Sakura Kitaōji

Sakura Kitaoji (北大路さくら) is one of the eight main characters in the Data Carddass Aikatsu! game and the related anime adaption. She was one of the four girls that were first shown in the first opening for said anime; however, her official debut in the series itself was in Episode 26. The primary brand that Sakura uses is Aurora Fantasy.

As of Episode 38 of the anime, she is a member of Powapowa-Puririn, an independent idol unit consisting of herself, Otome, and Shion.

Background
Sakura comes from a famous kabuki theatre troupe family and as a result has learned many ancient Japanese arts ever since her childhood. Like the other members of her family, she has the genetic habit of breaking into theatrical performance when experiencing strong emotions known as the "Kitaōji Theater".

Personality
Sakura is a very calm, polite, and soft-spoken girl. She is very friendly and a hard worker, like Ichigo. Upon her arrival at Starlight, Ichigo was assigned to be her senpai. Since then, she and her friends have helped Sakura gain confidence in herself, and develop friendships and companionships among each other and the rest of the Starlight community. By season two, Sakura has become more confident and assertive, though she still retains some of her soft-spoken nature.

Appearance
Sakura has peridot green eyes and short pink hair that goes to the nape of her neck. Her hair is styled in a layer bob and is decorated with a flower hair clip. Her season one basic idol uniform consists of a yellow top worn under a lime green shawl, matching ruffled skirt, and brown ankle boots with red flower attachments on the cuffs. The outfit is equipped with a matching flower bracelet.

Debuting As An Idol
Sakura makes her debut in Episode 26 as a new idol. She meets up with Ichigo, the one who was assigned to help her. However, her brother, Sakon Kitaoji, is still against the idea of her being an idol. They argue for a while until he storms off. Sakura and Ichigo chat for a while about the basics of the school system before they bid farewell. The next day Sakura and Ichigo begin their training sessions and Sakura reveals that she has been training everyday since she applied to the academy. She impresses Ichigo with her stamina and mentions her desire to become an idol. She also reveals a strange talent of hers, the Kitaōji Theatre.

Later that day, Sakura is saddened by the fact that she's seemingly alone in a foreign place. Her spirits are soon lifted by Ichigo's encouraging words and she sees a display that touches her deeply. On the day of the performance, she performed Happiness on the same Earth wearing the Lime Stage Coord for the Entrance Ceremony. Though she didn't win, Sakura was happy to be on stage. To her surprise, her brother was there to watch as well. Glad he came to watch, Sakura talks about how she wasn't really alone on the stage because she had Ichigo's support.

Acquiring Her Premium Dress
Several weeks after the new school year, Johnny announces a new special audition. Whilst Ichigo and her second year friends are discussing the song for the audition, Sakura approaches them wishing them luck saying she is cheering from the sidelines. The girls are surprised she is not entering, Sakura saying she is not ready yet while Ichigo replies saying first year students are allowed to participate. Ichigo invites her to join her group, but Sakura promptly declines her offer saying there is no way she could intrude on an upperclassmen group, saying she lacks the training to match them and doesn't have a Premium dress like everyone else. Sakura still feels guilty but everyone is more than happy to have her join their group.

They all then decide it's time to pick out a brand for Sakura, with everyone recommending their favourite brands for her to use. Aoi then pulls out a magazine with an interview with Sakura, where she states her favorite brand she has loved since elementary school is Aurora Fantasy. Sakura has loved the brand since she was a child because the top designer, Green Grass used to be the author of Sakura's favorite picture book. Ichigo suggests speaking to the Headmistress and Johnny for advice, but Sakura highlights her belief that Aurora Fantasy's dresses do not suit her and would be denied a Premium. She states that even if this is the case, Sakura refuses the thought of wearing any other brand's dresses and that is why she can not participate in the audition with the 5 of them. She wishes them the best in the audition and leaves. Later in her dorm, Sakura receives a call from her brother and she discusses with him how she feels awful for how she has been disrespectful to her senior, while her brother advises Sakura to be more honest with them.

The following day, Ichigo meets up with Sakura and she promptly apologizes for her actions the day before. Ichigo tells her not to worry asking why Sakura believes she would not fit Aurora Fantasy's dresses. Sakura explains that she used to read Green Grass' book frequently, sending letters to her never receiving a single reply which led her to believe she wouldn't fit the brand. Ichigo tells her not to give up without even trying and how everyone has prepared for the audition. Aoi runs up to them saying she found an answer saying that Happy Rainbow's top designer, Makoto is friends with the top designer. Ichigo calls up Otome and gives the phone to Sakura, Otome tells her she refuses to lose to Sakura's love for Aurora Fantasy so she went to express her love of Happy Rainbow to the top designer and received a new Premium Rare Dress. Sakura then asks Otome to ask the designer about Green Grass.

