Nozaki Sakura

Nozaki Sakura (野咲 さくら) is a midfielder for Inazuma Japan and Earth Eleven.

Inazuma Eleven GO Galaxy
Normal Form= Young Form=
 * "She is well-known as a rhythmic gymnastics player. She has a high obsession with being the best."
 * "The young Sakura back at the age when she just started rhythmic gymnastics. Working hard to meet her parents' expectations."

Appearance
Sakura has light pink hair tied up at the back, resembling cherry blossom petals, along with a braid across the top of her head. She has blue eyes, fair skin color and a quite tall body. Her body is also slim and very flexible due to her training in gymnastics.

Personality
Sakura is hardworking and willing, as seen when she showed up for training even though she didn't have to do so after the match with Fire Dragon. Although Sakura was very enthusiastic and carefree at the practice, it seemed she has an ulterior motive that made Matsukaze Tenma think she enjoyed soccer. Sakura is also very obsessed with being number one due to the pressure she received from her parents. After the match with Big Waves, she has learned the importance of teamwork and becomes more cooperative with her teammates.

Background
As stated by Manabe Jinichirou in episode 2, Sakura joined Shinsei Inazuma Japan to gain money and study abroad with the best gymnastics team in the world.

While Sakura was in the rhythmic gymnastics club, her parents forced her to be the best and put her under a lot of pressure. When she ended up getting second place at the world gymnastics competition, her parents were unsatisfied with the result. She tried her best to meet her parents expectations, but it made her teammates grow to dislike her. This was because she tried to get in the spotlight in any way possible, even if it meant that she would have to steal the ball from her own teammates.

Plot (Galaxy)
She first appeared in the trailer of Galaxy, along with other new members of Inazuma Japan.

In episode 1, she was shown to be in Oumihara's soccer team. She was then chosen by Kuroiwa Ryuusei to be a midfielder for Inazuma Japan.

After being chosen, Inazuma Japan had a match against Teikoku. At the start of the game, Shindou Takuto used Kami no Takuto FI and passed the ball to her but she didn't catch it. Sakura later used a gymnastics move to catch the ball but failed, which irritated Shindou. Teikoku continued to score and the match ended with a score of 10-1, with Teikoku winning.

In episode 2, Sakura introduced herself as a former member of the gymnastics club at her school. When Tenma taught the new members on how to kick a ball, she tried to but failed. On the day of the match with Fire Dragon, she tried to get the ball but it was stolen by Lee Chung-Yun before she could get it.

In episode 3, Sakura and most of the team didn't want to pass the ball to Matatagi because Manabe suspected that he stole his wallet. Later, after hearing encouragements from Tenma and seeing Matatagi's determination, she and the others finally passed the ball to him. She also urged Manabe, when he was cornered, to pass the ball to Matatagi.

In episode 4, Sakura and Matatagi were the only players to practice along with Shindou, Tenma and Tsurugi. While practicing, she showed off her gymnastics skills and also tried to be a goalkeeper, but failed to stop Tsurugi's shoot.

Later, when her old teammates from Oumihara Chuugaku Shintaisoubu were watching the news about Shinsei Inazuma Japan's first match, they were surprised to see Sakura there. They said it was a good thing she left, and felt sorry for Shinsei Inazuma Japan who have to put up with her now.

The next day, she and Matatagi still were the only ones who participated in the training. Later, both of them were seen at Steel Tower Plaza with Tenma as he told them about Endou but didn't mention his name.

In episode 5, Sakura took part in the withdrawal exam. Initially she wanted to pass it, but decided not to and stayed in the team after seeing Tetsukado's shoot.

In episode 6, Sakura had a small talk with her parents and they told her not to embarrass herself as a member of Shinsei Inazuma Japan. In the match between Big Waves, she saw her parents in the audience and remembered her past of how her mother kept telling her to continue practicing. She started getting the ball purposely from her teammates to get attention but it made the other members start to distrust her.

