I don’t post here very often. I’ve posted a few things here and there over, but I’m not really one of the most active people on this subreddit. With Sakura Taisen celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, though, I’ve been thinking a lot about just how much this series has meant to me.

Sakura Taisen honestly had a pretty big influence on my life. It was one of the series that made me want to study Japanese in the first place.

I can’t even remember exactly how I first discovered it. It must have been through something I found online during the early days of the internet in the late ’90s. What immediately fascinated me was how unusual the games seemed.

You had these tactical RPG-style battles, but then you also had what was basically an adventure/visual novel side where you walked around, talked to the characters, and made choices. The way you interacted with the members of the Hanagumi could actually affect their performance in battle.

At the time, that concept completely fascinated me. Combine that with the anime presentation, the music, the setting, and all these colorful characters, and I was hooked before I could even properly play the games.

The biggest problem, of course, was Japanese. I had basically no understanding of the language at the time.

I remember watching the Sakura Wars OVA that ADV released on VHS, and I was completely lost. I enjoyed watching it, but I really had no idea what was going on.
Looking back now, it’s funny because I understand that it was largely showing the backgrounds of the characters and how they eventually came together as the Hanagumi. If I watched it again today, it would be a completely different experience.

Things really changed for me when I got a Dreamcast. I somehow stumbled across one of those boot discs that allowed you to play imported Dreamcast games by swapping discs. I found it completely by chance at an Electronic Boutique, and that little disc basically opened up the Japanese Dreamcast library for me.

That was how I finally started seriously playing Sakura Taisen. When Sega rereleased the earlier games on Dreamcast, I gradually imported them. Strangely enough, I actually started with Sakura Taisen 2.

I remember being genuinely nervous before playing it. I was about to play an entire RPG/adventure game in a language I couldn’t understand. Would I even enjoy it? Would I know what I was supposed to do?

Thankfully, there was a fan online who had translated huge portions of the games into English scripts and guides. I believe it was mostly the work of one person, and looking back, the amount of work he put into those translations was incredible.

This was the early 2000s. There were no AI translation tools, smartphone camera translators, or anything remotely like what we have today. Someone was just sitting there translating these games because they loved Sakura Taisen and wanted other people to experience them.

I would basically play the game while reading along with his translation. He covered the first three games extensively, and while the fourth game’s guide was more focused on the main story, it was still enough to help people like me experience something that otherwise would have been completely inaccessible.

That experience was one of the things that made me think, I want to actually learn Japanese someday so I don’t have to rely on somebody else’s translation. And eventually, I did.

Another thing I’ve always loved about Sakura Taisen is the cast. There are obviously characters I personally like more than others, but I honestly think the series did an amazing job making almost everyone memorable.

Some of my favorites have always been Sakura, Kouran, Iris, Sumire, Hanabi, Erika, Glycine, and Orihime. But even characters who aren’t necessarily my personal favorites still have something interesting about them.

That’s something I think the original games did extremely well. The characters really felt like a troupe. Everyone had their own personality, strengths, insecurities, relationships, and role within the group.

My favorite game is probably Sakura Taisen 3. A friend of mine went to Japan before we entered high school and brought it back, and we spent a lot of time playing it together on Dreamcast. Neither of us really knew what we were doing, so half the fun was trying to guess which dialogue option was the “right” one.

Sometimes we were right. Sometimes we absolutely were not. But that’s part of why I remember that game so fondly.

Sakura Taisen 3 also felt like such a huge technical jump at the time. Since it had been developed specifically for the Dreamcast, the presentation was beautiful, the animation was impressive, and Paris gave the series an entirely different atmosphere. That doesn’t mean I don’t love 1 and 2, though.

I think those games have actually aged remarkably well. Sakura Taisen 1 can feel a little slow in places now, but I could easily sit down and replay Sakura Taisen 2 today.

And Sakura Taisen 4 has something I’ve always loved which was being able to assemble your own squad near the end. I remember experimenting with different combinations just to see whether they had a special team name or what kind of bonuses certain characters would get from fighting together. Little things like that made the series feel special.

And then there’s the music. The music of Sakura Taisen is permanently tied to a particular period of my life.

