Sakura Wars

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(Redirected from Sakura Taisen)

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).

Image:Sega-Giga.jpg 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

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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:

  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~Koise yo, 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)
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Sakura Taisen

About the title: The title literally translates as "The Great War Among the Cherry Blossoms", symbolising the game's beginning in spring, a time represented in Japan by the blooming of a cherry tree. See also hanami'

Platform(s): Sega Saturn, Sega Dreamcast, Microsoft Windows, Play Station Portable
Release date: Saturn: September 27, 1996; Dreamcast: May 25, 2000; Windows: ?; Play Station Portable: Spring 2006

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 Troupe (see note below), 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.

(Note: 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.)

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.

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Sakura Taisen 2 ~Kimi, Shinitamou koto Nakare~

About the title: The subtitle "Kimi, Shinitamou koto Nakare" (lit. "You shall not die") refers to the title of a poem by Yosano Akiko, a famous early-twentieth-century Japanese poet. The poem itself is known for Russo-Japanese War and her young brother.

Platform(s): Sega Saturn, Sega Dreamcast, Microsoft Windows, Sony Playstation Portable.
Release date: Saturn: April 4, 1998; Dreamcast: September 21, 2000; Windows: ?; Sony Playstation Portable: Spring 2006.

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?

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Sakura Taisen 3 ~Pari wa Moeteiru ka?~

About the title: The subtitle "Pari wa moeteiru ka?" (lit. "Is Paris burning?") refers to a famous quote from German dictator Adolf Hitler as he asked about General Dietrich von Choltitz's progress in destroying the City of Lights. Paris was not burning, however, as Gen. Choltitz had disobeyed Hitler's orders and not leveled the city.

Platform(s): Sega Dreamcast, Microsoft Windows, Sony PlayStation 2
Release date: Dreamcast: March 22, 2001; Microsoft Windows: ?; PS2: February 24, 2005

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?!

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Sakura Taisen 4 ~Koise yo, Otome~

About the title: "Koise yo, Otome-tachi" translates as "Fall in Love, Maidens", a line from the "Gondola no Uta", or "Song of the Gondola", written in 1915 by Shinpei Nakayama and Isamu Yoshii, and featured in Akira Kurosawa's Ikiru.

Platform(s): Sega Dreamcast
Release date: March 21, 2002

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?

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Sakura Taisen ~Atsuki Chishio Ni~

About the title: "Atsuki Chishio Ni", literally "In Hot Blood" refers to passage #26 from the "Midaregami", a poem/story written by Yosano Akiko.

Platform(s): Sony PlayStation 2
Release date: February 27, 2003

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".

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Sakura Taisen 5 Episode 0 ~Kouya no Samurai Musume~

(Note: A zero inserted into a franchise series' title usually indicates a prequel feature, detailing that the product takes place before the events of the "real" product, as with the Nintendo GameCube game Resident Evil 0.)

About the title: The subtitle "Kouya no Samurai Musume" can be interpreted to mean "The Samurai Girl from the Wild West", though the literal Japanese translation is actually "The Samurai Girl from the Wild/Wilderness".

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 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 (no one said she knew how to get to New York). 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.

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Sakura Taisen 5 ~Saraba, Itoshiki Hito yo~

About the title: The subtitle "Saraba, Itoshiki Hito yo" is officially translated "Farewell, My Love", and is the Japanese title for The Heartbreak Yakuza, a film directed and released in 1987 by Harada Masato. The film is about a yakuza who stumbles upon a girl he once knew in his childhood.

Platform(s): Sony PlayStation 2
Release date: July 7, 2005

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 New Jersey, Queens, and Manhattan Island.

Set in New York City, Sakura Taisen V feature an all-new cast of characters, 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?

(Note: The game also features Ratchet Altair, a character first introduced during Sakura Taisen: Katsudou Shashin (Sakura Taisen: The Movie).)

