Characters / Sekai de Ichiban Tsuyoku Naritai!

Character sheet for the anime.

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Sakura Hagiwara

Sakura "Transcendent Cutie, Fighting Princess" Hagiwara

Voiced by: Ayana Taketatsu (Japanese) and Lindsay Seidel (as Elizabeth Lewis) (English)

The main character, Sakura was initially a member of the idol group Sweet Diva when she was 17 years old. She was voted to be the central vocalist for the fourth time in a row at the start of the series. Initially cheerful and bright, she always puts her idol group before her own feelings but always tries her best at anything, which is why she took a leave of absence from her idol career to pursue professional wrestling so as to redeem her group's honor after losing to Rio in a non-title grudge match.

Eventually, she pursues wrestling full-time, alongside her career with Sweet Diva.

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• Achilles' Heel: The Boston Crab is Sakura's biggest weakness, so much so that it causes her to give up in her first 50 matches.
• Ass Kicks You: Hip Attacks are one of Sakura’s particular moves
• Big "NO!": Played with. While Sakura does say this a lot, this isn't because something awful has happened, but because she won't give up.
• Character Development: Sakura goes from simply wanting to defend her idol's pride into genuinely wanting to be the strongest and best at pro wrestling in the world.
• Defeat by Modesty: Rio's Shame Hold invokes this by putting the opponent in a compromising position before the audience and cameras, as Sakura finds out the hard way.
• Determinator: After losing 50 straight matches, Sakura never gives up, to the point of replying to every one of the referee's questions about giving up with "NO!!"
• Earn Your Happy Ending: After a very grueling match, both Sakura and Elena get what they wanted without having to sacrifice any of their dreams.
• Finishing Move: Sakura's Sakura Special, a backflip kick.
• Generation Xerox: A former idol who easily gave up when placed in a submission hold, but became a Determinator and came to love pro wrestling: both of these things apply to Misaki and Sakura.
• Groin Attack: Sakura is on the receiving end of a double team version by Digger and Hornet. The two of them drag her crotch first along the top ropes, giving her a nasty friction burn between the legs before ramming her crotch into the turnbuckle. This attack leaves Sakura on the ground, holding her crotch.
• Idol Singer: Formerly. Then a grueling wresting match with her bestfriend and former rival in Sweet Diva, followed by an egalitarian suggestion from the reigning world champ made Sakura both wrestler and idol.
• Jobber: Loses her first 65 matches.
• Naïve Newcomer: Sakura initially grasps the idea that it will take a lot of hard work to go pro, but the immense length of her consecutive losses to the Boston Crab demonstrates that she's still out of her depth in how much training is actually required.
• Navel-Deep Neckline: In her wrestling attire, Sakura has cleavage that goes all the way down to the middle of her stomach.
• The Rival: Sakura for Elena. She and Sakura always competed for the center vocalist position in Sweet Diva, which Sakura always won. Although Sakura treated it as a friendly rivalry, Elena did not, although she was still good-natured about it. It was the idea that Sakura would never return to being an idol that made Elena take up the persona of Blue Panther, in the hopes of bringing Sakura back to Sweet Diva by force.
• She-Fu: The Sakura Special is basically a flip kick with the feet hitting the opponent's jaw one shortly after the other. It's a modified version of the "Ice Cream Somersault" that Sakura did with Elena when she was still an idol.
• Shout-Out: Sakura's long run of losses before notching her first win is reminiscent of Japanese wrestling legend Kenta Kobashi 's.
• Take a Third Option: After defeating Blue Panther, who's revealed to be Elena, in a retirement match, Elena still tries to get Sakura to come back to Sweet Diva. Then the rest of the group and a horde of Sweet Diva fans call out to Sakura to rejoin the group. Sakura is torn as she truly wants to become the strongest in the world, but she still loves the idol life and can't abandon her old friends and fans. Jackal breaks the impasse by offering both Sakura and Elena a place in Shangri-La so they can be idols and wrestlers.
• This Is Unforgivable!: Sakura calls out Blue Panther for the latter's brutal Curb-Stomp Battle. This apparently impressed Jackal enough that she picks Sakura as Misaki's substitute for her match.
• Took a Level in Badass: Part of her Character Development.
• Training from Hell: Comes with the territory in pro wrestling. Sakura is put through this when she joins Berserk.
• Traumatic Haircut: Sakura used to have really long hair, but a misplaced bet against Rio cost her a good length of her hair. This didn't slow her down, and as time passed she regrew her hair.
• Underestimating Badassery: Sakura thinks that after training for a month, she's got a chance against Rio, who's been a pro wrestler for years. Rio easily and humiliatingly beats her.
• Underdogs Never Lose: Averted. Sakura is a Naïve Newcomer to the pro wrestling world and being inexperienced, she lost 50 matches straight due to her lack of ability to endure pain, and 15 more later despite being able to endure pain because of the lack of a Finishing Move before she gets her first win.
• X-Pac Heat: During Sakura's 50 match losing streak, fans have grown sick of her always giving up once she is put in the Boston Crab. She eventually manages to get rid of it once she becomes a Determinator.

