Sakaki is a tall, soft-spoken girl uncomfortable with her height and busty physique. Because she is so shy, she seldom speaks, and her reticence is misinterpreted as being mysterious, or cool. This reputation has been compounded by the fact that most of the school's sports teams try to recruit her every year in the story because of her natural athletic ability, but, for the most part, she has no real interest in sports. Sakaki is in reality a very emotionally sensitive person who holds a secret longing for all things cute. She loves animals, but the neighborhood cats dislike her.