Sakura-Gari

Description

Sakura-Gari is a Taishou-era romance story, ten years in the making. It centers on 16-year-old Tagami Masataka as he is aiming to find his place in life. While attempting to start prep school as a rounin, he encounters Saiki Souma, the son of a distinguished noble of the Saiki Koushyaku family, and becomes part of the Saiki household.

It seems as though this will be the story of Tagami's life, taking us through both him growing up physically and emotionally.

Type

Manga

Related Series

N/A

Associated Names

Cherry Blossom Harvest

Cherry Blossom Hunting

Sakura Gari

Sakura Hunt

Sakuragari

The Hunt for Cherry Blossoms

樱狩

櫻狩り

Groups Scanlating

Watase's Sorai

Latest Release(s)

v.3 c.9 (end) by ? [Add] 15 years ago

v.3 c.8 by ? [Add] 15 years ago

v.3 c.7 by Watase's Sorai 16 years ago

Search for all releases of this series

Status in Country of Origin

3 Volumes (Complete)

Completely Scanlated?

Yes

Anime Start/End Chapter

N/A

User Reviews

N/A

Forum

2 topics, 24 posts

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User Rating

Average: 8.6 / 10.0 (892 votes)

Bayesian Average: 8.53 / 10.0

49%

18%

12%

Last Updated

March 30th, 2025 8:13pm PDT - 1 month ago

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Genre

Drama Historical Josei Mature Mystery Psychological Tragedy Yaoi
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Categories

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Recommendations

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Author(s)

Artist(s)

Year

Original Publisher

Shogakukan

Serialized In (magazine)

Rinka (Shogakukan)

Licensed (in English)

English Publisher

N/A

Activity Stats (vs. other series)

Weekly Pos #747

(-4)

Monthly Pos #1593 (No change)

3 Month Pos #2650 (No change)

6 Month Pos #3291

(+264)

Year Pos #3474

(+307)

List Stats

On 552 reading lists

On 669 wish lists

On 1671 completed lists

On 56 unfinished lists

On 557 custom lists

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Forum Posts Click to view the forum

Thoughts on Sakura Gari Ending

13 years ago

Watase Ends Sakura-Gari

15 years ago

User Comments [ Order by time added ]

I would have given the series a 10 if it weren't for the ending...

by fictionalscience
12 years ago

Rating: 8.0 / 10.0

The plot of this story is really brilliant, couldn't stop reading as the secrets reveal themselves one by one. The artwork is also gorgeous. The erotic scenes are psychologically charged and often very dark.

But the ending, while it was well-done, I really feel that the main characters don't deserve it. After things were solved... why this ending?! It makes the touching resolution seem meaningless. The cause of the ending makes no sense too when considering things that were revealed previously. It seems like a cheap way to end the story with tragedy just for the heck of it.

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Beautiful & Amazing!

by 2old4yaoi
14 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

Sakura Gari definitely made my list of "must license" in English. Seriously, in the western world, the French, the Spanish & the German had shown discriminating good tastes by licensing the series for their countries' audiences, so why is the English speaking world so far behind? Should we be cowed by the challenges of VizMedia's preferred genre which is currently short sighted? Anyway, enough on my complaints & on with the actual review :-)

This series is so beautiful that it will break your heart - the art, the story & the Taisho era setting. Watase Yuu did an amazing job of building the contrast in characters between the pure, innocent Tagami & the worldly, broken Souma through a series of horrifying events & a strong cast of supporting characters both sympathetic and hostile to their developing relationship. I think each reader will find different interpretation of the whole story & this is what make a manga so unforgettable. I would not narrate the story here at all, it has been done by enough previous reviewers or you can just read the story yourself but the gist of the story to me is about love & redemption. Humans are amazingly resilient creatures. Souma had been subjected to some of the most terrifying abuses in his life that he believed he was so broken and not worth saving. He could no longer discern what is morally right or wrong & believed that everyone was just after his body. Then he met Kagami, a university student from the country side who shined with his simplicity & innocent. Kagami couldn't believe his luck when Souma took an interest in him - that is until he found out about Souma's dark past. In the beginning he tried to run away but his efforts were blocked by Souma through various means. Yet, humans had the ability to rationalize their loves and the lucky ones usually learned how to love what they had. While the ending is very controversial, I think it is almost as realistically happy as sensei can make it. I definitely recommend that you read it to get a good flavor of what an amazing, well written & crafted yaoi manga can be.