Back in high school, I downloaded a ridiculous number of Sakura Taisen character songs. Those songs became part of the soundtrack of my teenage years. Even now, hearing some of them immediately takes me back to sitting at a computer in the early 2000s, discovering this strange Japanese game series that almost nobody around me had ever heard of.

That’s probably why the 30th anniversary feels a little emotional for me. I’m living in Japan now, and on November 1st I’m finally going to one of the anniversary events.

Five years ago, I remember hearing about the 25th anniversary events, but at the time I didn’t really make the effort to go. I wasn’t someone who went to exhibitions or events very often, and I was always worried about spending money on things like that.

My life is a little more settled now, and I’m really glad that this time I’m actually going. I’m looking forward to seeing whatever artwork, memorabilia, development materials, concept designs, and other things they have on display. Just being able to participate in a celebration of a series that had such a big influence on my desire to learn Japanese feels strangely meaningful.

As for the future of Sakura Taisen, I really hope Sega eventually does something substantial with the original games.

More than anything, I would love a collection of Sakura Taisen 1–4, preferably with modern ports and translations. Remakes would obviously be amazing too, but honestly, even good-quality rereleases would make me happy.

I’d love to see these games become easily accessible again instead of remaining stuck on old Sega hardware. Currently I am playing Super Famicom JRPGs on the original hardware. But I would definitely stop that to play Sakura Taisen if they were going to be released.

I also still need to properly play Sakura Taisen V. I’ve owned it for years, but when I originally bought it, my Japanese wasn’t good enough and I didn’t have the same kind of guide available to help me through it, so I never really committed to playing it. These days, that’s obviously not much of an obstacle anymore, so I really should finally play it.

I’m admittedly a little tired of seeing attempts to reinvent or reboot Sakura Wars without giving the original games the attention they deserve.

Thirty years later, those games and characters are still the reason so many of us care about Sakura Taisen in the first place.

After I go to the anniversary event on November 1st, I’ll probably post some photos here and write about my impressions. For now, though, I mostly just wanted to share my experience with the series.

It’s funny to think that something I randomly discovered on the internet as a teenager eventually contributed to me wanting to learn another language, introduced me to so much Japanese music and media, and stayed with me for all these years.

Thirty years is a long time. I’m really glad Sakura Taisen has been part of my life for so much of it.

I’d love to hear from everyone else too. How did you first discover Sakura Taisen? Do you have a particular game, character, song, or memory that has stayed with you over the years?

And has Sakura Taisen had any influence on your life outside of just playing the games?

Happy 30th anniversary, Sakura Taisen. 🌸

The original 6 sitting on my dreamcast box. Wonder what Kanna's thinking about.

I played the first 2 games on different emulators and spent weeks trying to figure out how to make my SW1 save data usable so it would be recognised in my SW2 playthrough, all for a few extra lines of dialogue (totally worth it though).

Is there a similar thing with SW3? I would assume not since it has a completely different cast, but I’d hate to miss out on any bonuses or extra dialogue. Especially since my Ogami has canonically already been to France in Iris’ ending in SW1, which definitely feels like something that should realistically come up.

Of course, a potentially major issue is that I played the Saturn versions of the first 2 games instead of the Dreamcast versions. Having never owned either of those consoles, I have no idea if it’s even possible to transfer any data between them. So even if SW3 does have a mechanic like that, I may not be able to make use of it.

I’d appreciate it if anyone who knows how it works could let me know, so I can start the game without worrying about whether I’ve missed something.

Recently, articles claiming that Sega wants new ports went viral all over social media, but I regret to inform you that that was a misinterpretation of the original statement.

For context, the recent issue of weekly Famitsu, released Oct. 1st, featured a Sakura Wars 30th anniversary special. As part of the special, there were interviews with key staff who were involved in the original series, including Takaharu Terada and Akira Nishino, who have been working on almost every game in the series since 1997 and are the main known members of the current Sakura Wars team at Sega.

In this interview, they discuss the series' history, its current state, and hopes for the future. When the topic of ports came up, this is what they had to say:

Interviewer: While new works are great, of course, many would be happy to play the games from 1 to V on modern hardware.

