Sara

Sara (サラ) is a character exclusive to the OAV Shin Kyūseishu Densetsu Hokuto no Ken : Toki Den (2008), directed by Kōbun Shizuno and produced by TMS Entertainment and North Stars Pictures. A female doctor connected to the Hokuto Shinken dojo, she watches over Toki after diagnosing his illness and accompanies him in his voluntary exile across the devastated lands. Sara stands out through her role as a healer, a human and vulnerable mirror of the compassion that Toki embodies through his fists. Not to be confused with Sara from Shin Hokuto no Ken, a distinct character who appeared five years earlier.

From the Hokuto dojo to nuclear war

Before the cataclysm, Sara lives at the dojo of Ryuken alongside the disciples Toki and Kenshiro, as well as Yuria, the latter's fiancee. The master is then considering designating Toki as the successor of Hokuto Shinken, believing him to be the most gifted and technically accomplished. It is Sara who, pressed by Ryuken, reveals to the old master that Toki is already suffering from an incurable illness. Nuclear war breaks out shortly after. Toki sacrifices his future by pushing Kenshiro and Yuria into the fallout shelter, too small for everyone, voluntarily remaining outside exposed to the radioactive fallout that will worsen his original affliction.

On the roads of the wasteland

Having renounced the succession, Toki decides to devote what remains of his life to the sick and wounded of the post-apocalyptic world, putting the Hokuto Shinken knowledge of vital points in the service of healing rather than death. Sara follows him as his assistant, transcribing and preserving in writing the medicinal techniques that Toki dictates to her orally, thus safeguarding knowledge that without her would be lost along with her master. This period of wandering, which continues until Toki's imprisonment at Cassandra by Raoh, forms the emotional heart of the OAV. The relationship between Sara and Toki, modest and without future, is one of the most successful additions of the Shin Kyūseishu Densetsu pentalogy.

Symbol of Toki's mission

Sara represents in the OAV what Toki fights and sacrifices himself for: ordinary people, without martial arts or power, who survive the brutality of the end of the century only thanks to the help of others. Her attachment to Toki, and the fact that she continues to practice medicine despite the surrounding dangers, make her a character in direct resonance with the themes of compassion and sacrifice that define Toki. The ending song Hanamori no Oka (花守の丘, "The Hill of the Flower Guardian"), performed by FictionJunction KAORI with composition and lyrics by Yuki Kajiura, is largely associated with her.

Dubbing

In the OAV Toki Den (2008), Sara is voiced by Aya Hirano.