Sachi Nanjou

Sachi Nanjou is a confident, responsible woman pursuing a career as a manga artist. Punpun is her muse, and she becomes his second love.

Appearance
Sachi takes great care of her physical appearance. In childhood, Sachi has a round nose and chin, but she has multiple cosmetic surgeries on her face during college, making her mostly unrecognizable when she is reintroduced in later volumes. After her surgeries, she has a much slimmer face and nose and wider eyes. She is currently considering breast implants. Her eyes are lightly colored, possibly from her foreign mother, and she wears fake lashes and square glasses. Her eyebrows are sparse. She has a beauty mark above her lip. During college, her hair is bleached, but she dyes it black sometime later. She wears her hair in a layered bob during high school, but leaves it long and straight for many years afterwards, until she cuts it into a bob again while pregnant. Sachi is a tall, slim girl, towering above Misuzu and Aiko. During adolescence, she became bulimic and lost a lot of weight. Punpun notes that her hands are surprisingly large and rough and remind him of Mama Punpun. However, she keeps her nails long and manicured. Her wardrobe consists of many maxi skirts, harem pants, and slim tees.

Personality
My face, body, lifestyle. I chose every aspect of myself with my own will. I don't want to be ordered around by anyone anymore, and I have no need for a past. I've got dreams to fulfill, money to earn, love to find, and success to achieve. They may be foolishly simplistic desires for some, but to me, working towards them bit by bit is how I build my confidence. -Sachi (chapter 84) Sachi is a bold woman with a foul mouth. She has always enjoyed art and drawing and used to win many awards in middle school, though she seemed to plateau in high school. According to Miyuki, Sachi has carried this sense of failure with her and has a need to prove herself. She used to hang out at the abandoned miso factory in middle school, and the nice view of the stars it offered inspired her milky way painting that connected her and Punpun. Later, she says she was never actually able to see the milky way and that when she was younger, she tried too hard to appear mysterious and alternative. Her first attempts at a professional manga are also deemed "pretentious". She was bullemic as an adolescent and worked many jobs during college to pay for multiple cosmetic surgeries on her face. She says every part of her looks and lifestyle is something she consciously chose for herself. This is what freedom means to her. She is a workaholic and dedicates herself completely to whatever project at hand, and her need for control can overflow into relationships. She divorced her husband when he wanted her to depend on him more, and she enjoys that Punpun clings to her guidance. However, after an argument with Miyuki about charity, she relents that nobody can get by without help from others. Strong and stubborn, she often claims that nothing can change her, but this notion is tested by the same argument as well as other events in the story.

Plot
Sachi first appears in the manga when Punpun and his elementary school friends go exploring in the abandoned miso factory on Tanabata day. Sachi, a middle school girl who enjoys sketching at the quiet factory, tells the kids they can play there but to take good care of the place. In Punpun's first year of high school, he goes with Azusa Kanie to a college art show where he meets Sachi again, who is unrecognizable from her cosmetic surgeries. The theme of the exhibit was childhood memories, so her painting is of the milky way that had inspired her and Punpun at the miso factory so many Tanabatas ago. Flattered to see Punpun stare so intently at her splattering of paint, she asks him to write his thoughts in her art notebook since her and Miyuki Kanie are competing to get the best commentary. Punpun writes a short story based on Aiko about a boy doomed to drift through the galaxies searching for his lost soul mate. When Punpun moves out his own at 18, Manager takes him out to a bar one night, when a rainsoaked Sachi walks in and recognizes him. After a brash reintroduction and digging up Punpun's sore feelings about his failed date with Kanie, Punpun makes to leave, but Sachi quickly tells him that she loved the story he wrote in her notebook years ago and is interested in collaborating with him on writing a children's book. Punpun, who has been downtrodden for weeks, immediately perks up and decides to have a drink. Not at all used to drinking, he quickly gets drunk, and Sachi ends up letting him sleep at her place since he is too intoxicated to get home by himself. Punpun wakes up before Sachi, who is sleeping in a compromised position on her living room floor that gives Punpun full view of her panties and pubes. Feeling awkward and overexcited, he leaves. The next time they meet, Sachi tries to persuade Punpun to work on the book with her, and tells him to stop being so tightlipped and just open up. He ends up telling her that the view of her panties caused him to masturbate for the first time in three years, and Sachi laughs. After she harshly disillusions Punpun's quest to reunite with Aiko, he agrees to collaborate on a book. After Miyuki tells him that Sachi's true passion is manga but she lost her confidence in that field, Punpun sets out to help her write a manga instead. Through working on the manga together, Sachi and Punpun grow very close. On the night of the fireworks festival, they make love for the first time, but Punpun becomes paralyzed by thoughts of Aiko. The two decide not to pursue a romantic relationship but remain close friends. They finally present their year-and-a-half manga project to a publisher but are rejected, and Punpun falls into a depression. When Sachi tries to get him back on his feet, he says he does not want to be her pet, starting a feud between them. When Manager is injured in a scandal, Sachi takes out her frustration on Punpun, deepening the wedge between them. Around the time he reunites with Aiko, Sachi informs him that she is pregnant from a fling with her ex-husband and asks him to accompany her when she gets an abortion. On the day of her abortion appointment, she calls Punpun to tell him he doesn't have to come if he doesn't want to. It's this moment that Aiko shows up at Punpun's door, which starts the series of events that leads to Punpun and Aiko murdering Mitsuko Tanaka. Sachi ends up not going to her appointment, and when she checks on Punpun's apartment, she finds bloody sheets. Punpun is missing for days, and Sachi tries desperately to find him, and her unfruitful search causes her to realize she knows very little about Punpun. She speaks with old acquaintances who recall him as being reserved but generally a nice boy. She speaks with Midori, Yuuichi, and Papa Punpun for a lead on his whereabouts and through them learns more about his childhood. On Tanabata, she and Mikyuki try the abandoned miso factory and find Punpun there with his eye stabbed out. Punpun wakes in a hospital room, Sachi beside him. She says she won't press him for where he's been and goes to get them lunch. Through the waiting area, two policemen enter and ask to speak with her about Punpun, who is a suspect in a murder case. Sachi begins to weep. In the epilogue, her toddler daughter approaches Punpun while he's talking to Harumi. Sachi scolds her for running off, and when Harumi asks if they're married, Punpun says no. The last Harumi sees of Punpun, he is in his niche beside Sachi, Miyuki, Mimura, Gesumi, and Manager.

