After a fruitless Tokyo job hunt, college graduate and aspiring model Yoshino Koharu finally receives a part-time offer as “queen” of the bizarre “Kingdom of Chupakabura,” a rundown attraction in the town of Manoyama. However, Yoshino discovers upon her arrival in Manoyama that she was mistaken for a celebrity. Facing with no other career options, Yoshino reluctantly agrees to take on the role and aid the Board of Tourism in their efforts to revitalize Manoyama.

Many of Sakura Quest’s “Manoyama” locations are based on the Sakuragike Pond area in Nanto, Toyama, which is, funnily enough, basically the backyard of P.A. Works’ headquarters. This location choice is part of a larger trend for P.A. Works series, like True Tears and KoiTabi True Tours: Nanto.

The red train seen at Manoyama Station, clearly based on Nanto’s Johana Station, is also based on a real-life model belonging to the KiHa 40 series.

A part of the official Sakura Quest website is a link to a fake website for the Manoyama Tourism Association, although without much resemblance to the design of the one featured in the anime.

In 2017, the city of Nanto declared the fictional Manoyama as a ‘sister city’. Later, the relationship was used in promotional material for the ‘Sakuragike Quest‘ project, which used part of the draw of the series and some official promotional art to encourage participation in a nature restoration of the scenery and cherry trees around the lake.