Delicate Blossom :: Sakuno Ryuuzaki
I'm very sorry for how late this essay is, but after my PC's death I lost a lot of the info I had gathered so I had to re-write the whole "paper" of sorts. >.> Nevermind, here it is, and I hope it makes justice to this little girl.
Title: Delicate Blossom
Author: Maria
E-mail: mizunoakashi [at] gmail [dot] com
Character: Sakuno Ryuuzaki
Fandom: Prince of Tennis/Tennis no Oujisama
Spoilers: For the whole anime series, and some bits of the manga (specially Genius 241 and 306).
Courtyard of dreams: The Story
Prince of Tennis (in Japanese, "Tennis no Oujisama") is a shonen sport manga published in Shueisha's Shonen Jump, written by Takeshi Konomi. It has been going for several years, reaching around 330 manga chapters and more than 30 manga tankoubons. It also inspired a 178-episodes long TV series, two movies ("The First Game" and "Atobe kara no Okurimono") and a series of 13 OAV's.
Since it depicts the lives and struggles of 12-year-old tennis prodigy Ryoma Echizen, his teammates in the Seishun Gakuen aka Seigaku tennis club and their rivals from other schools, the girls of the series have a relatively limited spotlight (even more so in the manga), and out of all of them, the closest to a leading lady in the series is the young pigtailed girl we'll be talking about... Miss Ryuuzaki Sakuno. We'll dedicate this fan essay to her, though; we'll see who this lady is, what role she plays, and how she interacts with those in this world...
Button cherry in the garden: The girl and her story
Name: Sakuno Ryuuzaki
Age: 12 going to 13.
Birthday: January 14
Blood type: A
Nationality: Japanese
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Reddish brown
Japanese V.A: Mikako Takahashi
English V.A: Cindy Robinson
Spanish V.A: Mercedes Olarte
Sakuno's first apparition is in the first episode of Prince of Tennis, either manga or anime. In fact, she's the first more-or-less important character who appears there, even before the Prince himself. We catch our first glimpse of her as she's in her way to the Kakinokizaka tennis courts, where she's supposed to meet her grandmother; as she's in her seat, a highschooler starts carelessly swinging his racket around, VERY close to Sakuno's face, and then Ryoma Echizen stops them since they were too noisy.
Later, Sakuno is seen again in the station, waiting for Grandma. Ryoma goes to her asking for directions that could be useful to reach Kakinokizaka, Sakuno gives them to him... and according to her grandmother, tennis coach Sumire Ryuzaki, she gives him the wrong ones. When they meet again, she tries to make up to Ryoma by buying him drinks and making a little talk, yet the highschooler who was humiliated by Ryoma in the train comes in with a vengeance. He starts harrassing the kids, until Ryoma settles this with a tennis game; there, Sakuno and Sumire are first-hand witnesses of Ryoma's abilities.
Sakuno finds Ryoma later in the Seigaku tennis grounds. She has just signed up for the tennis club and, along with her friend Tomoka, are about to go home, but then the reporter and photographer Saori Shiiba asks them about the tennis ground, where Ryoma is currently having an unofficial match with his soon-to-be sempai and close friend Momoshiro. After Ryuzaki-sensei stops the match, Sakuno tries to congratulate Ryoma... but he doesn't recognize her at the girl whom he recently met, and didn't remember her until he was going home.
From then on, Sakuno is seen more or less regularly in the surrounding of Ryoma and the Seigaku team, cheering on them, helping them, interacting with Ryoma and practising her tennis, all of this with varying results. While she's not exactly the most important character plot-wise, she's a loyal and devoted friend; along with characters like An, Tomoka and the first year students, she pretty much represents the view of the normal persons who aren't exactly in the battlefield, yet still can voice their opinions on the matter and cheer on the real fighters to give them support.
My two selves - Anime and manga portrayals
While the basics of Sakuno's personality (shy, sweet, insecure, dedicated) are pretty much untouched, the anime and manga portrayals of her have quirks of their own. Here are the most basic outlines:
* Anime!Sakuno. Her biggest plus is that she stays around much longer than her manga self, so we can see more of her as the story unfurls. She has one BIG con, however: there's more than necessary emphasis on her flaws, like her clumsiness (she fails at tennis more than her manga self), her shyness (she usually hides behind Tomoka, her other friends or even her racket), some degree of recklessness (like in episode 20 when she tried to pull Ryoma off-courts and stop the matche with Shinji, not considering the rules or Ryoma's own feelings about the matter) or her insecurity (she angsts from time to time about Seigaku, Ryoma or herself). This is the Sakuno we're more familiarized with, and the one who is more bashed by some parts of the fandom.
