Elise or Sakura?

[semolinaro]

Both sisters have stolen my heart but not in the way I thought they would.

Elise has always been so appealing to me even before I got the game. She's just so sweet and innocent, and I love how all she wants is the well being of her loved ones. She ended up being way more mature than I thought she would be, and her arc in Birthright destroyed my soul.

I love Sakura because she ended up not being what I expected. She's shy and reserved but she wants to improve on her social skills to help others, and I think her simplicity is what I like about her. She doesn't have any character gimmicks, she's just plain and shy, making her seem like a real person. Her supports with Azura are also adorable, and I LOVE her voice! (Brianna Knickerbocker is great)

Combat wise, I liked Sakura better because she's more balanced. Elise may be a mounted unit and more versatile as a Strategist, but her defence is SO damn low. One hit and she'd be dead, and it's a shame too because her magic can be fearsome and take down level 9 generals in one hit with the right tome. Sakura's stats as a Priestess are far more balanced, and equipped with a Shining Bow she was an absolute monster and my highest leveled promoted class unit.

So, which imouto is your favourite?

[Thane]

I really don't see anything likeable with Elise as a character. Sakura is still rather shallow, but Elise is just there to be a cute cinnamon bun that people are supposed to want to protect and cuddle. She's a bit better in Birthright, but it only lasts for a few chapters.

I still don't understand the little sister obsession in Japan. Nanako Donima from Persona 4 was a character first and a little sister second, which gave people a reason to care when she was in danger, because she had her own ties to characters and one (or two depending on your perspective) very well-written subplots. Elise and Sakura feel like two very calculating attempts at cashing in on a popular trope.

[Emblem Blade]

I really don't see anything likeable with Elise as a character. Sakura is still rather shallow, but Elise is just there to be a cute cinnamon bun that people are supposed to want to protect and cuddle. She's a bit better in Birthright, but it only lasts for a few chapters.

I still don't understand the little sister obsession in Japan. Nanako Donima from Persona 4 was a character first and a little sister second, which gave people a reason to care when she was in danger, because she had her own ties to characters and one (or two depending on your perspective) very well-written subplots. Elise and Sakura feel like two very calculating attempts at cashing in on a popular trope.

That's why Elise and Sakura foil/counter each other by personality in a way. While both love their older siblings and wish for peace and no violence if at all possible, their own personalities separate them. Elise is very energetic (as if pulling Corrin/Kamui around at any moment without their consent isn't evident enough) and rather stubborn to getting her point across (tries to argue with her older siblings when it will most likely fail [see Birthright]). Elise also is rather optimistic unless something pulls her down. Sakura on the other side of the spectrum is reserved (timid and meek but brave when needed) and emotionally distant at times (says she has a hard time talking to others). She's calm and understands her feelings might cause problems sometimes unlike Elise. Sakura also has some personal issues where she will blame herself for situations when it wasn't her fault (see supports with Corrin/Kamui). Another difference that isn't as noticeable is that Elise tries to follow Corrin/Kamui where ever they go if possible while Sakura only follows when permitted, though that form of devotion could be argued that Elise just loves her older sibling that much.

[Emerson]

I like both, mostly because they're both good units. Sakura with her weird good growths, and Elise with her good growths for her class. Elise can get really powerful offensively, but is really frail, while Sakura is all around powerful. I just have a prefence for Elise currently because of Birthright.

(Insert Sakura having better strength than Rinkah joke here)

[Emblem Blade]

I like both, mostly because they're both good units. Sakura with her weird good growths, and Elise with her good growths for her class. Elise can get really powerful offensively, but is really frail, while Sakura is all around powerful. I just have a prefence for Elise currently because of Birthright.

(Insert Sakura having better strength than Rinkah joke here)

For good reasons Sakura has good growths in Magic, Skill, Speed, Luck and Resistance with a decent HP growth. I just don't understand why as a Shrine Maiden she has such an unusually high (above-average) Strength growth for me. She had 13-14 Strength (without stat boosters) before promoting at Lvl 20 to War Priestess...

Elise turned out as one glass cannon of a magic user when promoted after she hit lvl 20 as a Troubadour.

[blah the Prussian]

The glorious Proletarian sister of Comrade Marx is clearly better than the filthy feudalist bourgeoisie scum Sakura. For even asking that question, comrade, you get sent to gulag.

[Michelaar]

Sakura is my favorite, she's is cute, shy, and totally like me (I'm very shy in real life)

Also, her supports with Kaze are very sweet.

[shed]

Gameplay wise, elise was super fun to use. With a forged tome to patch up her low skill, she nuked harder and faster than any other unit I had except corrin, and her horrible defences made her require thought on positioning so that she pretty much never gets hit.

[Emerson]

For good reasons Sakura has good growths in Magic, Skill, Speed, Luck and Resistance with a decent HP growth. I just don't understand why as a Shrine Maiden she has such an unusually high (above-average) Strength growth for me. She had 13-14 Strength (without stat boosters) before promoting at Lvl 20 to War Priestess...

