Yōko Sakaki

Yōko Sakaki ( Sakaki Yōko) is a character in Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V anime. She is the mother of Yūya Sakaki and the wife of Yūshō Sakaki.

Appearance
Yōko is a fairly tall and youthful-looking woman of slender built with blue eyes and light skin. She has long blond hair the front bangs being golden in color. Her hair is tied in a ponytail and sections out as spikes. Her bangs part to the right side and frame her face. She is commonly seen wearing and aqua-colored long-sleeve shirt and blue jeans with brown low shoes. She also accessories with silver big-loop earrings, two golden bands on her left wrist, and a small golden necklace hanging under her neck.

Personality
Yōko is a kind-hearted woman, and is shown to care a lot for Yūya. She understands his true feelings, as seen when she told Shūzō Hīragi that Yūya spent the last several years acting like a clown to cope with Yūshō Sakaki's disappearance.

However, Yōko is easily charmed by anything she deems cute, such as Sora Shiun'in when he stayed at the Sakaki residence, up to the point she gave Yūya's breakfast to him, as well as several other young boys such as Michio Mokota and Dennis Macfield. In these situations, she will not hesitate to support them more frequently than her own son. Yōko's love for cute things also has caused her to adopt several cats and dogs, including En, Core, Kilo and Watt. In the past, Yōko had a brutal personality and enjoyed defeating her opponents mercilessly, whether they were rival gangs or pushy men. Her meeting with Yūshō Sakaki changed her outlook in life.

Past
In her youth, Yōko was the leader of a biker gang, the Maiami Queens, as "Shooting Star Yōko". At one point, one of her teammates was held hostage by a member of a rival gang. Yūshō Sakaki stepped in and saved her. Yōko was touched by Yūshō's ability to end fights peacefully without violence and developed feelings for Yūshō. The two of them eventually got married and had a son, Yūya Sakaki, together.

Yōko appeared with Yūya in a tournament that her husband, Yūshō Sakaki, was in. When Yūya said he'd duel in place of his dad, Yūshō, Yōko told Yūya to stop it now.

Pre-Maiami Championship
Yōko showed up during Yūya's Duel against Strong Ishijima. She told Shūzō Hīragi, Yuzu Hīragi and Noboru Gongenzaka about Yūya's behavior: he had acted like a clown to cope with Yūshō's disappearance and reinvented himself while Dueling. She watched the rest of the Duel with the three, and was proud of her son when he won.

Yōko eventually invited Sora Shiun'in to stay at the Sakaki residence, to Yūya's annoyance. She prepared breakfast for the two boys, but she was taken in by Sora's cuteness after he called her Yūya's older sister rather than his mother, causing her to give Yūya's food to him.

After the events involving between You Show Duel School and LDS Yōko then came to watch Yūya's duel against Shūzō but left early before the duel could end.

Yōko made an appearance during Yūya's duel with Michio Mokota. Having failed to make one of his recipes due to its complexity, Yōko converted it into a pancake sandwich, which infuriated Michio. She smiled as her son wins the duel.

Yōko and the other staff and students of the You Show Duel School are spectators during Yūya's duel with Gongenzaka.

Maiami Championship
The day of the Championship, Yōko found Yūya sits on a bridge railing who looking at the Dueling Arena. She chided Yūya, telling him that she just got a call from Yuzu and everyone was worried because he went missing. She said that he picked the wrong place and if he wanted to tell his father something, he wouldn't do it here but there, pointing at the stadium. During the opening proceedings, she and Shūzō cheered Yūya and the others. After Yūya's brief mess-up and subsequent speech, Shūzō believed that Yūya could catch the famed duelist Yūshō Sakaki but Yōko affirmed that he could surpass Yūshō. She later watched Yuzu's Duel with Masumi, Gongenzaka's Duel with Gen Ankokuji, Yūya's Duel with Shingo and Sora's Duel with Shun Kurosaki. , which left Sora badly injured. After Sora's hospitalization, Yōko and Shūzō brought back the kids home. Two days later, she and Yuzu watched over Yūya while he was still unconscious. She wondered why Yūya hadn't woken up and what had happened to Sora, and then started sobbing, worried that Yūya would never wake up. Yōko reassured her that Yūya would be fine, and that he would wake up even stronger than before. The two were startled when Mieru suddenly appeared in the window and jumped in, declaring that she would save Yūya. They watched as she prepared the room in a ritualistic manner, before noticing that Yūya was wearing gray pajamas. She insisted that they change him into green-and-white plaid pajamas, which they did. They asked her how she knew Yūya was here, and learned that she had abandoned her Championship match to see him. They convinced her that Yūya would recover even faster if she won her match, and she vowed to win it for him, much to their relief. Despite Mieru's subsequent defeat, Yūya woke up soon after that. He and Yuzu went to Centre Court, Yōko noted that even through Yūya was sleeping for two days, the instant he thought of something, he had to act on it and added that he became more like Yūshō. Shortly after, at the You Show Duel School, Yōko and the other watched the Duel News on the television, she went into squeals over Michio, much to Yūya and Shūzō's discomfort. The next day, she learned that the participants participated in a Battle Royal and Pendulum Cards developed by Leo Corporation scattered around the city. She watched the Junior Youth classmates participate in the Battle Royal. She found Dennis very cute during his Duel against Makoto Takeda and Ken Umesugi. She later was interviewed by the reporter of Maiami Championship who asked if she had anything to add, Yōko replied that Yūya was fine but that she wanted see more of Dennis, Mitchie and other cute boys. Shortly after Yuzu and Yūya soon disappeared when their camera feeds were cut for maintenance. Despite the Volcano and Ancient Ruins were cut, she appreciated that Michio had the spotlight. The crowd was still displeased by the lack of the other areas, though Michio's fans saw nothing wrong with letting him be in the spotlight. Yōko stated that they can't allow that; as this was a Battle Royal, Michio is not the only one who is fighting. Shūzō, Ayu, Tatsuya, and Futoshi was initially pleased, until Yōko began gushing over Dennis, shocking the local crowd. The kids, wanting to know what was happening with Yūya and Yuzu, decided to go and see for themselves, running off with Shūzō in pursuit. Yōko, meanwhile, mused on Halil's ethnic appeal. Before the Duel between Tatsuya and Reira, Shūzō stated that he would Tatsuya to win, but he also would to know what's going on with Yuzu and Yūya. Yōko mused that she heard Mieru mentioning Yūya's name when she was talking to Michio. She wondered if this could mean…and Shūzō asked her what she means. Yōko asked if this means that Michio had made dinner for the others, and she called it nice and unfair, prompting the local crowd to react in shock.

Synchro Dimension Arc
After Yūya returned to the stadium with Yuzu, Yōko learned about the invasion of the Obelisk Force from the Fusion Dimension. Afterwards, Yūya returned Yuzu's clothes to Shūzō and told him what happened to Yuzu. Yōko noticed Yūya's wavering behaviour, especially after Yūya declared he will become stronger and defeat his enemies, which Yōko pointed out by asking does that including Sora. Yōko forcefully challenged Yūya to a duel, and she revealed she was once the leader of a woman's Dueling gang "Shooting Star Yōko". When a rival gang took one of her friends hostage, it was Yūshō who showed her the importance of fun duelling. Yōko told her son to never forget his smile no matter what happens, as it's important for him if he wants to make others the same. She encouraged him to make not only Sora, but also everyone to smile just like his father did to her. Following his mother's advice, Yūya regains his entertainment spirit and won against Yōko by using the Smile World from her graveyard. She then gave him the "Smile World" magic card that bonds her and Yūshō, believing that Yūya would be okay from now on.