Manga / Sakura Trick

Yuu and Haruka, flanked by Yuzu and Kaede (right) and Kotone and Shizuku (left)

Yuu Sonoda and Haruka Takayama were inseparable during junior high but a cruel twist of fate put them on opposite sides of the class when entering senior high.^note Many schools in Japan order seats in Gojuuon order. While "Takayama" is right after "Sonoda," this time Yuu was assigned to the back of a row, pushing Haruka to the front of the next. Forced to spend more time with their other classmates, Yuu and Haruka decide that they should do something special to keep their relationship special. They settle on kissing. Lots and lots and lots of kissing.

They are joined by their friends; Kotone Noda, Shizuku Minami, Yuzu Iizuka, Kaede Ikeno, and Yuu's older sister Mitsuki.

A Yonkoma manga serialized in Manga Time Kirara Miracle! from 2011 to 2017, it had an anime adaptation by Studio DEEN which aired in January of 2014. The anime is available for streaming on Crunchyroll and licensed by Sentai Filmworks.

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Sakura Trick contains examples of:

• 2D Visuals, 3D Effects: Usually, the CG is subtle, but episode 1B has CG animation of a handing over of a box of Pokitz.
• Accidental Kiss: Yuu does it to Haruka in episode 11-B accidentally. But then Haruka "accidentally" does it to Yuu.
• Accidental Misnaming: Mitsuki can only remember that Yuzu's name is a citrus fruit. This leads to Mitsuki constantly calling Yuzu "Mikan".
• Adaptation Expansion: 2 chapters isn't quite enough to fill up an episode of the anime, so they have to add in some extra bits.
• After-School Cleaning Duty: In chapter 6, the heroines clean (what else?) the pool.
• Alphabetical Theme Naming: A Japanese equivalent; all the pairs are next to each other in gojuuon order.
• Always in Class One: Haruka and Yuu both end up in class 1, but their names normally put them right next to each other; this time, Yuu gets put in the back of one row and Haruka gets the next seat in the front of the next row.
• Anticlimax: In the first chapter, Haruka's and Yuu's Big Damn Kiss is played out for all it's worth, more so in the anime. Rather than the two ending the kiss looking longingly or something like that, the scene (and the chapter) ends with them running out of breath and falling over.
• Artistic License – Physics: It's possible to get from one balcony to the other the way Yuu and Haruka do in episode 1. However, you need to have extremely strong arms and extremely durable skull. Otherwise you're simply dead from smashing your face to the concrete floor.
• Aspect Montage: Not so much in the manga, but the anime gets a lot of mileage out of them.
• Bad "Bad Acting": Shizuku does not put much effort into setting the stage for the test of courage. Then in episode 5 she over acts when auditioning for the part of the witch in Snow White.
• Barbie Doll Anatomy: Haruka, in the opening.
• Beach Episode: Episode 7a was aptly titled Swimsuit Fanservice ☆ Accidents Included.
• Beta Couple: Noda Kotone and Minami Shizuku.
  • Kaede and Yuzu as well later on in the manga,
• Big Damn Kiss:
  • In the first chapter between Yuu and Haruka. Later this becomes an Once an Episode thing between the two.
  • The first episode of the anime adaptation. It's so Big Damn, it's difficult to believe that the scene is not from a softcore lesbian porn.
  • Shizuku and Kotone have one in episode two.
• Big Fancy House: Episode 7a revealed Kotone has one.
• Bittersweet Ending: Both Haruka and Yuu confessed their love for each other, but they end up going to separate college. Bonus material from the author's personal social media shows they are still dating though, and have even started to have sex.
• Bland-Name Product:
  • Pokitz, a biscuit stick whose name came from Pocky and Pretz, both from the Glico.
  • HarminyMart is clearly FamilyMart.
  • Starbucks is both Tudarbucks and Tudrabucks. In the same scene◊.
• Blank White Eyes: Happens to some characters in comedic moments. Yuzu seems to get them the most.
