Street Fighter: Sakura Ganbaru!

Street Fighter: Sakura Ganbaru!
	Cover from the first volume of the mangaStreet Fighter: Sakura Ganbaru!,as published byUDON
さくらがんばる!
Genre	Martial arts
Manga
Written by	Masahiko Nakahira
Published by	Shinseisha (tankōbon); Shueisha
English publisher	UDON
Demographic	Shōnen
Original run	1996–1997
Volumes	2

Street Fighter: Sakura Ganbaru!(さくらがんばる!,Sakura Ganbaru!,"Sakura Gives it Her Best!" )is amangaseries written and illustrated by Masahiko Nakahira. The story followsSakura Kasuganoin her quest to become a street fighter and meetRyu.

Characters

Sakura Kasugano(Ngày xuân dã さくら,Kasugano Sakura): The main character of this story. Introduced in Nakahira'sStreet Fighter AlphaVol. 2, Sakura becomes obsessed with the world ofstreet fightingas well as becoming Ryu's self-proclaimed "No. 1 fan". While young and inexperienced at fighting, Sakura displays great physical ability as well as a strong aptitude for learning fighting techniques, recreating Ryu'sHadouken,Shoryuken,andTatsumaki Senpuukyakuafter only seeing them a few times (albeit Sakura's versions are highly modified and arguably weaker).

Tsukushi Kasugano(Ngày xuân dã つくし,Kasugano Tsukushi): Sakura's grouchy and irritable younger brother. Tsukushi is obsessed with playing video games and is seen playingFinal FightandStreet Fighter II(against none other thanBlankahimself) in the story. Sakura makes her street fighting debut against a very large student who stole Tsukushi's friend's copy ofFinal Fight.He can also be seen in the background of Sakura's stage inStreet Fighter Alpha 2playing video games inside the house.

Kei Chitose(Ngàn tuế けい,Chitose Kei): Sakura's best friend. While she is your average schoolgirl (into boys and clothes while utterly opposed to Sakura's hobby of street fighting), she (reluctantly) accompanies Sakura on her quest to become the greatest street fighter.

Dan Hibiki(Hỏa dẫn đạn,Hibiki Dan): Sakura's self-proclaimed teacher. While still a comical blowhard, Dan is actually depicted to be a capable fighter in this manga, although he can still be easily defeated by more intimidating fighters such as Balrog or Zangief. After Sakura's meeting withSagat,he stays behind as she moves on, challenging Sagat and declaring that he's there to avenge his father. The fight is never seen, and the outcome remains unknown.

Karin Kanzuki(Thần nguyệt かりん,Kanzuki Karin): Karin is the heir to the super-rich Kanzuki family (whose compound stretches across 200 miles), yet attends the local high school to "observe the lifestyles of the less fortunate". Following her family's code, "In all things, be victorious", Karin challenges Sakura to a match and loses, thus leading Karin to instigate a fighting tournament across the prefecture ofSetagaya.Sakura Ganbaru!is actually Karin's first appearance in anyStreet Fightermedia, later becoming a playable character inStreet Fighter Alpha 3.

Shibazaki(Sài kỳ): An employee of the Kanzuki family, and Karin's personal steward. He drives her to and from school, arranges her meals (she won't eat school cafeteria food), does background research on anyone she takes interest in (even straying into the TMI territory), and other odd jobs. While concerned for her welfare, especially in regards to her interest in street fighting, he is nonetheless in awe of her abilities as a martial artist and as the heir of the Kanzuki zaibatsu.

Ken Masters(ケン·マスターズ,Ken Masutāzu): Secretly entering the tournament under the alias of a young girl by the name of "Aoki" (each tournament participant carries a badge which sends tracking information to the Kanzukizaibatsu,Ken supplied false data). Ken Masters makes short work of his opponents, defeating many including Dan and Karin. His final opponent is Sakura, who, much to everyone's surprise (especially Ken's), gives him a very tough fight. However he defeats her and wins the tournament.

Ryu(リュウ,Ryū): Sakura's idol. After rescuing Sakura fromBisonin Volume 2 of theStreet Fighter Alphamanga, Sakura is determined to meet Ryu to have a match with him. Towards the end of the Volume 2, Sakura finally finds him and challenges him to a fight, the end of which is never seen, though its implied that either Ryu won or it was a draw, though the former is most likely. At the very end, he and Ken appear before an older Sakura, now a gym teacher (which Ken comments as being "so like her" ), and the two begin to spar.

Volumes

Sakura Ganbaru!has been released intankōbonandkanzenbanformats.

Tankōbon

ISBN 4-88199-326-7(Released in February 1997)
ISBN 4-88199-366-6(Released in August 1997)

The kanzenban (ISBN 978-4087820645) was published byShueishain January 2004. It was followed by a larger-format re-edition in April 2007 (ISBN 978-4081093885).

Sakura Ganbaru!was also released in English byUdon Entertainmentin a translation of the tankōbon edition, released in September 2007. These editions had slightly edited covers, altering Sakura's skirt so that herbloomerswere no longer visible, as they were on the Japanese editions.

References

External links

Street Fighter: Sakura Ganbaru!(manga) atAnime News Network's encyclopedia