Step-Family
Sachi is the only child of her mother's previous marriage, thus was somewhat of a black sheep amongst her step siblings. Her step-family was cruel and often called her ugly and stupid, which led her to become bulimic and study until her head hurt. Sachi's step-father was also physically abusive. In her first appearance at the miso factory, Sachi is bleeding badly from her hairline due to a blow from her father. Years later while exploring an apartment with Manager, she slips on the bathroom tile and reopens the same scar on her head.

Mother
As a child, Sachi's only talent was her art, and she strove to win many awards since that was the only way to make her mother proud. Her mother was frugal, but often splurged on manga to nurture Sachi's talents but also to improve her own Japanese skills, being a foreigner of unspecified origin. She held a job at the old miso factory, which is how Sachi befriended Seki as a child. Sachi and her mother are no longer in touch, Sachi admitting that she does not even know whether her mother is still in Japan or returned to her home country.

Saotome
Saotome is Sachi's ex-husband. Saotome is a workaholic, much like Sachi, and lands a high-paying job in the TV business during college. Sachi was too independent for his likes, and since she always did the opposite of what he told her, he urged her to be more independent and get a job. He led her to a cushy job in the TV industry, but his plan backfired, and she quickly divorced him and dropped out of school. The two are on somewhat friendly terms, and when Wada begins stalking Sachi home from work, she has Saotome walk her home. A year later, after a rift forms between her and Punpun, she becomes lonely and sleeps with Saotome, who has a girlfriend at the time. She becomes pregnant and cuts Saotome out of her life completely. When Punpun speaks with Saotome for the first and last time, he tells Punpun that Sachi is an egoist not fit for a committed relationship.

Daughter
In the middle of Sachi's undefined relationship with Punpun, she has sex with Saotome (who has a girlfriend). She falls pregnant but has no intentions of telling Saotome nor ever seeing him again. She asks Punpun to come to the abortion clinic with her, but Miyuki chastises her for using the situation to test Punpun's dedication to her. Punpun never shows up to their designated meeting place, and Sachi chickens out of the abortion. Her editor worries that she will be unable to handle the stress of a two-volume manga project, but Sachi accepts the project anyways, with Miyuki's help and later an assistant. Sachi's daughter grows close to Punpun and comes to think of him as her father, but Punpun admits that he would prefer she have a better, proper father in her life.