• Blue with Shock:
  • This happens to Kaede when her plans to make Haruka pay for extra ice cream are swiftly thwarted.
  • It happens to Haruka and Yuu, when they realize that they were finally caught kissing each other.
• Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: Haruka's dad freaks out at the idea of her getting a boyfriend.
• Brick Joke:
  • Haruka draws an Umbrella of Togetherness with her name and Yuu's name on Yuu's swimsuit, but Yuu throws the drawing away. Later, at the end of the chapter, Mitsuki tries to convince herself Yuu isn't doing anything naughty... and then she finds the drawing.
  • She also draws "I <3 You" on her own swimsuit. It ends up hidden under her shirt, until a bit later, when the shirt gets wet. She tries to point it out to the other girls, but they just think she's showing off her huge breasts.
• Cast Full of Gay: More or less every named character has shown to not only be gay, but to have a female love interest and by the end all but one character becomes part of a couple.
• Cherry Blossoms: A reoccurring theme in the manga and the anime as a visual representation of Yuu and Haruka's relationship. The anime especially like throwing cherry blossoms on screen for any kiss or declaration of love.
• Childhood Friends: Yuzu and Kaede have known each other the since grade school, and Kotone and Shizuka, being cousins, have known each other their whole lives.
• Comically Missing the Point:
  • In episode 1b, when asked to get yakisoba, Yuu instead buys yakisoba-flavored snack sticks.
  • In episode 8a, Haruka's father mentioned he doesn't want Haruka to marry "some random guy on the street." Haruka takes that as his approval towards homosexual marriage.
  • Also in episode 8a, Yuu is clearly more touched by the food than the wedding.
• Conveniently Seated: Seating arrangements kick off the whole plot.
• Creative Closing Credits: A decent amount of the credits in the OP are written on blackboards, vending machines, and the like.
• Declaration of Protection: When Haruka fell off the balcony in episode 1:
  Yuu: Haruka... I will protect you!
• Did They or Didn't They?:
  • Chapter 28 has Haruka and Yuu spending the night at Haruka's, whose parents are in Hawaii, and ends with the two kissing underneath a blanket and mentioning how neither one can sleep. Helped is Yuu kissing Haruka's chest.
  • In a special chapter in volume 4, while Kotone and Shizuku are discussing Kotone's fiancée, they start making out on Shizuku's bed. The shot then fades out and the next scene is Shizuku drying her hair after a shower.
• Diegetic Soundtrack Usage:
  • In episode 5's extra segment, Shuzuku hums the opening for a bit.
  • Episode 8, from the dancing game that Yuu plays.
  • Yuzu hums a snippet of the opening in episode 9, as she and some others walk to the park.
• "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: The opening is sung by the main six girls' seiyuu, and the ending by Haruka and Yuu's.
• Don't Try This at Home: In episode 9c, Kaede fantasizes on riding on the back of Yuzu on the latter scooter. Immediately a big red X was put over her Imagine Spot with a "Illegal Traffic Maneuver!" caption, and the narrator said, "No, you don't!"
• Dude, She's Like in a Coma: Right at the start of episode 4; Haruka is asleep at the end of school, so Yuu decides to kiss her all over.
• Everyone Can See It: Averted for the most part, everyone comments on how Yuu and Haruka are a little too clingy for friends, but no one seems to notice the two are in a relationship despite them being very bad at hiding it.
• Evolving Credits: At the end of episode 8, a Christmas-themed ending plays instead of the normal one, following 8b's focus on Christmas.
• Expressive Hair: Haruka and Yuzu both have antennae that react to their emotions.
• Eye Catch: Seen in episode 3.
• Face Fault: Haruka often does this when experiencing a fit of Yuri Fan and/or Yuu Fan madness.
• The Faceless: Haruka is this to Mitsuki, who has known about Haruka for years but has never seen her. Haruka comes to a student council meeting, but Mitsuki can't see her because she doesn't have her glasses. When she finally meets Haruka in person, she has a bit of a Heroic BSoD.
• Faceless Masses: Occassionally.