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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: Kanzaki Sumire Intai Kinen "Su~Mi~Re" (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)
  • (Note: The dates, names, and release figures given in the above list are for Japanese releases. Information on names and release dates for outside Japan, if available, are included in the individual releases' sections.)
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Sakura Taisen: 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".

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.

  • (Note: The current 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.)
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Sakura Taisen: Gouka Kenran

(Note: 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.)

Following the success of the Ouka Kenran series, Sakura Taisen: Gouka Kenran 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 Reni 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.

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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.

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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 Ratchet Altair, former Captain of the experimental Star Division, the one Flower Division members Orihime and Reni 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.

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

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.

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Sakura Taisen: Ecole de Paris

This has been licensed for release in the US by FUNnimation. It will be titled Sakura Wars: Ecole de Paris.

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Sakura Taisen: Le Nouveau Paris

A sequel to Sakura Taisen: Ecole de Paris.

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The Main Characters

Note: The names of the various troupes/divisions of the Teikoku Kagekidan (e.g., flower, star, moon, wind) are modeled on those of the Takarazuka Kagekidan (Takarazuka Revue). [1] Similarly, the names of the troupe members are often patterned on the name of the troupe—flowers in the Hanagumi and the Groupe Fleur de Paris, celestial bodies in the Hoshigumi (the New York Kagekidan also uses celestial bodies). The naming patterns is likely the work of Satoru Akahori, the scenario writer for the games [2], who uses such throughout most of his creations (e.g., in Sorcerer Hunters and Saber Marionette J).

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The Teito Hanagumi

  • Kirishima Kanna
    • Floral Namesake: Canna lily ("Kanna")
    • Place of Origin: Okinawa, Japan
    • Martial Talents: Ryuukyuu Kirishima Ryu Karate-do; male roles (otokoyaku)
    • Seiyuu: Tanaka Mayumi
    • 'Koubu-Kai/Jinbu/Tenbu/Koubu Nishiki Unit: Color: Red; Weapons: Magnetized Hand-Claws
  • Ri [Li] Kōran
    • Floral Namesake: red orchid (Jpn.: "kōran")
    • Place of Origin: Beijing, China
    • Talents: Mechanical Engineering
    • Seiyuu: Fuchizaki Yuriko
    • 'Koubu-Kai/Jinbu/Tenbu/Koubu Nishiki Unit: Color: Green; Weapons: Back-, Arm- and Leg-Mounted Rocket Artillery Launchers, Remote-Controlled Mini-Robots

Note: It is a common misconception that Ri Kohran's name (李紅蘭) is a reference to the WWII era Japanese singer Li Xianglan (李香蘭), known as Ri Kōran in Japan. Kouran (Honglan) is actually the name of Hiroi Ouji's cousin in China.[4]

  • Ogami Ichiro
    • Place of Origin: Tochigi, Japan
    • Martial Talents: Kenjutsu, twin-sword-style
    • Seiyuu: Suyama Akio
    • Koubu-Kai/Jinbu/Tenbu/Koubu Nishiki Unit: Color: White; Weapons: "Ootachi" (Medium-length Japanese Sword) x2

Note: The names of the following two members (formerly of the disbanded Hoshigumi ("Star Division") are derived from celestial terms.

  • Reni [Leni] Milchstrasse
    • Place of Origin: Germany
    • Astronomical Namesake: Milky Way (German: "Milchstrasse")
    • Martial Talents: Fencing, Battlefield Tactics
    • Seiyuu: Ikura Kazue
    • Koubu-Kai, Koubu Nishiki/Eisenkleid Unit: Color: Dark blue; Weapon: Lance
  • Orihime Soletta
    • Place of Origin: Italy, of mixed Japanese-Italian parentage
    • Astronomical Namesake: Vega (Jpn.: "Orihime"; see also Tanabata), also soletta means sun in Italian.
    • Talents: Piano
    • Seiyuu: Okamoto Maya
    • Koubu-Kai/Koubu Nishiki/Eisenkleid Unit: Color: Magneta red; Weapons: Psychically-manipulated Fingertip-mounted Lasers
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The Paris Hanagumi (Groupe Fleur de Paris)

(Note: The names of the Fleur de Paris, like those of the Hanagumi, are derived from flower and botanical names.)

