Mizue Sakai

Mizue Sakai is a minor character starring in the third episode arc of Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror, "Bake Neko". She is the composed, domineering wife of Yoshiaki. Her capricious desires led to her family eventually accumulating massive debts by the start of the "Bake Neko" arc. She had the misfortune of witnessing the death of her daughter Mao Sakai on her wedding day, which puts her into a fainting spell for most of the arc.

Appearance
Judging by her hairstyle Mizue appears to be an oiran (or courtesan) whose freedom was in all likelihood purchased by, and who married into, the Sakai clan during the Edo period. She has pale skin, black eyes, black hair, small red lips (in the actual episode), and a short figure. She has wrinkles on her face to show age, though they are much more prominent when she is exhibiting a strong emotion like anger or sadness.

As expected of a woman in her acquired position, Mizue wears multiple layers of kimonos of differing designs, the outer ones showing colorful and intricate designs; the kimono on top is unwrapped and colored dark bluish-violet with pink silhouettes of cherry blossoms, while the one just underneath is bright red with yellow and white polka-dots all over. The underwear kimonos, a beige one and a white one, are further underneath and closer to the body. All of them are connected by a dark red obi wrap with a green string over it. Her hair is styled in the Date Hyogo hairstyle worn by oiran during the Edo Period, with the assorted hair ornaments associated with that particular hairstyle.

Personality
Not much is really known of Mizue's psychological makeup. She is usually seen quiet and composed, sitting next to Yoshiaki, her husband and the family patriarch. However, her servant Kayo explicitly explains that she is domineering and capricious, and extravagantly spends the family fortune just to fulfill her own whims. Despite knowing of this, Yoshiaki would rather keep her satisfied instead of taking care of her spending.

In contrast, Mizue cares a great deal about her family, particularly her daughter Mao, whom she wants to marry off successfully. When Mao dies, the trauma is so great that she faints from shock, and after waking up, expresses strong grief over Mao's death. Mizue holds great contempt for her lazy brother-in-law, Yoshikuni, hating him for his alcoholism and tactlessness. When Yoshikuni suggests hiring a monk instead of a doctor moments after Mao is killed, Mizue is so enraged that she tried to attack him and had to be restrained.

Although she is not shown to have interacted with her, Mizue was familiar with Tamaki's name and recognized her appearance, indicating she was aware both of her and likely the conditions of her captivity. It is implied that Mizue had been chosen for Yoshiaki due to his father's obsession with Tamaki, as she shown in flashback at her wedding banquet, dressed in a white kimono and veil similar to the ones Tamaki wore before her abduction, and is kissed on the mouth by Yoshiyuki in full view of Yoshiaki. This may have led to her being targeted by the bakeneko.

Trivia

 * Mizue's seiyuu in the Japanese dub is Yoko Soumi, while her English VA is Alison Matthews.
 * Her teeth are shown to be black as a result of Ohaguro, a teeth blackening process undertaken by geisha, married women and aristocrats during the Edo period.