Sakura Wars 1 (1997)

The feature adaptation of this long-running continuity has been pumped up with redesigned characters, computer-generated mecha, jazzy special effects, and flashy tracking shots. Unfortunately, all this visual razzle-dazzle doesn't add up to much. Director Mitsurou Hongo doesn't bother to introduce the characters or the set-up, and Ojhi Hiroi's story has a jingoistic edge. Brent Furlong, the head of the American Douglas-Stewart company, plots to replace the Operetta Troupe Flower Division with his unmanned mecha Japhkiels. His real objective is the conquest of Japan, but he underestimates the young women of the Flower Division, who defeat his mecha and demons. The flat, drawn characters and the 3-D CG mechanical devices look like they're taken from two different films, and the leaden pacing makes the film feel much longer than 85 minutes. The TV series is less flashy but more entertaining. (Unrated: suitable for ages 12 and older: considerable violence) --Charles Solomon Amazon.com

Stay far away if you have no knowledge of this series

If you never seen the Sakura Wars TV series at the very least. Then this movie will seem like nothing more than an incoherent mess. All of the character development, and the entire story lies in everything before this. This is just a movie to add on.

Now since I got that out of the way. I found this movie to be disappointing. The characters have new voice actors and this is terrible for Marya for the simple fact her russian accent is gone. And some of the characters original personalities did not carry over. Names are mispronounced as well. This is very unacceptable to me. Because in the series the characters were very unique. And Sakura especially had evolved alot towards the end. She seems to be right back at that clumsy stage. The dialogue in this one is pretty lame as well. This is definitly were you can tell the original personalities didn't carry over for everyone, especially Marya. The dubbing is weird for the english version, especially in the begining.

The only thing that saved this from 2 stars for me was 2 things. The animation and the fight scenes. Like I always say, animation is non existent if the anime fails in numerous areas. But this is one time the animation cannot be overlooked no matter how bad this movie could have been. They really put alot into the animation. The fight scenes were also well done. The plot was somewhat slow and boring for me. To include there were several holes in a few scenes. And midway through the movie, a part of the ending was incredibly predictable.

If your a Sakura Wars collector then this should fit well in your collection. If you weren't too crazy about the series or the OVA then I say skip it. Cause it isn't that much different. Skip this movie altogether if you never ever seen Sakura Wars TV series. June 19, 2007

Finally, A movie for the Sakura Wars series.

It starts where the OVA left off, Ichiro Ogami is in Paris (Sakura Taisen 3 for the Dreamcast and Ecole De Paris for the dvd by funimation) and troubles are rising for the Imperial Flower Troupe when Douglas Stewart from America introduces a new fighting brigade known as Japhkiel. Maria disappears and all hell breaks loose. With character designs by Kosuke Fujishima and story by Ouji Hiroi, This movie will leave you cheering for the Imperial Flower Troupe. If you loved this movie then get the sequel Sakura Taisen Sumire Special released by Funimation. Not as good as the movie but still needs to be seen. November 2, 2006

Finally

Glad to see the character that almost made us give up on this otherwise enjoyable series is gone.

We're looking forward to purchasing any upcoming Sumire-free disks. April 19, 2006

decent

pretty expensive for one episode. doesn't add anything to the plot, but its good to have closure on one of the fun characters. id say the best parts are the extras. you get to see how close knit the cast was. there is a real story behind that. March 23, 2006

Best for knowledgable Sakura Wars fans

By "knowledgable", I mean folks who have at least played the games (not that those are easy to get in North America!) or watched the OVA or (much preferably) TV series - the latter has MUCH more in the way of character and story background. In fact, I believe that the intended target audience for this movie was just that - the people in Japan who've played all the games so far and watched everything on TV and therefore are completely up to speed on who's who and what's what. I watched the new 5-DVD set of the TV series, which I've reviewed elsewhere, before I saw this movie, and in consequence I found the movie much more enjoyable. I do agree with the other reviewer's comment that the movie's ending was rather muddled; to me, it seemed rather tacked on. Also, there was no real effort to introduce the "new" characters outside the ones that would already be familiar to most American viewers, but again that's a side effect of the fact that the movie seems to have been intended for a more "knowledgable" audience than most anime fans in the U.S.

In short: If you're already a Sakura Wars fan and have watched the TV series, you'll probably enjoy this. Otherwise, you're better off watching the OVA or TV series first. March 2, 2006

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