Elena Miyazawa

Elena Miyazawa

Voiced by: Kana Asumi (Japanese) and Monica Rial (English)

A member of the idol group Sweet Diva, she is Sakura's rival who is a tomboy and strong-minded. She is later revealed to be Blue Panther, who was thought to be Juri. Though initially unskilled at pro-wrestling, her training in Miyabi under Juri's tutelage revealed that she actually has much untapped potential in the sport, as her rapid development allowed her to hold her own against Sakura during their first wrestling match against each other. She sought to bring Sakura back to the idol life by defeating her in the ring.

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• Defeat Means Friendship: When Sakura finally defeats Elena, the latter admits that the only reason why she wanted to become a pro wrestler was to have Sakura come back to Sweet Diva by any means necessary. After realizing that she too enjoys being a pro wrestler, Elena makes amends with Sakura.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: After a very grueling match, both Sakura and Elena get what they wanted without having to sacrifice any of their dreams.
• Face–Heel Turn: Sort of. She becomes Blue Panther so Sakura would come back to Sweet Diva with her.
• Heel: As Blue Panther, Elena (and Juri) fought as a masked villain against the Berserk Gym.
• Generation Xerox: Only implied though.
• Idol Singer: Continues in Sakura's stead.
• Navel-Deep Neckline: Her Blue Panther has a plunging neckline that reaches her midriff.
• Red Herring: Blue Panther's identity. After spending her time as The Voiceless, Jackal pays a visit to the Miyabi stable, where The Ace there, Juri Sanada, openly reveals herself as Blue Panther and it looks like she's aiming for Sakura. So Juri is Blue Panther, right? Not exactly. While Elena reveals to Sakura that she was Blue Panther all along, Juri admits that she was the one who sabotaged the matches, which was why everybody was convinced that she was Blue Panther.
• Took a Level in Badass: In the first episode, she gets her ass handed to her by Rio. When she faces Sakura in the final episodes, however, she is shown to be a very capable wrestler.
• Training from Hell: Given that Elena was able to match, and in some cases even surpass Sakura, it's almost certain that she was put through some hellish training of her own by Juri at Mayabi.
• Victory Is Boring: How Elena feels about being Sweet Diva's center vocalist. She feels she did not really succeed as Sakura left their group to become a pro wrestler.
• You Are in Command Now: Sakura has always won the position of center vocalist in Sweet Diva, with Elena always finishing a close second. Now that Sakura has become a pro wrestler, Elena now became Sweet Diva's center vocalist.

Rio Kazama

Rio Kazama

Voiced by: Haruko Tomatsu (Japanese) and Martha Harms (English)

A mid-class wrestler who was the one who attacked Elena.—-

• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While Rio is extremely aggressive, she's capable of being a good sport as long as no one insults wrestling.
• Kick the Dog: Rio's "Shame Hold" on Sakura, done solely for the sake of humiliating her. In the manga, even reporter Kanae Fujishita said it was "a little too much."
• Ms. Fanservice
• Serious Business: She takes pro wrestling seriously. Insulting her sport is a one-way ticket to a world of hurt, as Elena learns the hard way.
• Shout-Out: Rio's Shame Hold looks very similar to Candy Cane's Humiliation Move.
• White Hair, Black Heart: Averted with Rio. While she's not blackhearted, she's seriously aggressive in wrestling.
• The Worf Effect: This happens to Rio a couple of times. First, Moe knocks her out with one kick to show her karate strength, and then before her tiebreaker match with Sakura, Blue Panther interrupts, ambushes, and knocks her out with a sleeper hold.

Misaki Toyoda

Misaki Toyoda

Voiced by: Kyoko Narumi (Japanese) and Leah Clark (English)

Berserk's Ace pro wrestler, she too was a former idol like Sakura. She is usually seen together with Kanae.

