Sango Sakuraba

**Sango Sakuraba** is a student at Johnan Public High School and the **manager** for the boys' volleyball team.

## Appearance

Sango is a short, petite girl with short, dark hair usually worn in a messy side ponytail or loose. She usually accessorizes her hair with two heart-shaped hair clips. She has large, round, dark eyes, and usually wears some makeup. Her face is very expressive, and she is shown expressing a wide range of emotions.

## Personality

Sango is a dedicated, hardworking, confident, and emotionally expressive girl, who always says what she thinks and is not afraid to be the center of attention. She is always ready to take control of a situation, but is also very friendly, often being able to strike up a conversation with people she has never met before, and is sweet and caring. She is also very quick-thinking and swift to defend herself physically if she thinks she is being harassed or threatened.

## Plot

### Johnan Volleyball Team Transformation Arc

Sango was on her way to an interview for the position of soccer team manager when she met Akira and Katta. Although she initially expressed the opinion that volleyball players were old-fashioned weirdos, she mended this opinion after being captivated by the intensity of the boys' practice match. She is also the daughter of the family with whom Katta and Akira are boarding.

### Kanto Preliminaries Arc

Sango arrived barely on time to Johnan's match against Nanyou in the Kanto Meet Preliminaries, because Katta said she spent too much time putting her makeup on, and Katta had to run with her to the gym. She was to be their manager for the day. During the match, she kept the score in her scorebook and paid close attention to the game. Akira and Katta suggested a player substitution in the first set, and when Kiriko accidentally and confusedly made the signal, Sango took over the situation and made the switch.

At a practice that week, the boys went running, even though Sango argued that they should spend the little time they had left to practice their techniques. After running, though, she ordered that they get to work practicing and led them back to the gym on her bike.

Before their match against Seiryoh, Sango fell asleep and had to be woken up by Katta, after which she told the boys that she had called Kiriko to work as their coach again, since she was more reliable than their official coach, Tooru Naruse. During the game, she cheered intensely and jumped up from the bench when Johnan scored, but was very concerned when Katta injured his arm. She was also worried about the boys when they were so tired they could barely stand, but she was reassured by Katta and continued to cheer for them. After their victory, she joined in their celebratory huddle and stood next to Katta as they declared their victory against Seiryoh.

After the match, Sango was shown reading a volleyball magazine article about Johnan. She then walked into the gym and was dismayed to see the boys in a state of chaos, struggling to follow Akira's newest orders.

## Relationships

### Katta Oosawa

Sango and Katta's relationship had a rocky start, but once they got used to living in the same house, they became friends, and Sango became the volleyball team's manager because of Katta's influence. He often dragged her along to practice because she was so slow in the mornings. Sango teases Katta about his sweet personality, and Katta is usually the one to reassure her when she gets concerned and wake her up when she falls asleep. Sango always pays close attention to him during matches and observes how his presence on the court affects the moods of the other players. Later in the series, her attention to him could be interpreted as the beginning of a romantic interest, but they remained simply close friends.

### Kiriko

Sango and Kiriko spoke briefly during the Nanyou match, and Sango saved Kiriko from embarrassment during the accidental player substitution. After this, they grew closer, and Sango called Kiriko to take over as coach for the Seiryoh game. They seem to get along and enjoy doing their best to support the team.

### Kyouhei Moriguchi

Moriguchi scolded Sango for not taking good enough care of Katta and called her an idiot when she did not completely think through the player substitution in the Nanyou game, but he came to appreciate her hard work as manager and accept her as a useful member of the team.

## Trivia

* Sango is one of three named female characters in the manga.
* She wears two heart-shaped hair clips either to hold her bangs away from her face or to decorate her side ponytail.
* It is unknown what year she is in, but because of her small stature and close relationship with Katta, it is possible to assume that she is a first-year.
* She is not good at running, but she does have skill in basic self-defense and enjoys riding her bike.
* She was seen talking with a few of her girl friends, but they were only included in that one scene.