... Last updated 12 years ago

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Good enough

by lethuy
17 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

To tell the truth, I hate all shoujo manga of Watase-sensei. I had been always imagining how she would draw Yaoi manga (because I love her drawing and bishounen). Now my dream came true and I am satisfied with Sakura Gari, even though the uke in this manga is not cute or pretty to me, but I think that makes the difference.
As usual, she's good at creating sad manga.^^

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By all accounts I shouldn't like this...

by vkoi
16 years ago

Rating: 8.5 / 10.0

...but I do. Probably wouldn't have read Sakura Gari if I had read the comments here first. I dislike stories about rape based relationships. It did sort of turn me off at first, but this manga has a seriously addictive melodramatic storyline. The characters are so blown out of proportion that it's hard to really feel sickened the way I would if I felt like the characters were people with feelings.

I don't know how, but even with unsympathetic characters and an unrealistic plotline this story works. There's crack in it maybe? Actually, I think that the story goes so far in the direction of melodrama that it stops being a tragedy and starts being fluffy black comedy.

Really, he's set himself on fire and thrown himself down a flight of stairs for love? Hilarious. Souma stole your harmonica so you're submitting to butt rape, Tagami? For a harmonica, really? Seriously, if these things actually happened they'd be horrifying, but the only horrifying thing about this manga is how it makes the ugly side of humans funny.

The art is pleasant to look at and about 5x better than anything else I've seen by Watase Yuu. Granted I got perma turned off by her terminally stupid shoujo heroines about 10 years ago. Her drawing style has definitely matured nicely.

The way the story is told, peeling back layers around past events in Souma's life, is hardly unique but is handled very well. Even though each layer reveals an even more far fetched twist to events, you sort of want to just keep going right to the middle.

Ah, and the historical setting is great. All the details about the Taisho era really add a lot of texture. I wish the story were a little more firmly rooted in the era, but the historical setting doesn't just feel like an excuse for cool costumes.

If rape isn't an automatic turn off for you and you have any taste for melodrama, I'd recommend sampling the first couple chapters of Sakura Gari. Not for everybody, but potentially a lot of fun.

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This HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

by kasumi_yyh07
17 years ago

Rating: N/A

Yuu Watase has been changing a lot when it comes to her manga (art, plot, cultural reference, target audience), but I've never expected her to change into a whole new genre! If you're a fan of Watase's shoujo works like Fushigi Yuugi or Absolute Boyfriend, then this title is definitely NOT for you.

What suprised me the most was that Yuu Watase would venture into the land of absolute yaoi filled with explicit scenes. Her art-style has also evolved from the way she usually draws people. The characters are becoming more and more realistic, and her attention to detail is sharper than ever. There aren't also any romantic cliche's about forbidden love or anything like that. What you have here is an estranged affair between a master and servant, and the dark secrets of a family that is engulfing both of them to the point of no return.

There is still drama and angst, but it is beautifully drawn out. The shifting of scenes and panels gives you the feeling that rather than reading a manga, it's almost like you're watching the anime.

Comedy is also ruled out, since the story takes a deeper and darker turn every page that foreshadows perhaps a tragedy or a wonderful finale. The eerieness and somewhat gothic nature of the story is reminscent of Yuki Kaori's works, but Yuu Watase keeps it original and entrances people with her new style of story-telling.

Well, this comment is already long, and it's more like a review. I was completely hooked on this, and I am avidly awaiting her next release.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO ALL THOSE WHO LOVE YAOI WITH A PLOT!!!

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Not perfect but worth reading

by meniel
2 years ago

Rating: N/A

A great historical family drama, with some excesses that I wish I were spared but still a great work in its genre.

What I appreciated the most was the historical setting, probably among the best I've ever read in manga. The atmosphere is cared for and while reading I really felt as if I were living in Japan during the Taisho period. The beautiful background art played an important part in this.

The family drama was interesting and full of plot twists, but also a bit too much for my taste. Basically NOBODY was mentally sane and at some point it started looking fake (could have done without "Sakurako-sama" ). I wish the whole Souma family drama was a bit less over the top, like Masataka's personal history, which felt truer to me. Although I do acknowledge stories that sound too weird to be real do exist in our world, especially when it comes to trauma and abuse.

Speaking of abuse,

I think the mangaka cleared why Souma raped Masataka. Because of how he was treated by others, Souma always thought of himself as not deserving to be alive - but Masataka saw the good in him. Souma wanted to believe in Masataka's idea of himself, and become a good person. When Masataka discovered the pictures his idea of Souma collapsed, and so did Souma's hope to be a better person. He felt rejected by Masataka, and fell back into being the horrible person others always made him out to be. It was the same old self-fulfilling prophecy he was living in for most of his life. "If, after all, I cannot be the good person Masataka thought I were, then I might as well be as evil as everyone thinks I am, and get what I want no matter whom I hurt - my connection with Masataka is broken anyway" something like that. It makes sense to me that he ended up abusing Masataka - having he himself been abused throughout his life, in one way or another. However, I think having him rape Masataka again and again was just too much. Masataka forgiving one rape because he understood it was the action of a broken man who was himself abused would have made sense. But forgiving countless sexual assaults and horrible abuse? I don't know...

