Sakura Shinguji

''"Sakura" redirects here. For other characters using the name "Sakura", see Sakura (disambiguation).''

Sakura Shinguji (真宮寺 さくら Shinguji Sakura) is the main heroine in Sakura Wars 1-4. She is a member of the Teikoku Kagekidan's Hanagumi.

Appearance
Sakura has a long dark-blue hair tied in a high ponytail with a red ribbon and light-brown eyes.

She wears a pink kimono over a white gii with a purple sash wrapped around her waist, red hakama pants, white socks, black shoes, and brown fingerless gloves.

Personality
Sakura is kind, gentle and polite who can be somewhat clumsy and naive, but she has a bright and cheerful personality with a strong sense of justice and she constantly gets jealous whenever she catches Ichiro Ogami talking with another girl.

Being the newest member of the Flower Division wasn't easy for the naive newcomer. Sakura had to overcome her inexperience and prove herself to her comrades in order to gain the group's acceptance. In the end, however, she proves herself a loyal friend and her definite worth as an important asset of the Flower Division- both on the stage and on the battlefield.

Sakura Wars
Sakura Shinguji is the first girl the player sees in the game. Ichiro Ogami meets her in a park and she shows him the way to the Grand Imperial Theater.

In Manchester's Great Collapse!?, her character episode, we learn that she has a strong fear of lightning.

Throughout the rest of the game, the player has the choice to choose her as Ogami's girlfriend. If she is chosen, in the ending cutscene she leaves a letter to Ogami stating she is going home and she boards a train. After Ogami receives the letter, he takes Kohran's motorcycle and chases Sakura's train. As she is sitting down, Sakura sees Ogami and suddenly stops the train and jumps into Ogami's arms. She then apologizes to Ogami for leaving and they kiss.

Sakura Wars 2: Thou Shalt Not Die
Again, the player can choose Sakura as their love interest.

Sakura Wars 3: Is Paris Burning?
Sakura and the hero travel to Paris to meet Ogami. During her brief stay in Paris, she gets into a misunderstanding about Ogami with the Paris Combat Revue member Erica Fontaine.

Sakura Wars V: So Long, My Love
In 1928, Sakura approaches Shinjiro Taiga who is surprised to see a legendary actress from the Imperial Combat Revue. She takes him to the Grand Imperial Theater where the Imperial Combat Revue quells evil within the hearts of all citizens through the magic of song and dance. Both arrive at the Theater to meet up with Shinjiro' s uncle Ichiro who is the current commander of the Imperial Combat Revue. Sakura remains at Ichiro's side when he tells his nephew that he is assigned to join the New York Combat Revue's Star Division in America.

New Sakura Wars
10 years prior to the game, Sakura and her division, along with the combined efforts of the Paris and New York Revue, fought during the Great Kouma War to defend Toyko from destruction at the hands of Sotetsu Genan and a powerful archdemon. In an effort to protect the city, she along with her allies (except for Sumire Kanzaki, whose dwindling spirit energy has been completely drained by that point), used the 'Imperial Sword' to seal themselves and the archdemon into a shadow world version of Tokyo. At some point earlier before the operation, she saved the young Sakura Amamiya from a demon and indirectly inspired the child to follow in her footsteps.

Around the time of Yasha's broadcast at the opening ceremony of the World Revue Games, Amamiya assumed her true identity was Sakura Shinguji behind the mask after recognizing her voice. Sumire, now the current commander of the Imperial Combat Revue, refused to accept that Yasha is her as she believed her friend would not have fallen so easily. Sumire then revealed to the new Flower Division of the operation Shinguji and her allies undertook in the battle 10 years ago.

By the time of Yasha's attack on the Imperial Revue Theatre, Amamiya attempted to fight her one-on-one but was outmatched by a signature move used by Shinguji. This left Amamiya depressed afterward as she had no choice but to believe that her idol and savior is now Yasha, who now works to bring back the archdemon.

In a final confrontation with Yasha that ended with only Seijuro Kamiyama and Amamiya as the sole survivors of the Flower Division, her mask had fallen and revealed her to have demonic eyes. Finding out that Yasha is only a puppet pretending to be her, Amamiya took no effort into slaying her in a final duel. After Yasha's body disintegrate, a tied piece of hair drops onto the ground, implied to be how Yasha was created with Shinguji's appearance.

While Seijuro and Amamiya were temporarily stuck in the Tokyo battle of 10 years ago, Amamiya went and saved her child self from a demon. She then realized that whom she assumed was Shinguji saving her was actually her grown-up self all along that inspired her to become who she is today.

As Kamiyama and Amamiya were returning in their spiricle strikers through the void towards the present, Amamiya was being drawn towards the archdemon's hand. Unable to escape, the archdemon's hand dispersed into cherry blossom petals before it could grab her. The real Sakura Shinguji then appears before Amamiya in a vision and parted with her words that there is much left to do for the 'stage' awaiting her, by which the latter tearfully remarked that she saved her after all.

By the time Sotetsu Genan was close to breaking the seal on Shadow Tokyo, a burst of light and flower petals cleared the sky. The petals, imbued with Shinguji's spiritual energy, revived the members of the Flower Division that fell against Yasha and reinvigorated the exhausted members of the Shanghai, London, and Berlin combat revue for their final battle. Genan resentfully recognizes the light as her and took this as an act of her meddling in his plans once more.

