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Sakura Wars

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Sakura Wars, also known as Sakura Taisen (サクラ大戦), is a popular series of video games, manga, and anime created by Sega. The title is literally translated as "Cherry Blossom Great War", but it can also be translated more loosely as "The Great War Among the Cherry Blossoms", sakura being the Japanese word for "cherry blossom".

Originally debuting as a single game on the Sega Saturn game console in 1996, Sakura Taisen featured signature gameplay best described as a mix of tactical wargames and dating sims, and a plot partially inspired by the Takarazuka Revue (宝塚歌劇団). The license's popularity skyrocketed, leading to the release of several sequels on the Saturn and Sega Dreamcast, and recently (following the official demise of the Dreamcast) the Sony PlayStation 2. Many spinoff games were also produced, covering many different gameplay types, including puzzle, action, and pure adventure games.

Furthermore, many anime series were also created to tie in to the original games, including many OVAs, a television series, a currently running comic series (manga) featured in Kodansha's Magazine Z, and a full-length motion picture. The series is famous for having excellent voice acting talents, and performance in such has helped achieve greater fame for many Japanese seiyū, including Michie Tomizawa, Kikuko Inoue, Chisa Yokoyama, Urara Takano, and others. Its popularity is such that there are literally dozens of musical soundtracks available for purchase in Japan, including radio plays, and video recordings of live musicals put on by the voice actors (in character) on stage, performing plays and songs from the games and other properties (thus bringing the connection to the Takarazuka Revue full circle).

The Front of the Sega "GIGA" Amusement Center in Ikebukuro
Enlarge
The Front of the Sega "GIGA" Amusement Center in Ikebukuro

There is also an official Sakura Taisen shop on the top floor of the Sega "GIGA" Amusement Center, located in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district. Called "Taisho Romando", the store sells only Sakura Taisen-related merchandise, such as costumes, toy models, art books, copies of the games and videos, posters, wall scrolls, and even snack foods. The store was recently upgraded to include the Sakura Cafe, which serves dishes featured and inspired by the setting and characters of Sakura Taisen, such as "Coquelicot Coffee", which is served in Vietnamese style that is popular in France.

Featuring original character designs by Kosuke Fujishima, the games and anime are set in a fictional alternate Taisho Era Tokyo (also Paris and New York) where all modern technology is powered by steam, giving the series a steampunk feel. Steam-powered automobiles, ships and even steam-powered construction robots and computers are common devices. This futuristic past is not so safe however, and monsters and other forces of darkness constantly menace and seek to bring down these legendary metropolises. In their way stands a secret strike force of psychically-empowered women who drive steam-powered suits of power armor known as 光武 Koubu.

However, despite the license's tremendous popularity in Japan and East Asia, and growing fanbase in North America and Europe, Sega has not yet chosen to localize any of games themselves for release in English (though the various anime series are available in the U.S. and Europe through third-party distributors). Perhaps this can be attributed to uncertainty over American gamers' receptiveness to the series' unusual gameplay. Chinese language versions of the first three games are (as of 2004) currently available for the PC platform, and Sakura Taisen 5 Episode 0 ~Kouya no Samurai Musume~ is to be released in both Chinese- and Korean-language versions.

The Sakura Taisen manga was released in North America in English by TOKYOPOP.

Contents

The Games

Over the years there have been more than ten separate game releases bearing the Sakura Taisen title, among them five core titles, some of which have been ported and rereleased on Sega Dreamcast, Sony PlayStation 2, and/or Microsoft Windows, as well as two games for the Nintendo Game Boy Color. In addition, a Sony Playstation Portable version has been announced for the Spring of 2006. Each of the main games are titled as follows:

  1. Sakura Taisen (1996)
  2. Sakura Taisen 2~Kimi, Shinitamō koto Nakare~ (1998)
  3. Sakura Taisen 3~Pari wa Moeteiru ka?~ (2001)
  4. Sakura Taisen 4~Koi Seyo, Otome~ (2002)
  5. Sakura Taisen~Atsuki Chishio Ni~ (2003) (a remake of the original Sakura Taisen)
  6. Sakura Taisen 5 Episode 0 ~Kōya no Samurai Musume~ (2004)
  7. Sakura Taisen 5~Saraba, Itoshiki Hito yo~ (2005)

Sakura Taisen

The game that started it all, this Sega Saturn game was released in 1996, and established the now-famous Live Interactive Picture System (LIPS) dialog game system, wherein the player is presented with dialog options to choose from during conversations with other characters. Each choice made (or not making one at all) adds or deducts "trust points" from various characters' totals, eventually shaping the player's relationship with the rest of the cast, and ultimately, the ending of the game.

