Sakura Trick

The series follows Haruka Takayama and Yū Sonoda, two girls who decide to make their relationship special by kissing each other in secret. A 12-episode anime television series adaptation directed by Kenichi Ishikura and produced by Studio Deen aired between January and March 2014. For the adaptation, Ishikura focused on depicting the kissing scenes with particular detail, as well as keeping tight pacing in line with the original four-panel manga. He also evaluated the voice actors' performances and ability to portray character pairings, and had the opening and ending theme songs feature character imagery based on the lyrics. Critics generally praised the anime adaptation's characters and production value. The show's representation of lesbian relationships, visual portrayal of its characters, and overall story received more mixed reviews.

• Portal — yes

• Type — tv series • Director — Kenichi Ishikura • Producer — * Hiroyuki Kobayashi • Junichirō Tanaka • Nobumitsu Urasaki • Masashi Takatori • Eriko Aoki • Writer — Kenichi Ishikura • Music — Ryosuke Nakanishi • Studio — Studio Deen • Network — TBS, MBS, CBC, TBS Channel 1, BS-TBS • First — January 9, 2014 • Last — March 27, 2014 • Episodes — 12

• Type — manga • Author — Tachi (manga artist) • Publisher — Houbunsha • Magazine — Manga Time Kirara Miracle! • First — March 17, 2011 • Last — August 16, 2017 • Volumes — 8

• Ja Kanji — 桜Trick • Ja Romaji — Sakura Torikku • Genre — * Romantic comedy • Slice of life • Yuri

Haruka Takayama and Yū Sonoda were inseparable during middle school, but upon entering high school, they end up being seated on opposite sides of the classroom. Having to spend less time together, the two decide to make their relationship special by kissing each other in secret. As they become closer, they have to hide their intimacy from their friends while also working through their feelings for one another.

• Haruka Takayama (高山 春香, Takayama Haruka) • Haruka Tomatsu • Yū's best friend since junior high school. She often unknowingly pushes Yū to her demands, particularly for physical affection, until Yū begins to do so on her own later on. Haruka harbors romantic feelings for Yū and often fantasizes about her or gets jealous of others for being with her. She becomes the student council vice president during her third year. She and Yū become an official couple at the end of the story. • Yū Sonoda (園田 優, Sonoda Yū) • Yuka Iguchi • Haruka's best friend since junior high school. She is initially more reluctant in her displays of physical affection than Haruka, but still gives in to her requests. To comfort Haruka's growing insecurity about their friendship, Yū decides that she and Haruka will make their relationship special by kissing each other, which gradually grows into romantic feelings. She and Haruka become an official couple at the end of the story. • Kotone Noda (野田 コトネ, Noda Kotone) • Yūka Aisaka • Haruka and Yū's classmate. She is a bright and energetic girl. She comes from a rich family and many students believe she has an arranged fiancé. In reality, she lives with Shizuku and is in a relationship with her. • Shizuku Minami (南 しずく, Minami Shizuku) • Hiromi Igarashi • Haruka and Yū's classmate. She has a generally sour look, so her classmates tend to be surprised when she makes happy or angry expressions. She shares a romantic relationship with Kotone. • Kaede Ikeno (池野 楓, Ikeno Kaede) • Mai Fuchigami • Haruka and Yū's classmate and their class representative. She likes to tease others, and is particularly perceptive when it comes to what Haruka and Yū are up to. She went to middle school with Yuzu and Kotone and has a brother and sister. She becomes the student council president during her third year. Later on in the story, she develops romantic feelings for Yuzu and confesses to her, who accepts Kaede's confession. After the two become a couple, Kaede sticks closer to Yuzu and often teases her about their relationship when the other girls are around, much to Yuzu's embarrassment. • Yuzu Iizuka (飯塚 ゆず, Iizuka Yuzu) • Megumi Toda • Haruka and Yū's classmate. She has been friends with Kaede since elementary school, and is usually oblivious to the hidden relationships around her. She has two locks of hair reminiscent of the stem leaves of a yuzu fruit. She is tomboyish and athletic, and is known for her dancing ability. Yuzu accepts Kaede's feelings for her, and gets easily embarrassed when Kaede teases her about their relationship in front of others. • Mitsuki Sonoda (園田 美月, Sonoda Mitsuki) • Saki Fujita • Yū's older sister and the school's student council president. She is suspicious of Haruka and Yū 's relationship and often concocts plans with Kaede and Yuzu to catch them in the act. She develops a crush on Haruka and has frequent fantasies about them being intimate. • Sumi Otokawa (乙川 澄, Otokawa Sumi) • Momo Asakura • A second year student who succeeds Mitsuki as student council president after she graduates. She often speaks in a particular manner, ending her sentences with "no ja". Her friends call her "Sumisumi". She asks Haruka if she can be called her "little sister". • Rina Sakai (坂井 理奈, Sakai Rina) • Yurika Endō • The student council vice president and Mitsuki's classmate. She is in love with Mitsuki even after knowing of Mitsuki's crush on Haruka.

