桜Trick

SAKURA TRICK

ANIME

STATUS
COMPLETE
EPISODES
12
RELEASE
March 28, 2014
LENGTH
24 min

DESCRIPTION

Haruka and Yuu have been best friends forever and they've always sat next to each other in class since… well, since they were just girls in junior high anyway. But on their first day of high school, they're stunned to learn that the new seating plan has them on opposite sides of the classroom! So, since everyone knows that long distance relationships won't work unless the parties involved put extra effort into it, they decide they need to do something extra special to permanently seal their friendship. However, deciding to kiss each other awakens a whole new level of feelings, and it doesn't help that some of their classmates seem to be 'involved" in similar circumstances. So what's a girl to do when her best girl friend suddenly seems more like a girlfriend? It's a life lesson that the school curriculum isn't normally prepared to teach, except maybe in French class, and our two young heroines are about to get a private education you'll never forget!

(Source: Sentai Filmworks)

CAST

Haruka Takayama
Haruka Tomatsu
Yuu Sonoda
Yuka Iguchi
Mitsuki Sonoda
Saki Fujita
Kaede Ikeno
Mai Fuchigami
Kotone Noda
Yuuka Aisaka
Shizuku Minami
Hiromi Igarashi
Yuzu Iizuka
Megumi Toda
Sumi Otokawa
Momo Asakura
Rina Sakai
Yurika Endou

EPISODES

Dubbed

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RELATED TO SAKURA TRICK

MANGA ComedySakura Trick

REVIEWS

Kovu
75/100
Cute girls kissing and not much else.
Cute girls kissing and not much else. For some people, I guess that's enough.

When this anime first came out, I was extremely excited. Being a fan of yuri and not having many good animes to satisfy, Sakura Trick seemed like the first real big anime for the genre. Hoping for a fully fleshed out story with yuri seemed like a stretch, and sadly we did not get that here, but it seemed to make up for it in other aspects.

So, what's Sakura Trick got to offer?

We follow Haruka and Yuu's story, how they handle their attraction to one another both emotionally and physically (mostly physically), and how they try and hide their relationship from their friends (which there's no point to since everyone is kind of gay here). They are very sure about their feelings for one another, no subtext here. They make this clear through dialogue and numerous romantic scenes, and if you're a sucker like me it really does make you feel a little fuzzy inside.

Althought it's really sweet, silly and maybe a little ridiculous at times, it never truly goes "anywhere". Typical slice of life but with lesbians. Very cutesy OST, some of the tunes got stuck in my head. Most characters are likeable but the show focuses on Haruka and Yuu, so don't worry, if you like those two they'll be stealing the spotlight most of the time. It's got goofy moments, heartwarming moments, wtf moments and hot moments, the whole shebang.

I'd say some of the scenes have rewatch quality, but overall, it's just a sweet anime you'll probably want to try at least once.

However, if the first two episodes don't interest you, the rest won't. The show lets you know what it's about right from the start.

Pros:
Pretty art-style
Good, cutesy music
Cute girls
Kissing
Cute girls kissing (eachother!)

Cons:
As it's a slice of life, nothing major happens
Things can seem repetitive at times

My bias score: 7.5/10
Otherwise: 6/10

For a yuri anime, it's one of the best. Definitely something I recommend to a yuri fan.
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SnovyTimmy
80/100
My Favorite Yuri Anime
The anime adaptation of Sakura Trick is very close to the manga template, with each episode covering two, sometimes three, chapters exactly with a few nice extras. Depending on the viewer, this can be considered good or bad, like most things in life. Explaining the appeal of Sakura Trick can take a while, but it is very easy to understand. It is more than a series with cute and sexy girls kissing a lot. Sakura Trick tells a light-hearted, yet serious story of first love/young love. Sakura Trick skips the process of two people getting to know each other and instead focuses on the progressing relationship and the growth of the girls' feelings for each other. It still uses classic formulas, but it focuses attention on the already established relationship(s), mainly Haruka and Yuu's.