If you can forgive these excesses, though, Sakura-gari is a beautiful story of sorrow, sin and redemption, definitely one of a kind among BL series.

... Last updated 2 years ago

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Beautifully haunting

by 801crazed
10 years ago

Rating: 8.8 / 10.0

As a warning, this series contains non-consensual sex. However, it is treated in that manner, so there is no rape=love here.

This story was dark, yet beautiful at the same time. The translators did an amazing job. I loved their extensive notes on the poetry and cultural norms. It really helped me understand the nuances better.

As for the content it self, I was impressed. The character development was done very intricately. Some plot points were melodramatic at times but I enjoyed everything as a whole. The second half of the last volume might seem a bit rushed but helped wrap up some of the not-so-obvious plot points. I liked the open ending personally. A happily ever after would not fit this series at all, so leaving it up to the reader to decide was perfect (however, the Q & A with the mangaka offers some closure).

The art was lovely. It was gothic and did not have the shoujo feel of her other works. The cheeks were not overly round (which was a pet peeve of mine in Fushugi Yuugi) and the anatomy made sense.

I hope Yuu Watase writes more in this genre in the future.

... Last updated 10 years ago

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Don't read it!

by nyanya07
11 years ago

Rating: N/A

For those who are easily move persons (like me). This is my second manga that made me cry, made my tissue almost run out, and made me sleep really late just to finish it and then the ending BOOOOM!!
Now I don't have the spirit to read another manga. >.<

Well. It was truly splendid story that will make you remember it really well.

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Beautiful story

by mahiru
12 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

So well thought out. As I neared the end my eyes were burning with tears. If somehow they did not get a "good/happy" ending after all they went through I seriously would have bawled and feel depressed... Yeah, even though it ended the way it did, I believe they will find each other again in the future when Masataka's accomplished new goal 🙂

According to the author interview at the end of vol 3, hopefully we will see a sequel soon... This story was about 10 years in the making (?) and it's already been 6 years since this was published so... I really hope we will see a sequel. Fingers crossed T_T

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Worth reading

by lilithilk
12 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

I love yaoi. That said, most yaoi these days wham bam thank you awesomely handsome guy with no story. (Let me emphasize MOST) Not this one. Let me go point by point:

The art is not exaggerated. People do actually look like normal humans and not like supernatural, dis-proportioned extremely beautiful to look at but to be weirded out by beings. No two characters do look the same. There were a few times I got confused because of the surroundings, as the main house is supposed to be western style, but then it finally sunk in, the servants quarters are more traditional style. Not a general "complaint" but rather a personal choice, there is too much work with blacks in the paneling but like I said, this is my personal displeasure.
-Characters and their development were done extremely well in my opinion. From the first chapter on, there was a steady growth in characters and in their stories in a believable pace. There were no useless characters in the story. Even though the daughter of the Baron Whatshisface has annoyed the hell out of me, I do acknowledge the necessity of the character to the story.
Story/Plot planning: As a general rule I avoid any angsty mangas. I hate tragedy and anything without a clear/indisputable happy ending causes me rashes. However as much as I like one volume no story, beautiful people yaois, one day when I was desperate for a longer yaoi ,I laid my hands on Sakura Gari without really checking what it was all about. By the time I realized it I was already hooked.
For being 3 volumes, the manga handles its plot very well. There are no useless panels, there are also no fluff panels. Everything that is drawn serves the story. I hate to admit it but what makes the story believable is actually the amount of angst, drama and tragedy. There were a few comments about the ending so:

In the afterword interview with the sensei, she says,[quote] It may be hard to understand but tome it is a happy end. There were people who died, but.... the characters were all saved, in some form or another. I believe that someone who has decided to live will not die so easily. In this chapter, where Souma asked Masataka " Why do the sakura blossom, even after it was cut", this conversation probably led him to the sakura tree. I drew the sakura not with the impression of death , but with the image of a life force, the trigger to the scene where souma decides to live on was probably because Masataka and Souma had faced each other with nothing to hide.[/quote] So I do believe that they lived through and met again. But this is just me. ;D

As much as I would have appreciated a more clear cut ending or at least a fluff scene at the end, if I am honest, the way it ended was probably the most fitting to the story. In my opinion, the ending was not rushed, or inconclusive.
So all in all, Sakura Gari is in my opinion one of the better mangas out there, with a plot that has no holes, an interesting story, engaging characters, that definitely deserves at least the try of first three chapters. If you do not want to keep on reading afterwards then fair is fair. But I daresay, you will want to.

... Last updated 12 years ago

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