“Did you know that Sakura Wars is celebrating its 27th anniversary?”
“While I was casually scrolling through X, I came across a post in my timeline about Sakura Wars celebrating its 27th anniversary. Seeing that, I suddenly recalled the Sakura Wars series, and today, on September 27, 2023, I hurriedly started writing this post before the date changes. It might not be a big deal, but I wanted to jot down some thoughts. I apologize in advance for any typos, errors, or awkward expressions that may be present in this post. If it turns out to be a bit messy, I’m sorry.”
“Sakura Wars, which was released for the Sega Saturn, had generated quite a buzz, and it was a game I had my eye on. I believe it was shortly before the release of Sakura Wars 2 when Sega introduced ‘Saturn Collection’ (SatColle for short), which were budget-priced versions of previously released Sega Saturn games. I’m quite certain that Sakura Wars was among the titles included in SatColle. Interestingly, the regular edition of Sakura Wars, which had been released earlier, was priced slightly higher than the SatColle version, but it was still quite affordable. So, I opted for the regular edition and enjoyed playing it.”
“The game allows you to take on the role of a character named Ichiro Ogami, who becomes a member of the Imperial Combat Revue. As you control Ogami, you build relationships and trust with fellow team members, all while battling the evil organization known as the Black Nest Society. The game unfolds much like an anime series, with episodes progressing from Episode 1 to Episode 2 and so on. Each episode consists of drama segments and simulation parts. After winning the simulation part, there’s a bit more drama, and each episode concludes with a preview for the next one.”
“In the drama segments, you interact and build bonds with your fellow team members, gaining their trust. This, in turn, boosts the abilities of your team members in the simulation segments, making battles easier to win. Conversely, if you create distrust among your team members during the drama segments, their abilities in the simulation part will be weakened, making battles much more challenging.”
“At first, the protagonist is male, surrounded by female team members, and I thought it might have a vibe like Tokimeki Memorial. However, the story in the drama segments is well-developed, making it easy to immerse yourself in and connect with the characters.”
“Ultimately, after finishing Sakura Wars, I purchased Sakura Wars 2. Although Sakura Wars 3 was supposed to be released on the Dreamcast, it seemed to face development delays, so both Sakura Wars and Sakura Wars 2 were released on the Dreamcast as well. Honestly, I had already cleared all characters on the Sega Saturn version, so I wondered if I really needed it. However, I remember playing Sakura Wars and Sakura Wars 2 on the Dreamcast because there was something about being able to transfer the data to Sakura Wars 3 if you had it, although my memory of it is somewhat hazy, and I can’t recall for sure if the data could be transferred to Sakura Wars 3.”
“And then Sakura Wars 4 was released on the Dreamcast, and I played that too.”
“This 27th anniversary marks the release of Sakura Wars, originally launched as a Sega Saturn game. However, personally, I have fond memories of not just the Sega Saturn release but also the Sakura Wars titles released for the Dreamcast: Sakura Wars, Sakura Wars 2: Thou Shalt Not Die, Sakura Wars 3: Is Paris Burning?, and Sakura Wars 4: Fall in Love, Maidens. These four titles, totaling six games, hold a special place in my heart as cherished memories.”
“While playing, I had quite a bit of fun with this game. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure which part is the main focus of this game, the simulation part or the drama part. Sometimes, when I was really into the story, the simulation part felt a bit tedious. But well, except for the fourth one, I believe I cleared all the characters. I think I gave up on clearing all of them in the fourth installment because there were quite a few characters. In the end, you assemble an elite team, I think it was about 4 or 5 members, forming something like the Great Divine Opera Troupe, not part of the Imperial Combat Revue or the Paris Combat Revue, and you challenge the final showdown. That’s how it went, I think…”
“When it comes to Sakura Wars, the opening theme ‘Geki! Teikoku Kagekidan’ and ‘Under the Banner of the Imperial Combat Revue’ are quite popular. I found a YouTube video that combines these two openings, so I’ve posted it below for you.”
