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Miyoko Sahara (佐原 みよこ, Sahara Miyoko?) is a supporting character in the Koe no Katachi series.

For a majority of the series, she is a fashion design student of Taiyō Girls Academy who is friends with several members of the main cast, including Shōko Nishimiya, Naoka Ueno and Shōya Ishida.

Biography[]

After Shōko Nishimiya transfers into her sixth grade class, Miyoko is the first person open to learning sign language in order to more easily communicate with her. Being Shōko’s only friend during that time, Miyoko becomes a target of ridicule for Naoka Ueno, causing Miyoko to transfer out of the school and out of Shōko’s life. Five years later, Miyoko is reunited with Shōko and Shōya Ishida, who quickly become two of her closest friends.

Now a senior in high school, Miyoko is a student with an immense talent for creating fashion and costume designs. Miyoko’s tall and slender physique makes her an ideal model for the other students, runway modeling and contests becoming some of her hobbies.

After winning a fashion design contest with Naoka and being accepted into the college sponsoring the event, Miyoko moves to Tokyo after graduation and lives there for the next two years. After returning to Suimon for the coming-of-age ceremony, it is revealed that Miyoko plans on starting a fashion brand with Naoka. She is last seen heading to the Suimon Elementary reunion with the others.

Personality[]

Miyoko is a kind and friendly person, often carrying a calm demeanor that allows her to get along with most people around her. She also appears to be very supportive and empathetic towards people she considers close friends.

Although courteous, her passive nature results in very timid and non-confrontational behavior when it comes to conflict, something Shōya Ishida criticizes her for during his rant on the bridge. Aware of her shortcomings, Miyoko continually tries to work past her avoidant behavior throughout the series, showing considerable progress towards the end of the series, although she still has room to grow.

Physical appearance[]

Standing at 5'11"[1] (180 cm), Sahara is a tall girl with black hair cut into a boycut, gentle eyes and it is assumed she has freckles in the manga.

For school, she wears a sailor uniform, and when going out her clothing is often dark or black. She is often seen wearing high heels.

List of appearances[]

Volume 01[]

Volume 03[]

Volume 04[]

Volume 05[]

Volume 06[]

Volume 07[]

Relationship[]

Friends[]

Shōko Nishimiya: Miyoko is the only friend that Shōko makes during her time at Suimon Elementary. However, Miyoko transfers schools shortly after their friendship begins. Miyoko wishes she could’ve been closer friends with Shōko and continues studying sign language in hopes that they can reconnect someday.

After reuniting with Shōko five years later, she and Miyoko quickly reconnect, frequently hanging out together and doing multiple activities including going to a karaoke bar and swimming at a waterpark. Unlike Shōya, Miyoko is easily able to make conversation with Shōko and ask her personal questions about her life.

For most of the series, Miyoko remains Shōko’s closest friend aside from Shōya, both coincidentally moving to Tokyo after graduating, although for their own reasons.

Naoka Ueno: Naoka is one of Miyoko’s closest friends, although their relationship can appear a bit odd due to their contrasting personalities. In elementary school, Miyoko stopped coming to Takeuchi's class after Naoka began mocking her for becoming friendly with Shōko.

The two meet again in high school after they are put in the same class, although they avoid each other at first. They become friends after Miyoko defends Naoka’s work from the criticism of other students, despite Naoka having previously made unpleasant remarks about one of Miyoko’s designs.

Naoka still acts abrasively towards Miyoko at times, but she knows not to take Naoka seriously most of the time, showing that the two have established a level of mutual respect. As Miyoko tries to grow past her avoidance of conflict, she confronts Naoka after seeing her attack Shōko, calling Naoka out for ignoring other people’s feelings. However, the two reconcile shortly after and remain close friends for the remainder of the series.

Miyoko and Naoka work really well together when collaborating on designs, culminating in them winning first place in a fashion contest with the costume design they made for Tomohiro’s film. Their victory helps them get accepted into the college sponsoring the content, and the two move to Tokyo around the time of Chapter 61. After reuniting with everyone two years later, it’s revealed that they are starting their own brand together, although it’s unknown if they decide to remain in Tokyo.

Shōya Ishida: Although Miyoko and Shōya aren’t shown interacting in elementary school, she immediately recognizes him when they encounter each other for the first time in five years. Miyoko is originally unaware of Shōya’s past with Shōko due to her transferring schools before the bullying occurred. When Shōya tells her at the end of Chapter 17, Miyoko initially seems upset by the information. However, she texts him later that night to thank him for helping them reconnect, along with sending an image of her and Shōko.

The two become good friends following that night, hanging out several times during the series once Miyoko begins joining the others to feed the fish on Tuesdays. Like a few other characters in the series, it’s implied that Miyoko believes Shōya might have feelings for Shōko, even teasing him about his concern over Shōko’s absence from the bridge in Chapter 29.

During his rant on the bridge, Shōya criticizes Miyoko for being “quick to run”, his words seemingly hurting her in a similar way that Naoka’s did back during elementary school. Her internal monologue in Chapter 47 implies that to Miyoko, Shōya represents the change that she desperately wants to achieve herself but fails to reach despite how much she tries. She expresses this feeling to Shōya when they apologize to each other in Chapter 57, but is comforted after Shōya says he believes that her effort to change was more important than how successful she was.

Yuzuru Nishimiya: Miyoko meets Yuzuru for the first time in Chapter 18 after Yuzuru notices her on the bridge and asks who she is. Miyoko immediately greets her and introduces herself, causing Yuzuru to become bashful, especially after Miyoko shows a sincere interest in getting to know her. Although the two aren’t shown having many more meaningful interactions, it’s made visibly clear through later chapters that they become comfortable around each other (such as conversing among themselves when Shōya gives Shōko a swarm of compliments or going to a water park together with Shōko.)

Miki Kawai: Miyoko and Miki were classmates and knew each other back in elementary school, becoming friends years later when Miki joins Shōya's friend group. How close they are is unclear, but they seem to get along pretty well.

Etymology[]

  • The name Miyoko is written in hiragana (みよこ), which has no special meaning. However, when written in kanji (美代子, 美世子, 実代子, 未代子, 三代子 or 美誉子), it could possibly mean:
    • 美代子 - "beautiful" (美) (mi), "generation" (代) (yo) and "child" (子) (ko).
    • 美世子 - "beautiful" (美) (mi), "world" (世) (yo) and "child" (子) (ko).
    • 実代子 - "fruit, good result, truth" (実) (mi), "generation" (代) (yo) and "child" (子) (ko).
    • 未代子 - "never before" (未代) (miyo) and "child" (子) (ko).
      • Part of the name Miyo (未代) can also mean "un-, not yet, hitherto, still, even now, sign of the ram, 1-3PM, eighth sign of Chinese zodiac" (未) (mi) and "generation" (代) (yo) separately.
    • 三代子 - "three generations" (三代) (miyo) and "child" (子) (ko).
    • 美誉子 - "beautiful" (美) (mi), "reputation, praise, honor, glory" (誉) (yo) and "child" (子) (ko).
  • Miyoko's surname Sahara means "help, aid" (佐) (sa) and "field, plain" (原) (hara).

References[]

  1. Yoshitoki Ōima. Koe no Katachi. Volume 7. Final Chapter, "A Silent Voice", page 181.
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