Punpun Onodera
Miyuki lets slip that Sachi has been somewhat infatuated with Punpun the writer ever since he wrote his story in her art notebook. She had been nurturing high hopes for their reunion and an artistic collaboration. Their relationship is sexually charged from the start, when Punpun glimpses Sachi's pubic hair and is led to masturbate for the first time since the night he nearly raped Azusa Kanie. Sachi shows romantic interest early in their friendship, and the two grow very close through working on their manga together. Sachi opens up a lot to Punpun, telling him about her dysfunctional family, cosmetic surgeries and eating disorder, and divorce. In turn, Mimura notes that Sachi is the person Punpun has opened up the most to, despite Mimura knowing him years longer. After Punpun finally asks her on a date to a fireworks show, they have sex, but Punpun is soon paralyzed by thoughts of Aiko. Sachi tells him that she's okay staying friends if that's what he needs, and their relationship grows more complicated thereafter. Sachi admits that Punpun's hopeless and self-pitying behavior reminds her of her old self, so she feels obligated to help him, as annoying as it is to see him refuse the solutions that worked for her. Miyuki and Punpun himself note that Sachi treats Punpun like a pet, since she enjoys the security of having someone dependent on her. When she becomes pregnant by Saotome, she asks for Punpun's emotional support, but Miyuki realizes this is really just Sachi's way of testing Punpun. After Punpun goes missing with Aiko, Sachi tries to find him and subsequently realizes she knows very little of his current life or past. She visits his family members to learn more about him and further resolves that she will be the one to save Punpun. On Tanabata, she finds him at the miso factory that first connected them and brings him to a hospital. When Harumi meets Punpun in the epilogue, Punpun is affectionate with Sachi and her daughter, leading Harumi to believe the two are married but quickly learns that is not the case, implying that Punpun and Sachi still have a complicated and not explicitly defined relationship.

Mama Punpun
Punpun, Yuuichi, and Papa all remark that something about Sachi's personality is very similar to Mama's. Punpun also notes that her hands are surprisingly large and rough like Mama's. Although Punpun never loved his mother, he grows very attached to Sachi. Yuuichi tells Sachi that he and Punpun are similar in craving a happy family, and implies that Punpun fulfills part of this need through his relationship with Sachi.

Miyuki Kanie
Miyuki is Sachi's best friend, and they have known each other since elementary school. They have a hostile friendship and spend most of their time throwing taunts and giving noogies. Sachi often makes remarks about Miyuki's weight, and Miyuki retorts that Sachi looks plastic. They also have opposing philosophical views, notable on subjects like charity. They argue often, sometimes escalating into yelling. Miyuki is also unafraid to be frank with Sachi when she needs it, often analyzing the toxic aspects of her relationship with Punpun. They both studied art in college, and Miyuki is there to help Sachi meet her manga deadlines and is the one who originally pleads Punpun to help Sachi regain confidence in her art.

Masumi Seki
Sachi's mother used to work at the miso factory that Sekis' dad bought supplies from. Sachi would sometimes chat with Seki at the factory and show him her sketchbook. He was impressed with her amateur manga, and she promised he could read it once she finished but never got the chance because when the factory went under, their acquaintanceship ended. Whichever way, Sachi did not finish that manga. After getting beat up by two gangsters, Seki drifts into memories of the Tanabata day he and his friends went exploring in the long-abandoned factory and ran into Sachi, who he believed did not recognize him. He decides he wants to leave his entire past and memories behind and move far away. Sachi later reiterates the same memory to Miyuki and Gesumi, although she believes Seki was the one who didn't recognize her. Gesumi says it would be wonderful if it turned out Seki was somewhere out there reading Sachi's recently-published debut, especially since it's Tanabata day, but Sachi says it's a moot point since she's leaving her own past behind. While waiting outside the hospital for Shimizu, Seki is shown reading the magazine Sachi's manga is published in.

Manager
Despite a large age difference, Sachi befriends Manager since they both frequent the same bar. She meets Punpun again through Manager, and Manager is the first to notice the two harbor romantic feelings for each other and is a big supporter of their relationship. Sachi is incredibly distraught when Manager is seriously injured after being tackled at the mall and declares that even if Manager holds no ill will, she will never forgive the people who hurt them.

Gesumi Hebitsuka
When Gesumi first introduces herself to the group as Mimura's girlfriend, Sachi jokingly calls her a liar, thinking Gesumi is much too pretty for Mimura. Gesumi easily integrates herself into the friend group and grows especially close with the girls, Sachi and Miyuki. She helps Sachi clean out her apartment and throw away old artwork to make room for her new manga assistant. In the middle of a quarrel with Mimura, Gesumi gets drunk and gushes about how much she admires Sachi for being dependable and so unlike Mimura, and Miyuki teases that Gesumi must have a lesbian crush on Sachi.

Trivia

 * The '幸' kanji in Sachi's name means fortune.


 * Her manga, which appears in Chapter 127, is actually Solanin — Asano Inio's previous manga, which also features the earliest drawing of Punpun.