Sakaki, Up Close and Personal

Name: Sakaki ( )

In keeping with her mysterious nature, Sakaki is never given a surname in any official source.

Grade: 10 ~ 12 (Azumanga Daioh covers a span of three years)

Seiyuu: Yuu Asakawa

For more info about Yuu Asakawa, visit her official Homepage (Japanese) or check out her entry in Hitoshi Doi's Seiyuu Database (English).

On the Surface...

Sakaki sticks out like a sore thumb amongst the crowd of other girls in her school. She's taller than any other girls, enormously busty, somber, and silent. She wears a constant deadpan expression on her face, which could often be described as gloomy. Sakaki is extremely athletic, despite the fact that she confesses that she doesn't normally exercise. She easily beats Kagura at any athletic contest (track, baseball, whatever). Sakaki rarely speaks, but when she does, it tends to be in monosyllabic grunts. As the anime series progresses, however, Sakaki begins to speak in more and more complete sentences, an indication that she is warming up to her friends.

How Do Other Students View Her?

In one word? Kakkoiiii!!! Sakaki is widely worshipped around the school as being the star athlete, the cool girl, and is thought to be the tough, strong, silent type. Kagura calls Sakaki a "lone wolf." Kaorin assumes that when Sakaki plays video games, she must be playing racing and fighting games... Although in reality, Sakaki only goes to arcades so that she can play with the claw game, to win herself some more stuffed kitties.

What's Going on Inside Her Head?

Not much, really. Mostly fluff. Sakaki is, in reality, secretly obsessed with all things fluffy and cute. Her mind is mostly filled with fantastic, girly daydreams about cats. Sakaki LOVES CATS. But she also loves just about anything and everything cute, like Chiyo-chan, or Tadakichi-san. Sakaki also knows a lot about flowers, and can instantly identify the species and breed of any blossom that she sees. She secretly dreams of becoming a florist, or the owner of a stuffed animal shop.

Like another of her classmates, Osaka, Sakaki sometimes becomes absorbed in her own daydreams and fantasies, and has difficulty bringing herself back to reality. But, whereas Osaka's mental dreamworld is uniquely odd and considerably weird, Sakaki's mental dreamworld is far more simple and childish. For example, in episode 9, Sakaki fantasizes about walking Tadakichi-san through the clouds; and in episode 20, Sakaki and Osaka almost "duel" their fantasies about what will happen if Chiyo studies abroad in America. Episode 20 is a very weird moment between Chiyo, Osaka, and Sakaki; it illustrates well how Osaka and Sakaki are both opposite ends of a spectrum, and yet both of them seem fairly oblivious to what's actually going on in their world around them, and both of them have trouble seperating their fantasies from reality.

This Girl's Tragedies...

First and foremost, Sakaki seems doomed to be forever denied her wish of petting an actual cat. There's something about her that just repels cats; they either bite her, or run away.

Second, Sakaki is misunderstood. She's depressed by the way that people just assume she's too tough, and too cool, to want to have anything do with them. In the first episode, Kaorin starts to invite Sakaki to join a club, but then reneges at the last minute, embarassed, when she realizes that Sakaki is probably too cool (or too anti-social) to join a club. Afterwards, Sakaki sits alone at her desk, thinking, "But I wanted to join..."

Sakaki is lonely. She's not actually silent and cold because she's perfected a too-cool-for-thou demeanor; in reality, she's silent and cold because she finds it difficult to interact with people. She's just plain awkward, socially. And she's very, very easily embarrassed. It's difficult for her to make friends.

Third and finally, Sakaki is not cute. She is eternally jealous of Chiyo's incredible cuteness. "It's better to be small and cute," she tells Chiyo in one episode, while mentally wishing that she, too, could be small and cute, instead of big, tall, and severely un-cute.

<< Main Index


	Sakaki, Up Close and Personal Name: Sakaki ( ) In keeping with her mysterious nature, Sakaki is never given a surname in any official source. Grade: 10 ~ 12 (Azumanga Daioh covers a span of three years) Seiyuu: Yuu Asakawa For more info about Yuu Asakawa, visit her official Homepage (Japanese) or check out her entry in Hitoshi Doi's Seiyuu Database (English). On the Surface... Sakaki sticks out like a sore thumb amongst the crowd of other girls in her school. She's taller than any other girls, enormously busty, somber, and silent. She wears a constant deadpan expression on her face, which could often be described as gloomy. Sakaki is extremely athletic, despite the fact that she confesses that she doesn't normally exercise. She easily beats Kagura at any athletic contest (track, baseball, whatever). Sakaki rarely speaks, but when she does, it tends to be in monosyllabic grunts. As the anime series progresses, however, Sakaki begins to speak in more and more complete sentences, an indication that she is warming up to her friends. How Do Other Students View Her? In one word? Kakkoiiii!!! Sakaki is widely worshipped around the school as being the star athlete, the cool girl, and is thought to be the tough, strong, silent type. Kagura calls Sakaki a "lone wolf." Kaorin assumes that when Sakaki plays video games, she must be playing racing and fighting games... Although in reality, Sakaki only goes to arcades so that she can play with the claw game, to win herself some more stuffed kitties. What's Going on Inside Her Head? Not much, really. Mostly fluff. Sakaki is, in reality, secretly obsessed with all things fluffy and cute. Her mind is mostly filled with fantastic, girly daydreams about cats. Sakaki LOVES CATS. But she also loves just about anything and everything cute, like Chiyo-chan, or Tadakichi-san. Sakaki also knows a lot about flowers, and can instantly identify the species and breed of any blossom that she sees. She secretly dreams of becoming a florist, or the owner of a stuffed animal shop. Like another of her classmates, Osaka, Sakaki sometimes becomes absorbed in her own daydreams and fantasies, and has difficulty bringing herself back to reality. But, whereas Osaka's mental dreamworld is uniquely odd and considerably weird, Sakaki's mental dreamworld is far more simple and childish. For example, in episode 9, Sakaki fantasizes about walking Tadakichi-san through the clouds; and in episode 20, Sakaki and Osaka almost "duel" their fantasies about what will happen if Chiyo studies abroad in America. Episode 20 is a very weird moment between Chiyo, Osaka, and Sakaki; it illustrates well how Osaka and Sakaki are both opposite ends of a spectrum, and yet both of them seem fairly oblivious to what's actually going on in their world around them, and both of them have trouble seperating their fantasies from reality. This Girl's Tragedies... First and foremost, Sakaki seems doomed to be forever denied her wish of petting an actual cat. There's something about her that just repels cats; they either bite her, or run away. Second, Sakaki is misunderstood. She's depressed by the way that people just assume she's too tough, and too cool, to want to have anything do with them. In the first episode, Kaorin starts to invite Sakaki to join a club, but then reneges at the last minute, embarassed, when she realizes that Sakaki is probably too cool (or too anti-social) to join a club. Afterwards, Sakaki sits alone at her desk, thinking, "But I wanted to join..." Sakaki is lonely. She's not actually silent and cold because she's perfected a too-cool-for-thou demeanor; in reality, she's silent and cold because she finds it difficult to interact with people. She's just plain awkward, socially. And she's very, very easily embarrassed. It's difficult for her to make friends. Third and finally, Sakaki is not cute. She is eternally jealous of Chiyo's incredible cuteness. "It's better to be small and cute," she tells Chiyo in one episode, while mentally wishing that she, too, could be small and cute, instead of big, tall, and severely un-cute. << Main Index