Sakura - 2008

New character art of Sakura the Kyubi-Phoenix, from "The Utopian Legend."

Sakura is called a "Kyubi-Poenix" due to the way she had been created. She bears the appearance of the Far Eastern Legend, the Kyubi Kitsune, but wields the burning firey power of the Phoenix Legend. While she has the ability to change her appearance at times like most Kyubis, the rest of her repertoire makes use of fire originating from within her spirit. This fiery trait makes her very similar to Kazuya in terms of ability, but she bears less strength and more agility.

Sakura is very faithful to Kazuya and enjoys being by his side, doing as he instructs. It's assumed, even by Kazuya, that she was made to display these affections for him, but her feelings seem too genuine to be artificial. She is similar to Kazuya in many ways besides her Phoenix half. Like Kazuya, Sakura is rather clumsy, accidentally knocking things over with her tails...when she isn't tripping over them. She also has the trait of always telling the truth, but unlike Kazuya, who is able to finesse the truth in a more pleasing manner, she says things straightforwardly, resulting in some blunt and unpleasant statements, even though she means no harm. It's her relative cluelessness that causes this to occur, one of the differences between her and Kazuya. She is also bolder and isn't afraid to confront a conflict, regardless of what could happen, much to Kazuya's dismay.

Because of her boldness, she wishes to learn from Kazuya how to defend herself. Kazuya doesn't wish to encourage Sakura into getting into trouble, and he abhors fighting, but loves Sakura too much to deny her request. While his stubby legs prevents him from teaching her kicking moves, he does build her strength and educates her in boxing moves. He takes Sakura to the Shrine of Kazano in the Far East to learn other techniques from the teachers and students in the area.

Sakura's nature is quite happy-go-lucky, which is interesting concidering her circumstances during the first 50 years of her existence. She was created by Melissa Mikhail, the niece of Edouard Mikhail, though admiration of and inspiration from her uncle's creation Kazuya. Using the same procedures and ingredients, Melissa molded what would become her equivalent companion, save for a change in the looks department.

But Melissa lived in a village where Creations were very much frowned upon (it was only half a century ago that the village was destroyed by someone's out-of-control Creation, thugh it was not Melissa's). When word got out of Melissa's doings, they stormed her home and took her and Sakura away. Melissa was burned at the stake, and Sakura was bound and placed in the mold of a stone statue, bearing a very slight resemblance to Sakura, but more fearsome and demonic. The statue was sent off to an undisclosed location, and there was no mention of it since.

Half a century later, after the recent reunion of Kazuya and his Creator, they traveled to the famus Neocropolis City of the Mediterranean and visited the area where the local Legend Shrines were built. Among the Shrines was a dark and dingy Shrine forbidding entry, which continued to draw Kazuya's interest. After some discussion among local Legends, Eddy and Kazuya were permitted to go inside, where all that were found inside was a scary-looking statue and inscription. It was here that they learned of the fate of Melissa Mikhail and Sakura. Kazuya was upset that Sakura was punished without any wrong-doing to her name, to the poing of pounding his fist into the base of the state. But the shock of his strong punch shook the statue and caused in to topple it over, breaking it into many pieces. Panicked, Kazuya looked to the rubble, pondering what to do, but noticed something among the rubble. A tail?

They pushed aside the broken statue bits and found Sakura, still in her bindings and 50-year-old, now tattered clothes. She was not dead, but rather out of energy like a toy with no battery. The local Legends were unhappy with the broken statue and very surprised at the uncovering of the fabled Sakura. Eddy convinced them to allow him ownership of Sakura, and with some hesitation they decided to allow him custody. After a charge of magic, Sakura awoke to a "new" world, face to face with Kazuya for the first time and immediately falling in love. While very sad that her Creator was dead, she was even happier with her new friends. She didn't feel any spite towards her captors; she was just happy to be alive.

Noticing her worn old clothes, Heather Britannia felt Sakura needed a new look. Inspired by Sketch's wardrobe for Kazuya, Heather dressed her in athletic street wear and designed a symbol which was all her own. Fusing the design of a flame, a flower, and the nine Kyubi tails, Sakura donned what was called the "Burning Blossom." She would later learn a move which involved her manifesting the spiritual Phoenix flames and forming her many tails into a wild, tall inferno almost flower-like in shape. It was also given the name "Burning Blossom."

Sakura's redesign was very hard to do, as it required a different look that would be similar in nature to Kazuya's redesign. while I mainly kept her established coloration from 2006, she needed new clothes that would make her an obvious match for Kazuya, and after much trial and error I finally have something. He boldness was not evident in her pervious picture, but I think it shows here.

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