Sae Kurosawa

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Evil-doer
Full Name	Sae Kurosawa
Alias	Sae Bloody Kimono White Kimono The Girl in the Bloody Kimono
Origin	Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly
Occupation	Twin Shrine Maiden
Powers / Skills	Teleportation Killing in one touch Control over the Kusabi
Hobby	Haunting All God's Village.
Goals	Trap wanderers in the All God's Village and kill them.
Crimes	Attempted murder
Type of Villain	Deadly Ghost

“	You'll come for me, Yae... I know you will...	„
	~ Sae

Sae Kurosawa is the main antagonist of Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly. The twin sister of Yae Kurosawa, she was meant to be killed by her sister in the Crimson Sacrifice ritual, but they attempted to escape their fate, only for Sae to be sacrificed alone, plunging All God's Village into the Darkness and the evil of the Repentance.

Sae was voiced by Kim Mai Guest in the English version.

Biography

Sacrifice

Daughters of the village elder, Ryokan Kurosawa, Yae and Sae were chosen by their father as the new Twin Shrine Maidens to take part in the Crimson Ritual, to create a new Crimson Butterfly in order to protect the village, Sae being the one meant to be sacrificed by her sister. The village was, at the time, being visited by a folklorist named Seijiro Makabe and his apprentice Ryozo Munakata, who wanted to perform studies on the rituals performed in the area, most noticeably the Hidden Ceremony. Yae is hinted to have developed a liking for Ryozo, while Sae was attracted to a fellow villager, Itsuki Tachibana, who sacrificed his own twin in the ritual, becoming a Remaining.

Ritual failure

Sae in the Great Hall of Kurosawa Manor, during the Repentance.

As Sae and Yae learned of their purpose, Yae grew frightened of it, while Sae accepted it calmly and willed it to come. While also learning Seijiro's incoming fate in the Hidden Ceremony (which uses outsiders as sacrifice), Yae warned him beforehand, having him send Ryozo away before the villagers got him as well. Itsuki heard of their attempt and helped the twins escape the village in the night, but stayed behind to distract the villagers. Along the way, Sae fell down a slope and hurt her leg, but Yae failed to notice it and kept going. The villagers eventually caught up with Sae and led her back into the village, where she vainly waited for Yae to return for her. While back in the village, she went to see Itsuki once more before the ritual date, at the Tachibana storehouse where he was being kept as punishment. All that Sae found was his dead body hanging from a noose, having committed suicide to escape more bitter punishments.

Getting desperate after the Hidden Ceremony calmed the Hellish Abyss too little, Ryokan decided to carry out the Crimson Sacrifice with Sae alone, having the Veiled Priests hang her before the abyss. This only served to break the seal, causing a flood of darkness to spill, the now-corrupt spirit of Sae emerging from the abyss along with the Kusabi form of Makabe's spirit, laughing evily as they went on a killing spree throughout the village, leaving no survivors behind in the Repentance, also erasing the village from the map. After some time, Yae did return for Sae, in hopes of seeing her again, but all she encountered when she returned was a large empty area.

Crimson Butterfly

Years later, the Amakura twins Mio and Mayu stumble upon All God's Village, trapping themselves inside due to the curse laid upon it after the failed ritual. As they wandered, Sae's spirit possessed Mayu, leading Mio throughout the village and calling her "Yae", having her see the story of the village and fighting the spirits trapped in it with the aid of Makabe's Camera Obscura which she found at the Osaka House. As she chases Mayu, Mio has some encounters with Sae herself, one of which that happens in the Tachibana house nearly killing her, as the crazed woman chases her through the halls after disarming her from the Camera, which Mio later recovers. After reuniting with Mayu, the Amakura Twins attempt to escape through a secret passage, but Mayu ends up captured by the spirits of the villagers, Sae leading her further inside the Kurosawa Manor and into the Hellish Abyss.

Mio chases her into the manor and defeats the spirit of Ryokan Kurosawa, following Mayu into the ceremony altar, and finally into the Abyss, where the final battle occurs. Depending on the difficulty level, the ending and final boss varies.

Normal Ending AKA Canon Ending

After the battle with the Kusabi, Mio runs into the Hellish Abyss area to find Mayu standing on the edge of the Abyss. As she continues to walk forward, Mayu tells her that they must complete the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual to save the village. Once Mio reaches her, Mayu lays back onto the stone slab before the Abyss and Mio places her hands around Mayu's neck. Mayu then leans Mio close to her and whispers, "Kill me" to her. Mio then begins to slowly asphyxiate her sister as the Veiled Priests stamp their staves in rhythm, quickening as she gets closer to death.

Once Mio feels that Mayu is dead, she removes her hands to reveal a crimson mark on Mayu's neck resembling a butterfly. Just then, two Mourners walk up on either side of Mio and pick up Mayu, throwing her into the Abyss. As this happens, Mio is struck with shock and grief for just killing her sister. She looks ahead to see Mayu's crimson butterfly rising from the Abyss, and hears her sister tell her, "Thank you".

After that, Mio is shown running after her sister's butterfly, crying her name and telling her how sorry she is for killing her. She reaches out to catch the butterfly, but it flies away just out of her grasp, causing Mio to fall to her knees in tears as the flock of butterflies part the dark skies and the sun rises over the village.

After the credits, it shows Mio sitting alone on a bench near the lake that replaced the village because of All God's Dam. It shows her to have a crimson butterfly mark on her neck as well. After that, the screen goes black and it's heard Mio's voice saying, "Didn't we always promise each other? Together...forever..."

This ending is carried into the third game: Fatal Frame 3: The Tormented as the canon ending.

