Sakurako Hono

Sakurako Hono is a former Mazinger Angel who retired from field duty to train new generations of Angels. Originally from Iron Muscle, she serves a similar role to her original counterpart, preparing the main character for future challenges. She pilots the giant robot, Fire Venus.

Background
Prior to becoming an Angel, Sakurako grew up in the same orphanage as Jun Hono. Upon becoming an Angel, her schedule became cluttered and never came back. Jun, gained a grudge against Sakurako for leaving because of this.

Appearance
Sakurako has a body-builder frame with long dark hair and eyes.

Personality
While Sakurako is supportive and has faith in the current generation Angels, she can be rough with her training. To further motivate Maria Fleed, she hit her while Maria was restrained by the heavy controls, while offering Maria an automatic pass of training if she can hit her back. Sakurako does regret not coming back to the orphanage to see her friends, but to fight for them and her country, she continues her duties as a Mazinger Angel. She works closely with fellow former Angel, Honey Kisaragi.

History
Sakurako appeared in the training school after Honey brought Japan's current Angels for further training. Jun was not very happy to see Sakurako again, and wanted to prove she could get through her training easily. The training was rough for the original three Angels, with Sakurako giving Maria a special training that would allow her to control Minerva X through movement rather than psychic waves. When a Mechanical Beast attacked the MA base, Sakurako went to deal with it while the other Angels continued their training. Sakurako and her robot, Fire Venus manage to hold off Dr. Hell's attack for a while but they are pushed to their limits. Luckily, the newly trained Angels come in for a rescue and subdue the attack. Sakurako and Honey would appear again in certain times such as the New Year party and Dr. Hell's assault on Tokyo.

Production History
Sakurako Hono and Fire Venus originally appeared in Go Nagai's 80s manga, Iron Muscle. She was among the several participants in the tournament and she faced against the protagonist Koichi Hagane, after being bested by him in battle; she helps train him for the upcoming matches.

Trivia

 * Sakurako and Jun have the same surnames in spite of not being relatives. In continuity this may be because they lived in the same orphanage where surnames are shared with residents.