Sakura Wars

Sakura Wars (サクラ大戦) is a Japanese media franchise created by Ouji Hiroi, and is developed by Sega and Red Entertainment. It includes video games and other merchandise. The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science-fantasy dramatic adventure video games, which consist of a tactical wargame and dating sim, but includes a motion picture, anime, printed media, and other merchandise. The series began in 1996 as an eponymous video game; the game was a success and spawned sequels. The video game series has since branched into other genres and platforms, such as portable games and games for mobile phones.

The original storyline, said to be inspired by the Shochiku Revue and Takarazuka Revue, takes place in an alternate 1920s Tokyo. It follows the adventures of an all-female secret task force known as the Imperial Assault Force — Flower Division as they defend the Imperial Capital Tokyo against evil. They are led by Ichiro Ogami, a newly graduated male Imperial Navy Ensign who had been assigned to the squad partly due to his unique ability to use a special type of armor, about which it was previously believed that only women possessing high levels of spiritual powers could operate. The setting eventually moved on to other locations such as Paris and New York.

The various OVA tie-ins, the animated TV series, and the motion picture were licensed in North America by ADV Films, Funimation, and Geneon (previously Pioneer Entertainment). The manga version, previously serialized in Kodansha's Magazine Z and now in Magazine Great, is also released in English by Tokyopop.

Games
The Sakura Wars series includes the following five main video games:


 * Sakura Taisen ("Sakura Wars")
 * Sakura Taisen 2 ~Kimi, Shinitamou koto Nakare~ ("Prithee Do Not Die")
 * Sakura Taisen 3 ~Pari wa Moeteiru ka~ ("Is Paris Burning?")
 * Sakura Taisen 4 ~Koi Seyo, Otome~ ("Fall in Love, Maidens")
 * Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love (Sakura Taisen V ~Saraba, Itoshiki Hito yo~)

The following games are prequels and side-stories:


 * Hanagumi Taisen Columns
 * Hanagumi Taisen Columns 2
 * Sakura Taisen GB ~Geki • Hanagumi Nyuutai!~ ( "Go Forth—Flower Division Enlist!") (2000)
 * Sakura Taisen GB2 ~Thunder Bolt Sakusen~ ("Operation Thunder Bolt") (2001)
 * Sakura Taisen Monogatari ~Mysterious Paris~ ("Sakura Wars Story ~Mysterious Paris~")
 * Sakura Taisen V Episode 0 ~Kouya no Samurai Musume~ ("The Samurai Girl from the Wild West") (2004)
 * Dramatic Dungeon Sakura Taisen ~Kimi aru ga tame~ ("Because you are here")

Setting
Sakura Wars is set in a fictional Taishō period. Although the alternate timeline's history is similar to that of the real world, a crucial difference lies in technology, where most of the benefits of today's modern era are made possible in the early 1900s with the effective utilization of steam. In particular, the Imperial Capital Tokyo, also known as the Teito (the capital), stood at the forefront of that period's technological revolution. This was thanks in part to the company called Kanzaki Heavy Industries, who were considered world-leaders in steam-powered machinery.

On Taishō 7 (1918), an event known as "The Kouma War" took place, where a huge demon appeared at Nihonbashi in Tokyo. It was eventually sealed away by the Imperial Army's Counter-Demon Team, but their success came at a huge cost. Due to this incident, an internationally approved effort was made to secure Tokyo from future spiritual threats, thus the formation of the Imperial Capital Defense Program and the Imperial Assault Force.

To increase the defenses of those who would be enlisted by the new organization to fight against demons, part of the preparations involved the development of a dual-powered steam/spirit armor by Kanzaki Heavy Industries. While experiments were being made on a prototype called "Oobu", only a young girl bearing high levels of spiritual power was shown to have been capable of moving it, giving birth to the misconception that only women could operate the armor.

The center of the top secret corps was hidden underneath a theater in the heart of Ginza called the Grand Imperial Theater (大帝国劇場). Here, the women of the Imperial Assault Force — Flower Division lived and worked undercover as actors performing theatrical plays under the alias "Imperial Opera Troupe," or "Imperial Revue". The reasoning behind this was both spiritual and mental: song and dance were considered to be traditional methods that could suppress evil, and the stage was likened to a battlefield where self-confidence is built.

When the Imperial Assault Force went into service and had proven to be an effective means of defending Tokyo, other countries soon followed. It began with the creation of the Paris Assault Force, with its base of operations located at a famous Parisian night club known as the Theatre Chattes Noires (テアトル・シャノワール). The New York Fighting Troupe was established at the Little Lip Theater (リトルリップ・シアター) on Broadway shortly afterwards.