Sakura Taisen: Ouka Kenran
Sakura Shinguji is a samurai hero as a child in this OVA. As she grows older she develops her super robot and fighting strength, and Sakura enters the Teikoku Kagekidan.

Sakura Taisen: Gouka Kenran
Sakura plays a minor role in this OVA. She only plays a major role in the first episode, where she stops Goh Hinogami from killing Maria. Together, they destroy the Robot and later defeat the madman controlling it.

By the end of the OVA, Sakura along with the entire group hurries to a dock to bid Ohgami and Rafale farewell as he travels to Paris.

Sakura Wars (TV Series)
In this alternate storyline, Sakura is the primary protagonist instead of Ogami. Sakura develops her powers and confidence in this TV series as she and the Troupe battle demons attacking the Imperial Capital.

Sakura Wars: The Movie
Sakura and the Imperial Flower Combat Troupe must stop an insane American French mayor from destroying Tokyo.

Sakura Taisen: Sumire
As much the other members, Sakura is also saddened and worried about Sumire's retirement. But after Sumire's words of encouragement for her best friend and being appointed by the same Sumire as her only one successor, she firmly takes strengh from Sumire's wish. Sumire's encouragement was, ironically, mirrored from Sakura some time later during the Great Kouma War that antecipated the events of Shin Sakura Taisen.

In the manga
In the manga, Ogami is the main character and Sakura is the one who leads him to the Imperial Theater.

Hanagumi Taisen Columns
Sakura is a playable character in Hanagumi Taisen Columns and its sequel.

Sakura Taisen V Episode 0
Sakura is a Sercet Character in Sakura Taisen V Episode 0 with your Koubu.

Chain Chronicle
Sakura is one of the playable character alongside Ichiro Ogami, Sumire Kanzaki, Iris Chateaubriand, Kohran Li, Kanna Kirishima, Orihime Soletta, Reni Milchstraße, and Maria Tachibana as part of collab with the francise.

Project X Zone
Sakura is one of the playable Sega characters in the tactical role-playing game Project X Zone. She is paired with Ogami.

Project X Zone 2
Sakura is one of the playable Sega characters in the tactical role-playing game Project X Zone 2. She is paired with Gemini Sunrise.

Granblue Fantasy
Sakura is one of the playable Sakura Wars characters alongside Ichiro Ogami, Erica Fontaine, Gemini Sunrise and Shinjiro Taiga.

To Aru Majutsu no Index
Sakura also appears as a playable character in "To Aru Majutsu no Index MMO" as part of a collab with the franchise.

Star Ocean: Anamnesis
Sakura appears as a playable character in "Star Ocean: Anamnesis" as part of a collab with the franchise.

Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight: RE Live
Sakura appears as a playable character in "Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight: RE Live" alongside Erica Fontaine and Gemini Sunrise as part of a collab event celebrating 25 years of the Sakura Wars's franchise.

Super Robot Wars 30
Sakura will appear as one of the playable Sakura Wars characters alongside Ichiro Ogami, Erica Fontaine, Gemini Sunrise and Shinjiro Taiga in "Super Robot Wars 30" as part of DLC 1. Sakura pilots her Koubu Nishiki from Sakura Wars 4.

Etymology

 * The name Sakura means "cherry blossom" (さくら).
 * Sakura's surname Shinguji means "real, genuine" (真) (shin), "temple, shrine, palace" (宮) (gu) and "temple" (寺) (ji).

Seiyuu

 * Sakura's seiyuu is the versatile Chisa Yokoyama, who has played such prominent roles as Ryoko in Martian Successor Nadesico, Chiaki Enno in Kishin Douji Zenki and Lt. Noin in Gundam Wing, but is probably best known for her role as Sasami in Tenchi Muyo.
 * As mentioned above, but not forgetting, the very same Chisa Yokoyama also performs her character in real life in various stage plays of Sakura Taisen(On groups or even solo presentations), being a proeminent character in events even in the actual days. This is a reflection of Chisa's emotional attachment to the character.
 * Her English-language opposite in the Sakura Wars 2 OVA is Katherine Catmull, who has lent her voice previously to such titles as Queen Emeraldas and Samurai X.

Trivia

 * At 2020, during SEGA's 60th anniversary month event, Sakura Shinguji earned the 3rd place at the most important SEGA character in Japan, only losing to Opa-Opa(2nd Place) and Sonic The Hedgehog(1st Place)
 * Despite her enormous success and popularity, she has yet to appear in any SEGA All-Stars game. She was considered to be a playable character at Sonic and All-Stars Racing with her Koubu, but was discarded due to potential similarities with another player veichles.
 * Speaking of that subject, Sakura Shinguji is one of the few (If not the only) SEGA character(Or even her whole homeland franchise) that never interacted with Sonic The Hedgehog(In any media or any character from such series, unlike certain SEGA heroes did, like Akira Yuki and Jacky Bryant in All-Stars Racing or even Bark the Polar Bear and Bean at Fighters Megamix) in any crossover media, although her rising popularity can even rivals the SEGA blue hedgehog mascot in Japan, which makes some fans believe that someday they will meet each other in a crossover adventure.
 * She appeared as a Virtua Fighter character in the Sega Hard Girl anime series, at episode 2, fighting against Dreamcast, Mega Drive and Saturn.