Sakura Ogami

Sakura Ogami (大神 さくら Ōgami Sakura), nicknamed “The Ogre” online, is one of the characters featured in Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc.

Sakura has the title Ultimate Martial Artist (超高校級の「格闘家」chō kōkō kyū no “kakutōka”). She was an expert martial artist and wrestler who became a champion in an international competition held in America. As of now, her 400-win streak has yet to be broken.

Sakura was blackmailed by Monokuma into working with him, and later committed suicide In Chapter 4 in order to cease the dispute which has arose between the other students after her secret was revealed.

Sakura appeared in the light novel Danganronpa: Togami at the beginning as a minor antagonist and later an ally of Byakuya.

Appearance
Due to her having a very tall muscular build, deep voice, and decidedly fierce appearance, Sakura has often been mistaken for being a male - a prominent example being Kiyotaka Ishimaru, who realized Sakura was female only once she explicitly announced so during the first class trial. She has long white hair, reddened-dark skin, and a scar across her face. She often wore her expression in a slight frown.

Sakura donned a white sailor school uniform with ripped sleeves and bandages on her arms and legs, and a blue skirt that barely covered her extremely muscular thighs.

Personality
Contrary to what her appearance might suggest, Sakura is a quiet and levelheaded girl. She has a habit of talking in an old-fashioned, formal manner, possibly influenced by the fact that she was heir apparent to a dojo with a three-hundred-year history. She rarely loses her nerve and often sees things above any given situation. However, at times she can grow slightly impatient and upset or lose her temper completely and become extremely intense, such as when her friends get hurt or when she cannot properly train for a long period of time.

Sakura was also shown to be quite close with Aoi Asahina, most probably due to their mutual enthusiasm in athletic activities; she was visibly upset when someone had attempted to grievously harm Hina.

Likely inheriting a spirit of loyalty from her clan, Sakura also greatly revered and respected her friendship with the other students of Class 78, going as far as committing suicide in order to prevent them from turning against each other.

History
[Warning: Several spoilers follow this section!]

Prior to the Tragedy
The Ogami family had maintained their dojo for over three centuries. As a child, Sakura trained at her family's dojo everyday with her father, until one day she defeated him and had never looked back since. She was strong despite her slim and fair build.

At the time, the only opponent that Sakura could not defeat was a man named Kenshiro, who was also her love interest. Sakura promised to fight him again and had sworn to keep that memory 'buried within her heart' sometime after she had heard that Kenshiro only had six months to live, and that he had wanted Sakura to inherit the title of “strongest fighter on Earth” from him. After that, Sakura begun to build herself up heavily.

She attended Shiranui High School and was later scouted by Hope's Peak Academy as part of the 78th Class. She did not keep the memory buried as she had promised, and at one point told Class 78 about her missing Kenshiro, even receiving Makoto Naegi's encouragement at the time.

During the Tragedy
One year later, the Tragedy occurred. During the Tragedy, Jin Kirigiri, the Headmaster of the Academy, planned to seal the school building and let the students live forever inside the Academy in order to protect them from the destruction. His plan was agreed by the class, and they sealed the building together and lived peacefully inside it for a year without knowing that the Ultimate Despair members were already in their midst.

The true Ultimate Despair took away the 78th Class' school memories so they could participate in the school life of mutual killing.

Chapter 1 - Byakuya-sama is God
Sakura first appeared when Hiroyuki Ketouin's car is about to hit her, but she single-handedly stopped it by her somewhere in Prague, the capital city of Czech Republic. She was sent by Hope's Peak Academy to capture Byakuya Togami after his imposter broadcasted the World Domination Proclamation, whom she mistakenly believed the real Byakuya broadcasted it. How she managed to arrive at Prague was because she learned Shukuchi, a martial arts technique that allows the user to close the distance between themselves and their opponent instantaneously, historically described as "shortening ley lines, such that a thousand li (appx. 500km) ahead looks as if it is right before one's eyes".

As Hiroyuki attempted to flee by pressing down on the pedal to crush her, Sakura managed to stopped it with both her hands. His twin, Yuika Ketouin prepared their secret weapon and they finally escaped Sakura as they move with extreme speed using Hiroyuki's jet machine.

Prologue - Welcome to Despair
Like the rest of Class 78, Sakura was among those who were chosen to attend Hope's Peak Academy and ended up being trapped inside the school, not knowing at the time that she had already been memory-wiped of her school life experiences of the past two years.

When Makoto introduces himself, he immediately becomes fearful of her, due to her online reputation and when Sakura addressed him, she comments on how she cannot spare with him, due to his lack of muscles.

Some time shortly after the Mutual Killing incident began and most students were shown motivational videos of their personal lives, Sakura was blackmailed by Monokuma into becoming its mole, in exchange for the safety of her family dojo and members, instructed to bring about a killing incident should things begin to stabilize among the survivors.