* Manga!Sakuno. Unlike her anime self, this Sakuno appears much less during the storyline, showing up less in matches and training. However, she has more confidence on herself (while still insecure at times, she angsts much less), more tennis skill (her seniors in the girl tennis team have high hopes to have her in the regular line-up sooner or later), and more maturity. One example is Genius 241 ("Ryoma's girlfriend?!") with Kotoha from Tsubakikawa; while Tomoka freaked out and expressed her distrust of Kotoha right on, Sakuno preferred to keep it to herself (this slightly affected her daily routine, but she still kept her cool), and confront Ryoma about it only after training. Lots of people who don't like Sakuno in the anime say they've warmed up to her thanks to the manga.
In the end, which portrayal of Sakuno is the best? The more shy, but also more-present lady of the anime, or the less-spotted yet more mature girl of the manga? You decide, it's your choice. Just don't bash the portrayal you don't like, mmmmkay?
The princess and her court: Relationships
Since Sakuno isn't the only PoT character in existence, here are those she interacts the most with!
Her Prince: Ryoma Echizen
Ever since he appeared, Sakuno has taken up Ryoma Echizen as her role-model and crush. Sakuno's thoughts and feelings for Ryoma, whic can be seen as a mixture of typical little girl crush with idol worship, are pretty clear in both anime and manga; he is the reason why she takes up tennis as her hobby, joins the girls tennis team and hangs around the Seigaku boys team, striking chords inside of her that she didn't really pay attention to up until then. It can be seen as the beginning of deeper romantic feelings, a mere crush that might fade away sooner or later, or 'the' push that a shy and insecure person like Sakuno needed to start developing on her own; Sakuno is quite left-behind in the current storyline, so there's still room to speculate.
What does Ryoma think of Sakuno? Hm, he's a very one-track-mind kind of person to whom tennis is *life* ever since he learnt to walk, so currently he doesn't seem to give Sakuno a lot of importance. Yes, she exists, yes she's the granddaughter of his coach and one of his friends, but... hey, tennis is here. This doesn't mean he doesn't even know she exists, or that he hates her or finds her annoying; since she's in his circle of friends, Ryoma has coached Sakuno in tennis and defended her from bullies, and doesn't object to her presence. This isn't the biggest foundation for a Sakuno/Ryoma canon romance, but it's still proof that he does at least consider her a person more than worthy of his friendship.
Foster mother: Sumire Ryuuzaki
Unlike the major part of the Seigaku people, Sakuno's parents are never ever mentioned in any PoT media. The more immediate relative she has is her grandmother, the maths teacher and tennis coach in Seishun Gakuen aka Seigaku: Sumire Ryuuzaki. Due to this, it's not too much of a stretch to think that Sakuno's parents might be either dead or divorced in bad terms (like in the case of Shinobu Maehara from Love Hina, who lived in Hinata-sou because she couldn't take the divorce of her parents), therefore Sumire is the closest to a parent model that Sakuno has.
Sumire is a rather work-a-holic person with big responsabilities, therefore she can't take care of Sakuno 24/7 and at times Sakuno is pretty much on her own. It's clear, though, that Sumire does try to keep an eye on her granddaughter; some cute hints are how she taught Sakuno to cook ("Karupin's adventure") and her arrangement of the outing with Ryoma that Nanjiro and Momo mistook as a full date ("Ryoma's Holiday").
Partner in crime: Tomoka Osakada
Sakuno's closest friend, Tomoka is a pig-tailed bundle of energy and cheer, as well as the most colorful of the first year students. It looks like she and Sakuno have known each other at least since elementary school, since they were seen together already the first day of school and Tomoka said something by the lines of "hey, Sakuno, I've never seen you intrested in tennis until now..." It's rare to see Sakuno without Tomoka around to push her into action, cheer for Seigaku and be her tomboyish, impulsive self, which is quite a good foil for Sakuno's shy and quiet one.