Elise turned out as one glass cannon of a magic user when promoted after she hit lvl 20 as a Troubadour.

Sakura has weird growths, like I said. Her strength growth is like, 30 as a Shrine Maiden. I think its so shes still viable as a war priestess, since they use bows. If she had bad strength before promotion, there'd be no reason to make her a war priestess over an onmyoji, aside from getting renewal.

[saisymbolic]

Personally, I prefer Sakura because she is a miko and I have a fondness for miko/shrine maidens in Japanese culture thanks to Fatal Frame.

Honestly, it is mostly aesthetic. Due to the subpar character development, I've given up attempting to analyze and judge each character based on what we are given in-game—at least not to such a extensive depth. Sakura has a maturity that Elise lacks, while having moments of childishness and silliness, such as her support with Azura. Elise is just there as the "cute little" sister—she doesn't really do much of anything except look cute. I liked Elise's support with Odin because it made me chuckle but that's all I can say about her.

Again, there isn't much to either of them—but Sakura has slightly more.

Nanako should have stayed dead.

[joshcja]

Why is "puppy with down syndrome" keeping up with "ADHD WW2 ambulance driver" at all.

Is weabooism really that strong of a force?

Edited March 15, 2016 by joshcja

[SilverPants]

Elise because she's on a horse which makes her instantly more useful. Elise also has better growth rates for a magic oriented unit while Sakura isn't even really a good unit at all.

[Emblem Blade]

Sakura has weird growths, like I said. Her strength growth is like, 30 as a Shrine Maiden. I think its so shes still viable as a war priestess, since they use bows. If she had bad strength before promotion, there'd be no reason to make her a war priestess over an onmyoji, aside from getting renewal.

Sakura has a 35% Strength Growth as a Shrine Maiden which becomes 40% as a War Priestess looking at Serenes Forest' growths and stat lists if I'm doing specs right.

Not including Corrin/Kamui into either family: I also find Sakura as a really nice sibling for the Hoshido Royals since out of the four she's less inclined to even participate in a battle unless she feels she has no other choice (see her Conquest self). Takumi will attempt to attack anyone who he deems a threat unless he's told not to and Hinoka will attack just about anyone from Nohr unless said victim has a strong reason for not being needed to be attacked. Ryoma is like Xander, attack anything that threatens your kingdom. Elise is like Sakura for the Nohr Royals except that she will not even bother fighting at all (see Birthright) since she has no willpower to do so. Leo is like Takumi (nothing needed to add), Camilla will threaten (before attempting to do so) then kill anyone threatening her siblings (mainly Corrin/Kamui). Xander is duty-bound to his kingdom so anyone who poses a threat will most likely get killed if not get killed even if those who are a threat have no reason to fight him.

[blah the Prussian]

Why is "puppy with down syndrome" keeping up with "ADHD WW2 ambulance driver" at all.

Is weabooism really that strong of a force?

WWII? Did someone say WWII? Don't you know that, in Comrade Marx's book, that is the Great Patriotic War? Seriously though, I'm assuming the WWII one is Elise?

[joshcja]

WWII? Did someone say WWII? Don't you know that, in Comrade Marx's book, that is the Great Patriotic War? Seriously though, I'm assuming the WWII one is Elise?

Spoilers: Yes, she pretty much charges into the most dangerous possible place, with no weapon, ahead of her retainers just to heal you on ch 7 conquest lol.

Her metaphorical balls pretty much drag the ground all game long.

Also she kills two men just to see them die. It's pretty great.

Edited March 15, 2016 by joshcja

[Tsuky]

Personally, I prefer Sakura because she is a miko and I have a fondness for miko/shrine maidens in Japanese culture thanks to Fatal Frame.

Honestly, it is mostly aesthetic. Due to the subpar character development, I've given up attempting to analyze and judge each character based on what we are given in-game—at least not to such a extensive depth. Sakura has a maturity that Elise lacks, while having moments of childishness and silliness, such as her support with Azura. Elise is just there as the "cute little" sister—she doesn't really do much of anything except look cute. I liked Elise's support with Odin because it made me chuckle but that's all I can say about her.

Again, there isn't much to either of them—but Sakura has slightly more.

Nanako should have stayed dead.

I agree. Neither has a lot of character development, but Sakura has more, which makes her more relatable. Elise, other than for a brief moment in Birthright, is just there to be a "cute bundle of energy." From a gameplay perspective, I haven't used Elise yet, but Sakura is pretty great. I thought I had to baby her out of E-rank bows after promoting to priestess, but nope, she was perfectly capable of handling herself.

I really don't see anything likeable with Elise as a character. Sakura is still rather shallow, but Elise is just there to be a cute cinnamon bun that people are supposed to want to protect and cuddle. She's a bit better in Birthright, but it only lasts for a few chapters.

