Sakura Anime: Five Shows to Watch This Spring!

Of all Japan’s cultural touchstones, the sakura season is arguably one of, if not the most famous. People all across the country celebrate this season by hosting and attending festivals, picnics, and countless other ways. Another great way to celebrate the season is to sit down and enjoy some great sakura anime!

In anime, the sakura season is also extremely popular, not only as a setting but also as a narrative element. It would take us way too long to list and discuss every anime that centered on the sakura season, so we narrowed it down to these five. For fans of sakura anime, this is a great place to start! 

A Silent Voice

A Silent Voice is a full-length anime film that was released in 2016. Directed by Naoko Yamada, the film is based on the manga by Yoshitoki Oima. The crux of the film is centered on Shoya Ishida, a young middle-school boy who happens to be a horrible bully. He and his friends target a young girl named Shoko Nishimiya, a transfer student who was born deaf. 

When Shoya’s cruel actions finally catch up to him, he ends up isolated and miserable. Over time, he reconnects with Shoko, and they form an uneasy but growing friendship in high school. A Silent Voice is surprisingly mature for a sakura-themed anime. It explores dark themes, yet its core is about hope, forgiveness, and friendship. The sakura imagery mirrors both the growth and fading of the characters’ bonds—and how easily life can sweep them off course.

My Happy Marriage

Originally a light novel series by Akumi Agitogi, My Happy Marriage has been adapted into various media. It’s received a novelization, a manga series, a live-action adaptation, and, of course, an anime. Set during the Taisho Era of Japan (1912-1926), My Happy Marriage focuses on a young girl named Miyo Saimori. Similar to the classic tale of Cinderella, Miyo lives with her horrible stepmother and dreams of running away to find true love. 

When Miyo is finally able to marry, she’s shocked to discover that her fiancée, Kiyoka Kudou, is a man so cold and malicious that his previous suitors all ran from him before their marriages. Yet as Miyo begins to learn who Kiyoka truly is, the two form a meaningful, deep relationship.

True to its name, My Happy Marriage is centered on love and marriage. The sakura that is present in the film is indicative of the slow blossoming of Miyo and Kiyoka’s affection for one another. What may begin small and unassuming may yet blossom into something truly beautiful and breathtaking, which is a wonderful message to have in a sakura anime.

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Clannad

Released as a visual novel game for PC in 2004, Clannad quickly became the most successful PC game of its year. The title has since become one of the most popular visual novel titles of all time, with spin-offs and adaptations continuing its legacy. At its core, Clannad is about a young high school boy named Tomoya Okazaki. Brash, angry, and lonely, Tomoya meets five different girls during his high school years. 

As the player makes decisions for Tomoya, his life and his relationship with the girls change. Despite being a text-based video game narrative, Clannad still hits all the right notes to count as sakura anime. Like many other anime about high school, the sakura in the series represents the friendships the students create.

Beautiful, fleeting, and memorable, the flowers in the game parallel Tomoya’s life. Ultimately, the goal is for Tomoya to blossom into a beautiful soul himself. Few sakura anime have become as famous and successful as this, so be sure to check it out!

5 Centimeters Per Second

A full-length anime film released in 2007 by Makoto Shinkai, 5 Centimeters Per Second, follows the life of Takaki Tono. Broken into three segments, each a different era of his life, the film follows his relationship with a girl named Akari Shinohara. Much like Shinkai’s other works, the film focuses on love, distance, and the struggles of finding true love.

The title of the film is the speed at which sakura petals fall from the tree. This is iconic of the distance and constant movement between Takaki and Akari throughout the film. Though just like the petals, there is stillness at the end of the fall, a stillness that comes to signify the culmination of their relationship. If you haven’t caught on yet, love and happiness are two major themes in sakura anime.

Sakura Wars

One of Sega’s longest-running and most beloved franchises, Sakura Wars has crossed over into multiple media. Video games, manga, stage shows, concerts, and anime have all brought the series to life. Sakura Wars is also set during the Taisho Era. In its world, demons form from the darkness lurking in humans’ hearts, and powerful military units have been created to combat them. 

Ichiro Ogami is a young officer in the Imperial Assault Force in Tokyo who then travels the world fighting the forces of darkness. What makes Sakura Wars so unique is its blend of tactical combat, dating-sim elements, and visual-novel narratives, which have earned it the title “dramatic adventure.”

With the word sakura in its title, the imagery and motifs of sakura are rampant throughout the series. There are multiple reasons for this: to begin with, the sakura are a constant source of beauty throughout turmoil and combat. It also embodies the series’s pervasive themes of budding romance and love. Finally, sakura are an identifiable emblem of Japan in a series that spans the globe.  Sakura Wars is, quite fittingly, a wonderful example of A-tier sakura anime. Have you seen any of these sakura anime before? Please let us know! We’d love to hear from you!