Kenichi Ishikura, the director of the anime adaptation, joined the project after being approached by Studio Deen producer Nobumitsu Urasaki. Ishikura felt that the manga's level of intimacy with its kissing scenes was unique for its time, and believed that omitting them would diminish the meaning of the work. Tachi, the manga's author, requested that at least one such scene be shown per episode.

After closely studying the original series, Ishikura decided to write the screenplay along with directing it. His scripts included extensive stage directions, which he noted was typical when adapting four-panel manga. He instructed episode writers to maintain tight pacing in order to prevent declines in visual quality caused by extended runtimes. Ishikura stated that four-panel manga expresses stories succinctly, and that the anime's tempo needed to reflect this. Ishikura described the original series as containing deep emotional themes, which he attributed to its female author. To convey these themes, he avoided overly harsh emotional portrayals and instead emphasized underlying kindness in the characters. He considered the series to be oriented towards a more female audience, which led to a focus on exploring romantic feelings rather than depicting a straightforward relationship. Ishikura stated that the characters were one of the most important aspects of the anime, with the changes in their relationships driving the plot forward. He aimed to depict all the characters in endearing ways to appeal to their fans from the original manga.

According to Ishikura, kissing scenes posed a particular challenge for the anime. The studio devoted significant resources into animating the scenes, such as by including more detailed movements and a higher number of frames than regular scenes. Despite their frequent occurrence, he ensured that no frames were reused, citing the scenes' importance to the story. Ishikura had previously worked at the animation studio Shaft, and many of his stylistic techniques, such as those involving background art, use of color, and scene layouts, came from his time there; in particular, his direction of Hidamari Sketch, another four-panel manga adaptation, influenced his approach to pacing and animation in Sakura Trick. In contrast to Hidamari Sketch, he sought to portray the series' characters in a gentler and softer manner, with the girls being much closer together. The anime made use of chibi characters, a visual element not present in the manga. The original manga often included facial expressions inside speech balloons as reaction beats, so Ishikura used chibi expressions to achieve the same effect. In general, Ishikura chose to use symbols and other shorthand in the anime's visuals to avoid overly slow animation.

During auditions, Ishikura evaluated both the actors' performances and how well they portrayed character pairings. He also asked the actors to perform kissing scenes to ensure realistic portrayals. He cast Haruka Tomatsu as Haruka Takayama because of his opinion of her wide emotional range.

Much of the imagery used in the opening and ending theme songs was derived from the songs' lyrics. For example, the opening theme, whose initial lyrics roughly translate to "kiss kiss kiss", begins with a kissing scene. In addition, the vocals transition from individual character duets to all six singing together, which Ishikura depicted through a group dance sequence.

Written and illustrated by Tachi (manga artist), Sakura Trick was serialized in Houbunsha's seinen manga magazine Manga Time Kirara Miracle! from March 17, 2011, to August 16, 2017. Houbunsha collected its chapters in eight tankōbon volumes, released from August 27, 2012, to September 27, 2017.

A 12-episode anime television series adaptation was announced in the August issue of the Manga Time Kirara Miracle! magazine. The series, produced by Studio Deen and directed by Kenichi Ishikura with character designs by Kyūta Sakai, aired on TBS between January 9 and March 27, 2014, and was simulcast by Crunchyroll in North America. The opening theme is "Won (*3*) Chu KissMe!" by Haruka Tomatsu, Yuka Iguchi, Yuka Aisaka, Hiromi Igarashi, Mai Fuchigami, and Megumi Toda, whilst the ending theme is "Kiss (and) Love" by Tomatsu and Iguchi. The ending theme for episode eight is "Sakura Sweet Kiss" (桜Sweet Kiss) by Saki Fujita, Momo Asakura, and Yurika Endō. The series is licensed in North America by Sentai Filmworks. MVM Films have licensed the series in the UK.

Episode table

Characters from the series appear alongside other Manga Time Kirara characters in the 2017 mobile RPG Kirara Fantasia.