Asami Hinomori has recently gotten permission from her grandfather (due to her mother's insistence) to take a train to Tokyo to attend a boarding school called "Sakura Hill School for Girls". She's excited, of course, since she gets to see her elder brother, Ikurou, who's a detective. But Tokyo turns out to not be as safe as it seems with grisly murders and serial killers running rampant. Asami finds herself running into these mysteries, has the will to solve them, and is determined to find the culprits of these cases.
Sakura no Ichiban! (櫻の一番!, "Sakura's Best!") is a mystery shonen manga set in the Taisho era by Yuna Kagesaki, who's also known for later creating Karin and Hekikai No Aion. The manga was serialized in Dragon Age from 2001 to 2003, and compiled into five volumes.
This manga displays examples of the following tropes:
- Accidental Pervert: In chapter 4, when Asami jumps over the gate, she accidentally gets the skirt of her kimono over the head of an unsuspecting guard. After she lands and they stand in awkward silence, she then proceeds to repeatedly whack him until he is unconscious with her wooden katana so that he won't remember the incident.
- Anger Born of Worry: In chapter 4, Asami comes back into the room her and Misao share (via the window) after spending the previous night looking for Jack the Ripper. To her surprise, she finds Misao standing by the window waiting for her. The latter then hits her on the head with her fist and calls her an idiot for making her worry all night and for chasing Jack the Ripper alone even though he murdered a classmate of theirs previously.
- Asleep in Class: Asami falls asleep during a lesson in chapter five because she was Jack the Ripper all night in the previous chapter.
- Bedmate Reveal: In chapter eight, Asami awakes to find Tsukiko sleeping next to her on her futon.
- Bound and Gagged: Asami and Misao find themselves at a warehouse with their hands tied behind their back after they got kidnapped.Asami somehow frees herself after freaking out however.
- Catchphrase: Asami exclaims "I'll do my best!" whenever she's ready to do something.
- Cute Bruiser: Adorable Genki Girl Asami is more than capable of easily taken down grown men twice her size with the sword skills her grandfather passed down to her
- Dead Man's Chest: In chapter one, the killers stuff wooden crates full of the corpses of dead women they've killed. Misao discovers this when the box Asami was standing on broke and her feet got tangled with one of the dead women's long hair. In her attempt to free her feet, Asami manages to flip the corpse on top of her.
- Deadpan Snarker: Misao is very snarky and is tired of the world and the crazy things (as well as Asami's antics) happening around her so she never misses a beat with her dry wit and sarcasm.
- Dope Slap: Misao often slaps Asami across the face or slams Asami's skull with her fist whenever the latter does something reckless or stupid.
- Driven to Suicide: During Asami's second standoff with Jack the Ripper, the latter impales himself on his sword to atone for his past murders.
- Freudian Excuse: Jack the Ripper's reason for killing women and his general hatred of them comes from his mother mistreating and belittling him. One day, he decides he finally had enough and murders her.
- I'm a Humanitarian: The reason the killers in chapter one kidnap and murder young women was that appearently where they are from a girl's liver is thought to cause one's lifespan to increase.
- Lonely Rich Kid: Before meeting Asami and Misao, Tsukiko was not allowed to go outside and was very sheltered and lonely. The "friends" she had then only wanted her wealth.
- Madness Mantra: Tsukiko breaks down crying and starts to chant "There's no point for me to live..." repeatedly before revealing to Misao how she was put under a curse and why she was put into a insanity ward.
- The Ojou: Tsukiko Okakura is from a wealthy noble family, has a group of girls that follow her every step, and is a member of the school's Sakura Blossom Club, a club where girls from rich families go to have tea parties. She also possesses a Hime Cut.
- One-Gender School: Sakura Hill is a boarding school for girls.
- Off with His Head!: In the beginning chapter 2, Jack the Ripper kills one of his victims by slicing her head off with his sword.
- Spit Take: In chapter 11, Misao spits out her drink when Keiji says that Asami might be his first love.
- Split Personality Make Over: One feature that distinguishes Keiji from Tsukiko besides gender is that Keiji's hair is messier. He also lacks Tsukiko's signature hair ties and sidetails.
- Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl: Whenever Tsukiko's hair is disheveled, her bangs go in her face, and when she is wearing a white kimono, people tend to get scared and mistake her for a ghost.
- Tea Is Classy: Invoked by the Sakura Blossom Club, which is where rich young ladies spend time having tea parties.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: In chapter 7, the third year girls of the Sakura Blossom Club have their tea poisoned by the other members of the club so that they can become closer to Tsukiko and her wealth. Sanae is framed for the incident due to being from a poor family and generally disliked by most of the girls in the club.
- Tears of Fear: A would-be victim of "The Jack The Ripper" in the second chapter sheds tears of fright while he is pursuing her and before he almost kills her, Asami jumps to her rescue.
- Tsundere: Misao is heavy with the tsun as she is hot tempered, almost always in a bad mood and often puts her hands on Asami when the other girl annoys her or does something reckless. However, there are several instances where it's shown that she cares a lot for Asami even though she vehemently denies it.
- Tsurime Eyes: The snarky and bookish, Misao has these eyes which contrasts with the cheery and clumsy Asami's Tareme Eyes.
- Wingding Eyes: Asami has swirls in her eyes in the first chapter when she gets knocked out by the guys kidnapping her and Misao.
- Wrecked Weapon: In chapter 2, Asami's wooden sword breaks while she was fighting Jack the Ripper. However, she manages to lunge at him and leave a mark with the broken sword before he decides to escape after a guard spots them.
