Sakura Taisen

It is the 1920s, and Japan is under attack by demonic invaders. The government has designed sturdy, albeit steam-powered, robot armor suits for the impending battle, but only young ladies with the proper combination of virtue and spirit can pilot the robots successfully.

Enter young Sakura, arriving in the Imperial Capital from the countryside to join the Imperial Flower Combat Troop. She has the qualifications to be a fine robot pilot, but she's surprised to learn that this secret Defense Force has a cover story as a musical theatre troupe-and they take their cover jobs very seriously indeed. It's costumes, line readings and robot combat galore, as Sakura struggles to learn the ropes, learn her lines, and do her part to save the nation!

(Source: ADV Films)

Shinguji, Sakura Main

Yokoyama, Chisa Japanese

Kanzaki, Sumire Main

Tomizawa, Michie Japanese

Tachibana, Maria Main

Takano, Urara Japanese

Kirishima, Kanna Main

Tanaka, Mayumi Japanese

Kohran, Ri Main

Fuchizaki, Yuriko Japanese

Chateaubriand, Iris Main

Nishihara, Kumiko Japanese

Ogami, Ichiro Main

Suyama, Akio Japanese

Takamura, Tsubaki Supporting

Hikami, Kyouko Japanese

Fujieda, Ayame Supporting

Orikasa, Ai Japanese

Kayama, Yuuichi Supporting

Koyasu, Takehito Japanese

Maruyama, Masao Producer

Nakamura, Ryuutarou Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Tsuruoka, Youta Sound Director

Takeuchi, Nobuyuki Episode Director, Storyboard, Key Animation, Layout

Reviews

Mar 10, 2021

BioMegaBear

Recommended

As someone who didnt play the original game this was based off of, I found my experinces with Sakura Wars 2000 to be a consistantly enjoyable throughout. Just seemed like a well paced, nice looking, well written bunch of episodes with consistant character drivien-- I dont think there was a single episode that felt like it was wasting my time with what was being focused on. Characters visually all look very nice. I dont know if they had a big or small budget but no one looked bad to me, everyone is distinct I never confused one character from another. Villians I need to give ... props to making more competent rather than the usual un expected youth beats them easily early on and repeat, it does feel like they're strategists that can think through to reach their goals with their abilities. Very welcomed.

And yet its not breaking any new ground for the genre, not bad but not great. Certain scene have odd vocal tracks that sometimes clash for the tone at the time it was trying to get accross visually.

So nice looking animation with a good overall experience, some odd choice of songs for certain scenes but I wasnt dying watching any of the episodes in paticular and yet its not amazing ether. Its like a fine 25 episode series of episodes with a begining middle and end. It feels also very rewatchable. I can easily see myself coming back to this or just playing it in the background. Good show but maybe thats all it needed to be

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jun 9, 2017

infiraya

Recommended

One of the oldest anime I have ever watched and I also consider the anime art style back then. I accidentally found this anime when I was playing the game called Project X Zone. This was the first time I was introduced to these characters and I did some research. I didn't really quite expect for the characters to be fighting inside a robot, honest. Ironically enough, the main character of this anime is Sakura and Oogami (which he was for the games).

I understand why Sakura is the mc here because of her inheritance of the sword and of course how huge her spiritual powers ... are. This is why she is more important that Oogami. (Sakura Wars games can be seen like a Otome game for boys, because you can date the girls there). The anime side is more focused on defeating the Wakiji and the development of the mc.

As of the characters side, it started off me hating one of the characters how cringeworthy she is and of course the famous noble woman laugh. But as I proceed further I also started to like her because I understand why she is like that.

I really enjoy this series but I don't think it will one of the anime I will never bored of rewatching.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Nov 1, 2023

Dragon_EX

Mixed Feelings

This review is written in 2 parts, the first being my review as someone who didn't know anything about the Sakura Taisen series, and the second being my review as newly made fan of the series.

This review is honestly pretty hard to write, because the Sakura Taisen anime is a pretty decent show all things considered, but it's the first anime I ever watched that made me feel like I had to do homework in order to get the full enjoyment it deserves. Being a spinoff loosely based on the games, they take advantage of this and assume that the viewer has already played ... at least the first 2 games in the series (Sakura Taisen & Sakura Taisen 2). If you watch the show with no prior knowledge of anything about the series (like I did), characters are only half introduced, or sometimes not given an introduction at all. That's not to say that the characters are bad, but there's just this major feeling that the show is assuming that you already know about these characters and the setting, etc. The first half of the show is spent trying to give some depth to the main characters but unfortunately I wouldn't consider it sufficient in any way. It just comes off as filler-y, which is such a waste and is really what kills this anime. If the show just spent the time to properly flesh out characters to an audience that knew nothing about the series this show would be an easy recommend. That feeling of needing prior knowledge nagged at me so much that I decided to sit down and play the first Sakura Taisen game to acquire some of that knowledge the show wanted me to have. But as you might imagine, it's hard to recommend a show that makes you do homework to enjoy it, especially when that homework is playing 2 entire video games. For that reason, unless you're willing to commit to becoming obsessed with a series you've never heard of before, or willing to watch what will turn out to be a hugely mediocre show, or you seriously just have nothing better to watch, it's probably best to skip this one.

With that being said however, as a newly made fan of the Sakura Taisen series I actually enjoyed the show quite a bit. It's simply a very fun spinoff of the games that was enjoyable to watch. The main story, despite being only loosely based on the game's story, is still fairly good. Unfortunately there's no ignoring the mediocrity of the first half though. Even if you played the games already, they don't introduce any new information about the characters, so it is still is very filler-y, and at best it comes off as just playing in service to the fans, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The whole show definitely plays in service to the fans and it's part of what made it so enjoyable to watch. The music is all rearranged and rerecorded versions of music from the game, including the opening theme which is just the main theme of the whole series, and there's quite a few easter egg moments but they don't beat it over your head and it doesn't feel overdone. The first 3 episodes even act as a short prequel to the first game even if the show technically isn't cannon with the games. The show as a whole definitely could have been better, especially if it was more streamlined, cutting out all the filler, making the ending feel less rushed, and of course doing a good job of introducing the characters to a new audience. Even still, I think it's better to see the show for what it really is, which is just a spinoff show of an anime game series. It was never going to be a 10/10 masterpiece because it wasn't made to be one. This show was purpose made for fans of Sakura Taisen, which is why I felt like it needed the two separate reviews. But in that respect, I thought it was a good show and was enjoyable to watch.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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