Role model: An Tachibana
Sakuno and An's proper meeting was during the Fudomine v/s Seigaku matches. Up until then, Sakuno had seen An around once or twice, and in the anime even exchanged some words with her, but they never really interacted until Sakuno was harrassed by a bully and An was the first one to step in her defense, even withstanding physical harm for her sake until Momoshiro came to help them both.
We don't see Sakuno and An interact much in the storyline, and it's a shame since when they do, it's really cute. An is a sort-of mix between Sakuno's femininity and Tomoka's boyishness; Sakuno could learn a lot from her example. On the other hand, An's violent tendences can easily land her in trouble; Sakuno-chan can become a calming influence on her, then, pulling her towards a nice medium.
Believe in us: The Seigaku team
Since her grandmother and her crush are in the Seigaku team as coach and first-year wonder respectively, it's normal for Sakuno to hang around them. After all, they're among the most popular students at Seigaku, they're skilled at her sport of choice, and the one who directs them is her direct relative and caretaker.
We see Sakuno and Tomoka regularly at their matches (more in the anime), usually joined by the freshmen trio (Horio, Katsuo, Kachirou) and doing their best to support Ryoma and the team in their own ways. If Ryoma isn't around, also, they'll usually try relaying him news on the state of the matches. If they're in camp, Sakuno and her friends will be their managers, handling more down to Earth matters like cooking, organization, etc.
Some fans find Sakuno (and her friends)'s role in this irrelevant, but as once Shiiba said, 'players need all the support they can get, and that support proves vital in the more critical moments'. Not to mention that Ryoma's best friend in the team Momoshiro Takeshi is pretty much a Ryoma/Sakuno fanboy, too... xD
Newfound friend: Kintarou Touyama
As of Genius 306, Sakuno has gained a new friend in the person of Kintarou Touyama, the first-year ace from the Shitenhouji team that calls Ryoma "Koshimae" due to the his surname's kanjis, travels from Osaka to Tokyo with Horio's biker cousin Junpei, thrashes a rich and snobbish guy to defend said companion, and is even more energetic and impulsive than Tomoka. Their meeting was also very far from anything normal... you don't meet a guy by having him falling on you, chasing after the thief that almost run over you and your tennis-ball-shaped rice balls, and then *eat* said rice balls and find them delicious, eh?
Yet, that is what happened with Sakuno and Kintarou. There has been lots of speculation about this being a possible start for a Ryoma/Sakuno/Kintarou love triangle with both boys after Sakuno, but so far it has remained in the undefined realm. We'll have to see what Konomi wants them to be.
Because I'm a person, too: Defense from bashing.
One of the reasons why I signed up for a Sakuno essay is to show some love for her, which she *really* needs. Since several of the reasons that Sakuno haters give to justify their hate of her are based on poorly-done assumptions/generalizations or dowright in *fanon*, well, let's rebuke them
I hate Sakuno because she's stupid and immature!
Sakuno has low self-esteem, can be clingy and tends to over-react, but nothing says she's bitchy, pushy, or predjuiced. She's just a little girl - she'll most likely drop those flaws as soon as she starts to mature.
Sakuno interfers with my OTP! How dare she!
A character has more to him/her than just being in romantic love, me says. Therefore, there's more to Sakuno than being Ryoma's True Love, which she isn't since currently Ryoma only sees her as his friend and she hasn't been able to even tell him that she likes him.
Even if Ryoma and Sakuno *do* get together... well, they could still break up. We're talking about 12/13 year old kids. It's NOT likely that their feelings will stay unchanged though all their lives. There's always the possiblity of Sakuno growing out of her crush on Ryoma before she even tells him about it and coming to like him only as a friend. If this doesn't happen and Ryoma ever comes to love someone else romantically, I doubt she'd try to break 'em up. She'd sulk for a while, then would prefer to keep Ryoma's friendship, rather than losing him because he didn't love her that way.
So, you people shouldn't be taking all your frustration on Sakuno-chan. Writing her out without bashing her isn't *that* hard to do.
Prince of Tennis Het sucks, therefore Sakuno sucks too!