Ichigo and Sakura arrive at the entrance to where Green Grass lives. Sakura says she has to go alone and what she sees is to remain a secret. She finally meets Green Grass, who happens to be two identical twin sisters. They tell her they have always wanted to meet her and how they enjoy drawing pictures but aren't good at writing letters. Instead of preparing a reply, they made a Aurora Fantasy Premium Dress for Sakura to use, greatly surprising her. Sakura realizes they have always been by her side and they hug. Sakura runs out revealing the Blooming Coord she received to Ichigo. They return to Starlight to take the Special Audition and all 6 of them pass.

Season 2
A year has passed since Ichigo has left Starlight Academy, Powapowa-Puririn has become Starlight's top unit even gaining a television program focused around them. They rose to the top because of being the most laid-back unit in Japan, with their popularity rising through word of mouth. Sakura has also changed a lot as a second year student, becoming more assertive and less timid than when she was a first year student. Amongst the Academy, Sakura is viewed as the top student in the second year. At the end of her second year, Sakura leads the second year speech to send off her seniors, nearly breaking down in tears in the middle of the speech. She performs as the representative of the returning class with the representative of the graduating class, Otome.

Season 3
During Season 3, Sakura is massively admired by her underclassmen. Many believe she is the top candidate to become the next Starlight Queen, since she is one of Starlight's top idols. She is seen to still be an active member in Powapowa-Puririn, but still maintain focus on her own individual work. For an exchange student, Miyabi Fujiwara's final concert at Starlight, she challenges Sakura to a face down concert. Sakura wins the concert by a considerable margin, and holds respect for her. It is shown Sakura is a finalist in the Starlight Queen Cup, winning the final round and becoming Queen.

Relationships

 * Ichigo Hoshimiya
 * Ichigo was Sakura's mentor when Sakura entered Starlight. Sakura holds a great respect for Ichigo and Ichigo tries her best to help Sakura in any way she can.


 * Mizuki Kanzaki
 * As explained by Sakura in her debut episode (via her Kitaōji Theater), she was inspired by Mizuki to become an idol just like how Ichigo was inspired after attending one of Mizuki's concerts.


 * Maria Himesato
 * Sakura first meets Maria when she arrived with Sora to Nandemo Bento to help her contact Green Grass. The two both love Aurora Fantasy's dresses and are good friends.


 * Otome Arisugawa
 * Otome is a fellow member of the unit Powapowa-Puririn. Sakura is often seen with Otome and Shion. Together, they do live broadcasts and host shows. Sakura and Otome are close friends; for example, she is usually the one who is able to help keep Otome in check (this is evident at the audition for the Chocopop Detectives (season 2), as well as comforting Otome when it was revealed about Ichigo's traveling to America at the end of the anime's first season).


 * Sakon Kitaoji
 * He is Sakura's older twin brother.


 * Satsuki Miwa
 * She is Sakura's roommate. They participated in the Partners Cup together.


 * Miyabi Fujiwara

Etymology
Kitaōji  (北大路)  Kita (北) means North, ō (大) means big and ji (路) means tract or road. That is, Kitaōji means "North Boulevard". It's derived from "Kitaoji Station", a train station in Kyoto.

Sakura (さくら) means cherry blossom.

Trivia

 * Her zodiac sign is Aries.
 * Her favorite foods are green tea and Japanese sweets.
 * Her least favorite food is anything spicy.
 * She shares the same seiyuu with Shizuku Hosaka.
 * Her aura is composed of pink and yellow sakura flowers.
 * When she wears her basic coord, her hair clip changes.
 * She has a tendency to address everyone with the honorific "-sama".
 * It is revealed in Episode 68 that Sakura has "friends" in her house's carp pond, named: Koi-ichi; Koi-ji; Koi-zou; Koi-shi; Koi-go; Koi-roku; Koi-shichi; Koi-hachi; Koi-kyuu; Koi-Juu. These names basically mean Carp-one to Carp-ten.
 * Sakura shares her singing voice with Maria Himesato, Kokone Kurisu, and Sora Kazesawa, the first of which she also shares the same brand.
 * She is the first 1st generation character to not have a solo performance while wearing a Premium.
 * She is the first person in Season 3 to perform in a brand coord that wasn't from their primary brand.
 * As of Episode 124, Sakura replaces Otome Arisugawa as the Starlight Queen.
 * She is 152 cm tall.

Gallery

 * Main article: Sakura Kitaōji/Image gallery.