him again later that day, and drags him to a restaurant. Drunk from excessive drinking, Sayoko complains about men who leer at her, and how her boss is too demanding. She laments the fact patients leave her once they’ve fully recovered, something she resents due to abandonment issues. She gives Yu her phone number, in case he changed his mind and invited her to the Summer festival.
At the summer festival, she receives a call from Yu, who asks for her advice on how to help Eri, who has been grievously injured. She instructs him to stanch the blood, and says she’ll be there shortly. When she arrives, she is relieved the injured woman is alright. She thanks Yu, and realizes that saving people is a truly wondrous thing – it helps her remember why she became a nurse to begin with, and her passion for helping others is renewed.
During the end credits, she is last seen in the hospital, escorting an unconscious patient to the emergency room.
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