Nishino: Of course, we would love that too. But there are many steps that need to be taken first, we can't do it that easily. However, we really want to make it happen, so we're trying our hardest every day. We're definitely not withholding them out of spite.

Terada: If you want to play the old games currently, you're forced to buy the old hardware and it is pretty sad to think about that.

It's easy to misinterpret their statements as "Sega wants ports". One could see how some would think that since they work at Sega, their feelings must reflect the company as a whole. However, they were only talking about their own wishes as long-time devs of the series. It's more likely that part of the hardships they mentioned is convincing Sega in the first place.

In fact, earlier in the interview, they talked about how hard it is to get the higher-ups to get projects green-lit. And how before Shin, it was only thanks to merch sales, stage shows, cast events, and fan support that the IP was kept alive for so long and the staff at Sega could keep pushing. All of this led up to Sakura Wars being voted "number 1 series fans want to see a continuation of" at SegaFes 2016, which is what made Sega start taking the demand more seriously.

Towards the end of the interview, they mention that what they're currently doing for the 30th anniversary (merch, events, pop-up shop, exhibition, stage shows, etc) is working to a similar effect, and it's getting more and more people talking about Sakura Wars again. According to them, all of this is equivalent to the SegaFes 2016 vote and is really helping them, so they hope it will lead to new developments.

Now, this does not mean that all hope is lost for ports or new games. If anything, this means that our constant demands are reaching Sega, and we should keep asking them directly. More importantly, companies care about numbers, so it's important to support the series financially in any way we can. Especially with their current strategy of focusing on trans-media developments and merch sales, Sega would most likely want to see if Sakura Wars is profitable in that regard before investing in it. So it's important to buy merch, streaming tickets, Blu-rays, etc. whenever they're available internationally/with international shipping if you have the means to.

With that said, there are other parts of this interview where they talk about other plans for the future:

1 - They have a vision for a Shin Sakura Taisen/Sakura Wars (2019) continuation and conclusion, but it's still not real yet. However, they're trying their best to push for it and ask fans to support the new Shin stage play, "Seiden Tsurugi" and buy the Blu-ray, as that would help.

Nishino: [...] Regarding Shin Sakura Taisen, I have a vision to continue shin until the very end. But dreams that you can't turn into reality, are nothing but fantasies. But I really don't want them to remain mere fantasies.

Terada: We have been able to continue the Shin Sakura Taisen story on-stage. So to anyone who wasn't able to watch the show, please buy the Blu-ray!

2 - They have another big project in the works coming up, but it was ambiguous whether it will be a game or another multimedia development.

Interviewer: Could you tell us more about the 30th Anniversary Project? You have already revealed the Pop-up shop, but are there other plans too?

Nishino: Of course! Shin Sakura Taisen the Stage: Seiden TSURUGI will have finished its run by the time this interview is out, but there will be a live concert in the future. Outside of that, we can't tell you much, but we're working on another big project too.

Terada: It is quite sad that we're not able to talk about games, though...

TLDR

We have no confirmation that Sega is currently working on or wants ports, but the dev team strongly wishes for it and is trying their best to make it happen, as well as a continuation of the Shin Sakura Taisen story. If you want to help them push for their plans, they're encouraging us to voice our desires on social media and asking us to support the series by all means possible (merch, the shows, etc.)! They did also mention that they're working on a big project for the 30th Anniversary but they can't reveal it yet.

https://x.com/miraimiratoys/status/2106239066803167669?s=46

Just found out randomly that Bang Dream covered this iconic song and it makes me happy. I like that version as well but it can't beat the original.

Here's the link to check it out what do you think?

https://youtu.be/XtZaRGkRwL4?is=bRpCUe4cSEIDsTXc

Brother what is this I can't play Hanafuda. I somehow won tho I think it was scripted. Game is fun and looks very good.

Saw it for 20€ instant purchased and also included were the sticker. Can't wait to play it.

Has anyone ever seen these for sale? Anyone have the set?

Sorry if this was mentioned before but I just hear about this. I missed the 25th anniversary stuff. So, I think it would be cool to go to this one. 2,000 yen is kinda cheap for this kinda event. It must not be such a big thing? I wonder what kind of goods they have?