1) I ship Tezuka/Fuji, Fuji/Kawamura, Sanada/Yukimura, Atobe/Kabaji, Atobe/Oshitari, Shishido/Ohtori, Oishi/Eiji, Inui/Renji, Chitose/Tachibana, Shinji/Kamio and Ryoma/Kevin... along with Ryoma/Sakuno, An/Kamio, Inoue/Nanako, Rinko/Nanjirou, An/Momo, Tomoka/Horio and Shizuka from the Gakuensai games/*everyone*. And I even like An/Sakuno and Tomoka/Sakuno. That proves you wrong; people *can* like het *and* yaoi/yuri at the same time.
2) Isn't Ryoma a little too... young and too much into tennis, to *really* care and know if he's gay *right NOW*? I'd rather give the boy *time* to decide if he likes girls, boys, or both. I hope he turns out to be bi when he grows up, though, but that's my personal preference. :P
Sakuno is just too sugary cute to like! She should have a "stronger" side and kick ass like An, Tomo-chan or the boys!
Shyness and sweetness are nothing to be inherently ashamed of. And also, more or less aggressivity are NOT equivalent to strenght; if that's a character's only tool, they'll come off more as rude and cruel than as really strong. Nothing says a girl will lose her spunk or worth only for liking pastel colors or archetypically girly things; just look at An, who's very assertive yet loves to wear dresses, pink barettes and even sexy tops. Even Miyuki and Tomoka, who are the closest to the archetype of tomboy in this series, wear their hair in pigtails. :P
Sakuno is a potential or total Canon Mary Sue!
A Mary Sue/Gary Stu isn't defined merely by good looks, attitude or perfection, but by how s/he affects the canon storyline and the role s/he and his/her flaws pay. Sakuno is secondary in relation to the plot, therefore she doesn't steal the spotlight from Ryoma and Seigaku; she also doesn't get scot free for her chronic shyness, clumsiness or tendence to let her emotions dominate her, so she doesn't bend canon at her will. If you want a character hitting the Sue profile in Prince of Tennis, Sakuno does NOT fit, so don't accuse her falsely of being a Sue just to make her look bad.
Speak my mind: Sakuno and me.
I'm the kind of fangirl who's always had a soft spot for the characters that are more or less ignored or bashed in the fandoms I'm in, and tend to be more forgiving towards them. In Gundam Wing, I adore Relena and the girls; in Gundam SEED, my favorite is Meer (the Meer essay in this comm is mine, after all *pimps*); in Fushigi Yuugi, I liked Miaka better than the Seishi... Well, you can guess what followed later.
I liked Sakuno pretty much from the start, being a female who has been through some experiences that somewhat resemble those of Sakuno. Being shy, being klutzy, trying to help others, even using pigtails when I had longer hair... yeah, I did such things, and admit them. Therefore, if I hated and bashed Sakuno for what she does, I'd be a complete hypocrite. So, I preferred to watch the girl more or less closely to reach a more definitive conclusion, and as I did I learnt to appreciate the kid not only because I saw myself on her, but because of her own self. I'm a sucker for girls who are shy and sweet and emotionally-challenged but try to work on these issues and improve without losing what makes them who they are. :)
Fairytales in the new century: Fanfics and Links
Sakuno-centered fanwork isn't exactly ultra easy to find, since in fics she's either ignored, bashed (specially common in Mary Sues or bad yaoi fics) or reduced to a vapid, sappy, Ryoma-obsessed token love intrest. Still, since not everything is lost, here we have some fics:
* The Prince of Romance, by Freya aka bobbissimo.
* No better place to be, by helga_b.
* Blushed and giggles, by cairnsy. Note: it has also Golden Pair aka Eiji/Oishi slash.
* lonelymaiden's lovely An/Sakuno drabbles for 30_kisses
* My own Sakuno centered fictions, principally of the Ryoma/Sakuno (het) and An/Sakuno (shoujo-ai) types.
And here are some Sakuno-centered web-places:
* Sakuno Ryuzaki - in Wikipedia.
* Haru no Ao. The Sakuno fanlisting.
* Prince and Princess. The Sakuno/Ryoma fanlisting.
* Crap Art at Nettaiga.Org. Sakuno-centered fanart, with several pairings.
* feux d'artifice Small RyoSaku shrine, still growing but promising.
* _ryosaku The Ryoma/Sakuno community at LJ.
* love_salad For Sakuno x other people pairings.
* court_ladies. Comm dedicated to the Prince of Tennis female characters.
* garlandgraves's awesome Tenipuri Het Manifesto, with an extremely cute RyoSaku section.
