Sakura taisen: Katsudou shashin

now, this is a very cool title!! steam-powered robots and tanks in a feudal time along with aristocratic ninjas, a very interesting combination! not only is this a popular anime, but the action figures are a hot seller as well! the storyline is almost like a clan war-based theme and the animation is quite good. overall, sakura wars is a very good title to see.

(1997) Sakura Wars: The Movie JAPAN ANIMATION SCIENCE-FICTION/ COMEDY

Centering on a group of young teenage girls saving future Tokyo. Although, I love Japan animation as much as the next person, I couldn't believe how uninvolving this one was to the extent of boredom. I think a lot of it has to do with the that their super mobile suits had already been done before and are better too, and that some of the girls faces reminded me about some of the same men characters from other Japan animations, and it's strange to hear some of them talk when they looked identical to some of the men characters. I mean, perhaps if I had seen this first before seeing any others, then I might've liked this more, but that is not the case at all so the rating is just going to be a low one.

Imagine a Buffy: the vampire Slayer type scenerio with Wild Wild West technology set in Industrial Japan with the characters from 'Allo 'Allo and you get Sakura wars!

Fans of Tenchi, Nadesico and Evangelion will enjoy this anime as it has the familiar stylings of all three. In my opinion Sakura looks like Yurika from Nadesico and the voice of one of the minor characters is the same seiyuu as the voice for Ryoko from Tenchi!

The ending of the original OAV is rushed after a slow start however in my opinion must anime conclusions are!

7 out of 10!!!

Sakura Wars is generally an action/adventure type of anime, with more of a light-hearted tone than a serious one. The DVD contains all four episodes of the first Sakura Wars OVA series. Episodes 1-3 take place before the time of the Sega Saturn game, and deal with the recruiting of the Imperial Floral Assault Group (a team of girls who do battle in steam-powered mecha to protect Japan from demons) and their early days together. Episode 4 seems to take place sometime during the Saturn game, after Captain Oogami Ichirou's arrival.

It's been said that the Sakura Wars anime isn't very approachable to those not already familiar with its setting and characters. This may be true, but if you played and liked the Saturn game, you will enjoy every minute of the OVAs. The dubbing is fairly good, although some characters (Maria Tachibana, Iris Chateaubriand, and Ri Kouran) speak with accents which may not be too pleasant on the ears. However, I prefer watching with subtitles (on the DVD, the subtitles can be turned on or off).

In short, if you liked the Saturn game, you must see this series of videos. If you haven't played the game, you might not find Sakura Wars to be very fulfilling... or you might be inspired to track down the video games. :)

Based on the Mega Hit video game of the same name,Sakura Wars is a near perfect adaption the games.

Plot Taking place before the game,this OVA adaption of Sakura Wars serves as a prequel to the games.It explains how the Imperial Flower Combat Troupe was formed and why Ohgami Ichiro(the protagonist of the game) was chosen as squad leader of the Troupe.Additionally it reveals some of the backstories of the squad members of the Troupes(specifically Sakura Shinguji).

The animation of the OVA is so wonderfully.It is simply the best that could have been made back in 1997.The OVA's visuals are faithful to the games' designs and will not outrage fans.The musical score is marvelous and adds mood and atmosphere in the anime.Fans of the game will even recognize that some of the music in the games are featured in the OVA.The Japanese voice acting is voiced by the same voice actors of the games and fans will be pleased that they sound just as good as they did in the games.The story is pretty well written and moves at a good pace.

Before you wathc this OVA,I warn you that you must play the games.This OVA was designed as to capitilize on the popularity on the game and as supplemental plot material to the games.If you watch this OVA withou playing the games,you will be scratching your head confused as you will see plot holes and lack of explanation behind the whole demon VS humans conflict of this OVA.In other words,you will not enjoy this OVA one bit if you haven't played the games and decided to watch it right away.

Anime adaptions of games almost always suck and 99 % of the time are not even faithful to the plots and designs of the games they are based on.Sakura Wars is an excellent exception to this.The makers actually bothered to put big productions in this OVA and hire the people who made the game for assistance.Simply,you will completely love this if you are a Sakura Wars fan!