Akane Sakurada (櫻田 茜, Sakurada Akane?) is the main protagonist of the Joukamachi no Dandelion series, and the fourth oldest child and the third oldest daughter of the royal Sakurada family. Despite being a princess, Akane is extremely shy, making it hard for her to participate in the campaign and activities to the upcoming election for the nine Sakurada siblings to become the new king and the successor of their father.
Appearance[]
Akane is a teenage girl with an average build, although she is quite short. Akane has been noted to be flat-chested, but beautiful as well. She has straight, long, deep-red hair that is waist-length, which she ties into low twin-tails with white ribbons at each side. She inherited her mother's face/eye shape and she also has a similar hairstyle as her mother when she was in high school. She has red eyes, a fair and light complexion that is prone to blushing easily, and a petite frame.
She is usually seen in her school uniform, which consists of a white long-sleeved shirt and a black blazer with gold buttons and trimmings on its edges and pockets. Her tie and skirt are red to indicate that she is a first-year student. She also wears dark brown knee-length stockings with brown slip on shoes. Otherwise, she is seen with casual clothes when she is at home, and dresses and sometimes her crown at ceremonies and parties.
Personality[]
Even though being part of the royal family, Akane is extremely shy and the shyest one in her family, and will go to great lengths to avoid the camera's placed around the city, as she even memorized where every 200 cameras where around the city.
Akane's shyness in public.
She hates being the center of attention and being followed by cameras all day, and as such aims to be king to get rid of the cameras, (despite how ironically she would get more attention on herself if she succeeds). She also finds it very hard to interact with the citizens in the public, and if she has to go out she needs another person with her. When she campaigns to the election, she usually stutters and speaks very quietly. However, there are times where Akane can go out by herself, but only important or meaningful situations. However, in school, the royal family is treated just like any other student. In this regard, she is able to function without embarrassment, not knowing that she has a secret fan club that loves to see her squirm. Her friend Karen stated that there weren't any other student that enjoyed school as much as Akane. As the class representative, it’s her job to motivate the class for student council functions, such as beautifying the town, even if it means being out in the public eye. She also receives strong support from her friends and classmates. As the election battle commences between the siblings, Akane has made a name for herself, despite her best efforts.
With that said, she has a very strong sense of justice and kindness, at it is reflected in her actions. She is a very caring and considerate girl who understand other people feelings, and she will help anyone with trouble even though it may attract attention. Her sense of justice pushes her to capture thieves and save cats from trees, which makes for hot headlines in the town news. More popular than she thinks, Akane doesn’t realize that there’s also a poll running on the internet that’s filled with pictures and gossip about herself and her siblings. It’s only worse when embarrassing incident after embarrassing incident occurs for Akane's shy personality. This debilitating personality trait makes it difficult to go out in public, let alone run for the throne. Due to her carelessness when using her ability, Akane sometimes exposes her underwear while it being filmed on camera, deeply embarrassing her. Due to this, she later tends to use her ability more carefully. Akane has also shown to be somewhat air-headed, carefree and dense. For example, she was completely unaware that boys where chasing after her due to her supposedly not having any skirt on. However, she has a bright and cheerful personality; especially when with people whom she is comfortable with. Akane is also very honest and supportive towards her family; cheering for their accomplishments and despite not becoming king at the end, Akane is seen being proud and happy over her older brother who became king.
Scarlet Bloom
Due to her extreme shyness and fear to talk in public, Akane's sisters Aoi and Kanade decided to create an alter identity called Scarlet Bloom to lessen Akane's shyness and give her more courage to go out in the public. The plan was successful, as Akane began becoming more comfortable going out in the public with red jamming glasses and a dress. When disguised as Scarlet Bloom, Akane always helped people with various obstacles and fought bad guys. Though the citizens knew it was Akane, they played along with her the whole time. However, when thinking about that she hadn't changed herself as she was disguised as Scarlet Bloom, Akane decided to reveal her identity to the public as she didn't care if she was weak; she just wanted to be someone with the strength to cast aside ones weakness. But after indirectly being explained that everyone knew her identity all along, Akane was very shocked and embarrassed.
