Utako Sakura

Utako Sakura (桜子うた子) is one of the supporting characters of Hinamatsuri series.

Background
Brash, self-centered, and, according to her one-time love interest, Nitta, is more vicious than a Yakuza. As a kid, she constantly ran away from home, but always seemed to go back with her pride damaged, among other things.

Utako black-mailed Hitomi into working as a bartender at the Little Song, drafted her to work a soup line for the homeless, then strong armed her into renting a luxury apartment when Hitomi had problems at home with her mother.

At the beginning of the story, she was the love interest of Nitta, but after Hina set her up on a date with him, Utako turned down his marriage proposal because she didn't want to get between him and the kid he loved so much.

Her goal in life is to make money while she sleeps, which is pretty much what she does while Hitomi works for her.

Appearance
Utako has black hair which she wears in a ponytail with a strand of hair on each side to frame her face. She usually wears her bartender outfit: black slacks, black vest, white, open collar blouse with a gold chain that has a Christian cross hanging from it.

Personality
Utako can be extremely manipulative as is willing to work Hitomi to the bone for her own benefit. She can be quite ruthless at times, forcing the homeless Anzu to reimburse her for the food she had stolen leaving her with next to nothing. Utako always strives to have the upper hand, thus allowing her to control most situations, like how she had an iron grip on Hitomi's life.

She is not completely devoid of positive attributes however, as she also runs a local soup line for the homeless and offering some sage advice to Hina. She seems to get along quite well with the patrons of her bar, at one point being Nitta's object of affection before turning him down due to his relationship with Hina.

Story
Was Nitta's love interest in the early stories, but after she turned down his proposal, she appeared less frequently. After Hitomi leaves the Little Song, she becomes a compulsive gambler until Nitta steps in and reminds her that she has a business to run.

Trivia

 * Her full name is Utako Sakura: Utako is her family name, Sakura is her given name
 * Utako is Japanese for "Song", and her bar is called the Little Song because of that.
 * Sakura, Utako's given name, is Japanese for "Cherry Blossoms".
 * She is shown to have a hatred for the police, a topic which is never explained in the story. It is mentioned in the Extras section of Volume 19. Apparently, her dad abandoned the family when she was young. She ended up in a Christian Boarding school, that she repeatedly ran away from. This may be why you see her wearing a cross necklace.
 * After her dad abandoned the family, he ended up homeless and died.