Nicole, Volumes 1 and 2 of Sakura, Saku by Io Sakisaka on a table.
Sakura, Saku – Information
Author of Story: Io Sakisaka
Chapter Count: 9 Volumes, 33 chapters
Status: Completed
Content Warnings
These content warnings do not reflect the contents of the review below; only the literary work itself.
- Harassment
Spoiler Disclaimer
This recommendation post may contain small plot spoilers for review purposes. Any major spoilers are hidden by default and are able to be revealed via click or tap.
Sakura Saku – Plot Summary
Sakura Saku is an adorable shoujo that follows high schooler Saku Fujigaya; who once experienced a life-changing event thanks to a stranger. While on the train home one day, she was feeling unwell and ended up collapsing, accidentally dropping her favorite bag!
Luckily for Saku, a stranger went out of their way to help her. She was overwhelmed by gratefulness and happiness; wishing to thank this person. Unfortunately, they only had left behind a name and a phone number, which was no longer connected once Saku finally mustered the courage to call it.
However, this special event had changed something in Saku’s heart. She became determined to help others, in hopes of providing that same overwhelmingly positive feeling she experienced.
By chance, she happens to meet a boy in her class named Haruki Sakura, who has an older brother with the same name as Saku’s mysterious savior. So, she requests Haruki’s help in meeting his brother! But, Haruki is very reluctant to set them up for some reason. This little adventure kicks off the plot for Sakura Saku!
Io Sakisaka has done it once again with yet another lovely and sweet shoujo. Every series I’ve read by this author is very cute, perfectly shoujoesque, and sweet! I enjoy seeing this author’s incredibly cute and bubbly art style; it is definitely one of my favorites! I’m so in love with the volume cover arts for Sakura Saku; they are so beautiful and colorful.
If you loved Sakisaka’s other works like Blue Haru Ride, Strobe Edge, or Love Me, Love Me Not, you should be excited for this new series! Io Sakisaka’s works including Sakura Saku all have a similar vibe, so as long as you like to stick with that, you’ll enjoy this story, too.
Sakisaka is great at creating lovely stories that show happiness in the little things. Her characters often fall in love with the act of falling in love. It’s so sweet and very heartwarming, so if you enjoy love-focused shoujo stories, definitely give this one a read.
Io Sakisaka, Volume 1 Cover Art, Sakura, Saku, Viz Media.
Why I Enjoyed Sakura Saku
One thing I enjoyed with this series, as well as Sakisaka’s other works, is that it feels very youthful and sweet. It has a high-school setting, and follows a first-crush type of love. This adorable manga has some very cute themes of kindness, friendship, and honestly throughout that just makes your heart so happy!
But in some situations, being honest can be difficult; which is something that this manga addresses very well.
The romance in Sakura Saku comes very naturally and gradually, which is very sweet and a trope that I really like. Although it is a slow burn, you can very obviously see some growing feelings pretty early on that develop in exciting ways.
The FL doesn’t take too long to sort her emotions, which is very refreshing. However, there’s definitely a plot twist that I didn’t see coming! We have to overcome some trials and challenges before a relationship can be properly formed.
I really liked the characters in Sakura Saku, too. They are all good-natured, honest, and kind. I love how easily and naturally friendships form in this story, and we even get a side-story romance! Another great aspect of this manga is that we get to see Saku grow in her friendship with the other female side character, too.
Saku is a very sweet, honest, and caring FL. She’s super cute, and I love her short hair. The ML also has a cute design and seems reliable, straightforward, and kind. I actually really like his design, since he looks kind yet also cool; due to his soft expressions and modern hairstyle. He is a cutie that has guts, so I really liked his character!
The side characters in Sakura Saku are fun, too. I was a little wary of the other FL at first, but once the manga progresses, things get way better and I actually liked her the most of all.
There’s also a side character in the friend group that adds some comedic relief, as well as another supporting character who had a more important role than I expected at first! There is a lot of great character developments and designs that made this manga so fun to read.
I know I’ve already talked about the art style, but I just wanted to discuss it a bit more. After all, art style is an incredibly important aspect of enjoying manga! Io Sakisaka’s art style is very apparent throughout each of her series, but I love that each one is slightly different from the other.
However, as with each of her other series, it feels like the epitome of romance shoujo manga; featuring the classic bubbly, soft, glittery styles and other visual representations of love and fluffiness.
Compared to the earlier work Strobe Edge, I feel like the style in Sakura Saku is a bit softer and a little more modern stylistically. Both of the characters feel a tiny bit more youthful and rounder in design compared to the author’s other series. It’s incredibly cute, and exciting to see a little variation in the art of this new series.