“Please note that if the video above is no longer available, I apologize. I wonder if this video is a MAD? I’ve seen different visuals set to the song ‘Geki! Teikoku Kagekidan’ before, but it always brings back memories of the Sakura Wars series when I watch it.”
“I know this might sound repetitive, but I had a reasonably enjoyable time playing through the Sakura Wars series. It was after I finished playing Sakura Wars 4 and a few years had passed that I suddenly started thinking, ‘This series was a masterpiece…’ And I couldn’t help but admire the character Ichiro Ogami. I believe Sakura Wars 4 was probably the last video game that truly captivated me. After getting into the internet scene since purchasing a Dreamcast and getting involved in gambling, my opportunities to play video games, be it home consoles or arcade machines, have significantly decreased. Please don’t get me wrong; Sakura Wars 4 wasn’t the last video game I ever played, but it was the last one that truly grabbed my attention. I haven’t completely missed out on video games released after Sakura Wars 4.”
“The Sakura Wars series, of course, owes its existence to the first game that was released, and despite feeling the swift passage of time at 27 years, I can’t help but think it was a good thing to have encountered and played this game. It’s one of my classic favorites. If asked which one I liked the most throughout the series, it used to be Sakura Wars 3, but now Sakura Wars 4, which can be seen as a culmination of the series, has become my favorite. The story is short, though. That’s why not having cleared all characters in Sakura Wars 4 is a bit of a regret. But that doesn’t mean I’m thinking of replaying Sakura Wars 4 now.”
“The Sakura Wars series, in my case, consists of six games: Sakura Wars 1 and 2 for Sega Saturn, and 1, 2, 3, and 4 for Dreamcast. I’m grateful to have encountered and played these fantastic video games.”
“Addendum: I mentioned earlier that this article was written on September 27th, but that date corresponds to when the original Japanese blog was uploaded. This translated article has been uploaded a little later.”
The articles on this blog are originally written in Japanese, and I am using an internet translation service to translate them into English for posting.
There is a possibility of errors in the translation. If that happens, I apologize.
Note: The original Japanese article is https://mt.njsun.org/2023/09/%e3%82%b5%e3%82%af%e3%83%a9%e5%a4%a7%e6%88%a6%e3%80%81%e7%99%ba%e5%a3%b2-27%e5%91%a8%e5%b9%b4%e3%81%a0%e3%81%9d%e3%81%86%e3%81%a7%e3%81%99/
“Sakura Wars, which was released for the Sega Saturn, had generated quite a buzz, and it was a game I had my eye on. I believe it was shortly before the release of Sakura Wars 2 when Sega introduced ‘Saturn Collection’ (SatColle for short), which were budget-priced versions of previously released Sega Saturn games. I’m quite certain that Sakura Wars was among the titles included in SatColle. Interestingly, the regular edition of Sakura Wars, which had been released earlier, was priced slightly higher than the SatColle version, but it was still quite affordable. So, I opted for the regular edition and enjoyed playing it.”
“The game allows you to take on the role of a character named Ichiro Ogami, who becomes a member of the Imperial Combat Revue. As you control Ogami, you build relationships and trust with fellow team members, all while battling the evil organization known as the Black Nest Society. The game unfolds much like an anime series, with episodes progressing from Episode 1 to Episode 2 and so on. Each episode consists of drama segments and simulation parts. After winning the simulation part, there’s a bit more drama, and each episode concludes with a preview for the next one.”
“In the drama segments, you interact and build bonds with your fellow team members, gaining their trust. This, in turn, boosts the abilities of your team members in the simulation segments, making battles easier to win. Conversely, if you create distrust among your team members during the drama segments, their abilities in the simulation part will be weakened, making battles much more challenging.”
“At first, the protagonist is male, surrounded by female team members, and I thought it might have a vibe like Tokimeki Memorial. However, the story in the drama segments is well-developed, making it easy to immerse yourself in and connect with the characters.”
