Alrighty then. Sakura Wars is a four-episode OVA series based off of the hit japanese game, Sakura Taisen, so uh... yeah. It was actually a good series based off of a game, which isn't usually the case.
Back in the early 1920's, there was a team of scientists developing steam-powered spirit armor, called "Oobu," but that's how it was spelled in the subs. They did a stinky job subbing. It should have been "obu," with a long "o", but that's alright... yeah. So the Oobu's were being tested by bunches of men soldiers. It wasn't working out so well, because they didn't seem to have the "spirit power" required to operate the maching. When one of the scientists' granddaughter's decided to try it out, the team had a reaction. She powered the the armor with almost no effort at all, and it was soon figured out that only women could operate the Oobu's.
The reason that they are doing this is because a few years earlier, there were some wars known as the "Demon Wars," in which demons obviously invaded Japan, but mostly in Tokyo. Now there have been several sightings of the demons returning, and they want to be prepared with some more powerful armor than previously.
The lab team gathers together women that have long lines of fighting, powers, or other special telekinetic abilities to test the machines out. Among these are: Sumire; the lead scientist's granddaughter, Aeris (Iris); a little girl with telekinetic abilities, she's also from France, Kanna; a loud girl who is a very strong decendent of a fighting school, Maria; the silent girl who's kinda manly, she just mostly keeps everything under order, Kouran; the scientist girl who likes to invent things... such as steam-powered bazookas... and Sakura; the country girl who has the powerful "Cherry Blossom Attack," which is performed by her ancient family sword, the "Arataka."
After much test-piloting, fighting demons, and blah blah blah, the team figures out that they need a new leader. From there, it's mostly a story that revolves around how the team learns to work together. The things to look out for are: some swearing, a little bit of blood, some violence, depressing things, and girls with REALLY REALLY HIGH opinions on themselves.
Storyline
5/5 I thought it to be a nice change: BACK in time instead of in the FUTURE.
Character Development
5/5 Uh, yeah, I knew all of their names, and I hated Sumire.
Plot Depth
5/5 It was deep enough. It kind of went to an odd ending, though.
Music
5/5 It was really cute. ADV did a crappy job laying out the DVD, though, because the opening song was used for EVERY link, so it would start over every time you clicked on something! GRRR!
Sexual Content
5/5 A guy named Ohgami accidently falls over on Sakura, and she takes it as a sexual thing. But that's nothing, so I'm not taking off any points.
Nudity
5/5 None! Happy happy me.
Violence/Gore
4/5 There was a lot of slaying demons, fighting other people, and a little bit of blood. Nothing too serious!
Animation
5/5 Very good.
Profanity
4/5 Some mild swearing.
Overall goodness
5/5 I thought it was pretty good. Not too long, not too short, and a cute story. There were some choppy parts, but you could pretty much figure out what went on in between.
Totals: 48/50, or pretty good. It's more of a girly series, so I would recommend it to the shoujo fans. Especially with the p[ink, purple, and what not mech colors. Hehe. It was also surprisingly... funny.
Well, this had a LOT less action and more character than I thought it would. In the ads, it's all jamming and fighting and thwoing things from your sword and glowy and stuff. The real thing is far more emotionbased and character-based. Oh well! It was good anyway.
All right. It starts in the early 1920's through the later 1920's. (I think. Sakura's hair grew QUITE a bit. In the beginning, it was down to her shoulders. By the end, it as down to the middle of her back.) ANYWAY! There is a team of scientists developing steam powered fighting things. Why? Cause the Demon Wars just happened a little while ago. (Don't ask how LONG. I don't know) The people think it's over. The goverment knows it's not. (is it ever?( It's fuuny, you know? These demons come from the "Roots of Evil". Or something dramatic like that. Anyway, so they are developing steam powered weapons. Right now, the main concern is spirit armor. No one can move it. So Sumire, the main old dude scientist's granddaughter (she's so annoying) can! They figure out only women can do this and stuff.
Well, they agther people with lots of fighting in their pasts and in genetic lines. So anyway, these ladies are: Sumire, the girl who first moved the machine (Japanese, I think); Kouran, the girl who likes to invent things (Chinese, I think); Sakura, the country girl who owns an acient sword called "Arataka" (which MUST NOT BE TAKEN UP BY THE HAND) (Japanese); Maria, the English (or Russian) girl who is pretty serious, but she's keeping the girls together (I liked her); Kanna, who was the Japanese (I think) girl who was REALLY STRONG; and let's not forget Aeris (who was called Iris), the seven (I think) year old girl with telekinetic powers and a teddy bear named Jean Paul.
After all this, they get together, fight some demons, and realize they need a leader. Sumire is being a big brat and tearing the team apart. She's calling Kanna names, Sakura a clutz (she HATES Sakura), Iris a little baby (I think), being generally rude to Maria. Maria thinks she just can't handle this. She's better suited for making strategies and stuff of the sort. So they hire this guy named Ohgami. Ohgami was really cute. Anyway, so he gets them all "united" and they put on this play, "A Midsummer Night's Dream". You don't ever SEE the play, but you see what they have to go through and put up with to put it on. ^_^
All right-ee, let's get down to the warnings. There's some violence, reference to demons, and other things of the sort. There's pink, purple, yellow and white mechs, (hee hee) and there's some bad name-calling.
Storyline
5/5 It was pretty interesting, and I didn't get bored watching it!
Character Development
5/5 I knew all of them pretty well; and I think if something happened, I would care.
Plot Depth
5/5 Deep enough.
Music
5/5 I LOVED the 20's style ending theme.
Sexual Content
5/5 Nothing at all. Okay, Ohgami falls on Sakura, but it's nothing.
Nudity
5/5 Nope!
Violence/Gore
4/5 People fly about and die and stuff,
Animation
5/5 Really good. I liked it a lot.
Profanity
4/5 Some minor swearing, if at all.
Overall goodness
5/5 I thought it was pretty good. Different from what I expected it to be, but ADV usually has good releases anyway. ^_^
Totals: 48/50, or pretty good. I think that ADV should not onyl focus on the action in the ads; it's a little misleading. But don't get me wrong! It had action, but it was also very focused on the chracters!
TOTALS PUT TOGETHER: 41/50 we both thought those chracters were bland!
***We rented this dubbed and unedited from Comic Junction (since when have we rented anywhere else?)***
| Title: | Sakura Wars (Sakura Taisen) | ||||||||||||||
| Original Creator: | Ohji Hiroi | ||||||||||||||
| Year: | 1996 | ||||||||||||||
| Licensed by: | A.D.V. | ||||||||||||||
| Length: | 120 min | ||||||||||||||
| Rating: (not professional) |
PG (Demons, some violence, minor swearing)
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Number of Tapes:
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2
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Price for individual tape:
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$19.95 for dub, $29.95 for sub
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Box Set? Price:
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No
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Number of DVD's:
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1
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Price for individual DVD:
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$29.98
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Box Set? Price:
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No
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Comments:
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Sakura Wars was a series based off a game. It had lots of cool mechs and demons, but had a lot of emotion and character development. Of course, this isn't a forty hour RPG, so it as cut down! Females will like the relationship stuff, and guys should like the demons and robots!
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