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SakuMei is the femslash ship between Yae Sakura and Raiden Mei from the Honkai fandom.
Canon[]
Yae Sakura has two iterations in the main story of Honkai Impact 3rd: SAKURA, a MANTIS soldier from the Previous Era 50,000 years ago, and Yae Sakura, who lived in the Current Era 500 years before the events of the story.
Yae Sakura was a shrine maiden that experienced great tragedy due to the death of her younger sister. This made Sakura susceptible to the control of the Previous Era Herrscher of Corruption. After becoming the Herrscher's host, Sakura spent the next 500 years sealed, her consciousness living on as a stigma.
Sakura's seal is broken in 2014, when Raiden Mei becomes a Herrscher in the 3rd Honkai Eruption. The residual Honkai energy leads to the awakening of a pseudo-Herrscher, who is confronted by Theresa Apocalypse, Mei's principal at St. Freya. Seeing Theresa in need of help, Sakura transfers her stigma to Theresa, granting Theresa both her powers and access to a stigma world containing Sakura's memories. In both Sakura Samsara and the Gratitude Arc, Mei and her friends enter the stigma world.
Gratitude Arc[]
After Theresa receives Yae Sakura's stigma and goes into a coma, Mei enters the stigma world to find a way to help her. There, she finds Kallen Kaslana, dying, asking Mei to take her crucifix pendant to Yae Sakura. Near the end of the manga, when Hellmaru attacks Theresa and Yae Sakura, Mei arrives in time to block the Herrscher's attack. In the fight, the crucifix pendant Mei was carrying falls, turning into a shield for Theresa and Yae Sakura.
Sakura Samsara[]
At the end of the story, Mei enters the stigma world. Yae Sakura tells Mei that she has one last wish and asks if she can borrow Mei's body. Mei accepts, and her hair slow transforms pink as Sakura's soul takes over her body.
This cutscene is meant to be an explanation for why Yae Sakura is playable. The implication being that since Sakura cannot manifest in the real world, all of her playable battlesuits are of her using Mei's body. This cutscene was later removed, since it is not meant to have any bearing on the canonical story.
Elysian Realm[]
After the events of Chapter 17, Mei fully integrates into the Herrscher of Thunder and joins World Serpent. This leads to her entering the Elysian Realm, a data space containing sims of the Previous Era's Flame-Chasers. SAKURA is one of these Flame-Chasers, bearing the Signet of Setsuna, which allows her to pass on her Setsuna technique to a successor.
Mei first meets SAKURA while going through the Realm's trials. SAKURA welcomes her and informs Mei that she is here to pass on the skill of Setsuna. She tells Mei that everyone was immediately informed of her entrance, as Mei's status as a Herrscher is a big deal. SAKURA gives Mei her signet, saying that Mei's Herrscher reflexes will allow her to handle this gift better than others.
Sakura's Memory Dialogues[]
Elysian Realm Yae Sakura - Honkai Impact 3 Yae Sakura and Raiden Mei
Mei and SAKURA have several unlockable dialogues as the player progress, allowing Mei to learn more about SAKURA. These dialogues cover various topics such as teaching Mei more about the Setsuna technique, the nature of the Realm, and the MOTHs.
In their 7th dialogue, SAKURA gives Mei a blood-stained sakura blossom. Mei tells SAKURA about how she and her father would drink tea by a sakura tree in their yard, but that sakura tree slowly died once her father was gone, to which SAKURA expresses her condolences. SAKURA recalls that the last time she saw a sakura blossom was after the Tragedy of Binding, and she wasn't able to enjoy it. She explains that the blood stain is related to her habit of leaving Forget-Me-Nots as a funeral for the people she kills. Mei asks SAKURA if her job is what she thinks it is, the implication being an assassin. SAKURA replies that she had no choice, as it was the only way to protect her sister.
