Character Relationship Map: Sadako

Characters

• Mayu Akikawa (played by Elaiza Ikeda) — protagonist

  Clinical psychologist and protagonist. Investigates her missing brother and a mysterious telekinetic girl linked to Sadako's curse. Travels to Oshima Island, learns the truth about the cave shrine, an...

• Yusuke Ishida (played by Takashi Tsukamoto) — protagonist

  Web marketing consultant assisting Mayu's brother with YouTube. Provides key intel on the restricted Oshima cave shrine and the cursed videotape urban legend. Accompanies Mayu into the cave and helps...

• Hatsuko Sofue (played by Rie Tomosaka) — supporting

  Clairvoyant mother who imprisoned her daughter in a closet, believing her to be Sadako's reincarnation. Dies in the resulting apartment fire, which inadvertently reignites the curse.

• Shizuko Yamamura / Sadako Yamamura (played by Ayaka Minami) — minor

  Reincarnated cursed spirit and central supernatural entity haunting the Yamamura family and beyond.

• Old Woman (played by Jitsuko Yoshimura) — supporting

  Cave shrine dweller on Oshima Island. Reveals to the protagonists that abandoned babies left in the shrine become fodder for Sadako's soul consumption.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Hatsuko Sofue → Mayu Akikawa (Narrative Case Connection) — Hatsuko's death and actions form the initial case that draws Mayu into the curse.

  Detectives tell Mayu that Hatsuko died in the apartment fire, while Mayu investigates the imprisoned girl and the fire's connection to her brother's d...

• Old Woman → Shizuko Yamamura / Sadako Yamamura (Narrative Witness) — The Old Woman functions as a witness to the supernatural history surrounding Sadako.

  The Old Woman describes Sadako's connection to abandoned babies and the cave shrine where their souls became her food.

• Old Woman → Yusuke Ishida (Alliance Source Of Information) — Her testimony supports the investigation conducted by both protagonists.

  The old woman reveals the shrine's history while Mayu and Ishida are investigating the cave on Oshima Island.

• Old Woman → Mayu Akikawa (Alliance Source Of Information) — The Old Woman provides Mayu with crucial historical information about the cave shrine.

  The old woman in the cave explains that abandoned babies were left in the shrine and that Sadako fed on their souls.

• Hatsuko Sofue → Shizuko Yamamura / Sadako Yamamura (Unknown Reincarnation Believer) — Hatsuko's belief in Sadako's reincarnation helps reignite the curse.

  Hatsuko believes her daughter is Sadako Yamamura's reincarnation and confines the girl in a closet because of that belief.

• Mayu Akikawa → Shizuko Yamamura / Sadako Yamamura (Narrative Haunted Protagonist) — Mayu is the central investigator and final victim of Sadako's supernatural threat.

  Mayu investigates the girl's connection to Sadako, experiences visions of Sadako, and is ultimately killed by Sadako in her hospital room.

• Mayu Akikawa → Yusuke Ishida (Alliance Investigation Partner) — Ishida becomes Mayu's practical and investigative partner in uncovering the origin of Sadako's curse.

  Ishida tells Mayu about the restricted cave shrine on Oshima Island and later accompanies her into the cave to investigate the curse.

Story Analysis

A psychologist follows a supernatural trail from an imprisoned girl to Sadako's cave shrine, but the curse survives every attempt to escape it.

Plot Progression

1. The Closet Reopens the Curse — Hatsuko confines the girl because she believes the child is Sadako reincarnated. Sadako appears during the apartment fire, and the surviving girl is taken to the hospital.
2. The Hospital's Unquiet Witnesses — Mayu observes the girl's telekinesis and investigates the apartment fire. Videos, visions, and Sadako's emergence from a television establish that the curse is active again.
3. A Curse Beneath the Water — Mayu hears an account of Sadako's origin and witnesses another death connected to the curse. Images from an online video point toward a cave shrine on Oshima Island.
4. The Shrine of Abandoned Souls — Mayu and Ishida travel to Oshima Island and meet the Old Woman at the cave shrine. The shrine's history connects abandoned children, Sadako, and the girl's imprisonment.
5. Sacrifice in the Cave — Mayu enters the cave and confronts visions of Sadako and the drowned spirits. Ishida finds her, while her missing brother sacrifices himself so Mayu can survive.