Sanae Mizuno

"So tell me, what are you reading these days?"

- Sanae Mizuno to Kouichi in "Blueprint".

Sanae Mizuno is a nurse at Yomiyama Hospital. She is first seen at Kouichi's ward. She has a brother named Mizuno Takeru who is in the 9th Grade Class 3 at Yomiyama North Middle School.

Appearance
Sanae is a young woman with short brown hair and big, light brown eyes. She is usually shown wearing her nurse uniform consisting of a white cap, a pale pink dress, pale pink shoes and a dark blue jacket. In Episode 4, she is seen wearing her casual outfit, which consists of a white dress and a blue bag. In the manga, she has short black hair and large, black eyes.

Personality
Sanae is a cheerful nurse and is in charge of taking care of Kouichi when he is in the hospital. She suggested various mystery and horror authors to Kouichi to read while he was in the hospital, and also when they used to meet casually. Sanae is also shown as a sociable, friendly and peaceful person. She is on good terms with Kouichi. She is helpful to others, especially Kouichi, assisting him in searching for information when he needs it.

In the Manga while her character is quite similar, she appears to be clumsy as she walks into a wall, and puts too much sugar into her tea. She also bites her tongue.

Story
She looked after Kouichi Sakakibara while he was sick in the hospital. She also helped him find informations about the Misaki who died in the hospital, and even offered to give him her phone number. They talked about the class' curse and how everyone thinks that Mei doesn't exist. Sanae tells Kouichi to be careful because they don't know much about it yet. In "Put Flesh", she called him to ask if Mei really existed, since her brother claimed she didn't in a horrified manner, while returning from the roof top through the elevator. While she was talking to Kouichi about Mei, the elevator's motor started to spark and malfunction, and suddenly the cable snapped causing the elevator to fall. Sanae is slammed into the elevator floor head-first, and she is crushed when the elevator collapses. This incident leads to her being one of the "Deaths of June". In "Body Paint", she returns as a ghost in Kouichi's dream and appears when Kouichi opens one of the classroom doors. She lies on a bed with blood covering her body, blaming Kouichi for her death.

Kouichi Sakakibara
She had several things in common with him and befriended him during his stay at the hospital. She seems to view him as a younger brother, and often teases him. Kouichi was devastated by her death, especially in the manga. She was one of the ghosts who taunted him during his nightmare, suggesting he blamed himself for her death.

In the manga, Sanae flirts briefly with Kouichi, mostly to make him uncomfortable. This is only present during a brief inserted advertisement within the manga, and is not actually canon.

In the live action film, Kouichi and Sanae aren't especially close. Kouichi takes Takeru's advise and stops involving her in his quest to learn about Mei, but this comes too late and she dies anyway. Kouichi went to her memorial, but was afraid to pay his respects as Takeru was present and glaring at him from beside the shrine.

Takeru Mizuno
Although she says that she and her brother were not on good terms and did not talk often they both still loved each other. Takeru repeatedly lied to his sister to protect her and warned Kouichi not to involve his sister with the curse. He blamed Koichi for her death. In the manga, Izumi tried to use this to persuade Takeru to side with her when she confronted Mei at the inn, though Takeru wasn't willing to do so. However, in the live action film, Takeru was much more upset following Sanae's death, and in a rage attempted to kill Kouichi at the inn.

Quotes
"Oh! Now you are reading a novel by Stephen King, Mr. Horror Shonen?"

Gallery
Main Article:Sanae Mizuno/Image Gallery 

Trivia

 * Her address is 1-9 Seitencho Yomiyama City.
 * Her first name, Sanae, means "rice seedlings".
 * She calls Kouichi Horror Teen (manga) or Mister horror lover (anime).
 * In the manga, Kouichi was more affected by her death than in the anime.
 * Sanae died on 3rd June.