• Fanservice:
  • One scene has Yuu doing "embarrassing things" to help her remember chemistry lessons.
  • The ending theme.
  • Any given kiss. Fairly eroticized in the manga, and even more so in the anime.
  • Episode 5 has a weird subverted shower scene with Shizuku to take up space. It was literally lampshaded as such.
  • Again, episode 7a's title is Swimsuit Fanservice!
• Flung Clothing: In chapter 5, during an after-school committee meeting, Haruka flings off her school uniform to reveal a cheerleading outfit underneath. Amusingly, the flung shirt lands on top of Mitsuki.
• Food as Bribe:
  • Haruka attempts this in the first part of episode 4, attempting to bribe Yuu over to sit on her lap with the ice cream she bought. It almost works, until Yuu sees the face Haruka is making, along with her putting the ice cream cone on her lap. She then decides to sit on Kotone's lap some more, causing Haruka to threaten to eat the ice cream herself.
  • Yuu does this to Haruka at the end of episode 5A, to bring her away from the rest of the girls.
• Foot Focus: Episode 3B has lots of close-ups of the girls' bare feet.
• Fun with Acronyms: Episode 9A is titled The SBJK of New Year Debuts as Yuu gave that acronym to Haruka in spite in that episode. So what is SBJK? "Shitto Bukai Joshi Kousei", or "Deeply Jealous High School Girl. In episode 10B, Yuu further extends on this, calling using the initials for "Shuunen Bukai Joshi Kousei" (Deeply Vindictive High School Girl) and "Shinjirarenai hodo Buzama Joshi Kousei" (Unbelievably Clumsy High School Girl) Some fansubbing groups translated the first to "Super Berserk Jealous Kid" or "Super-Begrudging Juvenile Kitten", the second to "Spiteful Bully Jerk Kid" or "Slightly Baleful Jealous Kid" and the third to "Seriously (or Stupidly) Bad at Jumping Kid" to keep the acronym.
• Geodesic Cast: Mitsuki aside, the cast is entirely made of pairs. This extends even to the minor characters: There's two teachers and two minor student council members that appear.
• Homage: The animation style is a blatant copy of Hidamari Sketch's; partly because the director has previously directed for the third season of Hidamari Sketch.
• Hypocritical Humour:
  • In chapter 7, Yuzu mentions that Haruka has weird hair tufts. Kaede points out that Yuzu has a pair too.
  • In episode 7a, Shizuku recommended a poolside party for the School Festival, because swimming can help to lose weight. Yet she doesn't even know how to swim.
• Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: "Trick" instead of "Episode".
• Imagine Spot:
  • Frequent. Haruka is a bit of a space cadet.
  • Chapter 10/ Episode 5B is built on Mitsuki's Imagine Spot. The Snow White play is speech-only, without the kissing she was imagining about.
• Improbably Female Cast: At first it doesn't seem that improbable, as the story is about a group of lesbians and their friends, but then you realize that it's set at a coed school and no males have any lines.
• I Need to Go Iron My Dog: During a Christmas outing with friends, Mitsuki says that she needs to go water the flowers as an excuse for leaving Haruka alone so the latter can go search for Yuu.
• Insane Troll Logic: In episode 8A, Haruka's father said he doesn't want to see Haruka married to "some worthless guy." Haruka took that line to mean he'd be okay with a girl. Lampshaded with a note pointing out her error.
• Intertwined Fingers: Though it leads to more kissing than one would normally expect from a yuri anime.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Mitsuki spends many episodes obsessing over Haruka and getting in between her relationship with Yuu. In the end, Mitsuki finally relents and accepts Haruka and Yuu together, and stops pining for Haruka.
• Joshikousei: One of the two main points of the series, aside from yuri.
• Kissing Cousins: Kotone and Shizuku are cousins and in a relationship.
• Kiss of Life: Subverted. Haruka tries to do this to Yuu while she's knocked out from faceplanting into a veranda. Yuu wakes up before she can do it, they clonk heads, and Haruka passes out. Yuu doesn't even notice.