Io Sakisaka, Volume 2 Cover Art, Sakura, Saku, Viz Media.
Any Cons?
I have some cons for Sakura Saku. If you aren’t very fond of the usual shoujo tropes, you may not like this series. Or if you don’t like slow-burns where the main relationship takes quite a while to form, you may become impatient with this manga series!
This one’s for the slow-burn enjoyers for sure. However, as a slow-burn lover, I have to admit this manga could have been 5 to 8 chapters shorter. The ending feels just a bit too dragged out, and starts to become a bit frustrating towards the end.
This is partially because the main FL, Saku, is just a bit dense. She doesn’t seem to understand some things that happen, nor does she properly interpret what peoples’ words mean.
She can’t seem to predict others’ emotions correctly, and often avoids confrontation or communicating properly for fear of getting hurt or hurting others. She doesn’t always take the time to listen properly. This personality of hers makes Sakura Saku take a bit longer than necessary, in my opinion.
Also, there were two side characters (mostly who were involved with Haruki) that could’ve been explored a bit more; but because they weren’t, they felt a bit random and unnecessary. I wish those characters would have had more development from the beginning, so that they felt more integral to the plot of Sakura Saku.
More In-Depth Review (Warning: Spoilers!)
Sakura Saku had a lot of classic shoujo tropes in it; fake dating, love triangles, love vs. friendship troubles, the tsundere, childhood friends… to name a few. However, the way this story played out was so different than I expected!
First off, the fake dating happened so quickly, I practically got whiplash from it! I thought this would be another Strobe Edge type of plot by having a ML who is taken, but thankfully it changed very quickly with the fake dating reveal.
Next, I thought the author was leaning into the typical shoujo trope where two besties like the same guy, and one confesses first. Usually this results in a lot of angst between them all, until they decide to value their friendships regardless of who dates who, and so on.
But that wasn’t the case either; the best friend decides to give up first! However, who she gives up on was the most unexpected. I don’t think I have ever seen a shoujo that makes the second FL character fall in love with the the first FL! Hello there, bi representation! I literally sobbed at this reveal, I honestly didn’t see it coming. It made me like Sakura Saku even more!
I had even considered that maybe Kotono was still secretly in love with her ex at first, haha. I’m glad she wasn’t.
I loved this twist on the classic shoujo trope, as we get a fun challenge for the main duo but also some representation in a unique way; and I don’t think I’ve seen it done this way in a shoujo just yet.
My long-time shoujo enjoyer heart is very happy thanks to Sakura Saku. It also added a ton of humor to the story afterwards, since Kotono is a bit competitive.
I did at least see the second love triangle coming, though. I usually love tsundere character types, but Haruki’s straightforwardness and character design won overall. He’s so gutsy, but not in an annoying or bad-boy sort of way; I really like his character even though he takes a bit too long to make things official.
But because of that, we got a lovely, more natural-feeling slow-burn in Sakura Saku, so I can’t really complain, haha. Plus, they were obvious endgame!
Maybe I’m just dense, but I honestly thought that this shoujo constantly had twists that were unique to the classic shoujo tropes. Most of the time, I wasn’t able to accurately predict what would happen in Sakura Saku, which was a pleasant surprise!
However, I really just wasn’t satisfied with the ending of this manga. I really liked the Sakura Saku series, but the last and main conflict just took a bit too long to solve. The FL was irritatingly avoidant and just wouldn’t approach anything with proper communication.
I do like that the author created a scenario that allowed Haruki to get over his insecurity involving his brother, as well as reject this other character who was getting in the way. This gave him some nice character depth.
But, I really disliked the cat-and-mouse chase towards the end where Saku was finally able to receive mutual feelings, but just constantly rejected them. Luckily, this was the only thing I particularly disliked about Sakura Saku; as the rest of the story was very engaging and fun.
Final Thoughts
Sakura Saku quickly had me hooked on its wholesome plot. It is cute and sweet, with some drama; similar to how Io Sakisaka’s other mangas have been. I’m so excited to recommend another one of her works. This manga had lots of exciting, heart-thumping moments and fun developments!
It’s got the feeling of a classic romantic shoujo, but with a lot of twists that made it so engaging and fun to read. Shoujo lovers should definitely add this one to their reading list! All in all, this story will warm your heart with its cuteness and wholesomeness.
Disclaimer: Any images used for this blog are for illustrative purposes only, are not owned by me, and are under ownership of the artist or publisher.
Images Credit: Sakisaka, Io. Sakura, Saku. Viz Media, 2023.