The series depicts the trials and tribulations of these different attack squads as the members grow into their roles and strive to protect their respective cities, while dealing with personal issues at the same time.

Imperial Assault Force
Incepted on New Year's Day in 1922, the Imperial Assault Force (帝国華撃団) is the successor to the Imperial Army's Counter-Demon Team. One of the members of that original team, Lt. General Ikki Yoneda, commanded the group until his retirement. The Teigeki has had two vice commanders in its history, the first of which was Ayame Fujieda; after her death, the position was taken over by her younger sister, Kaede Fujieda.

By 1927, the Imperial Assault Force is composed of six official groups, all of which serve different purposes within the organization. The anti-demon attack squad, known as the Flower Division (花組), is the division that the series focuses much of its attention on early in the story. It is led by Lt. Junior Grade Ichiro Ogami, with Maria Tachibana acting as his vice captain. Other members include Sakura Shinguji, Sumire Kanzaki, Iris Chateaubriand, Ri Kohran, Kanna Kirishima, Orihime Soletta, and Reni Milchstraße.

Other teams that play significant roles in the original storyline are the Wind Division (風組), who are responsible for frontline support and transportation; Moon Division (月組), who provide support within the shadows; and an unofficial group known as the Rose Division (薔薇組), who protect the Majinki. The Wind Division members who are most recognized are Tsubaki Takamura, Kasumi Fujii, and Yuri Sakakibara, all of whom also perform secretarial work within the theater. Little is known about the Moon Division aside from its captain, Yuichi Kayama. Kotone Seiryuin, Yokihiko Ota, and Kikunojo Oka make up the entirety of the Rose Division, with Kotone as their squad leader.

Established before the Imperial Assault Force officially went into service, an experimental troupe known as the Star Division (Hoshigumi) was set up in Europe and was the predecessor to Tokyo's Flower Division. Consisting of Orihime, Reni, and Subaru Kujou, with Ratchet Altair as captain, the troupe was disbanded after only a couple of years. Orihime and Reni were eventually transferred to the Flower Division on 1925. Ratchet was also temporarily stationed to the group near the end of 1926.

Paris Assault Force
The Paris Assault Force (巴里華撃団), established in 1926 as part of the European Municipal Defense Project, is led by Countess Isabella "Grand-Mère" Lilac. The Groupe Fleur de Paris stands as its armored force, and is composed of Erica Fontaine, Glycine Bleumer, Coquelicot, Lobelia Carlini, and Hanabi Kitaoji. Ogami was assigned as its captain during its first few months of operation.

Mell Raison and Ci Caprice handle the secretarial work for Les Chattes Noires and provide assistance in battle. The maintenance of the spirit armors are overseen by the mechanic staff squad leader Jean Leo.

New York Fighting Troupe
Formed in 1928 with Michael Sunnyside as its commander, the New York Fighting Troupe (紐育華撃団) differs from other organizations in that their assault team is referred to as the Star Division. Two members of the original disbanded Star Division were transferred to this group. Ratchet Altair was the original captain of the squad, but her failing spiritual power led her to give the position to Ensign Shinjiro Taiga, while she took the role of vice commander. Gemini Sunrise, Sagiitta Weinberg, Diana Caprice, Rikaritta Aries, and Subaru Kujo form the rest of the team.

The Rainbow Division, composed of Plum Spaniel and Anri Yoshino, provides the Star Division with support. Wong Xingzhi functions as the mechanical chief.

Gameplay
The game is a Strategy RPG that features a unique sim-based story system. An in-depth storyline exists, much like in any other RPG; however, the player's destiny in the game is not predetermined, character interaction plays a major role. The player's interaction with the game dramatically influences the storyline and the ending, as the player nurtures relationships between certain characters, their performance in battle will also improve and the strength of their attacks soars. This means that the game's social elements are closely tied to the battle system.

Sakura Wars carved out a whole new genre for itself; it's the first in gaming history to combine elements of dating simulation and strategy.

The story for the main video games are told in an episodic format, each with its own eyecatches and next episode previews, emulating the feeling of watching a Japanese anime. Eyecatches provide the player with the only way to properly track and save his progress, and are often used to indicate a switch between the game's two main gameplay modes, though this is not always the case.