• A Lady on Each Arm:
  • Yuu has something of this in the first day at school (but with two female classmates). Haruka has a Heroic BSoD upon seeing this, thinking Yuu has been taken away by other classmates.
  • Haruka gets her own moment◊ in episode 6 with both Yuu and Mitsuki.
• The Last Dance: The school will be merged with another three years later, so Haruka and Yuu's year is the last of the new students. Knowing this, Haruka and Yuu do their best to make the memory of their high school years far more special than others.
• Letting the Air out of the Band: The anime enjoys doing this. Someone will be in or thinking of a tender moment... and then someone else will say something that kills the mood, and brings the music to a halt.
• Lightning Glare: Yuu and Shizuku do this in episode 5B when both declare they want to play the witch for the Snow White play. Then Kotone and Haruka do this as well for no apparent reason. Yuzu immediately wonders why the latter two were doing it.
• Loophole Abuse:
  • In episode 5B, after getting caught peeking in their classroom, Mitsuki attempts to flee. Unfortunately she gets stopped by one of the teachers who scolds her for running in the hallway. She then attempts to claim that she was merely taking large steps, but the teacher tells her not to do that either. In either case, several of the girls in the class approach her and ask her why she was spying on them.
  • In episode 11, after being spotted by Mitsuki, she forbids Haruka and Yuu from kissing. However, in gym they are told to pair up with their last partner, in which case Haruka's was Yuu, so she uses that excuse to get close. Kaede was told to keep an eye on them, but isn't able to because Yuzu gets a little too excited trying to dance and constantly blocks the former's view of the two girls.
• Love Bubbles: Unsurprisingly present. Both more common and more obvious in the anime, though.
• Love Confession: Mitsuki does one to Haruka in episode 12A, in front of Yuu. Haruka however doesn't quite understand what she meant by it.
• Love Epiphany: In episode 11B, Mitsuki realizes though a conversation with Sumi-sumi that her opposing Haruka and Yuu kissing is not because she opposes same sex attraction, but because she wants to be the one besides Haruka. And then she realizes she's in love with her sister's girlfriend.
• Lover Tug of War: Yuu and Mitsuki do this to Haruka in episode 12A. Haruka for her part, is enjoying the struggle, although it makes both of the other girls ask her why.
• Loves Me Not: Haruka thought of playing this with Yuu's floral hair decs. Yuu was not pleased.
• Love Triangle: It's a Sibling Triangle; Mitsuki has a crush on Haruka, who's in a relationship with Mitsuki's sister Yuu.
• Luminescent Blush: Somewhere between frequent and constant.
• Male Gaze: The anime puts a lot of emphasis on the girls' figures, especially their thighs and chests.
• Motifs: Takes a while for the anime to work it out, but it ends up with the Sonoda sisters using their flower decorations (with "older sister" and "little sister" to disambiguate if needed), Haruka using a sakura flower, Yuzu using her namesake fruit with her hair tufts, Kaede using a maple leaf, Kotone using a star, Shizuku using a sweatdrop, Sumi using a moustache (which comes from an ornament on her pen), and Rina using her bow.
• Not What It Looks Like: Invoked: Mitsuki did catch Haruka and Yuu kissing, but they told her that it was simply an accident. She doesn't entirely buy it.
• Oblivious to Love:
  • It takes a surprisingly long time for anyone to notice that Mitsuki has a crush on Haruka.
  • Yuzu is oblivious to any yuri, even when pointed out to her.
• Official Couple: Yuu and Haruka from the first episode. Shizuka and Kotone become the Beta Couple in episode two.
• Once per Episode: Haruka and Yuu kiss at least once per chapter in the manga. The anime adapts two chapters per episode, so there's a bare minimum of two kisses per episode. Averted in episode 9, where there were no kisses on-screen—they kissed over the phone in 9A, and it was implied they kissed off-screen in 9B.
• One Dialogue, Two Conversations: In episode 8a, Haruka invites Yuu to the former's relative's wedding. Throughout the phone conversation Yuu took that to be their own marriage.
