is a manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 series written and illustrated by Masahiko Nakahira

Masahiko Nakahira

is a manga artist from Kōchi City, Japan. He is best known for his numerous manga adaptations of the popular fighting game series Street Fighter...

. The story follows Sakura Kasugano

Sakura Kasugano

is a player character in the Street Fighter series of fighting games. Sakura is portrayed in the series as a young Japanese schoolgirl who idolizes Ryu, whom she wants to be trained by.-In video games:...

 in her quest to become a street fighter and meet Ryu

Ryu (Street Fighter)

is a video game player character created by Capcom, the main protagonist of the Street Fighter series. Having premiered in the first Street Fighter in 1987, Ryu appears as the lead character from the game along with his best friend Ken Masters participating in the Street Fighter tournament...

.

Characters

The main character of this story. Introduced in Nakahira's Street Fighter Alpha Vol. 2, Sakura becomes obsessed with the world of street fighting

Street fighting

Street fighting is a colloquial term used to denote unsanctioned, illegal in some countries, hand-to-hand fighting in public places, between individuals or groups of people....

 as well as becoming Ryu's self-proclaimed "No. 1 fan". While young and inexperienced at fighting, Sakura displays great physical ability as well as a strong aptitude for learning fighting techniques, recreating Ryu's hadōken, shōryūken, and tatsumaki-senpūkyaku after only seeing them a few times (albeit Sakura's versions are highly modified and arguably weaker).

Sakura's younger brother. Tsukushi is obsessed with playing video games and is seen playing Final Fight

Final Fight

is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up game originally released by Capcom as a coin-operated video game in . It was the seventh game released by Capcom for their CP System arcade game hardware...

and Street Fighter II

Street Fighter II

is a competitive fighting game originally released for the arcades in . It is the arcade sequel to the original Street Fighter released in and was Capcom's fourteenth title that ran on the CP System arcade hardware...

(against none other than Ken Masters

Ken Masters

, originally spelled in Japanese as , is a video game character created by Capcom. As a main character, he has appeared in all of the Street Fighter games along with his best friend and rival, Ryu...

 himself) in the story. Sakura makes her street fighting debut against a very large student who stole Tsukushi's friend's copy of Final Fight.

Sakura's best friend. While she is your average schoolgirl (into boys and clothes while utterly opposed to Sakura's hobby of street fighting), she (reluctantly) accompanies Sakura on her quest to become the greatest street fighter.

Sakura's self-proclaimed teacher, Dan is actually depicted to be a capable fighter in this manga (as opposed to the joke character he normally is). After Sakura's meeting with Sagat

Sagat (Street Fighter)

is a boss character from the early editions of Capcom's Street Fighter fighting game series. He was later turned into a regular, playable character. Sagat is depicted as a well-renowned Muay Thai expert fighter known for his incredible power. He is often called the "Emperor of Muay Thai" in his...

, he stays behind as she moves on, challenging Sagat and declaring that he's there to avenge his father. The fight is never seen, and the outcome remains unknown.

Sakura Ganbaru! is actually Karin's first appearance anywhere (she was later made into a playable character in Street Fighter Alpha 3

Street Fighter Alpha 3

Street Fighter Alpha 3, known as in Japan and Asia, is a fighting game by Capcom originally released for the CPS II arcade hardware. It is the third game in the Street Fighter Alpha series, following Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams and Street Fighter Alpha 2...

). Karin is the heir to the uber-rich Kanzuki family (whose compound stretches across 200 miles), yet attends the local high school to "observe the lifestyles of the less fortunate". Following her family's code, "In all things, be victorious", Karin challenges Sakura to a match and loses, thus leading Karin to instigate a fighting tournament across the prefecture of Setagaya.

An employee of the Kanzuki family, and Karin's personal steward. He drives her to and from school, arranges her meals (she won't eat school cafeteria food), does background research on anyone she takes interest in (even straying into the TMI territory), and other odd jobs. While concerned for her welfare, especially in regards to her interest in street fighting, he is nonetheless in awe of her abilities as a martial artist and as the heir of the Kanzuki zaibatsu.

Secretly entering the tournament under the alias of a young girl by the name of "Aoki" (each tournament participant carries a badge which sends tracking information to the Kanzuki zaibatsu

Zaibatsu

is a Japanese term referring to industrial and financial business conglomerates in the Empire of Japan, whose influence and size allowed for control over significant parts of the Japanese economy from the Meiji period until the end of World War II.-Terminology:...

, Ken supplied false data). Ken Masters makes short work of his opponents, defeating many including Dan and Karin. His final opponent is Sakura, who, much to everyone's surprise (especially Ken's), gives him a very tough fight. However he defeats her and wins the tournament.

Sakura's idol. After rescuing Sakura from Bison

M. Bison

M. Bison, known in Japan as Vega, is a video game character created by Capcom. First introduced in Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, he is a recurring character in the Street Fighter series of fighting games, acting as the final boss and primary antagonist of the Street Fighter II and Street...

 in Volume 2 of the Street Fighter Alpha manga, Sakura is determined to meet Ryu to have a match with him. Towards the end of the Volume 2, Sakura finally finds him and challenges him to a fight, the end of which is never seen, though its implied that either Ryu won or it was a draw, though the former is most likely. At the very end, he and Ken appear before an older Sakura, now a gym teacher (which Ken comments as being "so like her"), and the two begin to spar.

Volumes

Sakura Ganbaru! has been released in tankōbon

Tankobon

, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...

 and kanzenban formats.

Tankōbon

1. ISBN 4-88199-326-7 (Released on February 1997)
2. ISBN 4-88199-366-6 (Released on August 1997)

The kanzenban (ISBN 978-4087820645) was published by Shueisha

Shueisha

is a major publisher in Japan. The company was founded in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The following year, Shueisha became a separate, independent company. Magazines published by Shueisha include Weekly Shōnen Jump, Weekly Young Jump,...

on January 2004. It was followed by a larger-format re-edition on April 2007 (ISBN 978-4081093885).