* RyoSaku L. Squad Productions, a RyoSaku archive.
Have fun! <3
ETA: Typos fixed, defense re-worded. Thanks. ;)
Title: Delicate Blossom
Author: Maria
E-mail: mizunoakashi [at] gmail [dot] com
Character: Sakuno Ryuuzaki
Fandom: Prince of Tennis/Tennis no Oujisama
Spoilers: For the whole anime series, and some bits of the manga (specially Genius 241 and 306).
Courtyard of dreams: The Story
Prince of Tennis (in Japanese, "Tennis no Oujisama") is a shonen sport manga published in Shueisha's Shonen Jump, written by Takeshi Konomi. It has been going for several years, reaching around 330 manga chapters and more than 30 manga tankoubons. It also inspired a 178-episodes long TV series, two movies ("The First Game" and "Atobe kara no Okurimono") and a series of 13 OAV's.
Since it depicts the lives and struggles of 12-year-old tennis prodigy Ryoma Echizen, his teammates in the Seishun Gakuen aka Seigaku tennis club and their rivals from other schools, the girls of the series have a relatively limited spotlight (even more so in the manga), and out of all of them, the closest to a leading lady in the series is the young pigtailed girl we'll be talking about... Miss Ryuuzaki Sakuno. We'll dedicate this fan essay to her, though; we'll see who this lady is, what role she plays, and how she interacts with those in this world...
Button cherry in the garden: The girl and her story
Name: Sakuno Ryuuzaki
Age: 12 going to 13.
Birthday: January 14
Blood type: A
Nationality: Japanese
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Reddish brown
Japanese V.A: Mikako Takahashi
English V.A: Cindy Robinson
Spanish V.A: Mercedes Olarte
Sakuno's first apparition is in the first episode of Prince of Tennis, either manga or anime. In fact, she's the first more-or-less important character who appears there, even before the Prince himself. We catch our first glimpse of her as she's in her way to the Kakinokizaka tennis courts, where she's supposed to meet her grandmother; as she's in her seat, a highschooler starts carelessly swinging his racket around, VERY close to Sakuno's face, and then Ryoma Echizen stops them since they were too noisy.
Later, Sakuno is seen again in the station, waiting for Grandma. Ryoma goes to her asking for directions that could be useful to reach Kakinokizaka, Sakuno gives them to him... and according to her grandmother, tennis coach Sumire Ryuzaki, she gives him the wrong ones. When they meet again, she tries to make up to Ryoma by buying him drinks and making a little talk, yet the highschooler who was humiliated by Ryoma in the train comes in with a vengeance. He starts harrassing the kids, until Ryoma settles this with a tennis game; there, Sakuno and Sumire are first-hand witnesses of Ryoma's abilities.
Sakuno finds Ryoma later in the Seigaku tennis grounds. She has just signed up for the tennis club and, along with her friend Tomoka, are about to go home, but then the reporter and photographer Saori Shiiba asks them about the tennis ground, where Ryoma is currently having an unofficial match with his soon-to-be sempai and close friend Momoshiro. After Ryuzaki-sensei stops the match, Sakuno tries to congratulate Ryoma... but he doesn't recognize her at the girl whom he recently met, and didn't remember her until he was going home.
From then on, Sakuno is seen more or less regularly in the surrounding of Ryoma and the Seigaku team, cheering on them, helping them, interacting with Ryoma and practising her tennis, all of this with varying results. While she's not exactly the most important character plot-wise, she's a loyal and devoted friend; along with characters like An, Tomoka and the first year students, she pretty much represents the view of the normal persons who aren't exactly in the battlefield, yet still can voice their opinions on the matter and cheer on the real fighters to give them support.
My two selves - Anime and manga portrayals
While the basics of Sakuno's personality (shy, sweet, insecure, dedicated) are pretty much untouched, the anime and manga portrayals of her have quirks of their own. Here are the most basic outlines:
* Anime!Sakuno. Her biggest plus is that she stays around much longer than her manga self, so we can see more of her as the story unfurls. She has one BIG con, however: there's more than necessary emphasis on her flaws, like her clumsiness (she fails at tennis more than her manga self), her shyness (she usually hides behind Tomoka, her other friends or even her racket), some degree of recklessness (like in episode 20 when she tried to pull Ryoma off-courts and stop the matche with Shinji, not considering the rules or Ryoma's own feelings about the matter) or her insecurity (she angsts from time to time about Seigaku, Ryoma or herself). This is the Sakuno we're more familiarized with, and the one who is more bashed by some parts of the fandom.
