She starts the game as a shut-in who does not go to school, leave her house, or have any friends, due to the grief and self-loathing she experienced over her mother, Wakaba Isshiki, seemingly taking her life and blaming Futaba for it.

She was originally designed with black hair and a goth aesthetic, and is voiced by Erica Lindbeck in English and Aoi Yūki in Japanese.

She was the fourth highest-rated character in a PlayStation poll, and was regarded as a role model by multiple critics due to her depression and the path she took to overcome it.

While spending time in her room, she becomes a proficient hacktivist named Medjed that gets appropriated by people around the world; in turn, she assumes the identity of Alibaba and quits hacktivism.

During the events of Persona 5, an IT company president begins using the Medjed label to threaten to out the Phantom Thieves, the hero group of the game, in order to stop them from continuing going after high-profile people.

They discover the situation from Sojiro, and eventually gain access to her Palace, represented as a tomb in the desert commanded by the Shadow version of herself.

Futaba begins to come out of her shell after joining the Phantom Thieves, assuming the thief name "Oracle" and intending to discover the truth behind her mother's death.

The group eventually manage to steal the heart of Masayoshi Shido, one of the main antagonists of the story, as well as confronting the man behind the fake Medjed.

[5] Lindbeck found the role "daunting" due to how "all over the place" Futaba is, citing her wide range of emotions and vocals, though she also felt that gave her more freedom in the portrayal.

She was asked to tap dance for this role, which created a running joke of other staff members telling her to be more quiet, even when she was already making no sound.

Scenario writer and choreographer of Dancing Star Night, Teppei Kobayashi, commented that she was so able to get into character because she had similar traits to Futaba, including being an airhead, a gamer, and preferring to stay indoors.

Kobayashi discussed how at times, they had to do retakes due to Miyazaki's performance being too precise and powerful, suggesting that Futaba would not have enough stamina for that.

[16] Since her reveal, Futaba Sakura has been met with generally positive reception, ranked as the fourth of the main Persona 5 cast in a Japanese poll conducted by PlayStation.

[17] Destructoid writer Chris Moyse considered her one of if not the most popular character in Persona 5, arguing that her shared Social Link with Sojiro and the issues she deals with made hers the best narrative in the game.

Persona 5 served as escapism for her, and that when Futaba entered the story, she found her relatable due to them both having gone from an "excitable and giddy" person to someone who had "fallen into this pit of [despair]."

She regarded both the increased gameplay involvement of Futaba, as well as the fact that she was introduced at the beginning of Strikers unlike in Persona 5, as reasons for this.

He also drew comparisons between Futaba and Nanako Dojima, also from Persona 4, particularly the fact that they both have a strong affinity for their dead mothers in their respective musical themes.

[25] USgamer writer Caty McCarthy also felt that she improved the group, becoming its "emotional core," and feeling like she enhances the game overall when she's introduced.

She then discussed how Futaba differed from that mythology by virtue of being given a reprieve from her suffering, free from the distorted version of her mother upon her by others, as well as no longer manipulated by male objectivity.