Hellish Abyss Ending

The spirit of Sae falls out of Mayu as she tumbles towards the abyss. Mio rushes forward and grabs Mayu's hand as she dangles in the open hole. As Mio turns her head to look at her sister, she remembers being told, "You must not look down".  She can't stop herself in time and looks down into the abyss and sees the Malice rushing up towards them.

It is then shown Mayu climbing up out of the hole while Mio covers her eyes and rocks back and forth next to the pit, and in voice over Mio says, "I don't remember how we made it out of the village. They found us lying in the forest. And that village... it's..."

Later, the twins are shown sitting by the lake where the village once was. Mio has a bandage over her eyes since the Malice has blinded her. Mayu asks Mio if she's ready to go. They get up and Mio starts to walk away.

Then there's a voiceover of Mayu saying "We will always be together" as she watches her sister.

Promise Ending

Mayu prepares to jump into the abyss, Yae's spirit rushes out of Mio's body. Upon hearing her sister, Sae emerges from Mayu. The two finally meet, and after Yae apologizes, they promise never to be apart and jump into the abyss hand in hand. Afterwards, a flock of crimson butterflies fly out of the abyss to part the skies. The souls of the villagers are shown looking towards the sunrise and Mio and Mayu are seen leaving the village and talking about how they are always with each other even when apart.

The Lingering Scent Ending

Mio runs through the underground tunnel, she hears Sae call out to her and hesitates. Mio remembers Itsuki telling her not to look back, but after she hears Mayu's voice she finally turns around. Sae is seen moving quickly towards Mio and when she catches up, Mio blacks out. Eventually, she wakes up alone in the area of the woods where the game began. She calls out for Mayu, but she is nowhere to be seen. As the scene fades to black, Sae and Mayu are heard saying that they will wait forever for their sisters' return.

Frozen Butterfly Ending

In this alternate ending Mayu, who realizes her sister can't perform the ritual, takes it upon herself to sacrifice Mio.

Mayu pulls Mio's hands close, encircling them around her neck, Mio pulls back and refusing. Mayu tells her she always knew her sister could never do such a thing and how she loves her because of that. She tells her that, as long as they are together, she doesn't care if she has to live in hell and starts laughing and crying at the same time. She is no longer Mayu, but Sae Kurosawa.

A flashback of Mayu's accident is shown, in which a young Mio finds her sister laughing crazily amidst her tears.

She asks her to stay in the village with her forever, as her hands gets closer to Mio's neck. Later, a red butterfly flying around to Mio's arm is shown. Her head lying on Mayu's leg as she calmly caresses her hair in the middle of a room full of dead bodies. The ritual possibly didn't work, since she was the one meant to be sacrificed, not Mio. She and Mio's corpse were end up trapped in the village forever.

At the end of the credits, it is shown that Mayuis in the doll room, making up Mio's lips. She looks at her sister, kisses her on the cheek, as Mio seems to be crying, then holds her head.

Shadow Festival Ending

Mio encounters one last time the Kusabi, but takes for her a while to defeat it (more than 5 minutes), from which this causes the events from All God's Village repeat itself. Mio seems tired from the Kusabi fight, stumbling in the effort to move forward, after a few steps she stops in the first shrine before the stairs, seeing the ghosts of the people that were doing the ritual fleeing upstairs, screaming that The Repeatance was coming.

She gets worried deeply, for what she tries to be quick on arriving where Mayu is, only to see her kneeling close to the abyss. Mayu, possessed by Sae Kurosawa, starts talking to Mio, that now sees herself as Yae Kurosawa, saying that The Repeteance was coming towards the surface, sounding happy on the fact Yae returned, but sad that it was too late, and that she preffered for her to had abandoned her so she was "at least saved".

Meanwhile, from the Abyss, The Repeantance starts to come out, about to shroud the village in darkness. Mio, surrendering, kneels close to Mayu, saying that it would be hard for her to live without her, with all "the sadness and pain" she would have to endure, but that she was happy to be with her, even if it were in "such a short time".

While the scene quickly swaps to a flashback from both Mio and Mayu, where they are wearing kimonos that not only have a different color, but also a different pattern, seeming to be enjoying a Red Lantern festival, where they not only were happy to be together, but also let go each one their lantern, making them float up towards the sky. After that, the scene changes to the present, where Itsuki, which was still trapped inside the storehouse, after encountering a crimsom butterfly, he suddenly looked towards the window, seeing The Repeteance coming towards the village. Not after that, we can see the village being engulfed by it, just like it happened in the past.

After that, both Mio and Mayu are seen shrouded by deep darkness, apparently nude, but covered by some golden cloth, cuddled against each other.

Personality

Before death, Sae was quiet and reserved, and after learning of her fate, she was very accepting and even willing of it, wishing to be part of it as her own interpretation of making part of something big. After the failure of her ritual, Sae became crazed and corrupt, laughing in madness as she killed all in her way, and corrupting the village as she walked through it. Sae is one of the most notorious villains in the series for becoming completely insane and crazy after her corruption, unlike the other antagonist maidens who become emotionless and quiet.

Also unlike the other antagonists, Sae is noticeably sadistic and hostile. While chasing Mio, she will often speak something in Mayu's voice and calling the sister by name instead of "Yae", as the other spirits do. Even during her battle, she will briefly stop attacking Mio to taunt her by saying a line of dialogue only Mayu would say. As in terms of hostility, she openly sent the Kusabi to mutilate everyone on the village, including children, without mercy.

Trivia

• The bloodstain on Sae's kimono is shaped like half of a butterfly's wing, as a nod to the game's butterfly motiff and the fact that she was separated from her sister, therefore being unable to become one with her.
• She is the only Fatal Frame main antagonist to not be fought canonically at the end of her respective game. While she can be fought on Hard and Nightmare mode, the ending received is non-canon as of Fatal Frame III: The Tormented, therefore rendering the Kusabi as the true final boss.