History Main / CherryBlossoms

Sakura also happens to be a somewhat common name for women and men in Japan, and as such, characters in Japanese media will often show up bearing the name. See CherryBlossomGirl for uses with characters with strong themes of this, and PetalPower for attacks that actually use Cherry Blossoms.

* Utilized rather beautifully in ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda''. A death scene takes place in a flurry of blossoms, and Po's new life as the Dragon Warrior really gets underway after a pep talk near those blossoms. The blossoms are ''peach'' blossoms, not cherry blossoms, but the symbolism is still mainly the same.

A common symbolic element in anime and other Japanese media, falling ''sakura'' petals have several interconnected meanings, depending on who they are falling on and the context thereof. Cherry trees bloom en masse in early spring, usually in the month of April, but the white-to-coral petals shed and rot very quickly and the peak bloom is only a week or two. There is a celebration called ''hanami'' associated with the peak bloom, which often entails picnics and drinking with old friends under the cherry trees.

* ''Animation/FlowerFairy'': In Season 1 episode 20, Xiamu asking Lily if she would like to marry him is accompanied by cherry blossoms falling.

** The seventh NonSerialMovie shows that the Hattori family's house in Osaka has a cherry tree in its yard, right next to Heiji's bedroom window. It also involves the blooming cherry trees in Kyoto [[spoiler: where Heiji saw his first love, a little girl in a very fancy kimono, many years ago. He spends quite a part of the movie searching hints about who could she be... [[FirstgirlAfterAll and it turns out]] she was Kazuha, his {{Tsundere}} love interest, who had been dolled up in a cute kimono by her Kyoto relatives.]]

->'' “Such a special feeling these petals give to the human heart. Where one story ends, another begins. Such is the way of the Sakura tree. A tale spoken with each bloom.”''

* In the first ''VideoGame/FatalFrame1'', Kirie and the man she loves meet for the first time under a cherry tree with petals falling around them, although technically it should be winter. [[spoiler:Both of them die soon afterwards.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Super Robot Wars Original Generation}}s'', Dygenguar[[SpellMyNameWithAnS (d)'s]] final attack begins with a [[SuperMovePortraitAttack cut-in]] of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb1sIbmjI5s&feature=related Sanger drawing his sword while cherry blossoms float by]]. They come again as Dygenguard poses at the end of the attack, [[RuleOfCool despite the fact that they should be too small to be clearly visible compared to the]] HumongousMecha.

* WebAnimation/AnimatorVsAnimation: TropeNamer for the short, "Cherry Blossoms". Purple is in the ''Minecraft'' world where he is picking up a branch from a cherry blossom tree who then leaves ''Minecraft'' to his homeworld, the outernet. It's later revealed those cherry blossom branches are for his [[spoiler:late mother, Pink, to whom Purple mourns]]. Cherry blossoms symbolize love, death, and spring (the season the short was published).

* Cherry blossoms are the main [[FlowerMotifs motif]] in ''LightNovel/ThePetGirlOfSakurasou'', not unexpected for a romantic comedy anime. They often show up around Mashiro and Kanda or important plot points. "Sakurasou" means "Cherry Blossom House" as well.

* Being the [[HasTwoMommies mothers]] of all [[AloofAlly Aloof Allies]], Uranus and Neptune from ''Manga/SailorMoon'' are immediately surrounded by pink petals in their [[InTheNameOfTheMoon introduction]]. [[SubvertedTrope However, they're actually pink roses.]] Sailor Saturn, after [[spoiler:being reverted to child form]], actually is associated with cherry blossoms, thanks to her power sphere of death and rebirth.

** Most of the grass attacks involve either leaves or vines, but the Oddish line (and a rare few others later) uses an attack called Petal Dance. In the [[Anime/PokemonTheSeries anime]] and the Stadium games, this filled the air with what are quite clearly cherry blossoms, despite the line being based on the mandrake and rafflesia plants. It isn't until the fourth generation of games that Pokemon based on the cherry and cherry blossoms (Cherubi and Cherrim) is created, at which point almost all of the flowering grass-types can learn the move...and it still uses pink cherry petals.

** Most of the grass attacks involve either leaves or vines, but the Oddish line (and a rare few others later) uses an attack called Petal Dance. In the [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} anime]] and the Stadium games, this filled the air with what are quite clearly cherry blossoms, despite the line being based on the mandrake and rafflesia plants. It isn't until the fourth generation of games that Pokemon based on the cherry and cherry blossoms (Cherubi and Cherrim) is created, at which point almost all of the flowering grass-types can learn the move...and it still uses pink cherry petals.

** ''VideoGame/Rockman7EP'': Fitting for a Japanese hot spring-themed stage, cherry blossoms fall in Spring Man's level, "Viva! Spring World!".

*** This may be a reference to another culture's flower symbolism. In Iran, when a martyr dies; red tulips grow where they fall.

* In ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', most of the grass attacks involve either leaves or vines, but the Oddish line (and a rare few others later) uses an attack called Petal Dance. In the [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} anime]] and the Stadium games, this filled the air with what are quite clearly cherry blossoms, despite the line being based on the mandrake and rafflesia plants. It isn't until the fourth generation of games that Pokemon based on the cherry and cherry blossoms (Cherubi and Cherrim) is created, at which point almost all of the flowering grass-types can learn the move...and it still uses pink cherry petals.

* ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'': take a close look at the background in the green areas of Brinstar -- you'll notice it's raining ''sakura'' petals. This fits with green Brinstar's role as the only more-or-less friendly part of the planet. (Among other things, it's home to the only two native creatures that don't try to kill you.) Don't get your hopes up for natural beauty elsewhere on Zebes... unless you really like lava and acid.

* Cherry blossoms are featured in a significant context twice in ''LightNovel/BeyondTheBoundary''. The first instance is in the first episode, when Akihito decides to help Mirai kill the youmu in her apartment, thus creating a truce between the two and signaling the start of their friendship. The second is in the sequel movie, ''Beyond the Boundary: I'll Be Here'', where cherry blossoms are part of a heartbreaking scene where [[spoiler:Mirai, having [[LaserGuidedAmnesia lost her memories]], is begging Akihito to tell her who she is and what exactly their relationship is with each other.]]

* Like the games, ''Anime/SakuraWarsTV'' has its fair share of cherry blossom imagery, as one would expect from the name.

* Early in the first episode of ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic,'' Kaname enters the story showered in Cherry Blossoms, depicting the very essence of love--until she starts shouting at her best friend for setting her up on a disastrous blind date.
** Likewise when Kaname suggests that Sousuke, weird as he is, might yet find a nice girl someday, a sudden gust of wind showers her with cherry blossoms (and gives the audience a gratuitous PantyShot), lampshading their future romance.

* Creator/{{CLAMP}} are addicted to cherry blossoms (among other {{shoujo}} tropes), using both sides of the metaphorical coin (petal?). The most prominent uses of sakura appear in ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'' (where they represent the hope and youth of the main character, though they aren't actually Sakura's motif, which is wings), in ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'' (where they are once again connected to Sakura as a symbol of hope, but also represent her vulnerability), and ''Manga/TokyoBabylon''[=/=]''Manga/{{X1999}}'' (where they represent betrayal and death lurking behind beauty).