Sakura Trick

Sakura Trick (桜Trick Sakura Torikku?) is a Japanese 4-panel yuri manga series written and illustrated by Tachi. The series began serialization in Houbunsha's seinen manga magazine Manga Time Kirara Miracle! magazine from March 2011.[citation needed] A romantic comedy anime television series[1] adaptation by Studio Deen aired between January and March 2014.

Plot
Haruka Takayama and Yuu 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 time with more friends, the two decide to make their relationship special by kissing each other in secret.

Characters

 * Haruka Takayama (高山 春香 Takayama Haruka?)
 * Voiced by: Haruka Tomatsu
 * Haruka is Yuu's closest friend since junior high school. She often

pushes Yuu to her demands unknowingly (like kissing her just to keep her quiet) although Yuu begins to do it more frequently without Haruka's personal request, Haruka at times is the extremely jealous and clingy type of person as described by Yuu. Haruka harbors romantic feelings for Yuu, a reason why she is more affected by their seating arrangement than Yuu is. Haruka fantasizes about Yuu in almost every situation and is the most romantic one in the relationship.


 * Yuu Sonoda (園田 優 Sonoda Yū?)
 * Voiced by: Yuka Iguchi
 * Yuu is Haruka's closest friend since junior high school. She is the

childish one out of the two. She often acts more conservative than Haruka, but occasionally gives in to Haruka's requests. Yuu initiates that she and Haruka do something special together, in order to comfort Haruka's growing insecurity of their friendship. But what began as a way to comfort a saddened friend soon turned into something much more for the both of them. She also shares romantic feelings for Haruka. Whenever Haruka tries to make Yuu kiss her, Yuu will often act embarrassed, but occasionally she will give Haruka surprise kisses.


 * Shizuku Minami (南 しずく Minami Shizuku?)
 * Voiced by: Hiromi Igarashi
 * Haruka and Yuu's classmate. She has a generally sour look, meaning

her happy or angry expressions tend to look overblown. She also shares a romantic relationship with Kotone and has stated that she likes her.


 * Kotone Noda (野田 コトネ Noda Kotone?)
 * Voiced by: Yuka Aisaka
 * Haruka and Yuu's classmate. A bright and energetic girl. Although

she comes from a rich family and allegedly has an arranged fiancée, she is currently living with Shizuku and has romantic feelings for her. She is in a relationship with Shizuku and often initiates the kisses.


 * Kaede Ikeno (池野 楓 Ikeno Kaede?)
 * Voiced by: Mai Fuchigami
 * Haruka and Yuu's classmate and their class representative. Despite

enjoying teasing others and playing pranks on them, she is actually quite perceptive, particularly when it comes to what Haruka and Yuu might be up to. She went to middle school with Yuzu and Kotone and has two siblings; a brother and sister.


 * Yuzu Iizuka (飯塚 ゆず Iizuka Yuzu?)
 * Voiced by: Megumi Toda
 * Haruka and Yuu's classmate, who has been friends with Kaede since

elementary school. She seems oblivious to the hidden relationships around her. She has two ahoge that are reminiscent of the stem leaves of an actual yuzu and is often mistakenly called Mikan by Mitsuki.


 * Mitsuki Sonoda (園田 美月 Sonoda Mitsuki?)
 * Voiced by: Saki Fujita
 * Yuu's older sister and the school's student council president. She

is suspicious of the relationship between Haruka and Yuu and often conjures up plans with Kaede and Yuzu to catch them in the act. She develops a crush on Haruka and tends to have frequent delusions.


 * Rina Sakai (坂井 理奈 Sakai Rina?)
 * Voiced by: Yurika Endō
 * The student council vice-president and Mitsuki's classmate. She is

in love with Mitsuki, despite knowing of Mitsuki's crush on Haruka.


 * Sumi Otokawa (乙川 澄 Otokawa Sumi?)
 * Voiced by: Momo Asakura
 * A second year student who succeeds Mitsuki as student council

president after she graduates. She often tries to speak in a particular manner, ending her sentences with 'no ja', as she seems to find speaking normally embarrassing. She also has a habit of touching other girls' breasts. Her friends call her "Sumisumi".


 * Shinobu Noda (野田 シノブ Noda Shinobu?)
 * Kotone's little sister, who is often jealous of Shizuku being close

to Kotone. She seems bratty, and acts harshly to Shizuku because in the past Kotone would always abandon her to play with Shizuku.

Manga
The manga, illustrated by Tachi, began serialization in the first issue of Houbunsha's Manga Time Kirara Miracle magazine on March 16, 2011. The first tankōbon volume was released on August 27, 2012, with five volumes released as of December 25, 2014.[2]

Anime
A 12 episode anime television series adaptation of the manga series was announced in the August issue of the Manga Time Kirara Miracle! magazine.[3] The series, produced by Studio Deen and directed by Ken'ichi Ishikura with character designs by Kyūta Sakai, aired on TBS between January 9, 2014 and March 27, 2014 and was simulcast by Crunchyroll in North America.[4] 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.[5] MVM Films have licensed the series in the UK.[6]

Reception
Anime News Network's critics Rebecca Silverman and Zac Bertschy gave the first episode a rating of 3 out of 5 while Carl Kimlinger and Theron Martin gave it a 3.5 out of 5.[7] Kotaku's Richard Eisenbeis called it his "favorite anime of the [2014] winter season".[1]