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is a character in the 2017
visual novel A visual novel (VN) is a form of digital interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with static or animated illustratio ...
''
Doki Doki Literature Club! ''Doki Doki Literature Club!'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''DDLC'') is a 2017 visual novel video game developed by Team Salvato for Personal computer, personal computers. The story follows a student who reluctantly joins his high school's literat ...
.'' She is the best friend and neighbor of the protagonist, pushing him into joining the literature club, of which she is a member. Over the course of the game, Sayori's cheerful personality is shown to be forced, with symptoms of depression becoming more evident. This culminates in Sayori committing
suicide by hanging Suicide by hanging is the intentional killing of oneself (suicide) via suspension from an anchor-point such as an overhead beam or hook, by a rope or cord or by jumping from a height with a noose around the neck. Hanging is often considered to ...
and being deleted from the game by the game's antagonist, Monika. She is ultimately restored by the end of the game, though her fate depends on the player's actions. Of the cast, Sayori was the character who had the most real-world influence, with creator Dan Salvato noting that her depression was inspired by those in his life. He found that, as he wrote the cast, he found himself recognizing their "reality", wanting to explore that. Critical reception of Sayori was positive, with the way her depression was depicted being praised for its accuracy. Some critics saw themselves in Sayori, with commentary about how Sayori's depression was not something that could be fixed by the player.


Concept and creation

Sayori is one of the characters created by Dan Salvato for his video game, ''
Doki Doki Literature Club! ''Doki Doki Literature Club!'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''DDLC'') is a 2017 visual novel video game developed by Team Salvato for Personal computer, personal computers. The story follows a student who reluctantly joins his high school's literat ...
''. She is the neighbor of the player's character, and is noted by her positive personality, clumsiness, and tendency to be late. As the player progresses through the game, they discover that Sayori suffers from depression, exhibiting symptoms like forced positivity, overeating, oversleeping, forgetfulness, difficulty getting out of bed, and suicidal thoughts. Salvato created stock characters based on anime archetypes that were given Japanese names to emphasize a pseudo-Japanese atmosphere. The name Sayori is a fusion of the Japanese names "Sayuri" and "Saori".Salvato, Dan (2017) ''Doki Doki Literature Club!'' Concept Art Booklet, p. 4 When writing the game, Salvato found that he was recognizing the "reality" of characters like Sayori. He wanted to connect more with the characters, and thus explored things like their "insecurities and realistic personality traits" on top of their "stock archetypes". She was the strongest case of real-world inspiration, with her being inspired directly by those around Salvato with depression. Due to Salvato's lack of artistic skills at the time, he created the designs of Sayori and other characters in a free anime-creation program, which were used in a test version of the game.Salvato, Dan (2017) ''Doki Doki Literature Club!'' Concept Art Booklet, p. 5 Salvato recognized that a product of such quality would not satisfy potential players. Her final design in-game was handled by freelance artist Satchely.Salvato, Dan (2017) ''Doki Doki Literature Club!'' Concept Art Booklet, p. 16


