Youko

Youko Inou ( 伊能 踊子 Inou Youko) is one of the heroines of Summer Radish Vacation and Summer/Shiny Days, as well as a minor character in the other Days games.

Background
At some point after Summer Radish Vacation, she changed her surname to Saionji ( 西園寺 ) and became the mother of Sekai Saionji.

Appearance
Youko has short, deep brown hair much like Sekai. However, her hair is much straighter and falls down, as opposed to Sekai's which is curled from behind. Unlike fellow mothers Mai and Manami, Youko doesn't wear makeup or lipstick, which gives her an impression of being younger than she is despite being roughly the same age as the former.

She usually wears a purple shirt with a light red sweater over it. In the Valentine Days OVA, she is seen wearing an apron on top of these as she is cooking food.

Unlike her daughter, Youko sports an extremely curvaceous figure, and has one of the largest busts out of all the characters. Because she wears very modest clothing, her well-endowed figure is overlooked and usually not noticeable. However, her pretty face and kind demeanor are still enough to cause Makoto to pursue her in Summer/Shiny Days.

At the beach, Youko wears an extremely tight two-piece purple swimsuit that barely covers her large breasts. Unlike her modest clothing, her two-piece swimsuit can barely cover her voluptuous figure and her breasts can be seen sticking out under the two-piece.

In her teenage years, Youko had similar appearance to her adult's appearance save for having bright brown hair and eyes. She was also slightly less curvaceous than her adult counterpart.

Personality
Youko is a kind and loving mother who cares greatly about her daughter, Sekai. She is always seen trying to support her to pursue her goals in love.

She can also be very passionate about her own love as well. She also seems to have a fetish for younger boys Sekai's age. In one route, she can come home early and has a little talk with Sekai in which she mentions that she offloaded her work to the part-time boy. Sekai then says if she keeps that up, she'll cause another misunderstanding, implying that she's had sexual relations at work with younger men (which she can do with Makoto in Summer Days). Sekai goes as far to she doesn't want a stepfather as young as herself. Youko then tells Sekai to go make out with Makoto while she goes and does the same with some 'young' guys and when Sekai says don't, Youko replies that she's no fun.



Should someone mention her former lover, Youko will become very upset, as seen when Sekai mentions her father to her, although Youko has cut all ties with him and firmly states that she threw him away, most likely because of his womanizing.

She can also get slightly physical with Sekai if she feels that Sekai's being stubborn.

In certain Summer Days endings, Youko will go so far as to quit her job to be with Makoto and end up having sex with him. However, she can also be forgiving under certain circumstance, as seen when she agrees with Mai to allow Setsuna to be Makoto's "number one" in the harem ending.

History
Youko is the third child of Moegi Inou and Tomaru Sawagoe. Youko grew up together with her siblings, as well as Shun and a few of Tomaru's other children in Snow Radish. Shun was her first crush but some time after Tomaru went away, Kagura's friend Hatsuka also moved away with her children. Eventually, possibly due to her mother's influence, Youko developed a crush on Ayumu, but never got his attention because Ayumu had a crush on Yukari. When Yukari moved away with her family, her brother become involved with Kagura instead, much to Youko's displeasure. At some point, she began helping her mother in Snow Radish during most of the year and her brother and sister in Summer Radish during the summer vacation.

Summer Radish Vacation
In the prologue, Shun sits across from her and is startled to see her crying. Depending on the choices, Shun will approach her in different ways. In any case, Shun will end up cheering her up and she will offer him some pocky when she realizes he's hungry. As they talk, Shun tells her that he quarreled with his mother and is going to a part-time job where he'll spend the summer vacation. Youko then tells him that she is also going to a part-time job in a beach house which is actually helping her home, but she has thought about quitting this year because she also left home after a quarrel. Shun then offers to go to work in the same part-time job, as Kagura is a close friend of his mother and he could ask her to let Youko work there as well. Youko hesitates, afraid of causing trouble, but she accepts. However, she needs to leave her luggage at her relatives' house and tell them that she won't help this year. As they part ways, Youko tells Shun that she will call him when she can go.

Depending on Shun's decisions, she will meet him again in Summer Radish or in front of the dormitory while Shun and Mai quarrel. Realizing that Shun had confused Mai with her, she clarifies the situation. In either case, she will decide to work in Summer Radish after learning that Shun's part-time job was the same as hers.

The Visual Novel
In the visual novel, she's rarely connected to the main event. In a certain route, she is being picked to go to Paris, in which case, Sekai will beg her not to go, only for Youko to slap her. Earlier in the game, she can meet Makoto if Sekai brings him over and generally has a good impression of him. In in an exclusive ending of the HQ version, it's mentioned by the time she was Sekai's age, she had long given birth to her. If Sekai becomes pregnant, she supports Sekai's decision to have the baby.

Anime
She is not present in the School Days anime adaptation. She makes her first appearance in the Valentine Days OVA as one of the girls making chocolates for Makoto and a subsequent appearance in Magical Heart Kokoro-chan as the commander of the Anonymous Defense Force.

Manga
When Makoto goes to visit Sekai, who has the mumps, Youko lets him in (after accidentally slamming the door in his face).

Summer Days / Shiny Days
In both games, she's a pursuable heroine. She manages Radish and accepts Setsuna's offer to fill in for a sick Sekai. In some routes, she becomes Makoto's initial lover and unofficial girlfriend. Depending on route, they break up or start dating officially.

In the semi-canonical Paris for Four ending, Youko becomes pregnant with Makoto's child. Together with both Kiyouras, who are pregnant as well, she forces Sekai into pregnancy after learning that she feels left out.

Etymology

 * Her given name Youko [ 踊子 ] means "dancer". Her name shares a footwork theme with those of her older siblings Kagura and Ayumu and her sister-niece Mai.

Trivia

 * Interestingly, Youko and Mai both have very different hair and eye colors from their original selves in Summer Radish Vacation despite the fact that Shun and Natsuhi retain theirs.
 * Although not a visual expy of Tomomi Aizawa from the Welcome to Pia Carrot!! franchise, the train scene in the prologue in which Youko and Shun share pocky is framed similarly to the train scene between Tomomi and Akihiko Kannazuki, in Pia Carrot 3. Also, Youko has a Mayo-chan plushie stuffed in her handbag and Tomomi has a carrot-shaped plushie in hers.
 * Her Summer Radish Vacation seiyuu, Haruka Nagami, also voiced her aunt, Asagi Inou, and Otome Katou of the Days games. Her Days seiyuu, Megu Ashiro, also voiced Kokoro Katsura and Kazuha Nijou.