The second portion of gameplay featured turn-based battling between the characters' Koubu and their enemies. Units moved about on a grid-based map of the battlefield performing attacks and spectacular special moves to destroy the villains.

Set in 1923, the twelfth year of the Taisho Emperor's reign, the story details the adventures of the Teikoku Kagekidan—Hanagumi (lit. "Imperial Floral Assault Force—Flower Division") and its leader Ensign Ohgami Ichiro as they defend Teito (lit. "Imperial Capital" a.k.a. Tokyo) against evil creatures of the Kurono Sukai (lit. "Hive of Blackness") led by the vile Tenkai. All the while the Hanagumi continues to perform onstage undercover, as the Imperial Opera TroupeNote: The Japanese words for "Imperial Floral Assault Force" and "Imperial Opera Troupe" are pronounced in the same way, and only the characters used in writing are different, resulting in a clever pun. Thus the Hanagumi performs as one during the day, and "changes characters" come time for battle. The pun is also reflective of the fact the members of the time are all named after flowers, ie: Sakura - cherry blossom, Sumire - violet, Tachibana - orange flower, Kirishima - kirishima azaleas, Iris - iris flower, Ri - orchid., featuring the plucky Shinguuji Sakura, the "top star" Kanzaki Sumire, the cool and icy Maria Tachibana, the fiery Kirishima Kanna, the playful Iris Chateaubriand, and engineering genius Ri Kohran.

One notable feature of the game is that the FMV sequences have fully orchestral music accompanying them; this was very likely the first video game released to include this.

Sakura Taisen 2 ~Kimi, Shinitamou koto Nakare~

The second game in the series was released in 1998 and sported not only a subtitle but minor changes to the battle system, adding the ability to choose a "battle plan" that increased the team's effectiveness in using certain tactics. Many variations on the Adventure Mode's LIPS system were also added.

The story this time takes place in the fourteenth year of Taisho (1925), roughly a year after the cataclysmic conclusion of the original in 1924. Ensign Ohgami has returned from a tour of duty in the Imperial Navy and has been permanently assigned as squad leader of the Imperial Floral Assault Force—Flower Division (and errand boy for the Great Imperial Theater). Two new members, the quiet Reni Milchstrasse and outspoken Orihime Soletta, have joined the squad from the now-disbanded Hoshigumi (lit. "Star Division"), and many new enemies are arising to threaten Teito, both from without and within. How will the newly expanded Hanagumi deal with the approaching darkness?

Sakura Taisen 3 ~Pari wa Moeteiru ka?~

Released in 2001, Sakura Taisen 3 represented the most dramatic change in the series to date. It was the first major Sakura Taisen title to be released on the next-generation Dreamcast console (a puzzle-based spinoff game had been released earlier), and featured all-new 3D graphics and a totally new battle system known as the Active and Real-time Machine System (ARMS), which used a gridless action-point-based combat scheme. Furthermore, the game featured an all-new cast of girls in an all-new setting.

It is the middle of 1926, barely weeks after the Capital was saved a second time, and Ohgami has been promoted to lieutenant and reassigned to "study" in the French capital of Paris, the City of Lights. Just as he arrives, however, Oogami is informed that he is there to train a new "Paris Assault Squad" (Japanese: "Pari Kagekidan"), and battle marauding Beast-Men (Japanese: "Kaijin") with the "Groupe Fleur de Paris" (Japanese: "Pari Hanagumi"), a team of young women working undercover as performers in Les Chattes Noires, a famous Parisian nightclub. Can Oogami help Erica Fontaine, Glycine Bleumer, Lobelia Carlini, Hanabi Kitaoji, and Coquelicot stem the tide and ensure that the Eternal City stays that way? Can he even get them to work together?!