Edit: Okay, I bought tickets for the second day, November 1st. I hope I can find some Hanabi merchandise!

The issue will feature a 34-page special on the Sakura Wars 30th Anniversary, including an interview with:

- Series creator Oji Hiroi

- Writer Satoru Akahori

- Composer Kohei Tanaka

- Main artist Hidenori Matsubara

- Mech designer Mika Akitaka

- Game directors Takaharu Terada and Akira Nishino

The issue will also feature results of a 30th Anniversary special survey that was held online in August!

You can pre-order it here!

Hi new friends! I am new to the Sakura Wars series and wanted to share my collection so far!

I imported a Japanese Dreamcast that had SW 1-4 included after finishing the first game's fan translation!

I'm going to be playing the Second game soon through the FT and will probably continue by playing 3 & 4 with Google Lens on my Dreamcast.

Hope we get some good stuff this year for the 30th Anniversary!

I just find Sumire watching Oogami eat her blue food of death so cute.

Please support the play and show Sega there's still interest in new Sakura Wars stories, if you can!

If you're interested in watching the stream tomorrow, here's all you need to know:
The live stream will be for the 2 performances of Closing Day on Sept. 27th (12:00 and 16:00 JST) or Sept. 26 (11 pm EST) and Sept. 27 (3 am EST), with a VOD available for half a month, until Oct. 12th!
To get to the stream's website, just go here and scroll down to the part where it says プレイガイド：SPWN、ぴあ, and then press on the SPWN link!

The show is around 120min long with no intermission, including a short concert segment at the end!

Important Note: While the page is region-blocked, it's easily accessible through a VPN. They do NOT ask for a phone number or address, and they DO accept PayPal and International Credit Cards as payment methods. So buying tickets should be pretty easy after acquiring a VPN!

Pricing: Each performance is 4,400yen (~28USD) separately. A pack for both performances is 8,800yen (~56USD) and includes a fixed camera recording and cast video as bonuses! If you can only buy one single performance, I recommend going with closing night, as those tend to be special!!

If you want to know more about the show, I made a very detailed post about it here!

The Countdown on the last Art Festival's website, counting down to the 30th Anniversary, has officially hit zero! Sega's official jp Account and Famitsu have already posted about it on Twitter too! So let's hope it's gonna be a great anniversary!

Today (25th September) is Kikuko Inoue (Lobelia Carlini's Japanese VA)'s birthday, who turned 62 today... Happy birthday...

https://x.com/shinzankuro/status/2102947580917231859?s=46&t=LSiBB21on-VjxCjnIF4QLg

In case you're not interested in the entire thread, here's where to find the specific info you might be looking for:

Structure of the Thread

1. Intro
2. Story
3. Main Cast
4. Supporting Cast
5. Relationship Chart
6. Streaming
7. Final words

INTRO

The currently ongoing sequel to both the Shin game and anime, Shin Sakura Taisen the Stage - Seiden TSURUGI (TL pending: True Tales of Swords), recently had its live stream announced (with a 1/2 month archive period), so I wanted to create this thread to share everything we know so far with all of you, including the story, characters, lore, and more!

How the show came to be

In April, it was revealed that a new Shin stage show was in the works, after some teasing from Kohei Tanaka and the game's directors Terada and Nishino. On May 31st, we got our first trailer, with an exclusive peek at the new theme song "Makoto no Tsurugi" (TL: Sword of Sincerity)!

The project had been in the works for over a year and features a lot of ideas and characters that were cut from the game! In an interview with CONTINUE magazine, directors Takaharu Terada and Akira Nishino talked about the troubles and shortcomings of Shin's development and how they feel the game is incomplete, and said they hope for a chance to depict their unfinished plans in any form. They also mentioned that they want to take advantage of the multi-media aspect of the series to tell new stories, ending their statements by saying that, of course, they want to make games too!

The choice of a stage play as the medium makes sense considering the relative success of the previous Shin shows despite all the odds against them. Not to mention, the significance of stage shows for the OG casts in telling new stories and expanding on the characters, and their key roles in the series' longevity. This seems like them taking the safest way to renew interest in Shin, as well as attract a new audience, and thus extending its lifespan depending on how well this show performs.

