Sakura Santa

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Sakura Santa is the eight installment in the Sakura series, developed by Winged Cloud and published by MangaGamer, released on December 21, 2015.

On the Christmas holiday season in Japan, after witnessing the luckiest day of his life, Koji, a university student, has the option to choose between dating a trickster fox spirit, his reserved childhood friend and Santa Claus herself.

Tropes used in Sakura Santa include:

• Accidental Pervert: Koji, according to himself.
• A-Cup Angst: Itsumi had this in the past, and it influenced her feelings for Koji.
• All for Nothing: Itsumi wonders if her feelings for Koji were for nothing, as he could have rejected her.
• As You Know: Koji and Itsumi talking about their friendship in middle school and now, as well as events that have happened at the time.
• Author Appeal/Creator Thumbprint:
  • Fan Service: Check. Big Boobs: Check.
• Call Back: During their first date, Itsumi says the same thing to Koji as when he saw her naked and changing her clothes:

"There's no need to be bashful around me, Koji. We're adults now, aren't we?"

• Childhood Friend Romance: Koji and Itsumi. It's the premise of her route and Lampshaded in the good end.
• Dangerously-Short Skirt: Santa's outfit and Itsumi's casual clothes.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Koji describes the way the cream spill all over Itsumi in the most suggestive way possible. Eventually Lampshaded.
• Dutch Angle: Many of the titillating CGs.
• Exposition (speak): Used with Tamika and her father to prove that Santa knows every child on Earth.
• Hand Wave: In Itsumi's first event, Koji says to the cafe owner that his schedule for work could be inconsistent since he might be seeing some friends. This is to let him see Akina or Santa if he ever desires.
• Harem Ending: Juggling between the three girls in a specific way will grant this ending.
• Kuudere: Downplayed with Itsumi, who didn't show her emotions a lot in the past, but she does have them.
• Idiot Ball: Never once during Itsumi's outburst did Koji say he had feelings for her. [[Justified}}, as he didn't know what to do.
  • Then again, saying that after his genre-savvy, but clumsy answer would have been blunt and confusing.
• Insistent Terminology: As Itsumi says to him in her route, Koji refers to the suggestive events he sought out to witness at middle school as "misunderstandings".
  • Koji mentions "fun things", or as Itsumi says back, adult magazines.
• Genre Savvy: Deconstructed. In Itsumi's route, Koji says to her that he knew she was attracted to him. Suddenly, she gets angry that he didn't tell the fact to her earlier in the past, saying she had regrets about her missed confession. She then confuses his answer in the process and leaves, heart-broken.
  • A straight example later on. The shop owner notices that there must have a fight between Koji and Itsumi. He orders Koji to fix the situation, because "it's affecting business".
• Male Gaze: Koji does this to his love interests many times, and he knows it. The girls even talk about it with him, having fun with the concept.
• Mythology Gag:
  • In the Akina route, Koji says he's not an awkward teenager or anything...
  • In Itsumi's cafe, there are backgrounds of previous Sakura games (Beach, Fantasy) used as paintings. Koji seems to think he has seen them before, but dismisses the thought by saying it's probably his imagination.
  • In Itsumi's route, Koji has a thing for swimsuits...
• Phrase Catcher: Koji says "You cheeky fox" to Akina a lot in her route.
• Strangled by the Red String: Lampshaded on Christmas Eve with Akina on her route. After all, they only met a few days ago. Justified, since they had such a flirtatious and emotional bond over time.
• Out of Focus: When Koji focuses on one girl, it's like he never met the other two.
• Really 700 Years Old: Akina says it has been "several hundred years" since she volunteered for the shrine position.
• Selective Obliviousness: In Itsumi's route, Koji fakes his oblivion to Itsumi's very obvious signals because he wants to avoid confronting his feelings for her.
• Sex Sells: In-Universe. The shop owner knows fully well that he is using Itsumi's sexiness to bring in customers.
• She's All Grown Up: Koji thinks and says this to Itsumi.
• Third-Act Misunderstanding: In each route:
  • After the revelation that Akina was using Koji's wish for her own reasons, she assumes that he is angry about the fact and locks herself up inside the shrine, even though Koji is extremely grateful to Akina and his experiences with her.
  • Itsumi gets offended by Koji's savvy response to her confession and grows frustrated at him, misunderstanding his intentions.
    • Either, way, it's resolved very quickly.
• Video Game Cruelty Potential: At a crucial and dramatic moment in the story, depending on the route and the Love Interest, the player can decide to meet someone other than the involved person.
• What an Idiot! Koji to himself, on the aftermath of Itsumi's outburst.
• What If: In-universe. At one point in her route, Itsumi thinks about what would have happened if she stayed in the town with Koji. Defied by him, who says not to think about that.
• When She Smiles: Koji's thoughts discusses this about Itsumi.