Adventure mode
Adventure mode allows the player to control the male squad leader of the assault force the game is focused upon. By visiting certain locations within a building or a city, he may interact with various characters by a real-time system known as the Live Interactive Picture System (LIPS). LIPS presents the player with options to choose from during conversations and events, where the player must make a choice within a certain time limit, or choose not to respond at all by not making a choice within that time. Choices made, including not having made a decision at all, adds or deducts "trust points" from the characters involved. These points have various effects throughout the game, including shaping the player's relationship with the rest of the cast, affecting their performance in battle, and ultimately, deciding the ending scene of the game. Corresponding chimes will sound if the player losses or gains trust points when answering to a prompt, sometimes there won't be any chime when picking a choice, this indicates that the player has chosen a "neutral" response that does not have any effect on the character's trust. A similar type of conversation system later appeared in a more recent action role-playing game published by Sega, Alpha Protocol.

Later Sakura Wars games introduced several variations to the LIPS system. These include Analog LIPS, which the player can raise the action gauge up or down depending on the situation; Double LIPS, which gives the player a longer amount of time to make decisions; and Stick LIPS, where the player can manipulate the analog stick to raise a gauge depending on the situation.

Battle mode
In the first two Sakura Wars games, the battle mode gameplay is similar to that of tactical role-playing games. The player gives commands to all attack squad members piloting a spirit armor in a square-based grid. Commands are arranged in groups, and only two commands from different groups can be issued for each turn. This had since evolved into a gridless action-point based combat scheme known as Active and Real-time Machine System (ARMS). In ARMS, a unit can move as far and attack as many as its action points would allow it, although some orders are still limited to once per turn. This type of combat system would later be the basis for Valkyria Chronicles, developed by much of the same team.

In Sakura Wars, a character's trust points also affect her status during battle. A unit performs better if the pilot has a higher trust rating for the squad leader and performs worse if the pilot has a low trust for the squad leader.

If an attack squad member's unit is destroyed in battle, she is removed from the battlefield, and the player loses trust points with her. If the squad leader's unit is destroyed, or if the player fails to meet the given requirements, the game is over.

A Long Day
Before the main menu is shown, the game searches for a system file. If found, the player is asked to load the file; else, he is prompted to create one. Although optional, system files can be loaded into succeeding games in the series for continuity purposes. They also compile various events encountered by the player, such as movie files and mini-games, and provides access to this collection in a mode known as "A Long Day".

The mode appears on the main menu after the player saves into the system file for the first time. It allows the player to browse through the different items the system file has collected by visiting various locations in a limited area, similar to adventure mode, with each place having a particular use.

North America and European release
On May 7, 2009, Nippon Ichi Software's American division announced it will bring Sakura Wars V to North America in March 30, 2010 as Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love. This will be the first time a Sakura Wars game is released in North America. The game was available for the PlayStation 2 and the Wii. The Wii release of the game was also available in Europe in March 2010.

Reception and sales
The Sakura Wars series sold over 3 million units in Japan by early 2002, and over 4.5 million units by 2010. The original Saturn version of Sakura Taisen sold 360,000 copies in Japan in 1996, and sold out within hours of its release, recording the biggest sales as a SEGA Saturn original title. Sakura Taisen 2 later sold more than 500,000 units in Japan during its first week on sale in 1998, making it the second best selling dating game of all time in Japan. When Sakura Taisen 2 was released, it was the current number one most popular game in Japan according to Famicom Tsuushin. The Dreamcast ports of the first two Sakura Taisen games additionally sold around 100,000 copies each in 2000, while the third and fourth Sakura Taisen games sold around 300,000 copies each for the Dreamcast in 2001 and 2002, respectively. The PlayStation 2 version of the original Sakura Taisen also sold an additional 236,000 copies in 2003.

According to Famitsu's 1996 top ten wanted list, Sakura Taisen scored second place just below Final Fantasy VII. The game went on to win the Game of the Year prizes at the CESA Awards and Semi-Grand Prix Awards in 1997. Sakura Taisen later ranked #13 place in the Famitsu's 100 all-time favorite games list. The first four Sakura Taisen games all made Japan’s “Top 100 Games of all time” as voted by fans. Famitsu gave Sakura Taisen V a 37/40 (10 / 10 / 9 / 8) score. In Japan, Sakura Taisen V was the 91st best selling game in 2005. In 2009, Sakura Taisen scored first place in the Famitsu list of most wanted game sequels of all times. In 2010, Sakura Shinguji ranked 17th place in Famitsu's reader poll of top 50 best video game characters. She is one of the highest-ranking female characters on the list, below Amaterasu from Ōkami and Yuna from Final Fantasy X.

Anime
A total of six OVAs, consisting of one to six episodes each, a 25 episode TV series, and an animated film have been created for the Sakura Wars franchise.

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

The shop closed on March 30, 2008, after a decade of service.

Japanese

 * Sega's official Sakura Taisen Web site
 * Sega's official Sakura Taisen Cafe website