What better way to start examining characters than to begin with our main character herself. Now the thing about Saya is, in both the anime and manga, she’s three different characters throughout the story: the Saya with amnesia, the Saya in the 1800’s, and the Saya that remembers her past. So for simplicity sake, let’s break this down into sections.
Amnesia
In both versions of the story, Saya starts out as an athletic teenagers who overeats, has anemia and amnesia. On paper they sound the same but in each version the characters acting very differently and these differences trickle down to affect her other versions too.
M-Saya has a slightly more carefree personality that A-Saya. Despite not remembering anything beyond the most recent year, M-Saya didn’t really let that get her down, but don’t mistake M-Saya’s carefree nature with carelessness. When M-Saya does worry about her past, she masks it behind her happiness. When the Chiropterian threat reaches Okinawa, it doesn’t take long for her agree to go with the RedShield, even though it is clear that she doesn’t really have a choice.
A-Saya, on the other hand, is much more cautious and anxious. She worries about her missing memories, she was reluctant to fight the Chiropterans for much longer that M-Saya, and she was constantly trying to keep her distance from others out of worry for their safety.
1800’s
At the Zoo, both versions of Saya was very much a modern Disney Princess (which is fitting because her antagonist is a Grimms’ fairy tale princess). Saya was young, energetic and bored inside her cage. Regardless of how bored Saya may be, neither version of her tries to brake the rules and venture outside the Zoo. Considering both Sayas were perfectly happy to break other rules, the fact that they never try to leave is interesting. (I just got a great fan-fiction idea for Saya and Haji to runaway from the Zoo together, and Joel trying to hunt them down while- you know what, let’s move on.) Instead, each Saya is more comfortable with acting out while remaining in the confines of the Zoo.
If I had to describe this version of A-Saya with one word, it would be “stuck-up”. She acts like she’s better that everyone, possibly because she was only ever surrounded by servants. Even Hagi, who was brought in to be her companion, was treated at first as another servant. Her being so isolated in the Zoo probably contributed to why Saya had such a reserved nature in the anime. She would regularly keep her distance from others throughout the anime. Even her discovery of Diva was guarded (keeping her distance as they barely spoke to each other before Saya freed her).
If I had use one word to describe M-Saya, it would be “brat”. This Saya had a much different type of isolation. Before Hagi arrives at the Zoo, she’s convinces that Diva is the only friend she’ll ever have. People that entering the Zoo regularly saw her as a monster, (there is implication that in the manga that others brought in as her companions before Hagi). To combat this rejection, M-Saya acted out and made it harder for people to get to know her. The people who actually want to be around her (Joel, Diva and Hagi) are very precious to her. This can also be seen in the manga with how Saya keeps her friends and family close until it becomes clear that their safety is at risk.
Remembering
The way each series handles Saya when she gets her memories back is very different. Her memories have a very different weight on how the story progress after that point. The amount of time it takes for the memories to effect Saya’s character is different in each series. In the manga you can see the change instantly, where as, in the anime doesn’t really change Saya’s behavior until after the time skip (and that can be mistaken for normal character development).
Although her memories return in the anime, Saya remains the same person. She is a little more mature and a little more closed off, but she wasn’t much different from that before. There is an new air of confidence around Saya. She is more willing to make independent choices about what needs to be done, but she was starting to do this before her memories fully returned. It’s her memories where treated more like information she’s learned rather than 150-years of experiences she’s obtained. Kind of like how watching a movie is different from being a character in it. The one new thing that does change about A-Saya is her desire to kill all chiropterian, including herself and Hagi.
M-Saya’s change is much more apparent. She is more mature after regain her memories, though her carefree nature is still there too. It feels kind of like when a sibling goes away for college and comes back an adult. They’re the same person (M-Saya can enjoy spending time with her brothers), but sometimes they display behavior that show how they’ve matured (M-Saya and Hagi’s interactions). Another point worth noting is that M-Saya’s motivation to kill Diva comes entirely from the memories of her betrayal. Before this it was the understanding that chiropterians were a threat and Diva just happened to be the head of that threat, but now, it’s personal.
And that’s Saya for you. I kind of skimmed over somethings about her relationships, but I’ll get to that in the other sections. Next time, I’ll talk about all the Chevalier. There’s a lot to say about the differences of those guys.
I Think Thinks 