Hiyoko Saionji

Hiyoko Saionji (西園寺 日寄子 Saionji Hiyoko) is one of the characters featured in Super Dangan Ronpa 2: Farewell Despair Academy. She has the title of Super High School Level Traditional Dancer (超高校級の舞踊家 chō kōkō-kyū no buyō-ka).

Appearance
Saionji is a very petite girl with long, blonde hair that is generally seen tied into curved twin tails. At first sight, Hinata remarks that her voice and her appearance don't give off the air of an high schooler at all. In the game, she has gold eyes and keeps her hair up with two hairties, both of which consist of a green ribbon with a cat face in the middle. She is dressed in an orange, traditional furisode kimono with a white floral print pattern, and a green obi sash is tied around her waist and secured with a bow at the back. In some official artwork, she is instead dressed in a pink kimono with a red sash, her hair put up in one ponytail instead of two, and a hair tie or pin with pink flowers. She also wears zori (Japanese sandals). Her outfit reflects the fact she is Super High School Level Traditional Dancer.

Personality
By her cute appearance and her voice, accompanied with her initial way of talking gives her the impression of being innocent and child-like. However, in her introduction alone, it is quickly revealed that she is cruel with a malcious side in how she crushes ants while telling Hinata that they make a satisfying popping noise if crushed right, and even invites him to join her. Later at the beach, she goes around trying to step on and crush the crabs, laughing as if it were just child's play, showing an alarming fascination with violence. She also constantly judges others and patronises them with rude insults, with Tsumiki and Souda being the most common victims.

On the other hand, she loves Japan and its cuisune very much, and does show some innocent and child-like traits like her liking for gummy candy. She is also prone to tears when humiliated, such as in Chapter 2 when Owari says something smells and it turns out to be coming from Saionji.

Saionji becomes attached to Mahiru Koizumi after the latter helps Saionji take a shower and put her kimono back on correctly, even referring to Koizumi as 'big sis' afterwards. Though reluctant at first, Koizumi went along with it and became close to Saionji.

After the events of Chapter 2 and with Kuzuryuu's apology and subsequent re-opening of his wounds, Saionji attempts to change herself for the better, becoming somewhat less hostile and not insulting as much (except to Tsumiki, to whom she is just as mean to as ever).

History
[Warning: Several spoilers follow this section!]

Pre-Despair Incident
Saionji's Free-Time Events reveal that she lived with her grandmother and is heir to the Saionji Clan, which is also the head of the school of traditional Japanese dance. Being the heir, many people were jealous of her to the point of bullying her, such as poisoning her food or putting needles in her shoes when she was a young child, amongst other horrible things. In addition, her grandmother only cared about pride of the family, to the point where Saionji couldn't even see her own parents.

In Chapter 2's Class Trial, it is revealed that Saionji was in fact, Girl B in the Twilight Syndrome Game. implying that she was close friends with Tsumiki, Mioda, and Koizumi during her time at Hope's Peak.

Island Life of Mutual Killing
Saionji can first be found hanging around at the Farm. Hinata notes that she was poking at the ground repeatedly for some reason, which later turns out to be that she was crushing (popping) ants. Later, Tsumiki and Souda quickly turn into easy targets for Saionji's cruelty. Otherwise, she does not have much of a significant role in either Prologue or Chapter 1.

At the beginning of Chapter 2, after everybody gathered at the Restaurant, Owari suddenly speaks up and tells everyone that she smells something bad. Although everyone was confused at first, the smell turns out to be coming from Saionji, who becomes frustrated and begins crying. She admits that she hasn't been able to take a shower for the few days, due to the fact that she is unable to properly wear her kimono by herself and that it isn't her fault that she smells. While most of the others go off to investigate a new island, Koizumi offers to help Saionji, who immediately happily drags Koizumi off to take a shower with her. If Hinata has a certain item with him at this point, he will go to peek at them taking a shower together.

For the rest of the chapter, Saionji has a close bond with Koizumi, often hanging around her and referring to her as 'big sis'. Later, after Koizumi's murder in the Beach House, Saionji acts suspicious and runs away when Komaeda tries to question her about whether Koizumi tried to talk to her before her death. During the Class Trial, Saionji is initially heavily suspected as to being the culprit. She immediately denies all the accusations in tears, yelling that there would be no way that she would've killed her big sis. Thanks to Hinata and Nanami's efforts, it is determined that all the evidence that seemingly pointed to Saionji were actually traps set by the true culprit to frame her instead. She admits that she was actually the first witness to the body of Koizumi, and ran out the Beach House in panic. Thanks to a multitude of testimonies from Saionji, Souda, and Nanami, Hinata arrives to the conclusion that Pekoyama was the murderer. She is found guilty and executed, with Kuzuryuu heavily injured in the process.

