Pre-Order Sakura Matou Now!
They say the shy and modest girls are often the worst, because they hide real baddies under a sweet and unassuming smile. ( •ॢ◡-ॢ )-♡ Sakura Matou from the Fate/Stay Night series is no different, but the type of “baddie” she hides is really, really bad. Like, sadistic, murderous, defiler of all things good and true type of bad. (。•́︿•̀。) Because this gentle soul is actually a weapon in a millennia-old battle for magical supremacy.
Baddies make interesting figures, so of course Alter had to make their own kickass version of Dark Sakura. And, as expected of Alter, it’s perfect. ٩(˘ε˘˶ )
Sakura has curves in all the right places, which are usually hidden beneath her modest disposition. But when corrupted by the grail, she doesn’t have to pretend anymore: her desires are out in the open, and she yearns for Ḅ̷̔̉͆͒L̶͚͋Ó̷̢̱̭̠̓̚Ö̴̙̹̮̺̅D̶̺̮̊̽̚.
With a scornful smile Sakura prepares her next move. With such power under her control, she can finally win. And, most importantly, she can get revenge for having been abandoned and abused.
(っ◞‸◟c)
However, the Grail is not something that can be controlled. It controls you, using your deepest desires to distort your personality. And Sakura, though powerful, is no different. The corruption of the Grail shows all over her body, covered in the pattern of her defiled magical circuits. She is nearly unrecognizable in this form: even her kind, purple-ish eyes have turned into pools of bloody red, seething with contempt. (。▼皿▼)
The tentacles of corruption fly wildly, looking for servant flesh to latch onto. They contrast eerily with Sakura’s hair, turned white due to the effect of the Grail. It drained the color, the life and all the goodness of the sweet classmate and replaced it with a stark form of rancour. The only thing that is left of that shy girl is her pink hair ribbon, a keepsake of happier days. 🎀
Will it be enough to bring back Sakura’s former self? Well… I suggest you watch the movies. It’s quite a whirlwind of magic, action and pretty girls if you’re new to the Fate universe. I already summarized the bulk of it in this blog post (skip to “The Fate Universe” section). Since that post is all about Saber, there’s a little bit more about Sakura below. (ღゝ◡╹)ノ
As for this sick scale figure, her release is scheduled for December 2023. Pre-orders are currently open at our store, so make sure to check her out! Cash in on the points to make your next purchases even better! ٩( ๑╹ ꇴ╹)۶
A tragic heroine
If you had seen the anime version of Sakura before finding this stunning 1/7 scale figure, you couldn’t have imagined the horrifying journey that caused her to become something as awesome and threatening as this.
Upon meeting her, you may have been charmed by her sweet and kind nature, and the soothing smile that belies the nightmare she returns to every day after school.
The rest is history, which has been portrayed masterfully in the movie trilogy. For Sakura purposes, the movies are all you need to get the basic understanding of her personality and relevance to the Fate universe. It’s produced by ufotable, so I obviously don’t need to work too hard to convince anyone to watch it. ( ^◡^)っ
Noteworthy Mentions
And even though this figure is more than a decade old, they got the blood effect UNCANNILY right. The blood effect is less stylized than Alter’s rendition, and definitely more realistic. So, if you enjoy the gory aesthetic and want to build a display worthy of a Corrupted Grail, Gift’s “Makiri’s Grail” is the one you need. And we have her in store both brand new and pre-owned!
I’m kind of miffed that this figure didn’t get a re-release when Heaven’s Feel came out though
( ̄ε ̄)
If you’re the squeamish type, there is also the 1/7 scale made by Aniplex. In their rendition of Sakura Matou, they chose a more elegant aspect, with less gore and maybe a little bit more of the gentle Sakura. Unlike the previous two figures, in this one her hair still has a pink-ish tinge, and the gore is only hinted at through the paint job.
Also, look at that base. Notice something?
She’s actually meant to pair with Saber Alter. Sakura’s black-red ribbons aren’t just gracefully draping around her like some high fashion skirt, they’re puppeteering a stolen servant. And when they’re together, they form the design of a butterfly, which signifies Sakura’s delicate nature (♡ヮ♡) AND is the name of the second Fate/Stay Night movie: Lost Butterfly. They got all the references!
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