  • Erica Fontaine
    • Seiyuu: Noriko Hidaka
    • Flower associated with name: heather (Latin feminine form: "Erica")
    • Place of Origin: France
    • Martial Talents: Marksmanship (Automatic Weapons)
    • Koubu: Colour: Red; Weapons: Cross-shaped Machine-Cannon "Gabrielle"
  • Glycine Bleumer
    • Seiyuu: Shimazu Saeko
    • Floral Namesake: Wisteria (formerly genus Glycine [5]; soybeans are now part of that modern genus (species names: G. soja and G. max))
    • Place of Origin: France (of Northern European ancestry)
    • Martial Talents: Use of the Halberd, a medieval polearm.
    • Koubu-F Unit: Colour: Sea Blue; Weapons: Axe
  • Lobelia Carlini
  • Kitaohji Hanabi
    • Seiyuu: Takamori Yoshino
    • Floral Namesake: Fireworks (Jpn.: hana + hi (= Eng.: "flower" + "fire"), with the hi changed to bi for euphony. "Hanabi" is the name of a variety of hydrangea [6]))
    • Place of Origin: Japan, of mixed Japanese-French descent
    • Talents: Kyudo (archery)
    • Koubu-F Unit: Colour: Black; Weapons: Bow and Arrows
  • Coquelicot
    • Seiyuu: Kozakura Etsuko
    • Floral Namesake: corn poppy (French: "Coquelicot")
    • Place of Origin: Vietnam
    • Talents: Stage Magic
    • Koubu-F Unit: Colour: Baby Pink; Weapons: Magical Baton and Horn Missile Launchers
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The New York Fighting Troupe (New York Kagekidan)

  • Taiga Shinjiro
    • Place of Origin: Tochigi, Japan
    • Seiyuu: Suganuma Hisayoshi
    • Star Unit: Fujiyama-Star: Color: White; Weapons: Ootachi (medium-length Samurai Sword) x 2, Kodachi (Samurai Short Sword) x 1
  • Gemini Sunrise
    • Astronomical Namesake: Gemini
    • Place of Origin: Texas, USA
    • Seiyuu: Kobayashi Sanae
    • Star Unit: Rodeo-Star: Color: Orange; Weapon: Gun Barrel Sword
  • Rikaritta Aries
    • Astronomical Namesake: Aries
    • Place of Origin: Mexico
    • Seiyuu: Saitou Ayaka
    • Star Unit: Shooting-Star: Color: Green; Weapon: Gun Master
  • Kujou Subaru
    • Astronomical Namesake: The Pleiades (Jpn.: "Subaru")
    • Place of Origin: Kyoto, Japan
    • Seiyuu: Sonozaki Mie
    • Star Unit: Random-Star: Color: Purple; Weapon: Zantetsusen ("Iron-cutter fan")
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Supporting Characters

Teikoku Kagekidan

  • Fujieda Ayame
    • Seiyuu: Orikasa Ai
    • Floral Namesake: Iris (Jpn.: "ayame"; specifically: Iris sanguinea)
  • The Kazegumi ("Wind Division": the support unit for the Hanagumi; the members assist in the running of the Imperial Theater, and act as bridge bunnies during combat operations, also piloting the "Shougei-Maru" airship and "Gourai-Gou" undeground transport train.):

Groupe Fleur de Paris

New York Fighting Troupe

  • The Nijigumi ("Rainbow Division": the New York Fighting Troupe's analog to the Kazegumi)
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The Enemy Characters

Some of these characters have been based on actual historical figures, such as Oda Nobunaga.