In their 10th dialogue, SAKURA gives Mei a cherry blossom pendant that stores digital pictures. SAKURA explains that it was a common accessory used by long-distance lovers, and that she used it to remember her sister during missions. Mei is hesitant to take it, saying that SAKURA probably needs it more than her. SAKURA refutes that she used this pendant not simply to remember her sister, but as a reminder that her actions will make her life safer. Since she doesn't have that chance anymore, she hopes Mei will put the pendant to good use.
To the Flawless[]
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Tochter Aus Elysium[]
Following Chapter 3 of the Elysian Realm, Elysia reveals to Mei that she is the 13th Herrscher and opens the Elysium Everlasting, a memory space made with Elysia's memories. Elysia promises Mei that she will tell her about her final banquet the next day, so in the meantime Mei asks other Flame-Chasers about Elysia being a Herrscher. Elysia told SAKURA to accompany Mei, so the two go on a walk together. SAKURA compares the space to an amusement park she and RIN frequented in the past, but drops the topic seeing that it hurts Mei to think about the bygone era. Seeing all the high buildings, SAKURA mentions that her home was the opposite, but she had a sakura tree in her yard. Mei replies that she also had a sakura tree when she was young, and SAKURA says they have a lot in common.
When Mei and SAKURA encounter enemies, Mei offers to deal with them. But SAKURA tells her she doesn't have to do it alone and helps, calling it a gift of gratitude since Mei understands her so well. Knowing that SAKURA isn't likely to know anything about the 13th Herrscher, Mei asks SAKURA how she sees Elysia. SAKURA answers that Elysia is probably the simplest of the Flame-Chasers, because she always treats people sincerely. Mei brings up how a person once called Elysia a traitor. SAKURA replies that what they said may not be true - in fact, sometimes, what people believe is more important than the truth. Mei then asks what SAKURA would do if she found out about an unacceptable truth. SAKURA is a bit confused by the question, but replies that the only choice then is to act. She apologizes for the vague answer, but Mei thanks SAKURA, saying that her answer has inspired her.
Later, Mei and Elysia look at the ELF Typewriter, an automatic archive for the history of the Flame-Chasers. Right as Elysia is about to mention the rule to not tell SAKURA about the circumstance of her death, SAKURA suddenly appears behind them. Elysia is able to play off what she was about to say as nothing, and the two tell SAKURA about the archives. SAKURA then leaves to find Vill-V, who is fixing her sword for her.
Around the same time Elysia's sim died, SAKURA goes missing. Kevin and Mei inspect the archives, seeing that among the several papers repeating, "Elysia is dead," there is one file about the 12th Herrscher out. Kevin, Aponia, and Su suspect that SAKURA read the file about her sister's death and killed Elysia.
Quotes[]
- “You look cold and distant, but actually have a gentle heart.”
- — SAKURA to Mei, Sakura's Memory 3
Fanon[]
This section is in need of major improvement. Please help improve this article by editing it.
SakuMei is a rarepair in the Honkai fandom.
Some parallel SakuMei to the Genshin Impact ship EiMiko, because the characters of that ship, Raiden Ei and Yae Miko, are alternate versions of Mei and Sakura. This has even lead to people occasionally referring to SakuMei as the "Honkai EiMiko."
Fandom[]
- FAN FICTION
- Raiden Mei/Yae Sakura tag on AO3
Trivia[]
- Raiden Mei and Yae Sakura are the only playable characters that wield katanas.
- Several Yae Sakura battlesuits are Awakenings of past Raiden Mei battlesuits, meaning that they share battlesuit levels and several skills.
- In Japanese, SAKURA calls Mei "芽衣殿" (Mei-dono). "殿" is a very formal and respectful honorific, used to refer to someone of a perceived higher status in a polite and well-mannered way, slightly less formal than "様".
- Acheron, an iteration of Raiden Mei, states that a person once told her, "No compassion for the enemy, for that is cruelty upon yourself. But you must see clearly who the true enemy is..."[Note 1] In the original CN text, this matches exactly with what SAKURA tells Mei when granting Signets in the Elysian Realm. Whilst not being exactly the same as what SAKURA tells Mei, Acheron's JP text[Note 2] is still roughly the same wording, and holds the same meaning.[Note 3]
Gallery[]