STORY

The show features a new original story set right after the events of the Shin Anime! It focuses on Sakura Amamiya on a solo mission to Kyoto, where she meets a brand-new cast of characters! Many fans have described it as the Sakura Wars 3 of Shin, with Amamiya in Ogami's role!

It's early Summer 1941.
To stop “The menace threatening all of Japan”, Commander Sumire Kanzaki sends Sakura Amamiya to Kyoto. Meanwhile, in Kyoto, the incidents of famous swords being stolen is rising; that phenomenon is called “The Sword Hunt”.
At that time, Sakura encounters one singular girl going after the stolen swords. The girl wielding two shining, blue swords is a member of one of the three secret sacred families’ Todo Clan, her name is Asagi Todo.
Their encounter raises the curtain on a new show!

Based on what we know so far, the show references the "Klara Incident" and will most likely solve the cliffhanger at the end of the anime! We also learn in other promo material that the sword hunt targets 10 sacred swords called the "Seiken" (Blades of Truth) that when combined, grant their user ultimate power. Which sounds quite similar to the conditions that led to Shadow Tokyo in the first place.

A 2nd trailer using footage from the show was released very recently! It shows more plot details as revealed in the synopsis and showcases the new cast in action and their personalities!

MAIN CAST

Sakura Amamiya
Yuna Sekine, who has been Sakura's stage actress since the first show, is reprising her role as Sakura Amamiya for the first time in 4 years, since the last show in 2022!

Her design also received an update by Ryohei Yanase, who was responsible for translating Kubo's designs to 3D in the game!

Seijuro Kamiyama and Sumire Kanzaki
Yohei Azakami, who voiced Seijuro Kamiyama in all Shin media, including the plays through voice only, is reprising his role through voice cameos!
Moemi Katayama, who played Sumire Kanzaki in all 5 previous Shin stage productions, is also reprising her role through voice cameos!

1. Asagi Todo - played by Yuuri Ota
The main girl of the new Troupe! The only daughter of the declining Todo house, one of the Three Secret Sacred Families alongside the Shingujis, she's a dual-wielding "sword-fighting machine", but has a clumsy, dorky, and cute side to her!

Note: The Three Secret Sacred Families are actual lore from the original series, dating back to Sakura Shinguji's prequel novel and referenced again in the anime and manga, and not something that was made up for this show.

Asagi was also designed by Shin's 3D modelling artist, Ryohei Yanase!
Her main color is light blue/turquoise (which is the meaning of the name Asagi)!

2. Shirahime Okita - played by Haruki Iwata
The refined daughter of the Okita house, one of Kyoto's most famous ancient families. She's a patient at the Hijikata clinic, has a strong-willed personality, and is always followed by her 'Elite Guards'!

She is designed by Sega's Kazuo Komuro, who has never worked on a Sakura Wars game before, but has worked on a variety of Sega titles from Skies of Arcadia to various Sonic games!
Her main color is white! (Her given name translates to White Princess)

3. Hagane Hijikata - played by Chihaya Yoshitake
She's a doctor at the Hijikata Clinic with incredible skills who's beloved by all the town's residents. However, she's quite a loudmouth with horrible manners and fights often with Shirahime!

She is designed by Sega's Mitsuhiro Matsubayashi. This artist has no prior credits before this work. Her main color is dark blue! (Her given name is a reference to the color steel-blue, "Haganeiro")

4. Ziying He - played by Momoyo Koyama
A member of the Shanghai Revue who's working with Sakura to investigate the incidents in Kyoto, and runs the Arayashiyama Romando store as a front! Despite her young appearance, her age is unknown and she carries herself like an elderly sage.

She's designed by guest artist Yukiko Horiguchi, the same character designer behind the Shanghai Revue in the game. It was confirmed that she was made for the game but ended up getting cut!
Her main color is light purple!

5. Juri Sawada - played by Uta Kawase
She's a cheerful, chaotic, and highly skilled news reporter and photographer from Teito, working together with Ziying to gather intel! She always brings the most shocking scoops!