I still don't understand the little sister obsession in Japan. Nanako Donima from Persona 4 was a character first and a little sister second, which gave people a reason to care when she was in danger, because she had her own ties to characters and one (or two depending on your perspective) very well-written subplots. Elise and Sakura feel like two very calculating attempts at cashing in on a popular trope.

Just like many of the other characters. IS, if you can't put in serious effort to develop a character, don't bother including them.

It still disturbs me that in the Japanese poll, men over 40 voted Elise and Sakura as their favorite characters.

[DoesntKnowHowToPlay]

Can Sakura reclass to Wyvern Rider? No?

I think we're done here.

[Emblem Blade]

Spoilers: Yes, she pretty much charges into the most dangerous possible place, with no weapon, ahead of her retainers just to heal you on ch 7 conquest lol.

Her metaphorical balls pretty much drag the ground all game long.

Also she kills two men just to see them die. It's pretty great.

Don't forget in Birthright, Elise also rushes in to save her older sibling by taking Xander's attack when she was told by both of said siblings to stay out of the fight as it was personal between just them alone. Elise also tries to join the team (in Birthright) when Corrin/Kamui says not to since it's too dangerous (they say that it's not a good idea for her to do so since Xander and Garon will punish her). In Revelations, she tries to join but is instead attempted to not do so since Camilla doesn't want her to be seen as a traitor by Leo and Xander.

Elise's line before she and her siblings fight Iago and Hans in Conquest is just funny.

Edited March 15, 2016 by Emblem Blade

[joshcja]

Don't forget in Birthright, Elise also rushes in to save her older sibling by taking Xander's attack when she was told by both of said siblings to stay out of the fight as it was personal between just them alone. Elise also tries to join the team (in Birthright) when Corrin/Kamui says not to since it's too dangerous (they say that it's not a good idea for her to do so since Xander and Garon will punish her). In Revelations, she tries to join but is instead attempted to not do so since Camilla doesn't want her to be seen as a traitor by Leo and Xander.

Elise's line before she and her siblings fight Iago and Hans in Conquest is just funny.

We don't talk abut that QQ.

(Birthright, get a better story, you don't need to kill honest hard working nhorians to pretend you have a plot)

Edited March 15, 2016 by joshcja

[Emblem Blade]

We don't talk abut that QQ.

(Birthright, get a better story, you don't need to kill honest hard working nhorians to pretend you have a plot)

Understandable...

since her death in Birthright is very sad although it's even worse for Xander than it is for Corrin/Kamui.

Conquest also gets the blame for having significantly semi-important figures kill innocent civilians just for fun. Not to mention that the only Nohr Royal and perhaps the only good person in Nohr who is actually decent in Conquest is Elise and Elise alone since everyone else is either not helping influence the new leader's strategic blunders which is bad or seeing that death is best for everyone who isn't Nohrian (which is cruel as you end up killing several innocent lives who don't need to be killed). Elise at least tries to show that not everyone in Nohr is a blood-hungry fighter or someone who will mostly resort to violence when that's not the only option available in Conquest.

[blah the Prussian]

Spoilers: Yes, she pretty much charges into the most dangerous possible place, with no weapon, ahead of her retainers just to heal you on ch 7 conquest lol.

Her metaphorical balls pretty much drag the ground all game long.

Also she kills two men just to see them die. It's pretty great.

Well fucking hell, that sounds pretty badass actually.

[Fircoal]

Elise by so much. I don't like Sakura at all. She's bland and her only notable point is how shy she is. She seems like one of those shy sues who are so shy and can't do anything wrong. I find it really annoying. Elise on the other hand is a very fun character. I admire how much she cares for those around her and the MC. I like her role in Birthright as well. Also she makes for a good unit.

[FluffyWarlock]

Elise.

I mean, IIRC, I've read somewhere on Reddit that Sakura gets outclassed hard by your butler/maid when it comes to healing, compared to Elise. Also, since the new triangle has magic beat bows and that you can get up close and personal with a tome while bows require you to be at a range of 2 (unless you have Point Blank, a magic bow or the ballistician, which Sakura won't find of much use, Takumi, on the other hand...), Elise is the best sister.

Basically, magical girls > shrine maidens.

[Sunwoo]

Sakura. Elise annoys me, especially her big sibling worship of the avatar to the point that it ends in spoilers. At least Sakura shoots a bow in your face when you invade her country.

[Dark Sage]

Elise is pretty much the generic cute little sister anime stereotype and she's always so happy it's unrealistic and kind of annoying. Shit, in Revelation there's even a cgi scene of her basically humping your leg, it's ridiculous.

Sakura's not particularly great as a character, but she does have more to her than Elise. Like, she's shy but she's not a doormat and in Conquest, even though she still loves Corrin, she's not willing to put up with him invading her country and will actually fight against him. I do have a bit of a soft spot for gentle characters with a steel will.

Also is it just me or do people really seem to hate shyness. A lot of the complaints about Sakura being boring seem to be related to her being shy whereas Elise is liked because she's energetic. Is shyness really a bad quality and why? I don't get it.