Yukariko Sanada

Yukariko Sanada (真田紫子) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series My-HiME, and also appears in the alternate universe sequel My-Otome and its manga series, where she is known as Yukariko Steinberg (ユカリコ・シュタインベルグ). She is voiced by Kikuko Inoue in Japanese and by Allyson June Smith in My-HiME and by Barbara Kozicki in My-Otome in the English versions.

My-HiME
Yukariko is the resident nun of the Fuka Academy Church, and along with Father Joseph Greer she gives counsel to students seeking advice. She was raised in a convent and has had little contact with men for most of her life. In the second episode she reassures members of the Fuka kendo team that the "Demon cat" they saw running around the school is merely a result of their youthful passions (it was actually a rampaging Mikoto Minagi). She runs into difficulty when Nao Yuuki is caught wandering the school and offers to give a confession to Yukariko, who runs out of the room in shock from what she has heard.

After a Vampire-like Orphan begins attacking female students Yukariko is saddened by the episode, and feels guilt for letting Kiyone, one of the attacked girls, leave the church after choir practice un-escorted. Later while she is out patrolling Yukariko stumbles upon Aoi Senou and the Orphan, and has her latent HiME powers awaken allowing her to fend off the Orphan with her element, a bow and arrow, and see the first glimpses of her Child. Aoi was hit by the Orphan's spines, which look like arrows, making onlookers believe the culprit was Yukariko.

Yukariko is later interrogated by Haruka Suzushiro, though she is saved by Shizuru Fujino, who is much later revealed to also be a HiME. Falling into a depression, Yukariko is comforted by the art teacher Ishigami, who despite her protests expresses a romantic and sexual attraction to her. At one point he is seen painting a portrait of Yukariko while she is wrapped in a blanket, and later claims to have "defiled" her.

Under Ishigami's influence Yukariko convinces the other HiMEs that she was attacked by Nao, an accusation that sends the other girl into a blind rage and sets off a cataclysmic series of events known as the HiME Carnival. Later, while Akira and Takumi is being chased by Nao, they are trapped in a looping illusion created by Vlas. She later lures Mai Tokiha into an illusion before going against Ishigami's wishes after his pushing of her starts a fire, and the building collapses on them as they are both enveloped by Vlas's wings and killed.

She is later resurrected with the other HiME and participates in the final battle. In the last episode she is pregnant and instructing Nao and Miyu Greer, who have both become nuns themselves.

My-HiME manga
In the manga, Yukariko's role is reduced, and she is a not a HiME but an artificially created PRINCESS with a similar Child to her anime incarnation, though as a PRINCESS she is without an element of any kind. Her child, St. Vlas, is remarkably similar to a knight chess piece in appearance, and can envelop enemies inside it. Once inside, they are seemingly put into another dimension which St. Vlas can manipulate to the fullest extent, trapping opponents in illusions which are difficult to break from. It was destroyed from the inside by Haruka Suzushiro's child Koumokuten. She is the teacher in charge of the students sent from the Searrs Female Institute. Although she is not visibly associated with the church she is still in her nun's habit. In the final volume of the manga, she is seen to have taken over the chapel on the Fuka Academy grounds.

Child and Element
Yukariko's Child, named St. Vlas (St. Vrus), resembles a Knight chesspiece that can shapechange into a winged unicorn. It is able to create illusions to fool enemies before crushing them with its large wings in the style of an iron maiden. It has also been used as a looping illusion to trap her targets. The bow and arrow combination of her Element can be used to fire powered projectiles into an enemy. Her HiME mark is located on the left side of her neck below her ear; this differs from the medical astrology pattern of the HiME birthmarks matching the body parts of their corresponding astrological signs as the body part for Capricorn are the knees.

My-Otome
In My-Otome Yukariko is given the surname of Steinberg, and she is the homeroom teacher of Arika Yumemiya and Nina Wáng at Garderobe. As an Otome she is known as the Dazzling Mirage Lapis Lazuli (幻惑の瑠璃 Genwaku no Ruri) and has a robe similar to her Child from My-HiME and the same Element of a bow and arrow. Her personality is more laid back and less conflicted than in the previous series, and she has no affiliation with Ishigami, who appears in another incarnation not connected to Garderobe. Originally from Florence, Yukariko returned to Garderobe after she was forced to cancel several of her Otome contracts, due to her Masters falling in love with her. She still has got her nun habit of referring to God and offers gentle advices to her students whenever possible.

In the first episode of My-Otome Zwei during the invasion of Garderobe by an unknown entity Yukariko is seen carrying a broom while wearing a hachimaki, presumably to stop the invader, but is stopped by Irina and Gal.

My-Otome manga
In the manga, two versions of Yukariko appear. The first Yukariko's role is very similar to her anime incarnation as a teacher and Otome at Garderobe. Her personality is the most confident of her incarnations, and she actually takes a bullet for Natsuki during the invasion of Garderobe.

The second is the HiME Yukariko revived from the dead, and like all the resurrected HiMEs she has an altered personality. This Yukariko appears briefly in a dominatrix-like outfit that is extremely revealing. She also appears to have an appetite for men, as indicated by her actions during the invasion when she seeks them out in the crowd of fleeing civilians.