• Oneesama: Haruka fantasizes being the senpai in this kind of relationship with Yuu, should Yuu be held back a grade.
• On the Next: Fairly standard for a comedy series— a montage of the next episode's event with the characters chatting over it.
• Opposites Attract: The shy and inverted Shizuku and the playful and outgoing Kotone.
• Parents Walk In at the Worst Time: Mitsuki in Chapter 5 found Yuu and Haruka kissing while bringing food into Yuu's room.
• Practical Joke: After Kaede tries to prank Yuzu with the soda can (see Hoist by His Own Petard above), she tricks Haruka into pulling a toy rat out of her pocket (Haruka thinks, it's a real mouse cadaver and screams).
• Pun: Haruka's "I ♥ YOU" swimsuit. Clearly a pun on "you" and "Yuu".
• Running Gag: Yuu's insistence that Haruka is a C-cup (she's actually a D).
• School Festival: The premise of a plot arc. The main characters are putting on Snow White.
• School Girl Series: a bit less traditional in that the Queer Romance is in main text.
• School Play: Technically it's just the main characters putting on a play for the culture festival, but it plays out the same.
• School Festival: The lack of one drives the plot of chapter 5/episode 3-A.
• The Scream: Happens at the end of episode 11. One of the characters experiences a significant revelation about herself, and screams as a result. All the while, the camera quickly zooms out from her and cuts to several locations around the school as her scream echoes.
• Serious Business: In episode 11-A, Haruka, Yuu, and Sumi investigate the third years to see what they like, and notice quite a few of them eating pudding. Then in 11-B Mitsuki is seen buying pudding too, and Sumi asks her. The former replies that it was an offhand remark about helping her to study, and it ended up spreading like wildfire, causing the other girls to also eat pudding as a result to help study for their exams.
• Sexophone: During Haruka's Imagine Spot about Yuzu and Kaede in episode 2.
• Ship Tease: A bit between Yuzu and Kaede.
• Shipper on Deck:
  • Haruka ships Kotone x Shizuku, Yuzu x Kaede, and Mitsuki x Rina.
  • Mitsuki starts out as inversion in regards to Haruka x Yuu, but eventually comes around.
• Ship Sinking: Haruka/Mitsuki, because after Mitsuki confesses to her, Haruka is both confused about Mitsuki's intent and is only thinking about Yuu, Mitsuki realizing this decides to give up on Haruka.
• Shout-Out:
  • In Episode 2B (or Chapter 4), Haruka's imagination of of a relationship with a held-back-a-year Yuu smacks of Maria Watches Over Us, with tie adjustments and stuff. The anime even put on appropriate music to fit.
  • In Episode 6B, Yuu says that her hair clip has been passed down the Sonoda line for generations.
  • Episode 10 references Mysterious Girlfriend X.
• "Shut Up" Kiss: Chapter 2, Haruka is throwing a tantrum, so Yuu kisses her out of it. Haruka then attempts to invoke it by threatening to make more noise (possibly giving them away to a teacher) unless Yuu kisses her again.
• Sibling Rivalry: Yuu and Mitsuki, over whether Yuu should be so close to Haruka.
• Sick Episode: In chapter 34, Kotone comes down with a cold on her birthday and has to be taken care of. Shizuku kisses her while she's ill, and ends up catching her cold while Kotone recovers.
• Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Kaede's favorite victim is Haruka, which makes Haruka less than sympathetic to Kaede's woes.
• Sleep Cute: Haruka and Yuu in Chapter 1. During the entrance ceremony, Yuu dozes off first, on Haruka's shoulder, and Haruka falls asleep soon after.
• Spit Take: Yuu, the first time Mitsuki interrogates her about her relationship with Haruka over breakfast.
• Spoiler Opening: Besides making the obvious pairings even more obvious, the opening spoils the gag/twist of Mitsuki catching Yuu and Haruka kissing two episodes before Mitsuki is introduced.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Mitsuki is just an older Yuu with long hair and glasses. Same hair color gradient, same eyes, she even has identical flowers in her hair. Lampshaded by Haruka in episode 5a, but Haruka didn't notice... Mitsuki is crushing on her just like Yuu does.