In the past, Akane was not shy as she is now. As a child, Akane still had a very strong sense of justice as she claimed that she was a hero that would save the world. She was also quite stubborn, tomboyish, outspoken and even a bit blunt. But Akane was also very curious and adventurous, as she would go explore places by herself; she even met Ange, the princess of another country after wandering off. Her extreme shyness was later explained as she had gone to her friend's house to play, but the day ended badly. Since then, Akane has hated being in the center of attention. But currently, through her distinguished hard work and fair sense of justice, Akane continues to slowly rise in popularity in the campaign with the people of the kingdom. She is willing to sacrifice her comfort and face the humiliation she feels in the spotlight to live in peace. Due to her unique persona and charisma, Akane has a lot of admires, and her juniors at her school hold Akane in awe and admires her, as one female student wanted Akane to "scold" her. She is also very devoted to the city as she has helped it's citizens several times, and she also thinks that one should work in the campaign with their own hard work. As an older sister to her younger siblings, Akane is shown to be dependable and have responsibility as she is able to give them words of encouragement who teaches them about various things. Near the elections end, Akane has grown to be less shy, as she can freely go out by herself without feeling embarrassed; but her introverted side still remains.
Plot[]
At the start of the series, Akane is a 15 year old girl who is a first-year high school student at Royal Sakuraka High School, being the representative of her class. As Akane is extremely shy, she had no reason to become king as she even thought her father joked about the election. She also thought that her eldest sibling, Aoi, is the perfect candidate for the job. But Akane starts to take the campaign seriously when Aoi mentions that by becoming king, she will be able to change the constant surveillance system. Although becoming the next king would put her in the spotlight more often than not, she believes in her cause and starts to campaign through public speaking.
Despite being so shy, Akane is very popular in the campaign and places very well in polls, and she even has her own fan club at school where it's members are very devoted to Akane. Even after making her 100th speech, however, Akane still stutters and speaks very quietly where her eldest siblings have to help her out in public.
Her struggle is not without support however, as Aoi and Kanade pull their resources together in order to fool Akane into thinking that she is disguised from the public. As she becomes the town hero under the alias Scarlet Bloom (スカーレットブルーム , Sukāretto Burūmu?), her view of the public is not as terrifying as she once believed. Akane's airhead-type personality leaves her baffled after a little girl she saved knew that she was Scarlet Bloom without her disguise. With this, her rise to the top inches up another notch. Although she is a long way from overcoming her fears, Akane is diligently working to gain favor with the public.
After her brother Shuu got elected as the new king, Akane becomes less shy and gets slightly better at talking in public. She later enrolls at a college, though she comes back to Royal Sakuraka High School every now and then to look after her friend Ange since she has a very pampered lifestyle.
Background[]
Akane is the fourth child born to the king, Souichirou Sakurada, and the queen, Satsuki Sakurada, making her a part of the royal Sakurada family.
Akane, Kanade and Shuu as children.
12 years prior to the story, Kanade and Akane were playing at a park, while Shuu followed them as he was older and had to look after them. And in the evening, he told them that it was time to go home, but Kanade stated that she and Akane wanted to play longer; but Akane also wanted to go home. Quickly, to make her stay, Kanade made a big castle, impressing Akane. However, as Akane wanted to go into the castle, Kanade made some stairs even though Shuu had offered them to teleport them up there. However, as a result of already using her savings, Kanade's power became very weak, making the castle crumble right at Akane as she was on her way up. However, Shuu protected Akane from the castle, taking the hit for her, and a moment later, they both were unconscious. It was later revealed that Akane and Shuu were injured, but not that serious and Akane was fine but her memory was only affected a bit.
Akane around 6 years old.
When Akane was about 6-7 years old, she was very lively and greatly looked up to her super heroes, especially to her favorite one, Rose Typhoon. According to Shuu, Akane used to use her power quite recklessly sometimes, but Akane claimed it was no problem as she would beat any bad guy with her power. One day, she went to her friend, Karen Ayugase's home as she was home alone and Akane wanted to keep her company. However, she had guards following her as she was going outside, but Akane made them lost so they wouldn't scare Karen. In the end, Akane went to Karen's alone. Upon entering the house, the girls heard some noises and Karen thought it was her father. However, they came across two burglars. Akane was able to retain them by using her ability, until one of the thieves tried to attack them with a fork. Akane's fear of the threat caused her power to go out of control, wounding the burglars and destroying a large part of the house. After that incident, Akane was receiving cold glares and comments from citizens around her, causing her to hate attention from then on.