In episode 7, Sakura still continued to get the ball for attention. After failing a few times, she didn't want to look uncool in front of her parents like how she got second place at the world gymnastics competition. Then, she purposely bumped on Konoha, pretending that her leg was hurt. She then got moved back to be a defender with Tetsukado replacing her position as a midfielder. However, after seeing Ibuki, who continued to stop the ball twice and got complimented by Tenma who said thanks to her pass, Matatagi was able to score the goal. She decided to move back to be a midfielder and tried to break through Suck Out with Shindou's Kami no Takuto but failed. However, when she tried to break through with Kami no Takuto FI the second time, she was successful. When she was about to score a goal on her own, she remember Tenma's words of enjoying soccer together and passed the ball to Manabe, who luckily scored a goal. When the match ended with Shinsei Inazuma Japan winning, Tenma told her that it would be good if everyone is number one and she thought that could be maybe true.

In episode 8, Sakura was seen training with her teammates and Aoi noted that Sakura has became much better since the match against Big Waves. The next day, there was no training and she invited Konoha to go shopping with her at the Soccer Garden Shopping Mall which she agreed. The two of them were hanging out together at the shopping mall and they both seemed get along well after the incident. Later, when Tenma came back from the police station, she was seen assembled together because they all heard that Kusaka got caught by the police. Manabe and Minaho then told everyone about Kusaka's background and his contract of joining Shinsei Inazuma Japan.

On the day of the match between Shamshir, she tried to steal ball from Said Ashraf but failed.

In episode 9, the first-half ended with Shamshir lead 1-0. She was wondering on Shindou's plan of removing Kusaka in the second-half and Tetsukado told her that there is no choice as the others also agreed with the plan. However, Tenma convinced them to let Kusaka play and they somehow agreed. When the second-half began, she and her teammates didn't pass the ball to Kusaka so he will not get into a rampage again.

In episode 10, she and the other members of Shinsei Inazuma Japan were training in the Black Room for the past three days. She was the first one who suggested that their team could maybe win the FFIV2. This surprised Manabe and Minaho because it said on their contract that they don't have to win; however, the others also agreed and decided to win. Sakura asked Konoha if she also wanted to win but Konoha was unable to answer which made Sakura pout. Later, Aoi came and told them that their opponent in the semi-finals is Mach Tiger.

In episode 11, she didn't join the search for Konoha when heard that she left.

In episode 12, she along with Manabe and Minaho complained to Kusaka when he told them that he unintentionally called Konoha "irritating" when she left Shinsei Inazuma Japan. In the match between Mach Tiger, she made a pass to Tenma on the link of Shindou's Kami no Takuto FI. Shindou got the ball and tried to score with Fortissimo but failed. Later, Mach Tiger got the first goal as Kusaka suddenly turned into his Berserker Mode and confessed his feelings to Konoha. When Sakura heard that, she and the rest of the team were shocked. She was impressed when Konoha stole the ball from Napa Ladam with her hissatsu, Konoha Roll. Then, Shindou used Kami no Takuto FI and she made another pass to Matatagi. Shinsei Inazuma Japan tied the score thanks to Kusaka's Kyoubou Head. The first-half ended and she was also surprised when Konoha rejected Kusaka.

In episode 13, Shindou used Kami no Takuto FI and passed the ball to her but Salana Kukrit intercepted it and got the ball. After that, Mach Tiger scored the second goal thanks to Tamugan Jar's Ivory Crash. She was shocked when Minaho used his hissatsu Trace Press to steal the ball from Bark Sepakro. Thanks to Manabe's command, she successfully passed through Salana Kukrit.

In episode 14, in the practice match between Resistance Japan, she started to dislike Kishibe when he got the ball from her as she tried to get it back but failed. When being overwhelmed by Resistance Japan and couldn't even catch up to them except for Tenma, Tsurugi and Shindou, she felt depressed about the difference between their levels. After the match ended with Resistance Japan winning 3-2, she also decided to go back to the Black Room to train.

In episode 15, she and the other 7 members, except for Tenma, Tsurugi and Shindou, didn't attend the practice but instead trained themselves in the Black Room. When she saw Ibuki training on stopping hologram Hakuryuu's shoot, she then got determined on making her own hissatsu.

