Akiko is Nayuki's mom and Yuichi's aunt. She's best known for being the heart of Nayuki's storyline, though she shows up in bits of Makoto's and Ayu's arcs too.
She's got this distinctive bluish-purple hair that's a shade lighter than Nayuki's, usually worn in a long braid draped over her right shoulder. She's slightly taller than her daughter and has a fair complexion with light blue eyes. You'll almost always find her smiling, usually dressed in a light pink jacket over a white long-sleeved shirt.
Personality-wise, Akiko's the type who's kind and genuinely caring. She's a solid cook—except for her signature homemade jam, which is famously terrible and somehow only she enjoys it. Fans often note that it's unclear if she's even tasted her own creation or just refuses to admit it's inedible. One quirk: she answers yes or no questions absurdly fast, usually within a second, almost always saying yes.
As the only parent Nayuki has, Akiko does the heavy lifting—cooking, cleaning, and being there whenever anyone needs something. She works some unspecified job and runs the household, but the real thing about her is how easygoing she is. When Yuichi first brought Makoto home, Akiko didn't hesitate to let her stay. She took in Ayu the same way when she found out her parents were away. She won't even lecture harshly; Makoto spent money Akiko gave her for groceries on herself, and Akiko just. let it slide. That said, she can be assertive when needed—she's just never raised her voice in anger about it.
What's interesting is that Akiko knows more about what's really going on in town than Yuichi does. Fans have picked up that she's aware of the supernatural elements involving Ayu and Makoto, suggesting she understands the weird stuff affecting Yuichi better than he does himself.
She raised Nayuki alone from childhood with no explanation about Nayuki's father, and the two are extremely close—they never fight. Nayuki doesn't have a father figure, so Akiko is basically everything to her.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