Relationships[]
Family[]
Aoi Sakurada[]
As sisters, Akane and Aoi are on good terms. Akane looks up to and respects Aoi, and thinks that she fits perfectly to become the next king. It mainly due to Aoi that Akane decided to become King as she could change the camera system that way. Akane also cares for her older sister, and vice-versa, as Aoi defends Akane when Kanade comments about Akane's shyness. Aoi is very patient with her as she is one of the few people who accompanies Akane to school or when campaigning.
Aoi was one of the people behind Akane's alter identity, Scarlet Bloom as she wants Akane to become more confident in herself. In the royal campaign, Aoi tries to help Akane to break out of her shyness.
Kanade Sakurada[]
Akane likes her older sister Kanade and affectionately calls her "Kana-nee". But while Kanade cares for Akane as well, she can get a bit tired of her shyness as she doesn't want to go to school with her since she would come late that way. However, Kanade loves and cares deeply for Akane, shown when she made a wall to save Akane from a truck. While grateful, Akane commented it being too big, much to Kanade's embarrassment. Kanade was then shown to be very upset at the driver as she wouldn't let him go so easily if something had happened to Akane. When Akane was sick, Kanade was the one who looked after her the whole time and she was also very worried about her. Akane's health made her so worried that she was about to make a doctor that could cure her or make a medicine; however, Akane told her not to. At night, making sure that anyone wasn't looking, Kanade gave Akane a kiss on the cheek for her to get better. This means that Kanade loves her and is very protective of Akane in her own way, and Akane loves back her sister just as much.
Shuu Sakurada[]
Akane and Shuu share a close relationship as one of the oldest siblings. Shuu often offers Akane to walk her home sometimes due to her shyness, which Akane appreciates. Shuu is also very supportive of Akane, as he urges her to try to break free of her shy ways and goes with her when she does public speaking. And despite Shuu being older, Akane calls him "Shuu-chan". Also, Shuu is part of Akane's fan club in school with Akane herself not knowing, showing that he is fond of Akane. However, Shuu only sees Akane as his precious younger sister. Akane once commented that Shuu could be dense when it comes to romance, but he's also very caring and kind. Akane also seems to want Shuu's acknowledgement, as she became upset when Shuu commented a first-year high school student like Misaki was "wonderful", and that third-years like herself wasn't as "stimulating".
Misaki Sakurada[]
Akane sees Misaki as a reliable younger sister who is social and good at interacting with others, despite Misaki being doubtful about herself. As an older sister to her, Akane claims that it is her responsibility to help her when she's feeling down, with Misaki thinking otherwise. Akane knows very well how Misaki and Haruka's relationship is, and she is also very caring towards Misaki as she stated that she has been watching over both Misaki and Haruka from the moment they were born as their older sister. This means that Akane cares for Misaki, and Misaki cares for just as much and is very affectionate with her, giving her hugs and saying that Akane's cooking is the best. Misaki calls her "Aka-nee".
Haruka Sakurada[]
Akane and Haruka have a fairly close bond as they worked together in the game that Souichirou arranged; and this means that they have good teamwork. Haruka cares and respects Akane and calls her "Akane nee-san", and Akane also cares for Haruka as a younger brother as she knows about Haruka, his personality as well as his instincts well. Akane trust Haruka and therefore sometimes asks for his advice, knowing that his decision are usually right. From the moment of Haruka and Misaki's birth, Akane has kept a close eye on them and treasures and loves them deeply. Despite this, Akane once scolded Haruka when he took out his anger on Misaki, but she only wants him to realize the mistake he did. Akane fully knew how Haruka didn't like being compared to Misaki and as well as why Misaki started growing out her hair. She calmly and considerately explained the circumstances of their relationship and after that, Misaki and Haruka was able to mend the small faults in their relationships thanks to Akane. As an older sister, she can be affectionate with him as well, as she will hug him when he encourages her.
After Akane returned to Sakuraka High, Akane and Haruka began spending more time, mainly due to Ange needing Akane by her side. They sometimes help each other out though Akane can scold him when he do something wrong.
Hikari Sakurada[]
Akane and Hikari share a close bond. They share room, so they usually end up having conversations with each other. When at home, Akane and Hikari are often seen together; they always do groceries together, as Hikari has to follow Akane due to her despising the cameras. Akane also supports Hikari during the royal campaign, defending her from Kanade when she said that Hikari wasn't serious about the election. As an older sister to Hikari, Akane often gives her advises about the royal campaign about how one should and shouldn't do, much to Hikari's annoyance. But since Akane always saw Hikari as her innocent, reckless and worrisome silly little sister, she became an adult before she knew it herself. She is glad that Hikari found something that she enjoys doing (Idol), but because of her possessing the will to to see it through the end, she felt envious of seeing Hikari like that. Though, this doesn't mean that Akane is really envious, as she still cares deeply for and is proud over her younger sister.
