Anime Adaptation Kenichi Ishikura, the director of the anime adaptation, joined the project after being approached by
Studio Deen producer Nobumitsu Urasaki. Ishikura felt that the manga's level of intimacy with its kissing scenes was unique for its time, and believed that omitting them would diminish the meaning of the work. Tachi, the manga's author, requested that at least one such scene be shown per episode.
Development After closely studying the original series, Ishikura decided to write the screenplay along with directing it. His scripts included extensive stage directions, which he noted was typical when adapting
four-panel manga. He instructed episode writers to maintain tight pacing in order to prevent declines in visual quality caused by extended runtimes. Ishikura described the original series as containing deep emotional themes, which he attributed to its female author. To convey these themes, he avoided overly harsh emotional portrayals and instead emphasized underlying kindness in the characters. He considered the series to be oriented towards a more female audience, which led to a focus on exploring romantic feelings rather than depicting a straightforward relationship. Ishikura stated that the characters were one of the most important aspects of the anime, with the changes in their relationships driving the plot forward. He aimed to depict all the characters in endearing ways to appeal to their fans from the original manga.
Animation According to Ishikura, kissing scenes posed a particular challenge for the anime. The studio devoted significant resources into animating the scenes, such as by including more detailed movements and a higher number of frames than regular scenes. Despite their frequent occurrence, he ensured that no frames were reused, citing the scenes' importance to the story. Ishikura had previously worked at the animation studio
SHAFT, and many of his stylistic techniques, such as those involving background art, use of color, and scene layouts, came from his time there; in particular, his direction of
Hidamari Sketch, another four-panel manga adaptation, influenced his approach to pacing and animation in
Sakura Trick. In contrast to
Hidamari Sketch, he sought to portray the series' characters in a gentler and softer manner, with the girls being much closer together. The anime made use of
chibi characters, a visual element not present in the manga. The original manga often included facial expressions inside
speech balloons as reaction beats, so Ishikura used chibi expressions to achieve the same effect. In general, Ishikura chose to use symbols and other shorthand in the anime's visuals to avoid overly slow animation.
Voice acting During auditions, Ishikura evaluated both the actors' performances and how well they portrayed character pairings. He also asked the actors to perform kissing scenes to ensure realistic portrayals. He cast
Haruka Tomatsu as Haruka Takayama because of his opinion of her wide emotional range.
Soundtrack Much of the imagery used in the opening and ending
theme songs was derived from the songs' lyrics. For example, the opening theme, whose initial lyrics roughly translate to "kiss kiss kiss", begins with a kissing scene. In addition, the vocals transition from individual character duets to all six singing together, which Ishikura depicted through a group dance sequence. ==Media==