Mio Sakamoto

Mio Sakamoto is one of the main characters of the Strike Witches anime.

Mio is a witch of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, originating from Fuso and affiliated with the Fuso Imperial Navy. She is sometimes referred to by the alias of Samurai.

In the AWA, Mio is a student at the AWA Academy and is a part of Class 2.

Appearance
Mio has black hair tied in a high ponytail and has a white eyepatch covering her right eye while her slightly golden left eye exposed. She wears a high-collared white military uniform with a blue swimsuit underneath and uhh... aside from the eye patch, what made her odd is that she is not wearing any pants and while she was inform that she is allowed to wear something below, she refused stating that she is following her own dress code...well, at least she is wearing white shoes.

Personality
She puts the whole team together with a fatherly atmosphere, playing an active role in battle as a superior front-line commander. She takes pride in having never lost a wingman.

Broadminded and cheerful, she has a personality that is somewhat candidly mannish and does fuss over the minor details of daily life. Mio is faithful to moral obligations and humane feelings, even sentimental in a sense. Her favorite motto is " simplicity and fortitude". Hot-blooded, at a glance she seems simply impulsive, but in battle she has both a cool and elaborate thinking and audacious behavior. No matter what kind of dilemma, she always seeks a solution without ever giving up. She is actually easily moved to tears, but never cries in front of others. The occasion when she wailed before Wing Commander Wilcke prior to the decisive battle out of frustration and hopelessness from her magic power drying up was an exception.

Mio is adored by many Witches due of her personality and military service, but it seems that she herself is unaware of that. Although is frequently approached by Flying Officer Clostermann from the same team, she believes that the girl's feelings are just those of a diligent subordinate towards its superior and doesn't notice any special favor at all. Wing Commander Wilcke, who had a long fellowship with Mio from since before the unit's formation, also seems to hold a favor towards her that exceeds mere friendship. From Private Hijikata Keisuke(currently a Warrant Officer), her exclusive underling and chauffeur, Mio receives an absolute respect that borders worship.

Mio is knowledgeable about the Way of Tea, but doesn't fuss about formal etiquette. She has a fondness for hot springs and was the on who had the idea of constructing a Fuso-style bathhouse at the 501st's base. In the only time Mio was shown using a shower, she did so because she didn't want people to see her crying. As seen in Tenkū no Otome-tachi, she also appears to be afraid of snakes, having fainted upon facing one while stranded on an island.

Mio has no likes and dislikes regarding food and, so long it is eatable, she will eat anything without fail. On the other hand, she is not very good at cooking herself due having enrolled in the military since an early age. One of her troubles is the fact that, even though she can prepare a fish, her onigiri turn out round no matter how she tries to make them.

Abilities
Mio's inherent magic is called Magic Eye. Classified in the perception-lineage, her right eye can discern things in a far off distant place with super eyesight and even see through a domain that human eyesight normally cannot perceive. However, the limit is range that her field of vision reaches and cannot see past obstacles such as nighttime, deep clouds or structures. Also, it is difficult to control and remains permanently active, requiring the use of her eye-patch to cover it when not in use. In combat, this ability is employed for sighting a Neuroi from long-distances and confirming the position of the core in its interior. Incidentally, when Mio is low on magic power - due to injury or simple degradation caused by age - her vision loses its special functions and her right eye becomes a normal eye.

With her Striker Unit's mobility and excellent skill, Mio can "see through" a beam and evade it. By the combination of the favorite sword that she herself tempered (Reppumaru) and excellent sword skills, a new attack - Reppuzan- was acquired. Later, she became unable to use a magic shield, but acquired a new defensive method by "slicing in half" a Neuroi's beam with the Reppumaru.

Mio excels at the leadership to amass subordinates and is proficient in training not only subordinates but also superiors, guiding their abilities. A training demon, Mio is strict with herself and others, but that is because she is more afraid than anyone else of losing a subordinate. She also has a training-mania side, keeping a pile of questionable training equipment such as kendo armors, bokutou, shinai, bows and arrows, naginata, sandboxes and iron balls in the hangar. Her dream is to rear an excellent subordinate who she can entrust things afterwards. She feels especially responsible for the rearing of Sergeant Miyafuji, the orphan of Dr. Miyafuji, who she is indebted to.

Mio's Type 99 cannon has been remodeled from its original 20mm×101RB specifications - first into a 13.2mm×99 and later into a 12.7mm×99, the latter which is an easy-to-acquire ammunition used by the European Dispatch Corps.

Her original Fuso sword had no name, though it was given to her by her first Master, Fumika Kitagou. Although some believe it to be a Masakuni, the authenticity of this is unknown.

The Reppumaru she uses on the second season is a Fuso sword that she thoroughly tempered by driving her magic power into it.

Trivia

 * Mio is based on Japanese flying ace Sakai Saburo.
 * In the AWA fics, Mio does not dislike Chizuru Tachibana but she does not approve his relationship with Yoshika Miyafuji.
 * In the AWA fics, Mio are roommates with Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke and Kyou Fujibayashi.