“Ultimately, after finishing Sakura Wars, I purchased Sakura Wars 2. Although Sakura Wars 3 was supposed to be released on the Dreamcast, it seemed to face development delays, so both Sakura Wars and Sakura Wars 2 were released on the Dreamcast as well. Honestly, I had already cleared all characters on the Sega Saturn version, so I wondered if I really needed it. However, I remember playing Sakura Wars and Sakura Wars 2 on the Dreamcast because there was something about being able to transfer the data to Sakura Wars 3 if you had it, although my memory of it is somewhat hazy, and I can’t recall for sure if the data could be transferred to Sakura Wars 3.”
“And then Sakura Wars 4 was released on the Dreamcast, and I played that too.”
“This 27th anniversary marks the release of Sakura Wars, originally launched as a Sega Saturn game. However, personally, I have fond memories of not just the Sega Saturn release but also the Sakura Wars titles released for the Dreamcast: Sakura Wars, Sakura Wars 2: Thou Shalt Not Die, Sakura Wars 3: Is Paris Burning?, and Sakura Wars 4: Fall in Love, Maidens. These four titles, totaling six games, hold a special place in my heart as cherished memories.”
“While playing, I had quite a bit of fun with this game. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure which part is the main focus of this game, the simulation part or the drama part. Sometimes, when I was really into the story, the simulation part felt a bit tedious. But well, except for the fourth one, I believe I cleared all the characters. I think I gave up on clearing all of them in the fourth installment because there were quite a few characters. In the end, you assemble an elite team, I think it was about 4 or 5 members, forming something like the Great Divine Opera Troupe, not part of the Imperial Combat Revue or the Paris Combat Revue, and you challenge the final showdown. That’s how it went, I think…”
“When it comes to Sakura Wars, the opening theme ‘Geki! Teikoku Kagekidan’ and ‘Under the Banner of the Imperial Combat Revue’ are quite popular. I found a YouTube video that combines these two openings, so I’ve posted it below for you.”
“Please note that if the video above is no longer available, I apologize. I wonder if this video is a MAD? I’ve seen different visuals set to the song ‘Geki! Teikoku Kagekidan’ before, but it always brings back memories of the Sakura Wars series when I watch it.”
“I know this might sound repetitive, but I had a reasonably enjoyable time playing through the Sakura Wars series. It was after I finished playing Sakura Wars 4 and a few years had passed that I suddenly started thinking, ‘This series was a masterpiece…’ And I couldn’t help but admire the character Ichiro Ogami. I believe Sakura Wars 4 was probably the last video game that truly captivated me. After getting into the internet scene since purchasing a Dreamcast and getting involved in gambling, my opportunities to play video games, be it home consoles or arcade machines, have significantly decreased. Please don’t get me wrong; Sakura Wars 4 wasn’t the last video game I ever played, but it was the last one that truly grabbed my attention. I haven’t completely missed out on video games released after Sakura Wars 4.”
“The Sakura Wars series, of course, owes its existence to the first game that was released, and despite feeling the swift passage of time at 27 years, I can’t help but think it was a good thing to have encountered and played this game. It’s one of my classic favorites. If asked which one I liked the most throughout the series, it used to be Sakura Wars 3, but now Sakura Wars 4, which can be seen as a culmination of the series, has become my favorite. The story is short, though. That’s why not having cleared all characters in Sakura Wars 4 is a bit of a regret. But that doesn’t mean I’m thinking of replaying Sakura Wars 4 now.”
“The Sakura Wars series, in my case, consists of six games: Sakura Wars 1 and 2 for Sega Saturn, and 1, 2, 3, and 4 for Dreamcast. I’m grateful to have encountered and played these fantastic video games.”
“Addendum: I mentioned earlier that this article was written on September 27th, but that date corresponds to when the original Japanese blog was uploaded. This translated article has been uploaded a little later.”
The articles on this blog are originally written in Japanese, and I am using an internet translation service to translate them into English for posting.
There is a possibility of errors in the translation. If that happens, I apologize.
Note: The original Japanese article is https://mt.njsun.org/2023/09/%e3%82%b5%e3%82%af%e3%83%a9%e5%a4%a7%e6%88%a6%e3%80%81%e7%99%ba%e5%a3%b2-27%e5%91%a8%e5%b9%b4%e3%81%a0%e3%81%9d%e3%81%86%e3%81%a7%e3%81%99/
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