* Manga!Sakuno. Unlike her anime self, this Sakuno appears much less during the storyline, showing up less in matches and training. However, she has more confidence on herself (while still insecure at times, she angsts much less), more tennis skill (her seniors in the girl tennis team have high hopes to have her in the regular line-up sooner or later), and more maturity. One example is Genius 241 ("Ryoma's girlfriend?!") with Kotoha from Tsubakikawa; while Tomoka freaked out and expressed her distrust of Kotoha right on, Sakuno preferred to keep it to herself (this slightly affected her daily routine, but she still kept her cool), and confront Ryoma about it only after training. Lots of people who don't like Sakuno in the anime say they've warmed up to her thanks to the manga.
In the end, which portrayal of Sakuno is the best? The more shy, but also more-present lady of the anime, or the less-spotted yet more mature girl of the manga? You decide, it's your choice. Just don't bash the portrayal you don't like, mmmmkay?
The princess and her court: Relationships
Since Sakuno isn't the only PoT character in existence, here are those she interacts the most with!
Her Prince: Ryoma Echizen
Ever since he appeared, Sakuno has taken up Ryoma Echizen as her role-model and crush. Sakuno's thoughts and feelings for Ryoma, whic can be seen as a mixture of typical little girl crush with idol worship, are pretty clear in both anime and manga; he is the reason why she takes up tennis as her hobby, joins the girls tennis team and hangs around the Seigaku boys team, striking chords inside of her that she didn't really pay attention to up until then. It can be seen as the beginning of deeper romantic feelings, a mere crush that might fade away sooner or later, or 'the' push that a shy and insecure person like Sakuno needed to start developing on her own; Sakuno is quite left-behind in the current storyline, so there's still room to speculate.
What does Ryoma think of Sakuno? Hm, he's a very one-track-mind kind of person to whom tennis is *life* ever since he learnt to walk, so currently he doesn't seem to give Sakuno a lot of importance. Yes, she exists, yes she's the granddaughter of his coach and one of his friends, but... hey, tennis is here. This doesn't mean he doesn't even know she exists, or that he hates her or finds her annoying; since she's in his circle of friends, Ryoma has coached Sakuno in tennis and defended her from bullies, and doesn't object to her presence. This isn't the biggest foundation for a Sakuno/Ryoma canon romance, but it's still proof that he does at least consider her a person more than worthy of his friendship.
Foster mother: Sumire Ryuuzaki
Unlike the major part of the Seigaku people, Sakuno's parents are never ever mentioned in any PoT media. The more immediate relative she has is her grandmother, the maths teacher and tennis coach in Seishun Gakuen aka Seigaku: Sumire Ryuuzaki. Due to this, it's not too much of a stretch to think that Sakuno's parents might be either dead or divorced in bad terms (like in the case of Shinobu Maehara from Love Hina, who lived in Hinata-sou because she couldn't take the divorce of her parents), therefore Sumire is the closest to a parent model that Sakuno has.
Sumire is a rather work-a-holic person with big responsabilities, therefore she can't take care of Sakuno 24/7 and at times Sakuno is pretty much on her own. It's clear, though, that Sumire does try to keep an eye on her granddaughter; some cute hints are how she taught Sakuno to cook ("Karupin's adventure") and her arrangement of the outing with Ryoma that Nanjiro and Momo mistook as a full date ("Ryoma's Holiday").
Partner in crime: Tomoka Osakada
Sakuno's closest friend, Tomoka is a pig-tailed bundle of energy and cheer, as well as the most colorful of the first year students. It looks like she and Sakuno have known each other at least since elementary school, since they were seen together already the first day of school and Tomoka said something by the lines of "hey, Sakuno, I've never seen you intrested in tennis until now..." It's rare to see Sakuno without Tomoka around to push her into action, cheer for Seigaku and be her tomboyish, impulsive self, which is quite a good foil for Sakuno's shy and quiet one.
Role model: An Tachibana
Sakuno and An's proper meeting was during the Fudomine v/s Seigaku matches. Up until then, Sakuno had seen An around once or twice, and in the anime even exchanged some words with her, but they never really interacted until Sakuno was harrassed by a bully and An was the first one to step in her defense, even withstanding physical harm for her sake until Momoshiro came to help them both.