Sakura Taisen 4 ~Koi Seyo, Otome~

2002 saw the end of the Sakura Taisen series in its current story form. Revealing a newly restructured story format, concentrating on "wide, rather than long" gameplay (2 large multipathed 'Acts' versus many short 'Episodes'), the last of the Tokyo and Paris storylines featured the entire combined casts of Sakura Taisens 1 through 3, a total of fourteen girls with who to curry favor, as well as the ability to create an "Oogami Kagekidan" (lit. "Oogami's Assault Force") to use in the fight against evil.

Spring, 1927. Oogami has returned to Tokyo from Paris in triumph, and finds the Teikoku Kagekidan in battle with a new foe, this time one that looks impossible to defeat with the resources at hand. To where can the beleaguered Hanagumi turn for assistance? Perhaps to across the sea, to the City of Lights?

Sakura Taisen ~Atsuki Chishio Ni~

In a return to the roots for the new generation, Sega almost completely remade the original Sakura Taisen game, releasing it on 2003 on Sony's PlayStation 2 game console.

Adding new content and remade artwork by series art director Matsubara Hidenori, the game featured remastered full motion video sequences, as well as converting the battle system to ARMS, the 3D graphics and tactical combat engine used in Sakura Taisens 3 and 4. LIPS interaction sequences were also updated to include the LIPS types introduced in previous releases, and adding Action LIPS, where the player enters a series of commands on the controller, in a fashion similar to "Simon Says".

Reprising the original story of the first Sakura Taisen game, there are no changes to the plot other than re-recorded speech dialogue by the original voice actors, and several new scenes and "extra content".

Sakura Taisen 5 Episode 0 ~Kouya no Samurai Musume~

Platform(s): Sony PlayStation 2
Release date: September 22, 2004

In a radical departure from traditional Sakura Taisen gameplay yet, Sega released a new completely action-based game which acts as a prequel to the Sakura Taisen 5 main game. This new game features "Action Rodeo Combat", with the protagonist fighting off her foes while on horseback, and interacting with characters via the revised LIPS system used in Sakura Taisen ~Atsuki Chishio Ni~.

The story is now set in the United States, and focuses on one of the new cast members of Sakura Taisen 5, a young American girl named Gemini Sunrise. Gemini has lived all her life out in the Wild West of Texas. At the request of her late master, Mifune, she has a new assignment waiting for her in New York City. The young samurai cowgirl boards her best pal Rally the Horse, and rides off, away from the sunset (Unfortunately, no one said she knew how to get to New York and instead she ended up in San Francisco). But something is stirring afoot, and it involves a young girl named Fuanita Cushing, a cavalryman from Kansas named Bread Basileus, and a magician named Patrick Hamilton. The ride ahead looks long, indeed.

Sakura Taisen 5 ~Saraba, Itoshiki Hito yo~

The fifth major release in the seminal Sakura Taisen series of games, Sakura Taisen 5 adds a new set of features, including new LIPS interactions that use some of the unique characteristics of the PlayStation 2 platform, like the Dual Shock 2 Controller's Analog Joysticks, and a three-dimensional navigation system that opens up the streets of New York for the player to explore, including areas of Queens, and Manhattan Island.

Set in New York City, Sakura Taisen V feature an all-new cast of characters(Note: The game also features Ratchet Altair, a character first introduced during Sakura Taisen: Katsudou Shashin (Sakura Taisen: The Movie).), working in Broadway's famous "Little Lip Theater". Joined by a new protagonist and player character, Taiga Shinjiro, the "New York Fighting Troupe" (Lit. "New York Kagekidan") will ride to battle in their "STAR"'' combat armors, which can transform into flying aircraft, able to engage evil on the ground and in the clouds. What does the future hold for Shinjiro and his teammates -- Harlem Attorney Sagiitta Weinberg, Samurai Cowgirl Gemini Sunrise, Boston Nurse Diana Caprice, Mexican livewire Rikaritta Aries, and Japanese enigma Subaru Kujou -- and what evils must they face to protect the Big Apple?

