'Even the Devil Has Friends, You Fool...'
(the lore behind Sakura's FTE gift, Asura's Tears)
It's a Sunday, which means it's the perfect day for spending literal hours digging through media references for Sakura crumbs.
I'm going to be rambling a lot, so bear with me...
In Sakura's 'love' gifts, there is a gift called 'Asura's tears'.
064. Asura's Tears
阿修羅の涙
A jewel treasured by an ancient super-race. "Even the devil has friends. You..fool". And then...tears flow.
According to the wiki, this is a reference to the superhuman wrestling animanga series Kinnikuman (Muscle Man). Disclaimer: I haven't seen it, but I went down a TVtropes/wiki rabbit hole and here we are.
The character Asura is actually Ashuraman. Immediately there is a clear parallel between Ashuraman and Sakura. In Kinnikuman, Ashuraman is the Prince of Devils, a brutal and merciless fighter, raised to be evil. He literally takes people's arms from them and uses them to fight. He hates weakness and would rather die than be weak.
Similarly, Sakura comes from a long line of martial artists, and since her very birth was raised to be their champion—nothing more... and nothing less.
She is also terrified of appearing weak.
"I'm not sure I did the right thing."
This tiny little line betrays Sakura's true feeling: guilt. Some part of her still regrets beating her father. But she tells herself that was something she just had to do, to be a true Oogami.
And of course, in her last event, when she is revolted by her romantic feelings for Kenshiro.
Done with the quick aside. Back to Ashuraman. In the series, this cold and ruthless fighter had a partner, a fellow devil named Sunshine. Now this makes me smile because Hina's name (朝日奈 'Asahina') means 'sunny day'.
From my understanding, they're a close pair who did devil stuff together, battling the protagonists of the series. They are Devil Chojin, the antithesis to the Justice Chojin. Where Justice Chojin are fuelled by the power of friendship, Devils view mercy as the ultimate crime. When Sunshine accidentally injures his partner and worries for him, Ashuraman reprimands him, as a devil should not have such feelings. Winning the match comes first, prioritised over his own safety.
In fact, Ashuraman recounts the story of his teacher who died to save him from a river. He claims to despise his teacher for showing such mercy to him, though it is a thin veil for his survivor's guilt. He would have rather died than have his teacher save him.
"From that day on, I understood! Things like love and trust lead to nothing but tragedy!"
Then, in the Dream Chojin Tag Arc, there is a battle where Sunshine has the opportunity to win the match, but in doing so must sacrifice Ashuraman. Ashuraman yells at him to do it, but Sunshine refuses, saying:
"Even the devil has friends. It doesn't matter if we're devils—I can't abandon the person who's fought this battle beside me till the very end."
What does this mean for Sakura, and her relationship with Hina?
It's not a 1:1 parallel, but there are things to draw from this.
In Chapter 4, Sakura is revealed as the traitor, who has been spying for the mastermind since the beginning. In order to protect her family dojo, she was actively working behind the scenes to jeopardise the group, and even made the promise to commit murder.
But Sakura is not the callous person her clan wishes she was. From Chapters 1-3, she's nothing but endlessly kind towards others. It's clear she hates herself for being the spy. She doesn't say it, but she expresses it in the only way she knows to: by staking her life on it.
Sakura's suicide is framed by the game as a noble sacrifice for the greater good. But what this means for Sakura is likely to be far more personal. The internet calls her an Ogre, a primate, nonhuman. She hammered herself into the shape of the 'manly' warrior her clan wanted her to be, reviling the parts of herself that she couldn't change. It would not be a stretch if she viewed herself as a devil for her actions, one that could only repent by death. Before they enter the gym for Monokuma's reveal, she speaks to Makoto:
"No, never mind. I... I'm... Who would ever believe in someone who doesn't believe in themselves?"
Hina never stops believing in Sakura, not even for a second. It's never a question in her mind. Knowing Sakura is the traitor doesn't sway her in the slightest. When she saw her falsified suicide note, she doesn't even think to doubt it. Hina believed her, the truths and the lies both. She would have gone with her till the very end.
Because... even the devil has friends.
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