Teru Sakurada[]
Akane seems to care for Teru, as she became worried when Teru and Shiori went grocery shopping alone, feeling that she can't leave them alone. Akane becomes a bit surprised when hearing about Teru's desire to become king, but nonetheless supports him. Teru respects Akane as he calls her "honored sister".
Shiori Sakurada[]
Akane cares for Shiori as the youngest sibling. Their relationship is later explored on when Akane herself, Shiori and Kanade was home alone when Akane had a fever. Shiori showed a lot of concern for Akane and wanted her to get better, and as result kissed her older sister Akane on the cheek as as a "good luck charm", which made Akane immediately very happy and "better", so this shows that Akane is fond of Shiori as well. When Shiori accompanies Teru to do groceries alone instead of Akane, she grows worried and therefore secretly follows them along with Hikari to make sure they are safe.
Souichirou Sakurada[]
Souichirou cares for and loves Akane as his daughter. Due to Akane's shyness, Souichirou explains that because she (and her siblings) have been born into the royal family which might cause some hurt, they need only the minimum responsibility one has to have as a member of the royal family. Though Akane respects and looks up to her father for being so responsible despite him becoming king at such an young age, she can get worried about his carefree personality, as she claimed that she was more concerned about the country than the future. Souichirou is also very doting towards Akane, as he wanted Akane to stay in the household for another 20 years after hearing about Shuu's engagement, greatly shocking Akane however.
Satsuki Sakurada[]
Satsuki loves her daughter Akane, though she can get worried about her extreme shyness. In the past, she was also quite worried due to Akane using her power quite recklessly. As Satsuki knows that Akane is very shy, she explains that it is important to let the citizens get to know her, which Akane understands though she still have trouble going out in public. Nonetheless, as mother and daughter, they love each other as Satsuki sees Akane as a kind, responsible girl despite her shyness. Akane, in return, loves her mother very much, to which she always believes and puts her trust in her words.
Borscht[]
Despite Hikari being Borscht's "real" adoptive owner, Borscht is more fond of Akane and likes to sleep on her chest as it reminds him of his former home, which was a box. Akane is usually the one Borscht wakes up when he wants food, and Borscht can also be affectionate with her sometimes, like rubbing his body against her legs. Akane is fond of Borscht as well, though she sometimes gets disappointed when he chews on plastic bags.
Friends[]
Karen Ayugase[]
Akane and Karen are best friends and as well as childhood friends. Akane deeply cares and treasures Karen as her friend and will be by her side in school most of the time. As childhood friends, they have a lot of memories, and they trust each other completely, as they help each other out in various occasions. They also hang out with each other regularly on weekends despite Akane's royal ancestry. In the past, Akane protected Karen from some burglars, and according to Karen, Akane didn't let go of her hand that day. Since then, the two have had a mutual faith and a connection between each other. They support each other as well, as Karen encourages her in the royal campaign and how she can't give up. Also, Akane herself thinks about Karen when she feels unsure, which is seen where she thought about her during the election day because she was so nervous. Karen felt that Akane needed her help, hence, their "connection". Akane loves and trusts Karen deeply as a friend, as she wants Karen to be her secretary when she becomes king. Akane has even joked about wanting to marry Karen twice due to Karen always helping and supporting her. But when she revealed that she only joked about marrying her, Karen was seen being visibly disappointed both times, indicating that Karen has romantic feelings for Akane.
An Shirogane[]
Akane and An are close friends as they have known each other since middle school and they are often seen together in school. An supports Akane in the royal campaign which she deeply appreciates. Akane also cares and trusts An as well, as she will tell her personal matters to her, to which An gives her words to cheer up and realize some things that she didn't before, making Akane feel better.
Hana Satou[]
At first, Akane and Hana were only aquaintances but due to Hana's affection towards Shuu that later developed, they grew to become mutually good friends. Hana once called Akane because she needed some advice regarding to her relationship with Shuu, and despite Akane's shy personality, she went out in the public just to meet Hana. After they both encouraged and supported each other, they became closer and began calling each other by first names. After Hana's engagement to Shuu, Akane has started viewing her as a sister, as she told her to take care of her brother Shuu before.
