Character Study: Sakura Matou
by
, March 8th, 2012 at 11:09 PM (16667 Views)
DISCLAIMER: All right. What follows is, I specify right now, my own personal opinion. Only my opinion, and I do my level best to remain polite, objective, and tactful when delivering it. I ask nothing more of that from any commentary: polite and respectful of the fact that your opinions are just that, opinion. Debate is fine, being a jerk is not. And in this blog, you are in the Sovereign State of Moczotopia, where I am judge, jury, and executioner. Step out of line, and I will have the People's Joy Army 'educate' you. Or ban you. Whichever.
Sakura Matou. I am honestly a little afraid to write this one, simply because the character in question is so painfully complicated. Even in my own mind I occasionally can't agree on what I think of her, and as far as characters that are difficult to write, she is pretty much the top of the list. But the people have spoken, and it's not like I don't have a lot to say about her. Some good, some bad, some that's just me babbling as I am wont to do.
Since Saku is a purely canon character, the format is going to be a bit different. First, let's take a look at our base:
SAKURA IN CANON
To understand my opinion of canon Sakura, you first must understand my opinion of Kinoko Nasu. I think he is simply amazing at thinking up plots, settings, and characters. And I think that when it comes time to use these things, his performance is... questionable.
Nowhere is this more clear than in the case of Sakura. Her past and her connection to the Grail War mean she has one of the most intriguing personal histories in the main cast, and her relationships with the other main characters, particularly Shirou and Rin, are some of the most interesting in the game and bring out sides of them nobody else can. She had (Has!) amazing potential.
And honestly? I think it ended up being largely wasted.
She is not, by any means, a bad character. But she was improperly used. The narrative of her route shoved her into a box, hampering her character by sticking her very early on into the role of 'girl to be saved'. This significantly cut down on her ability to actively influence the plot of her own route: she became a passive character, at times more like a device than a person.
To make matters worse, whenever the narrative did shift to her, either to give another character's perspective or to leave her as narrator, there was roughly a 90% chance that the ensuing scene would primarily serve to highlight some new trauma that Nasu had chosen to pile on her. We rarely got to see Sakura's view on anything, and when we did, it was most often her own pain. This was intended to highlight the best aspects of her character (willpower, determination, courage) by showing her ability to endure what would have killed anyone else. But in practice, the parade of suffering often made me dread her screen-time, rather than looking forward to the chance to learn more about her. Even when we're seeing through her eyes, we're only rarely getting to know her.
Basically? She was a character who demanded a subtle, nuanced touch, and a great deal of time to explore and develop. Instead... she was kind of left out in the cold. I stand by this: Sakura's portrayal in canon did not do her justice. I firmly believe that much.
Which is where fanfiction comes in! The same trends that made me find her so underwhelming in the game itself make her a fanwriter's dream. Such a great character, and so little genuine exploration of her. How could anyone resist?
SAKURA IN 'CHAOS THEORY'
Since Chaos Theory shares a starting point with HF, Sakura is one of the key characters. It is also my first major attempt at writing her. So how did I go about it?
Well, first, I took steps to counter what I saw as her weaknesses in canon, which is actually rather simple. My entire problem with the character is her respective lack of focus compared to the other main cast, and resolving that requires one tiny change: Let her be part of the plot instead of who the plot is happening to.
I'm not suggesting that she and Rider should go out on motorcycles and beat Zouken to death (... though someone should write that). She's not an action-y character, at least not while she has Crest Worm issues. But that doesn't mean she can't have an effect on the plot. So I am working on developing her character in two new directions: building an honest sisterly affection between her and Rin, and developing the weird love-hate corruption relationship between her and Caster Alter (Any LesYay to be blamed on Beams, since she whispers in my ear all the time). She's still not an action-oriented character, but her presence is having a colossal effect on two of characters who very much are, and she is doing it (And here is where I see the biggest difference between CT and HF) by her presence, not her situation. The characters are not driven by things that are happening to Sakura. They are driven by their interactions with her, not merely their desire to do something to/with her. And since these scenes tend to be written with her as the viewpoint character, it gives me ample time to showcase her thoughts and feelings, plumb her mind and show how she is developing too.
Really? I didn't change her character at all. Just put her in a better position, where she could show that character more freely and more often. But even that much makes me feel like I've got a much more rounded character on my hands, and I'm rather happy with it so far.
Now, if you want my thoughts on changing her...
SAKURA IN 'IN THE BLOOD'
Or, 'Happy Puppy Tourist Sakura'.
This is not as much 'Sakura' as the CT model... it's an extrapolation of Sakura. Sakura + A genuinely happy home life + time + first ever vacation with her big sis. The resulting character is happy, confident, fun, and somewhat goofy because damn she is High On Life. She wants to see all she can see and experience all she can experience. And this includes the occasional bout of matchmaker: She's happy and wants the people she loves to be happy too, and she is not shy about this.
I almost want to call her 'Sakura as she should have been', without any Matou influence. But honestly? She's probably more exuberant than that. She's not merely happy for the first time in her life: she's making up for all the years she wasn't. This is a Sakura who has known the pits of despair and got out of them. People died to give her the chance to be happy, and she will not waste it. Every day will be lived to its fullest. Happy. Puppy.
She is also, as a consequence, more prone to being used for comedic effect. But I don't think she's complaining. Too busy buying that awesome shirt she just saw. The one with the green and pink sparkles! Rin is just jealous.
And there we have it. My opinions of Sakura Matou and the method behind my madness when I write her out (And some of Beam's madness. But her madness is a lot like mine.). I like to think I'm doing the character some justice, and so far reactions are good... but then, until now, I'd never written any of this down. Let's see if the reactions turn less good!
*Goes to sleep after writing too much*