The Animated Works

One of the consistent draws to the Sakura Taisen license has always been its strong presentation, most publicly shown in the lavishly produced animated FMV ("Full Motion Video") sequences sprinkled throughout the games. In 1997, it was decided that the rich fiction and characterization of the world of Sakura Taisen should be also brought to those without access to a game console, in the form of an animated OAV (Original Animated Video, a.k.a. OVA) series, which proved to be a resounding success. Since then there have been multiple releases of Sakura Taisen animated works, currently totalling about seven major releases, including a full-season TV series and a theatrical motion picture feature. Geneon Entertainment (formerly Pioneer Entertainment) has released the Sakura Taisen Motion Picture on video in the United States, with ADV Films and FUNimation releasing the various OVAs and the TV series under the name Sakura Wars. Each major releases to date is listed as follows:*

  1. Sakura Taisen: Ouka Kenran (1997—1998) (OAV; four episodes)
  2. Sakura Taisen: Gouka Kenran (1999—2000) (OAV; six epsiodes)
  3. Sakura Taisen (April to September 2000) (TV series (direct-to-video outside Japan); 25 episodes)
  4. Sakura Taisen: Katsudou Shashin (Premiered December 22, 2001) (Movie (direct-to-video outside Japan))
  5. Sakura Taisen: "Su~Mi~Re": Kanzaki Sumire Intai Kinen (2002) (OAV; one episode)
  6. Sakura Taisen: Ecole de Paris (2003) (OAV; three episodes)
  7. Sakura Taisen: Le Nouveau Paris (2004—2005) (OAV; three episodes)

Sakura Taisen: Ouka Kenran

Ouka Kenran(Note: The title literally translates as "The Gorgeous Blooming Cherry Blossoms", and may be taken as a symbolism of the OVA's functioning as an "origin story" of sorts for the Flower Division.

This title was released on DVD in October of 1999 by A.D. Vision (now known under their video brand ADV Films), though it had been available at the time on VHS and LaserDisc as well. It was then known as "Sakura Wars".)

The current English DVD release refers to the Imperial Floral Assault Troop (Lit. Teikoku Kagekidan) as "The Imperial Capital Defense Group". This is erroneous, most likely a product of the "localization" trend in Anime translation of the time.) was released in Japan in 1997, following the original game's skyrocketing popularity, the Sakura Taisen: Ouka Kenran'' OVAs came out to sate the Japanese public's thirst for more of the game's setting, characters, and art.

Appealing primarily to fans rather than the inexperienced, Ouka Kenran served to expand the story of the Flower Division, with two of the four released episodes focusing on the beginnings of the Flower Divisions parent organization, the Imperial Floral Assault Troop*, and how the various members of the Flower Division were scouted out and recruited. The episodes focus on Flower Division member Sakura Shinguuji, and her own trials leading up to her joining the Flower Division. The later episodes jump far forward, placing themselves within the actual timeline of the original game, and switch perspectives to that of the game's protagonist and player character, Squad Captain Ichirou Oogami.

This perspective switch is jarring to newcomers and does little to introduce them to the world of Sakura Taisen, thus cementing the purpose of the Ouka Kenran OVA as a for-fans-by-fans product.

Despite this, Ouka Kenran was released on VHS Video by ADV Films in English as Sakura Wars, and met with surprising success among Americans, eventually meriting further releases of Sakura Taisen animation material regardless of the presence of the license's core products (the games) in that country.

The original OVA is no longer available singularly, though it is packaged with the second OVA, Sakura Taisen: Gouka Kenran in the Sakura Wars OVA Collection on DVD Video, released in 2003 by ADV Films.

Sakura Taisen: Gouka Kenran

Following the success of the Ouka Kenran series, Sakura Taisen: Gouka Kenran (The title literally translates as "The Radiant Gorgeous Blooming Flowers", and may be taken as a symbolism of this OVA's concentrating more closely on all of the characters of the Flower Division, rather than just Sakura.)continued the trend of showing side stories happening alongside and between the events of the original video games. Each episode of the six-episode series shows a separate adventure from somewhere in the timelines of Sakura Taisen and Sakura Taisen 2. The episodes were written to concentrate on different members of the eight-member Flower Division (the original six plus two from Sakura Taisen 2): Maria and Sakura in the first, Iris and Leni in the second, Kanna and Sumire in the third, Orihime and Kohran in the fourth, and all of them together in a two-part episode.

