Sabuko (サブコ ) is a recurring antagonist that was first featured in River City Girls. She is the daughter of Sabu and served as the head of the Sanwakai in her father's absence. She is described as being very intense and cunning.
Appearances[]
River City Girls[]
Sabuko appears in the finale at the top floor of the Sanwakai Tower. Mistaken by Misako and Kyōko to be Sabu, she introduces herself as his daughter and the head of the Sanwakai while Sabu is incarcerated. Sabuko asks the two why they beat their way through the building, though immediately regrets asking as she receives flattery from the girls on how many female yakuza they've seen on the way up. Sabuko gets ready to kill the girls, though Kyōko quickly tells her the reason why they're there is because they're looking for Kunio and Riki. Sabuko appears confused and denies ever involving herself with the boys, to which Misako and Kyōko appear disappointed and get ready to leave the building to search elsewhere. Sabuko stops the girls before they leaves and begins to fight them.
Upon being defeated, Sabuko is in disbelief over her loss to a pair of high schoolers and says that they should respect people with power, though she instead ends up being kicked out of the window by the girls.
River City Girls Zero[]
Sabuko is mentioned by Kyōko during the game's added ending as her and Misako appear confused on who Ken was, as they thought Sabuko was the only child of Sabu. On their way out of the house, Misako comes the conclusion that though the events of Shin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-tachi no Banka may or may not have happened, they did already take down Sabuko before which gives reasons for people wanting to hurt them regardless.
River City Girls 2[]
Sabuko first appears in the game's intro where it explains the aftermath of her fight against Misako and Kyōko from her perspective. Falling into a pile of trash after falling from the Sanwakai Tower, she spots the girls walking with Kunio and Riki and gets ready to attack them, though she's stopped by Ken who's been watching her from his limousine the entire time. Ken takes Sabuko to go visit Sabu in prison while he taunts her the entire way there. Sabu appears disappointed in himself for believing Sabuko would be ready to lead the Sanwakai and decides to break out of prison and take control for himself again out of anger.
She later appears after Ken's fight against the protagonists where she'll throw a knife with a letter attached to knock the handgun out of Ken's hands. Misako and Kyōko read the anonymous letter which is asking for them to meet at North Ravine Lane in Crosstown. Sabuko awaits for the protagonists at the designated spot and initially shocks them by her presence, though makes it clear to them that she's not looking to fight. Sabuko tells the group that she's looking to get revenge on Ken and Sabu for how they treated her and that she'd like their help in taking them down. She notices the group aren't being very attentive and instead just asks them to interfere with Sabu's money laundering at the River City Bank as a starting point.
Later at Technos, Sabuko will meet with the protagonists and inform them that they'll need an access code to reach Tsuiko. She gives out the directions to the robotics warehouse and hands the group BeeBoo, which is an EMP device that'll stop the fans in the vents. Upon gaining the access code from the computers in the warehouse, Sabuko will mark Tsuiko's location in the Bio-Dome on their maps. Sabuko asks the protagonists where BeeBoo is, to where the group hesitantly answer that it's been destroyed. Sabuko doesn't appears bothered and writes it off as just being an EMP device, which angers the protagonists. Sabuko reminds the group that they'd better hurry to the Bio-Dome as Tsuiko may not be there for long. At Ocean Heights, Sabuko will appear outside of Primo's restaurant and inform the protagonists that they'll need to disguise as Blaire or Tsuiko in order to get inside. Sabuko suggests to the group that they go ask Hibari on the shipyard as she may be able to create passable disguises for them.
During the final section of the game, Sabuko will appear outside of River City High and reveal to the protagonists that she's only been using them as a way to gain back respect from her father and to paint a bad look on Ken. The protagonists comment that her plan isn't even a bad one, though they still vow to take down her and Sabu. Sabuko believes they won't make it past the first floor of the Sanwakai Tower, though to ensure that they don't follow her or go near the Sanwakai again, she's had her men strap bombs to their friends. Sabuko doesn't really know who their friends are and ends up having bombs strapped to people they barely know, dislike, or have never met. Outside of the Sanwakai Tower, Sabuko is seen holding a katana to Ken's face but ends up sparing his life. Sabuko taunts Ken similarly to how he did in the beginning of the game and plans to make their getaway on a helicopter, though is stopped by the protagonists. During the post-credits scene, Sabuko and Ken are seen apologizing to each other for being so petty towards each other and questions where Sabu currently is as she expected his fight against the protagonists wouldn't have taken so long. Their conversation is then interrupted by Sabu as he crashes into their helicopter after being punched up all the way through the Sanwakai Tower.
Other media appearances[]
Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun Gaiden River City Girls[]
Sabuko was to be played by Saki Yamakita, though the play would be cancelled due to one of the cast members testing positive for COVID.[1]