Taeko Yasuda

Mr. Tsugumo’s secretary and Ryoko’s confidant, she takes an immediate dislike and distrust to Kanzaki. She is attractive and intelligent, but also lonely—and in the Eclipse version, it’s suggested that she is growing insecure about her age. In the manga and OAV, by happenstance, she sees the magazine article on Asran’s civil war and the photo taken by the late Rocky, a photo in which Shin appears in the background. Taeko’s friend pins down the location and deduces that Shin was at Area 88. Taeko also saves Ryoko from allowing Kanzaki to use her in a compromising position in order to have him willing to buy her stock share (at full price) and use the money to buy out Shin’s contract. Taeko appears in all three versions, but is never specifically identified in the 2004 anime.