Haruka and Yuu's relationship begins as one of "best friends with benefits", but as the series progresses their feelings for each other become stronger and stronger. Haruka is in love with Yuu from day one, but it doesn't take long for Yuu to develop her own feelings as well. Each episode shows a progression in their relationship, no matter how simple or mundane their activity, from empty classrooms to shopping together. Their kissing also plays a central role in the plot, as each kiss shows the two becoming more comfortable with each other. Their first kiss shows inexperience and as they get further their kisses become more sensual. However, they do not cross the line.
Despite all the girls following an "anime girl stereotype", all the couples' interactions feel natural and believable. This is the key to a good yuri rom-com. There can be silly moments here and there, but as far as the interactions go, the viewer has to believe that the girls really care about each other. That's the key and Sakura Trick has done it very well.
Although I have written a lot about Haruka and Yuu's relationship, there is a second important couple in the series with their own developing romance in Kotone and Shizuku. They have a slightly more dramatic relationship. Unfortunately, their relationship is really secondary as they don't get as much focus as fans would have hoped. They have several great, hard-hitting moments together, but they definitely could have used more. What we saw of them was pretty good. The manga doesn't cover their story as much as you'd like, so it's not the anime writers' fault.
Back to the first crush/love issue. The series, as mentioned, presents this romance in a light-hearted yet believable way. Early on in Haruka and Yuu's relationship, it is clear that they are friends rather than lovers. The show creates a sense of exploration in the realm of the first crush. What does it feel like to be with the person you like? What kind of thoughts go through the minds of both people? Do they both understand what it means to be in such a relationship? Are they ready to take the next step? All these questions and more go through the couples and the viewers as the series continues.
Mitsuki Sonoda, Yuu's older sister is the unofficial third main character of Sakura Trick. The episodes where she has a lot of screen time are important, both because of her role as older sister to her inexperienced lesbian younger sister, and because of her own blossoming feelings. Her perspective is that of a girl who is slowly learning what it is like to be who she is becoming and accepting that path, so her role is not a waste.
Lastly we have the "dynamic duo" of the series, Yuzu and Kaede. Yuzu is the straight girl and the one trying the hardest to stay mentally sane. Kaede is a fun girl with very sharp eyes and senses. Apart from being the "subtext", Kaede is a particularly good observer.
The Sakura Trick soundtrack is not an Academy Awards masterpiece, but it fills my soul with absolute joy when I hear most of the tracks in this show. If you look for the lyrics of OP and ED, you will see that they are love songs. The presentation and animation style are like an updated Hidamari skit.

Overall, Sakura Trick exceeded my expectations. For yuri fans who like both everyday life and light-hearted casual stories whose romantic content can be taken seriously, this series is definitely worth watching. Viewers who are very sensitive to fanservice in any form, but are still curious, would be better off picking up the manga.
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Groenboys
60/100
a yuri anime which most interesting part is its kissing scenes. it is also the only truly interesting part
Something that has always fascinated me was yuri. People have such a passion for this genre and bring it up all the time. I wanted to know what this genre was capable of. That's why I watched Citrus. A friend recommended me this anime as a way to screw with me. It did. Awful storyline, awful characters and awful first episodes. I was exhausted after watching Citrus, but I knew that there was more to this genre and didn't give up hope. After dabbling in a few other yuri's I came across Sakura Trick, an anime that had a premise of girls kissing each other (which rarely happens in other anime). After finishing the anime, I can definitely say that they got the kissing part at least right. Does it deliver on other fronts?