However, even as a mole, Sakura's role had proven to be very limited; Leon Kuwata stabbed Sayaka Maizono “out of self-defense”, Mondo Owada bludgeoned Chihiro Fujisaki in a fit of uncontrolled rage, and Celestia Ludenberg turned out to be the mastermind who had Taka and Hifumi Yamada killed.

Chapter 4 - All•Star•Apologies
Some time after Celeste's execution, knowing that it was time for her to comply with Monokuma, Sakura decided that she had had enough of deceiving her friends any further and she had made up her mind to crush Monokuma's twisted games once and for all. She then confronted Monokuma in the gym, witnessed by Makoto who had just woken up from being knocked out.

Before Sakura could properly confess, however, Monokuma beat her to the punch by revealing her status as its mole, which immediately led to several animostic incidents occurring between the aloof Byakuya, the love-struck Toko Fukawa and the defensive Hina, who had desperately attempted to protect Sakura from further slander.

It was Hina's injury inflicted by Genocide Jack, that prompted Sakura to finally end things once and for all. Meaning to interpret Monokuma's instructions in the least damaging way possible, she decided that the most unobtrusive way to go about fulfilling his instructions was to commit suicide.

To that end, Sakura had her farewell letter penned in an old fashion - through the use of calligraphy.

At some unknown point of time in between this and her activities in the Recreation Room, Sakura broke the door leading to the principal's office; this would turn out to be key in allowing Kyoko Kirigiri to steal Monokuma's treasure (a key which can unlock every room in the academy) and allow her to obtain some crucial information regarding Mukuro Ikusaba, the sixteenth student.

Before her final moments, Sakura had attempted to make peace with Yasuhiro Hagakure - who had been mighty defensive after the expose - as well as Toko and Byakuya. The former two did turn up to meet her at the Recreation Room, but had either severely misinterpreted her intention (Hiro) or had been triggered into action involuntarily (Toko); Byakuya never showed up in order to play matters safe for himself.

Sakura ended up being struck twice in succession by Monokuma bottles.

Hina, who was alarmed by Sakura's injury - having previously tried dissuading Sakura from meeting the trio - was asked by Sakura to make her a bottle of protein shake. Having removed Hina from the Recreation Room, the muscular girl then locked the Rec Room door, and then downed the bottle of poison she had retrieved from the Chemistry Lab cabinet, eventually vomiting blood.

Even through the pain, Sakura died with a smile on her face, confident that her friends would not kill each other any more.

Sakura's noble sacrifice, however, was severely complicated when Monokuma switched her suicide note for a fake he had written personally; when Hina received the "dying message", she learned that Sakura had apparently taken her life out of despair for the hostile situation in the academy. This drove Hina to mislead the rest of the students in an attempt to get everybody killed as revenge for apparently pushing Sakura “beyond the edge”. However, the truth was eventually revealed, and Sakura's dying wish was fulfilled - disgusted by Monokuma's deception, the remaining students united against him, vowing to find the secrets of the academy and stop the mastermind.

Execution
Deciding Match of the Whole Galaxy - Sakura is standing in wilderness. Various space alien commanders and soldiers appear and surround her, manipulating the atmosphere. Even though Sakura successfully kicks them one after another, the enemies don't stop appearing. Eventually it becomes too cramped and she dies by the pressure of being buried. This is only described in the official Visual Fanbook.

Aoi Asahina
Hina was depicted throughout to be Sakura's very special friend. The two bonded from the very beginning over their love of sports and athletics, and are rarely seen without the other. Both are fiercely protective of each other; Hina was the only one to openly stick up for Sakura when she was accused of being the mastermind, and in turn Sakura became enraged when Toko, as Genocide Jack, cut Hina on the arm. When Sakura's suicide note is found, it is mainly addressed to Hina.

Kenshiro
Kenshiro is Sakura's boyfriend and her rival. In a Free-Time Event with Makoto, Sakura had admitted that she could not defeat Kenshiro in combat, and that he apparently only had months to live.

Presents
Obtained from the MonoMono Machine.
 * War God Talisman
 * Brand New Sarashi
 * Rose In Vitro
 * Tears of Asura
 * The Secret of Omoplata

Choices
During free time conversations, the player will occasionally be given a choice on how to respond to something that is said. These are the 'right' choices.
 * Mixed martial arts
 * Father
 * A hammer

Skills
These will aid you, usually during Class Trials.
 * Breathing Technique - The Focus Gauge recovers more quickly. Effective during the Nonstop Debate, the Hangman's Gambit, and the Bullet Time Battle. Costs 4 SP.
 * Tranquility - Completely steadies your aim. Effective during the Nonstop Debate and the Hangman's gambit. Costs 3 SP.

