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Sakura Kasugano (春日野 (かすがの) さくら?) is a 16-year-old (as of Alpha 3) Japanese schoolgirl who has an intense fascination with Ryu. She's 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 red bloomers underneath. She wears a red top under her uniform, sparring gloves, and a white headband.
Sakura first appeared in Street Fighter Alpha 2, where she began to participate in street fighting after watching Ryu win the first World Warrior tournament. She was searching for him 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 couldn't 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.
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.
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 wasn't 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 smacked Bison away, forcing him to retreat. He told Sakura then he wasn't ready to train her and fight a rematch with her yet, and walked off, Sakura watching him go.
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 characters, however, she can control the size of her Hadouken and throw larger Hadoukens that sacrifice range and execution speed for size (up to 3 times larger). 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 (however, when performed with the strongest Punch button, the attack can hit 6 times as she's 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.
Key Battles
| Battle | Opponent |
|---|---|
| Street Fighter Alpha 2 Mid-Boss | Sagat |
| Street Fighter Alpha 2 Boss | Ryu |
| Street Fighter Alpha 3 5th Fight | E. Honda |
| Street Fighter Alpha 3 9th Fight | Ryu |
| Street Fighter Alpha 3 Boss | M. Bison |