• Super-Deformed: The girls during part of the ending credits. Most of the extra segments also depict them this way.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: Mitsuki is often caught up in these, attempting to explain away why she always seems to be near Haruka and Yuu.
• Sustained Misunderstanding: In episode 8a, Yuu, due to being partly asleep and the phone connection breaking up slightly, assumes Haruka's call for a wedding was for their own wedding, rather than being invited to one. This carries on until they get to a dress rental shop, and some new confusion between the two in episode 8b.
• Take a Third Option: While assigning roles for the Snow White play, Yuu and Shizuku express interest in playing the role of the witch, and everyone has trouble deciding who should get it. In the end, the group has both of them play the role.
• Tempting Fate: In episode 4, Haruka imagines Yuu telling her she'd be less scared if they kissed during a test of courage event. She thinks it'd be wonderful if the latter says it, but concludes it's just wishful thinking. So it totally catches her off guard when Yuu says exactly that.
• Test of Courage: The premise of ch8/ep4-B, though it only gets scary because of outside events.
• Thanks for the Mammaries: Haruka is subjected to this at first accidentally by Sumi, but then intentionally by her and Yuu shortly afterwards.
• This Is Reality: Yuzu insists that they're not in a shoujo manga, and thus Haruka wouldn't lick food off of Yuu's face. She's right on both counts; Sakura Trick is a seinen manga, and Haruka only ate the scrap after wiping it off.
• Those Two Girls: Yuzu and Kaede fall into this because they lack the yuri to draw attention.
• Tomboy: Yuu also somehow has this kind of trait, despite being shorter than Haruka.
• 12-Episode Anime
• Two-Teacher School: Not that teachers show up often, but there's two of them, who look suspiciously like grown-up versions of Mio and Ritsu from K-On!^note The author has been making K-On! doujinshi before s/he drew professionally.
• Umbrella of Togetherness: Haruka once drew one with Yuu's and her name... on Yuu's School Swimsuit.
• Unrequited Love: Mitsuki falls for Haruka, but unfortunately has already lost to her little sister.
• UST: Yuu and Haruka, their makeout moments seem to never be enough. Its only a matter of time before they move beyond just kissing. The author of the manga has posted several extra chapters to their social media in which the two girls move very firmly beyond "just kissing".
• Visual Pun: After Kaede wordlessly laments her lack of chest in one end-of-episode short, we see this◊ title card.
• Wardrobe Malfunction: Episode 7a promises one in the title, and delivers: Mitsuki's bikini top falls off.
• Wham Line: Dropped by Kaede near the end of Episode 10-A when she was speaking with Mitsuki.
  Kaede: I've been wondering for a while now, but are you okay with that kind of stuff?
  Mitsuki: Eh?
  Kaede: Well, I understand how hard it can be to come out about something like that, but I personally wouldn't mind if they just told me.
  Mitsuki: Eh?
  Kaede: As for Yuzu... She might be surprised at first, but I think she'd accept it pretty quickly.
  Mitsuki: Um, I'm not following you here.
  Kaede: I'm talking about how Haruka and Yuu are going out.
  Mitsuki: *silence*
• Wham Shot: 11A gives us the standard kiss between Haruka and Yuu, but right afterwards it's shown that they were caught in the act.
• What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: After Mitsuki confesses to Haruka, Mitsuki realizes the Haruka doesn't know the difference between loving someone as a friend and loving someone as a couple. Later Yuu and Haruka talk about this and realize they don't really know what their relationship is, but plan on finding out together. In the manga, they get better kinda as their relationship progresses.
• Word Salad Title: Okay, sakura are vaguely relevant to the first chapter, but "trick"?
• Written Sound Effect: Clearly present in the manga, and included in the anime as part of its general copying of Hidamari Sketch's style.
• Yonkoma
• Yuri Genre: Two-thirds of the main female cast are in a relationship, and numerous other female characters have crushes on girls. There's a whole lot of it.

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