Quotes

 * “I am Sakura Ogami.”
 * “If we can be beaten by force, death is an outcome we will accept. That is the way of my clan. But... I never imagined my family could be defeated so easily... How... did he manage such a thing?”
 * “My post-training break is the most relaxing time of my day. The sensation of your muscles cooling down after heating up during a workout is the only true reward. No matter how many times I experience it, I never get tired of it.”
 * “Unless there are errands that I absolutely can't get out of, yes, I always do my training. If I don't, I feel restless for the rest of the day.”
 * “I don't want to just be the best in competitions. I want to be the strongest human on Earth.”
 * “I have to keep on getting stronger, because my destiny is to fight. From the day I was born, I've been fighting. Heaven sent me to live as its champion.”
 * “I was born into my family as an only daughter. Male or female doesn't matter. It's my duty to protect our legacy. And because I am a woman, I must be even stronger than if I were a man.”
 * “Some would say that a woman is incapable of becoming the strongest human alive. I want to prove them wrong.”
 * “I feel like I'm getting weaker by the day... Am I supposed to just accept that? Accept my atrophy? I... I can't do it... If something doesn't change, I'll... I'll...!”
 * “Well, I can't say I'm a huge fan of modern training techniques, which rely mainly on machinery. That's good for building muscle mass, but that doesn't necessarily translate to actual strength. More muscle is better, of course, but you also need to know how to use it. And if you're not used to it, pushing your muscles too hard can lead to injury.”
 * “In mixed martial arts, speed, agility, and endurance are all necessary parts of total body coordination. If that's your goal, you can't just focus on one aspect of your training.”
 * “For now, I should focus on training my mind... Hmm... You've taught me something today, Makoto. The importance of endurance... Sorry for making you listen to me complain... But I feel better now. I can handle this... I'm glad I talked to you. I'll find a way to repay the favor...” (to Makoto Naegi)
 * “Please, try to understand. Even I... I too have the heart of a woman...”
 * “Anyway, I shall continue my story... That's right. My lifelong rival. And... My... My first love.” (talking about Kenshiro)
 * “I'm ashamed of myself. I underestimated you. I beg your forgiveness, Makoto.” (to Makoto)
 * “I just... didn't want to be laughed at. Can you imagine? A girl like me, using the word love? And being shy about saying it is even more girly, right? I creep myself out, to be honest...”
 * “He's fighting. He's fighting an illness.” (talking about Kenshiro)
 * “He's the strongest human alive. I admit that—no, I *believe* that.”
 * “I visited him once. He'd lost so much weight. He looked like an entirely different person. But do you know what he said? He told me that I was the strongest human alive. That I had taken the title. He'd said he'd return someday to get the title back. He said I’d better not let anyone else take it. He didn't need to say the last part. I'll never give up that title, not until he gets better. And when that day comes... I will defeat Kenshiro and earn that title for real. And that's why I have to get stronger... That's my biggest reason for becoming the strongest human alive.”
 * “I think that somehow... you remind me of him. Well, in certain ways. Your build is obviously different, but you both have a strong core. You don't have to be modest. I know strength when I see it. Okay?” (to Makoto)

Creation and development
According to Kodaka Kazutaka, the writer of the Danganronpa series, Sakura was the most difficult character to design for the first game. This was due to the many differing ideas. She was decided to be an ultra-strong student, but some wanted her to be a pretty girl while some thought the character should be a man.

The character designer, Rui Komatsuzaki, designed her based on the concept of a warrior high-school girl. In fact, it's a design he had been drawing since his school days, and he always thought he'd like to use it in a game sometime.

"In order to distinguish ourselves from other adventure games, I designed many characters intentionally as if they belonged in a different game genre, and her example shows this pattern the most", Rui explains.

At first Sakura's design had black hair tied behind her head, making her look like a Nio status, but this was changed for various reasons. In the end, Rui had two design candidates - the current design and one based on a black body builder. The current design won unanimously, though Rui himself admits that really liked the body-builder design.

Trivia

 * Sakura's chest size is 51 in.
 * In flashbacks, Sakura is shown to have had a much slimmer figure.
 * The name “Oogami (大神)” can be translated as “large deity”.
 * Sakura's given name, being written in hiragana, is somewhat ironic. That is because Japanese given names written in hiragana are most commonly (though not exclusively) female, and would be intuitively identified as such - contrasting with Sakura's muscular build which made some of her classmates initially mistake her for a man.
 * Since Sakura's name (さくら) is written in the hiragana syllabary, it is impossible to understand its meaning just by reading it. However, it is safe to assume that the name is the hiragana spelling for the kanji 桜 or 櫻, which both mean "cherry" or "cherry blossom" (which is known for being very frail and fleeting, making it an ironic name for Sakura).
 * In Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, there is a large statue of Sakura in the Grape House inside the Funhouse, and Nekomaru Nidai once told Hajime Hinata that he met the person depicted in the statue once in the mountains.
 * Sakura's english voice actress, Jessica Gee-George, is actually married in real life to Leon's english voice actor, Grant George.
 * Sakura and Peko Pekoyama both used to attend Shiranui High School.