Sakura

Sakura Kasugano (春日野 さくら) is a character in the Street Fighter series. She is a 16-year-old (as of Street Fighter Alpha 3) Japanese schoolgirl who has an intense fascination with Ryu. She has managed to copy and learn some of Ryu's techniques, but really wants him to train her personally.

Sakura typically fights in her school's uniform, a short-skirted sailor fuku (seifuku) with the collar popped and red bloomers underneath. She wears a red top under her uniform, red boxing gloves, and a white headband (given by Ryu before Street Fighter Alpha 2). She has short brown hair.

Story
Chronologically, Sakura first appeared in Rival Schools, where she had begun to participate in street fighting after watching Ryu win the first World Warrior tournament. Rival Schools saw Sakura involved in the adventure between her school and various others in Aohura city. Fighting in it, she realized how much it meant to her to protect something she cared about.

Street Fighter Alpha 2
She was searching for Ryu and wished for him to train her to be a better fighter. She met up with many interesting people along the way, and eventually came across Ryu, who was still stressed over the Satsui no Hadou that had corrupted him - he told her he could not train her as he still had much to learn himself. He sparred with her for a bit and as he began to leave, she took a picture of him to remember him by.

Street Fighter Alpha 3
She was still fighting in Street Fighter Alpha 3 and decided to travel the world to find Ryu. She started off in her native Japan and fought the sumo wrestler E. Honda, who mentioned Ryu was going off to such places as India and Thailand. She also fought a rematch with her rival Karin Kanzuki, and though Karin won the fight, admitted Sakura was better and she had learned winning was not everything. Thereafter traveling with her self-proclaimed sensei, Dan, she met his friend Blanka along the way and was promised a match with him. She continued to search the world for Ryu, eventually ditching Dan and finding Ryu's friend and rival Ken. She commented to him how she loved to fight to better herself, and finding inspiration in those words himself, Ken and Sakura eventually found Ryu in Thailand, where he was actually being brainwashed by M. Bison. Sagat had come by this time to find the scene as well, and as Sagat took on Ryu, both Ken and Sakura took on Bison. A combination of Sakura being hurt by Bison and Sagat's urgings finally snapped Ryu out of the mind control and he defeated Bison, destroying him temporaily. He told Sakura then he was not ready to train her and fight a rematch with her yet, and walked off, Sakura watching him go. She has a friend named Kei Chitose who attends the same high school and sometimes goes along with Sakura's street fight tour.

Super Street Fighter IV
She returns again searching for Ryu. This time, it is heavily implied that her admiration toward Ryu has developed into a full-on crush. Her win quote against Sagat has her admitting that she understands his obsession with Ryu, adding "isn't he just dreamy?". Some time after the end of the second World Warrior tournament, she confronts Dan about whether he knows anything about where Ryu might be. Dan, not wanting to appear out of the loop, says that a new tournament is rumored to be about to start, and that Ken will be participating, speculating that Ryu will also be there. Ecstatic, Sakura immediately runs off to enter. She, Dan and Blanka depart on a cruise ship on which she endures a gruelling self-imposed training regime. She also seems to have since become friends with Karin, texting her frequently to update her on Sakura's progress through the tournament. During the tournament, she actively seeks out Ryu, eventually finding him in the S.I.N. building in the midst of destroying the BLECE project. The force of the struggle knocks Sakura unconscious, and she awakes to see a triumphant Ryu standing over her. The two escape from the S.I.N. building in the midst of explosions which were probably caused by Vega's doing, and run into Dan and Blanka along the way. After the tournament, she and Ryu exchange goodbyes and Sakura leaves for home on the ship. Some time later, while out walking her dog, an older-looking Sakura sees Ryu approaching. What happens next is unknown.

Gameplay
Sakura fights in an emulated version of Ryu's fighting style. She can successfully manipulate ki and is subsequently able to perform the "Hadouken" energy attack (however, due to her lack of training, she cannot throw it the full length of the arena like Ken or Ryu can). Unlike Ryu and other warriors from the same style, however, she can control the size of her Hadouken and throw larger Hadouken projectiles that sacrifice range and execution speed for size and power (up to 3 times larger). In the Marvel vs. Capcom series, she throws her Hadoukens diagonally upwards, though her "Hiyakeshita" (literally "Sunburned") version still throws them horizontally). In Capcom vs. SNK, she is given an energy spark instead of a traditional projectile (called the "Hadoushou") that hits 3 times but is limited to the area in front of her hands (though her EX version lets her use her special version of the Hadouken). Her other attacks include "Shunpuu Kyaku", a short version of the "Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku" attack (instead of sailing through the air, Sakura's version rises then falls in an arcing pattern and traditionally only goes about 60% of the screen at its longest range) and "Shououken", a version of the "Shoryuken" that sees her running before executing the attack (weak version is very similar to a normal Shoryuken, but with an extended delay; when performed with the Fierce punch button, the attack can hit 6 times as she is running toward her opponent). Her super attacks include her own interpretations of the "Shinkuu-Hadoken" (the Shinkuu-Hadoken, like her regular projectile, will not cover the full length of the screen) and "Shoryu-Reppa" ("Midare Zakura"). Her third super attack is a ground based spinning leg attack (called the "Haru Ichiban", literally translated as "first one of the spring") that ends with a side kick that knocks her opponent away. In the Marvel vs. Capcom series (under her "Hiyakeshita Sakura" version), the Street Fighter EX series and Rival Schools she also gains the Shun Goku Satsu. Her appearance in Street Fighter EX3 sees her gain two unique Meteor Combos: first is the "Nekkestsu Hadouken", in which she fires a massive, pink Hadouken, which is several times her size, exceptionally fast, and does more damage than any projectile attack in that game; the second is "Genki Ichiban", which can deal about 80% damage to an opponent but is widely telegraphed (she tiptoes toward her opponent and points & laughs; the pointing is unblockable and causes a great deal of knockback).

Trivia

 * Sakura is one of two fighters who is self-taught by Ryu. The other is Sean who is self-taught by Ken.

special move videos
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Stage Theme
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Video
Sakura vs Dhalsim in Street Fighter IV