Sakura Kinomoto is the main character of the anime we all know and love, Card Captor Sakura! :D Cheerful, optimistic, cute, and full of spark, Sakura is a character who is always very much liked by all the people around her. Though at first glance she might not stand out in a crowd of people, her amiable personality is the reason that she is very popular. Very kind-hearted and caring, she hates for her family and friends to get hurt. Sakura was a normal 4th grader going to school with her best friend and living with her father and brother; Little did she know that she would soon be on a very dangerous mission to collect all the Clow Cards.

Sakura is a very popular girl at her school. She makes friends very easily and is not the kind of person to make enemies with others. She is especially good at gymnastics and sports, her favorite subject being P.E. Since she doesn't have a mother, Sakura is also very good with the chores around the house and very responsible for someone her age. She and her brother Touya always split up the chores, since her father is a college professor and doesn't have too much time on his hands. Sakura knows how to cook very well, since most of the time the cooking is also left to her, and she always finishes her chores and duties on time. If something happens with the Clow Cards and she isn't able to do her assignments, then she always makes a deal with Touya, asking him to do her chores this time around, and she pays him back by doing something else for him. Sakura also never pretends to be innocent when she's the one to blame in certain situations.

For example, Sakura and Tomoyo were visiting her father, Fujitaka-sensei at the college he worked to bring him a boxed lunch. He was preparing for a very important talk, so he never really had the time to sleep, make food, or eat well, for that matter. So Sakura and Tomoyo decided to help him out a little bit. Unfortunately, about a day before his deadline, the Sleep card struck at the college that Fujitaka-sensei was working at and put everyone to sleep. Sakura finally caught the card after chasing it, but while she was trying to catch the card, she messed up her father's whole study and broke his computer, erasing all of his work. It wasn't really her fault, since the cards made the mess, but she felt really bad and took the blame herself and did as much as she possibly could to help her father after that. As you can see, Sakura's quite a responsible fourth grader.

When Sakura first found out about the Clow Cards and saw Kero-chan, she wasn't too shocked about the whole situation. In fact, she took things rather smoothly. Even Kero-chan said that she was cool, and that she didn't faint or something like he was expecting her to do. Instead of running away or fainting, Sakura grabbed Kero-chan and said, "What's with this talking and moving stuffed animal?! Where are the batteries?!" and after Kero-chan told her about the Clow Cards, Sakura refused to be a Card Captor. After much prompting, and a little sneaky trick from Kero-chan, he got her to make the contract with the Sealing Wand, making Sakura a Card Captor.

Card Captor Sakura's first job was very soon after Sakura made the contract with the Sealing Wand. A huge gust of wind blew out from Sakura's window, and Kero-chan identified the wind as the Fly card. It was in the shape of a giant white bird, and it was flying through Tokyo, making huge gusts of wind that were messing up the city. Sakura and Kero-chan rushed outside, Sakura wearing her roller blades, and Kero-chan told her to release the Sealing Wand just like he showed her. Sakura then got the key that she was wearing around her neck, chanted, "Key which hides the powers of darkness... Show your true power before me. Under the contract, Sakura commands you. Release!!" and the key grew and turned into the Sealing Wand.

Unlike other magical girls, Sakura is anything but ditzy and whiny. Instead of whining or crying about the Clow Card situation, Sakura immediately tried to think of a plan to catch the Fly card. She didn't have much time to think, since the bird kept flying back and forth over Sakura and Kero-chan until it started to come down towards them. Sakura and Kero-chan started running away down the road, with the huge bird following them. Kero-chan yelled at Sakura to do something, and the situation seemed bleak for the two, but then Sakura got an idea. She skated up sideways on the wall right next to the road and jumped up on top of the bird, hanging on to its back. After Sakura managed to secure her position by holding on to the bird's feathers, the bird started to fly back into the sky. Sakura threw the Windy card in front of her, said, "Wind, become the chains that bind, Windy!" and hit the Windy card with the Sealing Wand. A magic circle glowed underneath Sakura and the Windy emerged, surrounding and tying the bird up. Sakura jumped off of the bird, skated out behind it, and said, "Return to your rightful form. Clow Card!!" She swung the Sealing Wand down, and the bird was sucked into its rightful form.

Sakura is very quick to act on her feet, and the fact that she's really good at sports helps her out even more in her quest to find the Clow Cards. Sakura, however, is rather sensitive and very trusting, so she can be hurt very easily. When Shaolan came into the picture in Episode 8 ("Sakura's Rival Appears!") he insulted Sakura and made her self-confidence drop dramatically. He commented that she barely knew anything about the Clow Cards, called Kero-chan a "stuffed animal," told Sakura that she was not good enough to be a Card Captor, and declared that he would get all of the Clow Cards himself. Sakura was very hurt by his words, and it was obvious because she became really quiet and her cheerful nature dissipated for a while.

Sakura is not afraid of the Clow Cards, but that does not make her completely fearless. She's only fearless of the Clow Cards because she "knows what they are." If there's one thing that can freak Sakura out completely, it's the unknown. Sakura is scared to death by ghosts. When she was little, Touya always told her that he could see ghosts. This probably scared her out of her mind, and left this current phobia behind. She once told Kero-chan that she's afraid of ghosts because she doesn't know their intentions or what they are. She's not afraid of the Clow Cards because she knows what they're up to and can figure out what each Clow Card is.

Always together, Sakura's best friend is Tomoyo. Tomoyo thinks Sakura is the cutest thing since sliced bread. While Sakura enjoys Tomoyo's company very much. Tomoyo is constantly taping everything that Sakura does and it sometimes seems as if she likes Sakura more than a friend. Tomoyo's mother (Sonomi) is also Sakura's mother Nadeshiko's cousin, and Sonomi also loved Nadeshiko very much. She made Tomoyo grow her hair out long so it could look like Nadeshiko's hair, and whenever she sees Sakura, she is always reminded of Nadeshiko.

Sakura lives with her father and her extremely over-protective brother Touya. Yukito says that Touya has a "sister-complex" because he is always watching over Sakura and protecting her no matter what. Touya also is able to see spirits and ghosts, and when he and Sakura were both young, he would often tell Sakura of all the spirits that he saw. Touya and Sakura are both constantly bickering, with Touya calling Sakura "monster," and Sakura always stomping on Touya or kicking him because of his comments. However, they both care for each other very much and are both always looking after each other in their own ways. It's more obvious with Touya, though, but that's because Touya is extremely over-protective of Sakura. Sakura also has saved Touya a couple of times. Once she saved him from the Mirror card.

Sakura's target of affection at the beginning of the series is Yukito, Touya's best friend. Sakura says that she can't believe that such a "kind person" can ever be friends with the "barbarous brother" of hers. Sakura is always happy when she sees Yukito and gets huge hearts in her eyes. She tries her hardest to be very nice to Yukito and Yukito is also very nice to her in return. However, it's obvious that Yukito is just a bit too old for Sakura, as Yukito probably sees Sakura as nothing more but a smaller sibling that he cares for in a big brother kind of way.

Sakura is a very cute and loveable lead character. She could qualify as one of my favorite anime characters. I adore her seiyuu (Sakura Tange). I also like how Sakura is very quick to act while catching the cards, yet she's realistic and isn't unrealistically smart. She has her weaknesses and her strengths. Her character is that of a very realistic and believable young girl, and I can't help but love her.

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