Angelica W. Rose[]
Despite their distances, Ange and Akane have remained close and good friends over the years, even though they only meet at parties for royal families. Their friendship was born when Akane visited Ange's castle out of the blue when they were still children. When Ange is sent to the Sakurada household to become more mature and dependent, they become even closer as they begin to spend more time with each other as they even share room. Akane and Ange trust and care for each other, as Ange voices her concerns to Akane. Due to Ange being very pampered, Akane praises when she helps out, even being described as "mother and child" by Haruka.
And because of Ange's pampered personality, Akane have to look after Ange as she came back to Sakuraka High School to look after her. When Ange got injured, she flew all the way from her college just to check on her, showing how much Akane cares about her. However, Akane also worries about her quite a lot as she feels like she can't leave her alone since she can do very reckless things sometimes. Ange, in return, views Akane as one of her closest friends and "favorite person", and is proud of her, both as members of royalty and friends. Akane takes care of Ange most of the time, and will always help her, even with the smallest things.
Later in the series, it is possible that Ange began to develop romantic feelings for Akane after kissing her when Ange thought Akane was unconscious (when in reality she was sleeping), and when Akane brought this up, Ange blushed brightly in response.
Acquaintances[]
Hajime Fukushina[]
Akane just treats Fukishina like a normal person. They aren't exactly friends, and Akane doesn't know that he is the president of her fan-club. Hajime really likes Akane and her shy personality, but Akane just see him like a classmate.
Sachiko Yonezawa[]
Akane looks up to Sachiko very much. Akane once worked as a 'manager' for Hikari and Sachiko (with a disguise), thinking that Sachiko won't realize. She did, but she didn't say anything. Since Hikari is a idol and usually meets Sachiko, Akane asks her if she can meet her backstage. When Akane met Sachiko for the first time, she was really nervous, but happy.
Power[]
Akane's power is called Gravity Core (グラビティコア, Gurabiti Koa?, "Gravity Control"), which allows her to manipulate the gravity of herself and anyone she touches. Her power also makes her able to "fly", as well as increase her speed and strength, as she can lift heavy objects with ease. This power comes in handy when fighting thieves, as Akane used her power for this reason several times in the series. When disguised as Scarlet Bloom, she used her ability many times, each time helping people with different kinds of things.
Creation and development[]
Akane's beta design.
Akane was originally supposed to have shorter hair, and a more tomboyish look. According to Akane's character design (and also Joukamachi no Dandelion's original author, Kasuga Ayumu), Akane had a lot of changes, mainly to her twin tails. Akane's beta design was from about 3-4 years before the manga was published.
Etymology[]
- The name Akane means "deep red, dye from the rubia plant" (茜), meaning that she presumably was named after her hair color and eye color.
Trivia[]
- Akane is completely unaware that she has a fan club at school.
- Akane always gets the chore to do groceries, which is ironic as she absolutely despises it. This is a running gag in the series.
- Scarlet Bloom (Akane's alter-ego) was based on a fictional television superhero named Rose Typhoon whom Akane greatly looked up to when she was younger.
- Akane is the class representative.
- Hikari Sakurada, who is five years younger, outgrew Akane by the age of 13.
- The king Akane looks up to the most is Henry IV of France.
Gallery[]
[]
| Sakurada Family | Akane Sakurada • Aoi Sakurada • Shuu Sakurada • Kanade Sakurada • Haruka Sakurada • Misaki Sakurada • Hikari Sakurada • Teru Sakurada • Shiori Sakurada • Souichirou Sakurada • Satsuki Sakurada • Borscht | |
|---|---|---|
| Supporting characters | Angelica W. Rose • Hana Satou • Hajime Fukushina • Hitomi Ichijou • Karen Ayugase • Kouji Matsouka • Nanao • Sachiko Yonezawa • Shizuru • Uzuki | |
| Minor Characters | Alvin R. Rose • An Shirogane • Ayase • Chieko Shinonome • Chika • Daigorou Shinonome • Hazuki Shinonome • Kanna Shinonome • Mina Shinonome • Mio • Mutski Shinonome • Reiko Saotome • Satoe Mashima • Sayuri Sowa • Shirou Kusonoki • Tamao • Yuuji Yamamoto | |
| Misaki's clones | (Misaki's clones) | |