Again, little was done to aid newcomers to Sakura Taisen in finding out the basics of the background and story provided in the original games. Gouka Kenran remained a fan-concentrated work.

Released in the US on DVD Video by ADV Films as a two-volume release called Sakura Wars: Return of the Spirit Warriors and Sakura Wars: Wedding Bells.

Sakura Taisen: The Television Series

First aired in Japan in April of 2000, the first TV incarnation of the Sakura Taisen franchise was essentially a retelling of the plot of the first Sakura Taisen, with a slightly different art style, and various major details altered to provide a decidedly different experience for veteran fans. As with previously released animations the TV series focused more on the Hanagumi than on the player character of Ohgami. The plot was also darker, and avoided some of the almost camp sensibilities of the games.

The series was later licensed by ADV films as "Sakura Wars TV", and was first released on DVD Video in 2003. The DVD releases covered six volumes.

Sakura Taisen: Katsudou Shashin (Sakura Taisen: The Movie)

The first full-length feature release in the franchise, Sakura Taisen: Katsudou Shashin (lit. "Moving Picture") takes place just after the conclusion of the third game, Sakura Taisen 3: Pari wa Moeteiru ka?" (as Flower Division Captain Ohgami Ichirou sails back to Tokyo to resume his position in the Imperial Floral Assault Force), and slightly before the beginning of the fourth game, Sakura Taisen 4: Koise yo, Otome''.

The year's end is at hand, and a new beginning is near. The Flower Division continues its double duty of putting smiles on the faces of Tokyo's people, as well as defending the capital against the forces of darkness, anticipating the return of their beloved captain.

New experiences and old memories bubble up as Lachette Altair, former Captain of the experimental Star Division, the one Flower Division members Orihime and Leni were once part of, joins the troupe, ostensibly to gather data for a proposed plan to defend New York City in America. But not all that comes from America is benign, for the monolithic Douglas Stuart company, under the leadership of Brent Furlong and his enigmatic minion Patrick Hamilton, are parading before Tokyo the Japhkiel, a revolutionary, unmanned fighting machine, as the future of the Imperial Capital's defense. Will the Flower Division be overshadowed and declared obsolete?

Released in Japanese theaters in December of 2001, the film saw a limited North American theater debut in July of 2003, and a DVD Video Release by Pioneer Animation/Geneon Animation as Sakura Wars: The Movie.

Sakura Taisen: \"Su~Mi~Re\": Kanzaki Sumire Intai Kinen

For almost a decade, Sumire Kanzaki, young scion of the Kanzaki industrial conglomerate, has fought and sacrificed to defend the Imperial Capital and its people. She's been the Imperial Opera Troupe's Top Star, perennial flame of the theater scene. She's been in movies, radio, concerts, and the battlefield. She's learned much, loved much, and seen much, and it seems it's time to settle down and take the reins of her birthright-the corporate monolith that leads Japanese industry. But no true star goes out with a whimper, and she is the Top Star!

Translated as Sakura Taisen: Sumire Kanzaki Retirement Special "~Su~Mi~Re~", this 2002 Japanese release was a thirty-minute OVA commemorating the retirement of one of the franchise's key voice actresses, Michie Tomizawa, who played the popular character of Sumire Kanzaki. Following Tomizawa's announcement of her leaving the Sakura Taisen series, the decision was made to also announce the retirement of Sumire, the character. A much loved character and voice actress, both Sumire and Tomizawa left the stage to a sold-out live concert.

FUNimation productions later released the OVA in the US as Sakura Taisen: ~Su~Mi~Re~ in 2004.

Sakura Taisen: Ecole de Paris

Released in the US by Funimation on 28th August 2005, this three part OVA acts as a prequel to the third game. The OVA tells the story of the Paris Kagekidan's formation, along with the arrival of Captain Ohgami Ichiro.

Sakura Taisen: Le Nouveau Paris

A sequel to Sakura Taisen: Ecole de Paris. As yet this three part OVA has not been licensed for release in the US. This tells the story of the Paris Kagekidan's members after Captain Ogami Ichiro was sent back to Japan a few weeks ago.

Characters

See: List of Sakura Wars characters

See also

Notes and References

External links

 

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