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Sakura Matou Fate/Stay Night - Nendoroid

The Fate series began as a humble visual novel but has since grown into one of the most popular Japanese multimedia franchises in the world. Through its various games, anime, and manga, fans have fallen in love with its vast cast of characters. With the success of the Fate franchise as a whole, manufacturers have created a wide range of different merchandise based on these characters for fans to purchase. Figures are a particularly popular product among fans, with Good Smile Company's Nendoroid line being one of the biggest names in the market. Of all the entries in the Fate franchise, the original Fate/Stay Night remains one of the most notable. While many Fate/Stay Night characters like Shirou Emiya, Saber , Rin Tohsaka, Lancer, and Gilgamesh are all fan favorites, Sakura Matou is particularly prominent. As such, the "Nendoroid Sakura Matou" was finally released in 2020.

Nendoroid Sakura Matou

This recreation of Sakura Matou is based on her appearance in Ufotable's film trilogy adaptation, Heaven's Feel. She wears the classic Homurahara Academy uniform, featuring a white shirt, beige vest, red ribbon, and black skirt. She also sports her signature slicked-back purple hair, except for a red ribbon tied on the left side of her hair. Like many other Nendoroid figures, this chibi version of Sakura comes with a variety of accessories and different points of articulation to allow for many different poses. Some of the additional parts included with this figure include a pink apron, a schoolbag, a grocery bag, a Black Shadow effect part, and three different face plates. The interchangeable hand parts also allow Sakura to hold a ladle and a small dish or show off her command spells.

Release date: December 2020
Manufacturer: Good Smile Company
Sculptor: Z4
Features: Painted ABS and PVC articulated figure, not to scale, with accessories and stand
Height (approx.): 100 mm | 3.9"

About Sakura Matou

Sakura Matou is one of the main characters in the original visual novel Fate/stay night and Shirou Emiya's main love interest in the Heaven's Feel route.

About Sakura Matou: Background

Sakura Matou was born into the Tohsaka family as the younger sister of Rin Tohsaka. As a child, however, she was given up for adoption to the Matou family, a close ally of the Tohsaka family who needed a skilled heir to pass on their magic. While this appeared to be a mutually beneficial interaction, in reality, Sakura was quickly subjected to physically and mentally devastating experimentation at the hands of Zouken Matou. This tortuous process left Sakura unable to feel most emotions, leading her peers to view her as a shy and meek girl. During her middle school years, she often visited Shirou Emiya, an acquaintance of her adoptive brother, Shinji Matou. These visits eventually led Sakura to develop feelings for Shirou, though they were not reciprocated for several years. In the Heaven's Feel route, Sakura is also revealed to have a possessive, jealous, and controlling side to her personality, particularly when it came to Shirou.

About Sakura Matou: Abilities

In most episodes of Fate/stay night, Sakura Matou has virtually no mage abilities. However, as the daughter of the Tohsaka family, she once had magical power and potential equal to Rin's. However, after being taken in by the Matou family, Sakura became infested with crest worms. These vile creatures feed on her magical energy and make it particularly difficult for her to cast spells. In the Heaven's Feel route, however, Sakura gains almost unlimited magical power as the story progresses.

Other important characters in Fate/stay night

Throughout Fate/stay night, two of the most important characters to Sakura are Shirou Emiya and Rin Tohsaka.

Shirō Emiya

Shirou Emiya is the main protagonist of Fate/stay night and Sakura's love interest during the Heaven's Feel route. Although Shirou has little experience or knowledge of magic, he eventually participates in the Fifth Holy Grail War. Ten years before the events of Fate/stay night, Shirou was the victim of a deadly fire that ravaged Fuyuki City. He was rescued and adopted by Kiritsugu Emiya, a mage who participated in the Fourth Holy Grail War. Regarding his personality, Shirou is generally considered a cheerful young man who is always willing to go the extra mile for others, though some tend to take advantage of his generosity. After injuring his arm, Shirou's archery club member, Shinji Matou, asked Sakura to visit him to help with chores.

Rin Tohsaka

Rin Tohsaka is Sakura's older biological sister and the eldest daughter of the Tohsaka family. As the eldest child in the family, she was chosen to inherit her family's magical lineage, as only one child can inherit a magical crest from their parents. Sakura and Rin lived happily together until Sakura was adopted by the Matou family. After that, however, virtually all communication between the two stopped. That said, Rin gave Sakura a red ribbon before they parted ways, which Sakura still uses to tie her hair back over ten years later. Rin herself has an incredibly proud, stubborn, and perfectionist personality, but often gets herself into trouble by being careless, clumsy, or overconfident. While Sakura is Shirou's love interest in the Heaven's Feel route of Fate/stay night, Rin is his love interest in the Unlimited Blade Works route.