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• Cool Teacher: Sakura is mentored by Berserk's biggest wrestler, Misaki Toyoda, herself a former idol, who was in turn mentored by Jackal, formerly of the Shangri-la stable.
• Expy: Misaki Toyoda is fairly obviously based on Manami Toyota.
• Finishing Move: Misaki's Misaki Special, a modified half-chicken wing, bridging German suplex.
• Game-Breaking Injury: Misaki was scheduled to have a match against Jackal for the latter's comeback, but she fell off a ring post to the ground and broke her ankle, Jackal has to find a replacement. She picks Sakura.
• Jobber: Was this earlier in her career.
• Navel-Deep Neckline: Her old wrestling outfit has a plunging neckline, much like Sakura's.
• Sink or Swim Mentor: Misaki is this for Sakura as she teaches her how to endure the pain once she is put into a submission hold. In turn, Jackal served this role for Misaki, as the latter had to learn the same lesson Sakura did when she started wrestling.

Moe Fukuoka

Moe Fukuoka

Voiced by: Hisako Kanemoto (Japanese) and Cristina Valenzuela (as Cristina Vee) (English)

A karate prodigy and Inoba's mentor's granddaughter. She became interested in pro wrestling because of Sakura. Her style in the ring incorporates elements of karate together with pro wrestling, and she uses powerful blows to stagger her opponent.

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• Badass Adorable: She's a Cute Bruiser who is a huge fan of Sakura.
• Child Prodigy: Moe is a world champion karate practitioner, despite being in high school. She's also the granddaughter of a wrestler.
• Cute Bruiser: Instantly takes down Rio with a single kick in her first appearance.
• Flash Step: In a series largely devoid of supernatural elements, Moe oddly can pull this off. While it works great against Sakura initially, it eventually tires her out.
• Naïve Newcomer: Moe is not only naive when she starts out but is also arrogant due to being the World Karate Champion. She finds out literally the hard way that wrestling is nothing like karate when Sakura and the girls show her the ropes during her training.
• Training from Hell: Training from Hell: Comes with the territory in pro wrestling. Moe is put through this when she joins Berserk.
• Untouchable Until Tagged: Moe easily dodges all of Sakura's jabs and is dominating the match with a series of karate kicks and punches. And then Moe runs out of steam and freezes up. The moment Sakura hits her once, it all falls apart from there.

Kanae Fujishita

Kanae Fujishita

Voiced by: Rina Sato (Japanese) and Bryn Apprill (English)

An enthusiastic news reporter who loves pro wrestling.

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• Retired Badass: Kanae is implied to be this, as Jackal referred to herself, Kanae, and Misaki as "The Golden Age Girls".

Jackal Tojo

Jackal Tojo

Voiced by: Chiaki Takahashi (Japanese) and Lydia Mackay (English)

Renowned world champion pro wrestler and Misaki's mentor. Like Misaki, she sees Sakura's potential, prompting Jackal to challenge her in a wrestling match.

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• Cool Teacher: Sakura is mentored by Berserk's biggest wrestler, Misaki Toyoda, herself a former idol, who was in turn mentored by Jackal, formerly of the Shangri-la stable.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: This is averted in the Sakura vs. Jackal match; the latter could've ended the match this way, but decided to give Sakura a fighting chance to test her mettle.
• Eagleland: Subverted with Jackal. While she uses an American ring name, has a very American "feel" to her, and has blonde hair, she originated in Japan, as she was one of Berserk's top wrestlers. At any rate, she's a Type I, as she serves as an All-American Face and is a nice woman both in and out of the ring.
• Gratuitous English: Jackal does this a lot in the Japanese version.
• Stage Name: Mostly averted.

Juri Sanada

Juri Sanada

Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa (Japanese) and Megan Shipman (English)

The owner of Miyabi and another of Jackal's students. She is considered to be Misaki's rival.

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• Generation Xerox: Only implied though.
• Navel-Deep Neckline: Her old wrestling outfit has a huge cutout that exposes both her cleavage and her stomach.

Blue Panther

Blue Panther

She is a masked pro wrestler "assassin" that works for Miyabi. She tends to be a show-off, is a bit of a brute and is despised by Sakura because of it.

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• Curb-Stomp Battle: Blue Panther does this in the matches that she sabotages.
• The Voiceless: The mysterious Blue Panther doesn't speak until she challenges Sakura to a match.