Demons for Sakura

Bruce Von Stiers

Sakura Shinguji is a young lady who may hold the key to ridding Japan and the world of some demon monsters. The story of Sakura is told in the anime feature Sakura Wars. This is a DVD production that was released by ADV Films.

Even though this is a DVD, there really aren’t too many extras. You can choose languages and turn the subtitles on and off. There are about a dozen trailers for other ADV Films titles. One cool added feature is some different shots that were used in Japan for the opening credits.

The story deals with Tokyo in 1919. There seems to have some sort of Demon war at an earlier time. Just what it all involved and how long ago wasn’t really explored. It seems that now, in 1919, these demons are making their way back to Tokyo and are intent on conquering both the city and the world. In steps the Imperial Floral Assault Unit. This is a group of young women of extraordinary talents who, as a team, will take on these villainous creatures and save the world.

This film is supposed to be based on a Sega Saturn game. I never got into the Saturn craze, so I don’t know how accurate that claim is, but it’s probably true. There was a whole bunch to anime titles out for the Saturn.

There are four episodes of the story contained on the DVD disc. They are “The Demon Wars Begin Again,” “The Cherry Blossom Spirit Attack,” “Spring Is The Time For First Battles” and “A Midsummer’s Night Dream.” Each episode is over 20 minutes long. The entire production runs about two hours.

The show opens with the Imperial Japanese Army trying to figure out how they will combat this new onslaught of Demons that are sure to be coming soon. They turn to Kanzaki Heavy Industries to devise a mechanical solution to their problem. The folks there come up with mechanized armor suits, only nobody can get them to work. The one person to get things going is Sumite Kanzki, the granddaughter of the head of Kanzaki Heavy Industries. These mechs are going to be powered by steam and spiritual drive.

Meanwhile, a leader of the Imperial Army, Colonel Ikki Yoneda, is trying to put together a base for these mechs and some women to act as his troops. His second in command, Ayame Fujieda, ends up gathering a team made up of a Ukrainian who’s a dead-eye shot with a handgun, a Chinese young woman, a Japanese girl and a very young French girl. Together they will make up the Imperial Floral Assault Unit. That kind of wraps up the first episode.

Basically, the first two episodes of this saga are designed to introduce the characters to you. You meet the military leaders and the girls that will be in the fighting unit. There is Maria, the Ukrainian who has a nasty past and an even nastier handgun. Iris is the little French girl, who is cute, but overactive and intense. Sumire is kind of spoiled (she likes to really dress people down). Sakura, the namesake of this saga, is a country girl at heart who is trying to learn how to harness the power of an inherited magical sword.
There are a few other characters that are introduced, but they are just minor players. A couple of other characters, Kohran and Kanna are used a little. Kohran keeps blowing up her lab and Kanna is big and bulky. Ichirou Oogami is a guy who plays a part at the end of the show, but we mostly see him cleaning the decks on a naval ship.

To me, the plot really never really evolves. You have several scenes where the characters are introduced. But you really don’t get a good feel of why the demons are there. Were they beaten down in the Demon Wars that were mentioned? Possibly. But the previous Demon Wars were never really explained, so we don’t know that storyline. And just how did Maria, Iris and the others get their powers? The only character that gets flushed out very much is Sakura. The battle scene in the last episode isn’t too bad, but some folks might not want to wade through the whole set of episodes for just a few minutes of mech battle.

The dubbing was done pretty well. And the characters were well drawn. There was some orchestra music in the show that was nicely done. The overall soundtrack was good and didn’t lag like they do in some anime titles.

This is one of those iffy titles. You might like it, or you might not. I liked it okay, but would have liked the conflict with the Demons explained a little bit. And the histories of Iris and the deadly Maria would have made interesting subplots for the show.

Sakura Wars was based on a story by Ohji Hiroi. The producers were Kenichi Sato, Shigeru Watanabe and Yutaka Takahashi. The Executive Director was Takaaki Ishiyama and the Director was Yorifusa Yamaguchi. The English Language version was produced by John Ledford. Gary Dehan directed the English Language version.

The English voice cast members were Amber Allison as Sakura, Sascha Biesi and Sumire and Catherine Berry as Maria. There was also Jessica Schwarta as Iris, along with Boni Hester, Sheila Gordon and several other voice actors.

ADV Films can be found at www.advfilms.com.