We don't see Sakuno and An interact much in the storyline, and it's a shame since when they do, it's really cute. An is a sort-of mix between Sakuno's femininity and Tomoka's boyishness; Sakuno could learn a lot from her example. On the other hand, An's violent tendences can easily land her in trouble; Sakuno-chan can become a calming influence on her, then, pulling her towards a nice medium.
Believe in us: The Seigaku team
Since her grandmother and her crush are in the Seigaku team as coach and first-year wonder respectively, it's normal for Sakuno to hang around them. After all, they're among the most popular students at Seigaku, they're skilled at her sport of choice, and the one who directs them is her direct relative and caretaker.
We see Sakuno and Tomoka regularly at their matches (more in the anime), usually joined by the freshmen trio (Horio, Katsuo, Kachirou) and doing their best to support Ryoma and the team in their own ways. If Ryoma isn't around, also, they'll usually try relaying him news on the state of the matches. If they're in camp, Sakuno and her friends will be their managers, handling more down to Earth matters like cooking, organization, etc.
Some fans find Sakuno (and her friends)'s role in this irrelevant, but as once Shiiba said, 'players need all the support they can get, and that support proves vital in the more critical moments'. Not to mention that Ryoma's best friend in the team Momoshiro Takeshi is pretty much a Ryoma/Sakuno fanboy, too... xD
Newfound friend: Kintarou Touyama
As of Genius 306, Sakuno has gained a new friend in the person of Kintarou Touyama, the first-year ace from the Shitenhouji team that calls Ryoma "Koshimae" due to the his surname's kanjis, travels from Osaka to Tokyo with Horio's biker cousin Junpei, thrashes a rich and snobbish guy to defend said companion, and is even more energetic and impulsive than Tomoka. Their meeting was also very far from anything normal... you don't meet a guy by having him falling on you, chasing after the thief that almost run over you and your tennis-ball-shaped rice balls, and then *eat* said rice balls and find them delicious, eh?
Yet, that is what happened with Sakuno and Kintarou. There has been lots of speculation about this being a possible start for a Ryoma/Sakuno/Kintarou love triangle with both boys after Sakuno, but so far it has remained in the undefined realm. We'll have to see what Konomi wants them to be.
Because I'm a person, too: Defense from bashing.
One of the reasons why I signed up for a Sakuno essay is to show some love for her, which she *really* needs. Since several of the reasons that Sakuno haters give to justify their hate of her are based on poorly-done assumptions/generalizations or dowright in *fanon*, well, let's rebuke them
I hate Sakuno because she's stupid and immature!
Sakuno has low self-esteem, can be clingy and tends to over-react, but nothing says she's bitchy, pushy, or predjuiced. She's just a little girl - she'll most likely drop those flaws as soon as she starts to mature.
Sakuno interfers with my OTP! How dare she!
A character has more to him/her than just being in romantic love, me says. Therefore, there's more to Sakuno than being Ryoma's True Love, which she isn't since currently Ryoma only sees her as his friend and she hasn't been able to even tell him that she likes him.
Even if Ryoma and Sakuno *do* get together... well, they could still break up. We're talking about 12/13 year old kids. It's NOT likely that their feelings will stay unchanged though all their lives. There's always the possiblity of Sakuno growing out of her crush on Ryoma before she even tells him about it and coming to like him only as a friend. If this doesn't happen and Ryoma ever comes to love someone else romantically, I doubt she'd try to break 'em up. She'd sulk for a while, then would prefer to keep Ryoma's friendship, rather than losing him because he didn't love her that way.
So, you people shouldn't be taking all your frustration on Sakuno-chan. Writing her out without bashing her isn't *that* hard to do.
Prince of Tennis Het sucks, therefore Sakuno sucks too!
1) I ship Tezuka/Fuji, Fuji/Kawamura, Sanada/Yukimura, Atobe/Kabaji, Atobe/Oshitari, Shishido/Ohtori, Oishi/Eiji, Inui/Renji, Chitose/Tachibana, Shinji/Kamio and Ryoma/Kevin... along with Ryoma/Sakuno, An/Kamio, Inoue/Nanako, Rinko/Nanjirou, An/Momo, Tomoka/Horio and Shizuka from the Gakuensai games/*everyone*. And I even like An/Sakuno and Tomoka/Sakuno. That proves you wrong; people *can* like het *and* yaoi/yuri at the same time.
