Saeko Mizuno

Slim of build, Saeko is most often pictured in the white coat of her profession. Her dark hair is cropped short and swept over to one side.

Her career consumes most of her time, and the long absences leave her convinced she is a lacking mother. That guilt sits beside a genuine warmth: Ami adores her and aspires to become a physician just like her, and the live-action series in particular shows how deeply the two care for one another despite rarely sharing a room.

She and Ami's father separated after the two grew apart, sharing little common ground. In the manga she treats an ailing Mamoru at her hospital, the first meeting for several of the Guardians, who are struck by her beauty. Her worst ordeal comes when Fish Eye sends a Lemures to twist her into a weapon against Ami, conjuring illusions in which she scorns her studious daughter; the nightmare only lifts once Ami claims the Mercury Crystal, transforms into Super Sailor Mercury, and cleanses their home, freeing her mother. The live-action series gives Saeko her largest role, communicating with her scarcely-seen daughter through notes on a household whiteboard and nearly transferring Ami to a new school before relenting once she sees how much Ami's friends mean to her. The 1990s anime keeps her almost entirely offscreen, granting only a brief cameo in the SuperS film's opening as she teaches a young Ami to bake cookies, while a video game casts her inside an illusion of Ami's imagined adult future.