Later, in the beginning of Chapter 3 after Kuzuryuu's injury, Saionji snuck into the Restaurant before anybody else in the morning and made a sinister-looking memorial to honor Koizumi, to which she had thought that everyone would be happy over. However, her expectations were ruined when everybody, not knowing Saionji had made it, commented that the memorial was creepy and unsettling to the point that even Tanaka thought it was evil. Not wanting everyone to know that she had made that 'creepy and unsettling' memorial, she goes with the flow and comments about how Koizumi wouldn't like it at all as well, until Nanami points out that the memorial was surely made with an honest intention. Saionji begins crying and admits she made the memorial because she thought Koizumi would be lonely, and apologises for how it looks since the only thing she can do is dance.

When Kuzuryuu comes back to the group, Saionji openly shows her distrust and dislike of him, as he is essentially the cause of Koizumi's death. Despite that, after Kuzuryuu apologises and bows down to the floor at the expense of re-opening his wounds, and later seeing him earnestly trying to change for the better, she forgives him and tries to change herself for the better as well.

After Monobear's announcement of Chapter 3's motive, the Despair Fever, is given, Saionji along with Souda, Tanaka, Sonia, and Nanami move to the Motel near the Hospital so they can keep in touch with those staying at the Hospital. Saionji, however, locks herself into her own Motel room and initially doesn't come outside because she doesn't want to contract the Despair Fever. Later, Sonia finds her door half-open and goes to check up on Saionji, who she finds with her clothes half-on and crying. She attempted to wash herself and put her clothes back on the way Koizumi had taught her properly how to do, and yet she wasn't able to, causing her frustration.

At Sonia's recommendation, Saionji went to the Livehouse and planned to use the full-body mirror there to fix her kimono. However, on the way she witnessed Tsumiki murdering Mioda, and was subsequently killed by a slit to the throat to keep her mouth shut.

Mahiru Koizumi
Saionji's friendship with Koizumi blooms in Chapter 2, when the latter helps her take a shower and then wear her kimono correctly. Since then, Saionji regularly referred to Koizumi as her 'big sis' or 'big sister Mahiru'. Although Koizumi was initially reluctant to be dragged around by Saionji, it is evident that Saionji greatly looked up at the other as she was devastated by Koizumi's death, and later made her a memorial. Even after the events of Chapter 2, Saionji tries to take a shower and put her clothes back on by herself since Koizumi had taught her with so much patience, and was extremely frustrated to find out that she couldn't.

Mikan Tsumiki
Saionji enjoys bullying Tsumiki any time; anywhere. She always acting rude at her, without any reason. Though back there before their memories were taken, she and Tsumiki still doesn't get along. She called Tsumiki an 'ugly bitch' and any other rude words that she used for Tsumiki. One day, when Koizumi's murder trial was over, she goes a normal time without Koizumi, and in the end she is killed by Tsumiki because she's in a wrong time in a wrong place; after she witnessed Mioda getting to be killed; her throat was cut. At first Tsumiki only willing to kill Mioda, but because she was there and accidentally witnesses Tsumiki's crime, Tsumiki had no choice but to kill her later on.

Quotes

 * "You wanna know my name? It’s Hiyoko Saionji!"
 * "One! Two! Three! Four! One! Two! Three! Four!"
 * "Big Bro Hinata... you're such a nice person, aren't you? Carelessly promising impossible things... And being so easily fooled by fake tears!"
 * "Whaaat? You've got no room to say that, you gross ugly creep!"
 * "That thing you call 'friendship' is just bunch of weaklings plotting together. This world is divided between with a chosen noble like me, and those who serve us as slaves. That's why I don't need to team up with something like friends..."
 * "You're juuust like a stock character, Big Bro Hinata. Both your face and outfit are so plain... Teehee! Even if you disappeared, no one would notice."
 * "Huh? What was your name again?" (to Mikan Tsumiki)

Trivia

 * Her ElectroID states that she likes bubble wrap. She also hates sour food and being scolded.
 * Saionji was originally planned to be one of the final survivors of SDR2, instead of Kuzuryuu, but somewhere in the process the writers realized that killing Kuzuryuu would make Pekoyama’s death meaningless. As a result, they decided to kill Saionji instead at the last minute. This explains why her death was so suddenly and awkwardly presented, and why they never even bothered to find her murder weapon.