2) Isn't Ryoma a little too... young and too much into tennis, to *really* care and know if he's gay *right NOW*? I'd rather give the boy *time* to decide if he likes girls, boys, or both. I hope he turns out to be bi when he grows up, though, but that's my personal preference. :P
Sakuno is just too sugary cute to like! She should have a "stronger" side and kick ass like An, Tomo-chan or the boys!
Shyness and sweetness are nothing to be inherently ashamed of. And also, more or less aggressivity are NOT equivalent to strenght; if that's a character's only tool, they'll come off more as rude and cruel than as really strong. Nothing says a girl will lose her spunk or worth only for liking pastel colors or archetypically girly things; just look at An, who's very assertive yet loves to wear dresses, pink barettes and even sexy tops. Even Miyuki and Tomoka, who are the closest to the archetype of tomboy in this series, wear their hair in pigtails. :P
Sakuno is a potential or total Canon Mary Sue!
A Mary Sue/Gary Stu isn't defined merely by good looks, attitude or perfection, but by how s/he affects the canon storyline and the role s/he and his/her flaws pay. Sakuno is secondary in relation to the plot, therefore she doesn't steal the spotlight from Ryoma and Seigaku; she also doesn't get scot free for her chronic shyness, clumsiness or tendence to let her emotions dominate her, so she doesn't bend canon at her will. If you want a character hitting the Sue profile in Prince of Tennis, Sakuno does NOT fit, so don't accuse her falsely of being a Sue just to make her look bad.
Speak my mind: Sakuno and me.
I'm the kind of fangirl who's always had a soft spot for the characters that are more or less ignored or bashed in the fandoms I'm in, and tend to be more forgiving towards them. In Gundam Wing, I adore Relena and the girls; in Gundam SEED, my favorite is Meer (the Meer essay in this comm is mine, after all *pimps*); in Fushigi Yuugi, I liked Miaka better than the Seishi... Well, you can guess what followed later.
I liked Sakuno pretty much from the start, being a female who has been through some experiences that somewhat resemble those of Sakuno. Being shy, being klutzy, trying to help others, even using pigtails when I had longer hair... yeah, I did such things, and admit them. Therefore, if I hated and bashed Sakuno for what she does, I'd be a complete hypocrite. So, I preferred to watch the girl more or less closely to reach a more definitive conclusion, and as I did I learnt to appreciate the kid not only because I saw myself on her, but because of her own self. I'm a sucker for girls who are shy and sweet and emotionally-challenged but try to work on these issues and improve without losing what makes them who they are. :)
Fairytales in the new century: Fanfics and Links
Sakuno-centered fanwork isn't exactly ultra easy to find, since in fics she's either ignored, bashed (specially common in Mary Sues or bad yaoi fics) or reduced to a vapid, sappy, Ryoma-obsessed token love intrest. Still, since not everything is lost, here we have some fics:
* The Prince of Romance, by Freya aka bobbissimo.
* No better place to be, by helga_b.
* Blushed and giggles, by cairnsy. Note: it has also Golden Pair aka Eiji/Oishi slash.
* lonelymaiden's lovely An/Sakuno drabbles for 30_kisses
* My own Sakuno centered fictions, principally of the Ryoma/Sakuno (het) and An/Sakuno (shoujo-ai) types.
And here are some Sakuno-centered web-places:
* Sakuno Ryuzaki - in Wikipedia.
* Haru no Ao. The Sakuno fanlisting.
* Prince and Princess. The Sakuno/Ryoma fanlisting.
* Crap Art at Nettaiga.Org. Sakuno-centered fanart, with several pairings.
* feux d'artifice Small RyoSaku shrine, still growing but promising.
* _ryosaku The Ryoma/Sakuno community at LJ.
* love_salad For Sakuno x other people pairings.
* court_ladies. Comm dedicated to the Prince of Tennis female characters.
* garlandgraves's awesome Tenipuri Het Manifesto, with an extremely cute RyoSaku section.
* RyoSaku L. Squad Productions, a RyoSaku archive.
Have fun! <3
ETA: Typos fixed, defense re-worded. Thanks. ;)