Appearances

Sayori is one of the four non-playable characters in ''
Doki Doki Literature Club! ''Doki Doki Literature Club!'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''DDLC'') is a 2017 visual novel video game developed by Team Salvato for Personal computer, personal computers. The story follows a student who reluctantly joins his high school's literat ...
'', alongside Yuri, Natsuki, and Monika, all of whom belong to the literature club. She is the best friend of the protagonist, and convinces him to join the club. She, along with other members, write poetry throughout the game, with Sayori's poetry progressively revealing darker feelings of depression. She eventually confides in the protagonist, telling him about her depression, and later confessing her love, which he can either accept or reject. Regardless of the response, she commits
suicide by hanging Suicide by hanging is the intentional killing of oneself (suicide) via suspension from an anchor-point such as an overhead beam or hook, by a rope or cord or by jumping from a height with a noose around the neck. Hanging is often considered to ...
the next day, causing the game to restart after the protagonist finds her corpse. When the game is reopened, Sayori's prior existence is not recalled by the other characters. Monika eventually deletes Yuri and Natsuki, revealing that she has an obsessive love for the player as opposed to the character they controlled. She also reveals that she went into the game's code to modify the parameters of the characters in order to make them less appealing, causing her depression trait to increase. Afterward, Monika's file is deleted by the player, which ultimately causes her to regret her behavior towards the player and the game's characters. She restores the game to its previous state, minus herself. There are two possible endings, both of which involving Sayori becoming self aware like Monika after becoming the club President in Monika's stead. In one, she behaves similarly to Monika, prompting Monika to delete Sayori and then the rest of the game, believing the game couldn't continue to exist. The other is achieved by seeing all content by the player reloading their save before Sayori's death, where Sayori thanks the player for making everyone happy. A third earlier ending may occur if the player deletes Monika before the beginning of the game, which causes Sayori to become self-aware in the first scene, panic, and ultimately close the game. If the player reopens the game, an image of Sayori hanging from a noose is displayed. Sayori also appears in the enhanced version of the game, '' Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!''. This version of the game features multiple "side stories" depicting the origin of the club, albeit in an alternate reality where Monika was never self-aware. In 2018, Sayori was added to ''
Yandere Simulator ''Yandere Simulator'' is an upcoming stealth action video game for Windows. The story follows obsessively lovesick schoolgirl Ayano Aishi, nicknamed " Yandere- chan", who takes it upon herself to eliminate (through either violent or non-viole ...
'' as a playable character skin for the protagonist (accessible via an
Easter egg Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian holiday of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are commonly used during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The ...
), taking the role of an obsessively lovesick schoolgirl nicknamed "
Yandere The following is a glossary of terms that are specific to anime and manga. Anime includes animated series, films and videos, while manga includes graphic novels, drawings and related artwork. ''Note: Japanese words that are used in general ( ...
- chan" who seeks to "eliminate" (kill) anyone she believes is attracting her " senpai's" attention. Sayori has received multiple pieces of merchandise. She received two figures, one in the Pop Up Parade line and the other in the
Nendoroid The series is a brand of plastic figures created by the Japanese Good Smile Company since 2006. They typically depict characters from anime, manga or video games and are designed with a large head and smaller body to give them a cute appearan ...
line, as well as a wrist watch themed after her. A Youtooz figure of Sayori was released in October 2022, along with figures for the other characters. A second figure was released in December 2023.


Reception

Sayori has been generally well received, particularly for how her mental illnesses are depicted. ''
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'' writer Gita Jackson grew attached to Sayori, seeing "a little of my confused, sad teenage self in her". They discussed one of her poems, Bottles, which they felt spoke of Sayori's desire to make others happy, only for her efforts to be rejected, leaving her with no happiness for herself. They contrasted Sayori's depression to other visual novels; where characters will have emotional problems that need to be solved by the player, Sayori's is not so easily solved. ''Fanbyte'' writer Kara Dennison discussed Sayori's depression, commenting that her aversion to being helped reflected her feeling that it's wasted on her rather than believing she's undeserving of love. She discussed how this is a real struggle that she herself suffered through, finding her story and characters valuable for both sufferers and those around them. She also felt that Sayori's story was an "intelligent take" on mental illness, where the rest of the game falls flat. Writer Sky LaRell Anderson, while feeling that the portrayal of her mental illnesses was accurate, begrudged that the game did not take advantage of the interactivity of its medium in depicting them. ''
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'' writer Ana Valens considered Sayori her favorite character in the game, interpreting her as a pansexual character. She cited a scene where Sayori called Natsuki cute and put her hands on her shoulders; while acknowledging that girls calling each other cute is normal for straight people, the physical interaction was less so. This, combined with a later scene, suggested to her that gender was not a relevant factor to attraction for Sayori. She also felt that this could be relevant to Sayori's depression, commenting that a society that expects women to date men can be difficult for non-straight women, feeling that Sayori mirrors herself in these aspects. Valens also felt that her struggles were the most memorable of the cast's, talking about how no matter what, Sayori will die, either to suicide or the game breaking. ''
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'' writer Shohei Fujita felt that the way the confession and suicide was handled was more ethical than how it could be, suggesting that being able to save Sayori by staying by her side would be objectifying.


References

{{Doki Doki Literature Club! Artificial intelligence characters in video games Female characters in video games Fictional female poets Fictional students Fictional suicides Video game characters introduced in 2017 Doki Doki Literature Club! characters