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Sakura Wars 1

  • Tenkai: Leader of the Hive of Darkness and a demon general who survived the aftermath of the Demon War (1914-1918).
  • Aoi Satan: One of Tenkai's lieutenants and one of the four Lords of Death. Later, Aoi Satan is revealed to be the biblical Satan, the King of Darkness cast down from Heaven.
  • Miroku: One of the four Lords of Death. Miroku dresses in flowing red robes.
  • Setsuna: One of the four Lords of Death. Cunning and manipulative, Setsuna prefers to target his victims' weaknesses before he strikes. He is the older brother of Rasetsu.
  • Rasetsu: One of the four Lords of Death. A violent brute, Rasetsu prefers to cause outright destruction and mayhem. He is the younger brother of Setsuna.
  • Inoshishi: (Ino means boar, which refers to one componant of a difficult to achieve winning combination in Hanafuda along with Shika and Cho)
  • Shika: (Shika means deer, which refers to one componant of a difficult to achieve winning combination in Hanafuda along with Cho and Ino)
  • Cho: (Cho means butterfly, which refers to one componant of a difficult to achieve winning combination in Hanafuda along with Shika and Ino)
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Sakura Wars 2

  • Oni-Oh (Japanese: demon king)
  • Kongou
  • Mokujiki
  • Tsuchigumo
  • Kasha
  • Suiko
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Sakura Wars 3

  • Ciseaux (French: scissors): A short, rabbit-like humanoid. Prefers to attack with a giant pair of scissors.
  • Python: A woman from the Middle East whose face turns snake-like when angry or excited. She is a jewel thief and even pretended to be Coquelicot's mother at one point.
  • Lion: A lion-like humanoid who is obsessed with nobility. Arrogant and condescending, Lion gave little thought to the lives of "common people".
  • Nadel: A thief obsessed with art, Nadel tried to steal the Mona Lisa from the Louvre at one time.
  • Masque de Corbeau (French: Raven Mask)  : A mysterious man draped in black obsessed with tragedy. A melodramatic, Masque de Corbeau replayed his victims tragedies, drinking in their despair before he kills them.
  • Calmar: A blue, squid-like humanoid, Calmar desired to rule Paris on his own terms.
  • Salut: The spirit of the city of Paris, Salut wishes to bring France back to its days before the Roman Empire, in order to recreate Gaul (ancient France).
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Sakura Wars 4

  • Okubo Nagayasu: A one-time magistrate of Edo (ancient Tokyo), he feels that "his" city has lost its spirit, so he intends to conquer Tokyo and bring it back to its days during the Sengoku period.
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Sakura Wars V

  • Oda Nobunaga: One of the most powerful warlords of Japan during the Sengoku period. Nobunaga intends to conquer America as his new kingdom. (Trivia: A sketch of Oda Nobunaga was drawn in a fan sketch book in the Taisho Romando shop on the top floor of the Sega "GIGA" Amusement Center in the Ikebukuro district in Tokyo, a year before Sakura Wars V was released. Some say that this sketch was the source of inspiration for Oda Nobunaga as a character in the Sakura Wars series.)
  • Ranmaru: Nobunaga's most trusted lieutenant. Ranmaru appeared as a 10-year old girl in a black dress with rabbit ears.
  • Dokuro-bou:Marvelous physical strength giant with a sword stuck in his head. Self-styled tactician but brainless.
  • Tsugaru-bi: Tsugaru-bi appears to be a gentleman wearing purple clothing and covered his eyes . His eyes can turn people into a stone by the insight.
  • Kokuryuhime: A blond woman wearing an armour Nicknamed Selfish queen. Carries a sword and like destructions and war.
  • Yume-dono: She cooperated to establish the country by the insect. Her ability is using poison to control animals or pollute the area. Wears a hat which covers her face.
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See also

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External links

de:Sakura Taisen ja:サクラ大戦 zh:樱花大战

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