Movies - 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 seiyuu, 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).

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.

The Games

Over the years there have been more than ten separate game releases bearing the Sakura Taisen title, among them four core titles (a fifth game is due to be released in mid-2005—its prequel is currently available), 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:

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

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Movies - Sakura Wars

The Games

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