In episode 16, while dribbling the ball, she got the ball stolen from Mitya Eremin and Sergei Chernov when they used Rolling Cutter on her. Later, she and Kusaka both called out to Matatagi to pass the ball which made him unsure on who to pass the ball to and ended up getting the ball stolen. After Storm Wolf scored the second goal, she suddenly stood before Ibuki and tried to get the ball from Rolan Lazarev but got passed through when he used Silk Road. She got the ball stolen again by Rolling Cutter when Tenma told her to pass the ball to Matatagi but she ignored him and tried to score on her own. After seeing Ibuki and Shindou, she and the others understood that they must trust each other to win.

In episode 17, she and most of the team thought that they couldn't win the match and were discouraged. However, after Tenma told them that he didn't want this to be the last match and hearing Kusaka's speech, she remembered the match against Big Waves and how she realized the most important thing other than being number one for herself. Later, she used her new hissatsu Beautiful Hoop and successfully passed through Mitya Eremin. Her pass connected to Kusaka who scored the second goal with Kyoubou Head in his Berserker Mode. She was shocked when seeing Konoha unleashing some of her Soul aura. After Shinsei Inazuma Japan won the match with the score of 5-4, she was wondering what was going on when a strange light appeared from the sky.

In episode 18, when Bitway Ozrock and Gouenji revealed the truth about FFIV2 and that all the teams that Shinsei Inazuma Japan had faced were all aliens like Storm Wolf, she was horrified just like the other members.

In episode 19, she and Tetsukado had a small match with the new member, Ichikawa Zanakurou. Ichikawa quickly stole the ball from her and easily passed through her and Tetsukado, scoring a goal. She went back home to tell her parents about Grand Celesta Galaxy, but they thought that she was joking as she expected would happen. Then, she told them no matter what they say, she will be number one in space. The next day, she and the other members of Earth Eleven had a match against Raimon.

In episode 20, during the searching for the suspicious person in Galaxy Nauts Gou, both her and Aoi got scared at Manabe's opinion that the suspcious person might be a big mouse alien. However, it was turned to be Nishizono Shinsuke who later got welcomed as a new member of Earth Eleven. When they reached to Sandorius, she was shown enjoying observing the clothes of a shop in the city.y)

In episode 21, when she reunited with the other member of Earth Eleven, she also brought back a strange item from the city just like most of the members. She was seen holding a strange pink hat in which she said that she got it for Aoi.

In episode 25, during the practice, Konoha told her that Tsurugi was somehow different than usual but she didn't notice anything. Manuuba suddenly came to talk to both of them and she was constant that it was the 'usual' Tsurugi.

In episode 32, while playing in a mini-match with Banda Koloogyu in Ratoniik, she got lured into an illusion coming from the perfume of a Madowashisou along with Manabe and Konoha. During the process, she saw her parents and got haunted by her past. As this was happening with Sakura, Manabe went through the same situation. After Banda blocked the perfume, the three of them woke up from the illusion. When a Madowashisou was about to tangle her, she activated her Soul, Kamoshika, and dodged the tentacles.

Stats
All stats are at level 99 and untrained. Inazuma Eleven GO Galaxy=
 * GP: 124
 * TP: 173
 * Kick: 97
 * Dribble: 144
 * Block: 51
 * Catch: 107
 * Technique: 162
 * Speed: 142
 * Stamina: 97
 * Lucky: 90

Normal Form

 *  [OF] Beautiful Hoop
 *  [SH] Mermaid Smash
 *  [OF] Ribbon Shower
 *  [SH]  Butterfly Dream

Young Form

 *  [OF] Naminori Piero
 *  [SK] Recovery!
 *  [SK] Technique Plus 10
 *  [OF] Beautiful Hoop

Inazuma Eleven GO Galaxy

 *  [SOUL] Kamoshika

Relationships

 * Nozaki Seiichi (Father)
 * Nozaki Kaede (Mother)

Trivia

 * Before joining Shinsei Inazuma Japan, Sakura was a member of Oumihara Chuugaku Shintaisoubu.
 * Her name Sakura means cherry blossom, which is referred to Sakura's hairstyle resembling a cherry blossom.
 * She has a character song called Ashita mo Haretara with Sorano Aoi.