Let's begin with what you see right away: The animation. The color pallet is very bright and soft, often having a spring vibe. Nothing too interesting or special, but still nice to look at. The animations are okay, the backgrounds are nothing noteworthy and the expressions are what you would expect of a high school anime. It is basic stuff. What is noteworthy are the symbol scenes. Sometimes between scenes there is a brief scene transition animation that shows what is happening. For example: when Yuu gets closer to Haruka a brief animation appears showing Yuu's flower symbol moving closer to Haruka's flower symbol before it cuts to the next scene. These scenes can sometimes help getting a better understanding of what is going on, other times they are just repeating things which already were obvious. It's a neat thing nonetheless.

Great, I was able talk a 140+ words paragraph on how the animation is just average. The same thing goes for the OST. The opening and ending songs are nice to listen to, but aren't noteworthy beyond that. I can't remember much about the other songs in the anime, except the one that plays during in the emotional scenes. That song is cute and surprisingly emotional.

Now we get to what I consider the most important aspects of an anime: The story and the characters. The story begins with Haruka and Yuu on the first day of high school. They are really close friends and love each other dearly, but now they only got 3 years before they go to different colleges, so they both set out to get the most out of their time together. So that's when they decide as a way to cherish this period in their lives to have a kiss. A very passionate kiss at that. Then a few days later they kiss again. Then another few days later they kiss again. And again. And again. And again. Their friendship turns into a full-fledged lesbian relationship. Now it is their job to keep this relationship alive and keep it a secret from others. The story is pretty original for an anime, but is inherently nothing that special and is just kind of dull.

The character cast consists of 7 characters. The two you are going to see the most of are Haruka and Yuu. Haruka is the raging lesbian. Every time she sees Yuu do anything or sees two girls do something gay she gets extremely... happy (to put it lightly). Yuu is the child. She looks like a child and acts like one, but she never struck me as annoying, which are I am very grateful for.

Then there are five other side characters. Shizuku is the quiet one. She doesn't speak up a lot and is kinda shoehorned into the cast. She is in a relationship with Kotone, the big sister (personality wise). She is very responsible and teases Shizuku a lot. I enjoyed their relationship and how it played out, but there was not enough time devoted to them which makes me question why have time devoted to them at all, except for that they then have another lesbian couple and so they can tease the viewers with the third ''lesbian'' couple, Kaede and Yuzu. These two characters have basically the same personality (the friendly bro's). Their only difference are their characters designs and I have to admit I like Yuzu's design with the cute cat ears. The last character is the actual big sister of Yuu, Mitsuki, the closet loser. She very dependable on the outside, but in reality she is very nervous and gets quickly jealous.

Is it complaining time? It is complaining time.

In the first episode Haruka and Yuu meet the rest of cast and decide that they are friends. So now they all are friends because they say they are. Character development? Missed the train. The character development takes longer than usual and it makes the first few episodes frustrating to watch. That is disregarding the fact that first half even without the late character development generally worse is than the second: Less story, less conflict, less excitement. So if you are not immediately invested in the premise from get go your first impressions will not be good.

Another problem I have is that the humor is crap. The anime only got a few chuckles out of me in its 12 episode series. The humor boils down to characters making puns and the music stopping like you are stopping a record player to follow up with a lame punch line. It is hard to express my distaste, but you have to see this for yourself if you what to get a better understanding of what I mean.

So with these two big problems and some other smaller problems (like character similarities and average aesthetics), you have an anime that is nothing special and doesn't succeed in its most crucial moments. Does the anime have any redeeming qualities? Yes it has: The kiss scenes. These scenes play out as simple as the title: The characters just kiss. Even with that, I can't help but really like these scenes. They have tons and tons of passion and are generally really well animated. The buildup is also really good too and it feels you genuinely deserve to watch these scenes after what they went through.

Sakura Trick was an interesting watch. It is mediocre to the core with a boring first half, slightly above average character cast and bad humor, but the kiss scenes are just nice enough for me to enjoy it. I encourage you all to check it out if you just want to have an anime where girls kiss. If you want to watch something that has actually more things going on then just kissing, then go watch Kaguya-sama or something.

(Review originally made in September of 2018)
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