is a fictional character who was first introduced in the visual novel Fate/stay night by Type-Moon from 2004. Sakura is introduced as a friend of the main character Shirou Emiya, on whom she has a crush but remains a minor character in the first two routes of the novel. In the third route "Heaven's Feel", where she serves as the route's heroine, Sakura reveals her darker characterization and bonds with Shirou. Sakura is a participant of the Holy Grail War, a battle between mages who fight alongside warriors known as Servants. She is corrupted through a mysterious shadow and Shirou must decide whether or not he should kill her. Besides Fate/stay night, Sakura has appeared in the sequel Fate/hollow ataraxia, the prequel light novel Fate/Zero and multiple spin-offs and adaptations of Type-Moon works.
Sakura was created by Kinoko Nasu, who wanted to create a heroine who would contrast with the previous heroine Rin Tohsaka, while character designer Takashi Takeuchi wanted her to be a beautiful, popular teenager. The staff members of studio Ufotable in charge of creating the Heaven's Feel films wanted to expand on her characterization by creating new scenes in which she interacts with Shirou after their first meeting. Sakura is voiced by Noriko Shitaya in Japanese, and by Cristina Vee in English.
Critical reception to Sakura's character has been generally positive; critics praised the complexity and depth to the character in the Heaven's Feel route as well as her connections with Shirou and her adoptive brother Shinji Matou. Her dark past, in which she experienced physical and sexual abuse, however, received a mixed reception. Sakura is also often used for marketing and has appeared in several character-popularity polls.
Creation and conception
Sakura Matou was created by concept artist Takashi Takeuchi during the early stages of making Fate/stay night. Takeuchi wanted to create an attractive heroine with a quiet personality who would be popular with the audience. He considered Sakura to be a typical eroge heroine; more scenes of erotic content were created for her compared to the game's other female characters. The game's creators considered her as a woman who loves sex, and the player's perception of her is supposed to be that of a bride before the wedding. Writer Kinoko Nasu wanted Sakura to contrast with Rin Tohsaka, the heroine of another route in the visual novel, based on their different pasts. During the story Sakura is corrupted by a shadow, which Takeuchi designed for this incarnation. The idea of Dark Sakura was created; a character who would frighten players because of her darker tone. Nasu liked Takeuchi's design. Sakura's initial concept was based on Fujino Asagami from Kara no Kyoukai, which Nasu accepted when Takeuchi first showed him the sketches. In the following game, Sakura was reworked to have a lighter-hearted personality that contrasts with her dark past.
According to Type Moon, Sakura is their most popular heroine despite her tragic nature. While making Fate/Zero, the staff favored showing more of her suffering, most notably when Kariya tries to save her, but some scenes were removed from the light novel because of the nature of the content. Nasu said he enjoyed Sakura's Japanese portrayal by Noriko Shitaya, who made her sound appealing.
For Ufotable's film based on Heaven's Feel, director Tomonori Sudo said he wanted to further explore the past relationship between Shirou and Sakura, which he believes is the most important part of the story. Producer Yuma Takahashi had similar opinions, believing the style of some scenes that symbolize their romance were needed. Singer Aimer wrote the theme song "Hana no Uta", which focuses on Sakura. Having not known of the character before the making of the film, Shitaya was surprised when learning of Sakura's characterization as she discovered new traits about her. Aimer's theme song "I beg you" was written to explore the relationship between these characters; Aimer wanted to show Sakura's dark personality because she wants Shirou to love her but does not want him to know about her secrets. The author of the printed adaptation of Heaven's Feel noted that for the serialization of the manga he wanted to start the story between Shirou and Sakura with the first time the latter met the former and fell for him in contrast to the original visual novel which left this scene until some scenes more in the route.