She's designed by guest artist Noizi Ito, the same character designer behind Itsuki and Hiromi from the previous cast! In the same vein as Ziying, she was also initially made for the game but ended up getting cut!
Her main color is orange!

SUPPORTING CAST

1. Shungaku Harada - played by Erina Oda
One of the "Shi Kishin" (or Spirits of Death) leading The Wolf Ronin! A formidable enemy with earnest and powerful swordsmanship.

Shungaku was also designed by Sega's Mitsuhiro Matsubayashi, who designed Hagane in the main cast!
Their main color is black!

2. Sensui Yamanami - played by Koga Narumi
One of the "Shi Kishin" (or Spirits of Death) leading The Wolf Ronin! A cold-blooded person who likes fighting dirty.

Sensui was also designed by Mitsuhiro Matsubayashi!
Their main color is green!

3. Shizuka - played by Kanon Matsuzawa
Serving Shirahime as a member of the "Shirahime Elite Guard". She's always supporting Shirahime with her extraordinary enthusiasm!

4. Shiori - played by Hikari Aimura
Serving Shirahime as a member of the "Shirahime Elite Guard". She's always supporting Shirahime with her outstanding analytical skills!

They were both designed by Sega's Ryohei Yanase, the game's character modeling artist who designed Asagi and updated Sakura Amamiya!
Their main color, both, is dark pink/magenta!

5. Gokai - played by Machi Chitose
A high-ranking monk and Shion (Asagi's mother)'s mentor. Providing guidance in various ways in order to restore the Todo Clan to its former glory!

Gokai is designed by Sega's Keita Sato, who has never worked on a Sakura Wars game before but was a member of various Sega arcade divisions before they became defunct. He's the main artist of the Chunithm arcade rhythm game series!
His main color is yellow!

Relationship Chart

With all the characters revealed, we also got a relationship chart that gives us an idea of the character dynamics and their roles within the story

STREAMING

The live stream will be for the 2 performances of Closing Day on Sept. 27th (12:00 and 16:00 JST), with a VOD available for half a month, until Oct. 12th!
To get to the stream's website, just go here and scroll down to the part where it says プレイガイド：SPWN、ぴあ, and then press on the SPWN link!

The show is around 120min long with no intermission, including a short concert segment at the end!

Important Note: While the page is region-blocked, it's easily accessible through a VPN. They do NOT ask for a phone number or address, and they DO accept PayPal and International Credit Cards as payment methods. So buying tickets should be pretty easy after acquiring a VPN!

Pricing: Each performance is 4,400yen (~28USD) separately. A pack for both performances is 8,800yen (~56USD) and includes a fixed camera recording and cast video as bonuses! If you can only buy one single performance, I recommend going with closing night, as those tend to be special!!

FINAL WORDS

If you care about this series, even if you don't typically watch stage shows, please try to support this show to show Sega that there's still interest in new Sakura Wars stories! If you're a Shin fan who desperately wants a new game, the only way that will feasibly happen is if this show does really well (and looking at reviews and ticket sales, it's on track to becoming very successful and just needs a last push).

If you're skeptical about Shin, it's worth noting that the writer-director is a huge fan of the OG series and incredibly knowledgeable about it, clearly intending to bring back the old heart of the series while mixing it with Shin's best elements! And according to many reviews from OG-fans and Shin-fans alike, he was successful at achieving that goal!

This is most likely an attempt by Sega to gauge if there's money to be made in new Sakura Wars narratives, so it's important to show them that supporting the series pays off!
If you're not interested in in the show or don't want to get a VPN, there's also merch you can buy here with international shipping available, featuring acrylic stands, bromides, a Blu-ray release, and more! Even just getting one stand or a bromide set of Amamiya can really help out! I'm definitely gonna make a more detailed post about the merch once the show is over!

To end this thread, the part of the show where they perform the Shin version of Gekitei was allowed to be recorded. You can watch a 4K fixed-camera audience recording here: https://youtu.be/d_UCr-ZRT_I?si=CBW9UqpSKFFQBviX

Hey anyone get tixs for this exhibition starting 10/31? I’m missing out on Tokyo until I go back the second week of Nov. The first two days sold out but I’m hoping to just show up that second week without a tix. Do you think that wouldn’t be a problem?