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R1 DVD Reviews
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Written by maehara
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Sunday, 08 April 2007 17:00 |
 A dip into the dark recesses of the DVD backlog - almost a whole four years back, in fact - as Sakura Wars TV emerges, blinking, into the light. Hey, I've never claimed to be completely up-to-date, have I? Fighters of demons by night, theatrical troupe by day, the Imperial Combat Troop, Flower Division, have arrived...
1 - Sakura Arrives as the Capital
1920's Tokyo, and the city is being developed into a bustling metropolis. However, demons are also growing in number, and so the city's administrators have put a plan into action to protect the growing city: using mobile suits of armour known as koubu, a division of the military have been assigned to be the city's protectors - although perhaps strangely, the members of the Imperial Combat Troop, Flower Division work for the city opera when they're off-duty. The group's newest member, Sakura Shinguji, and just arrived in Tokyo - but while she has the talents required of a koubu pilot, she's somewhat lacking in common sense, and soon finds herself lost...
2 - The City to be Defended
After being blamed for the havoc wreaked below the theatre by an out-of-control koubu, Sakura gathers her belongings and heads back out into the city - she's already received a frosty reception from the other members of the Flower Troop, and this incident only makes matters worse. While wandering the streets, she sees a man who looks just like her father - but before she can speak to him, he disappears. Back at the theatre, they're trying to clean up the mess she seems to have caused - but it soon becomes apparent that the koubu (which aren't meant to activate without a pilot) had simply responded the the sheer amount of spiritual power Sakura possessed. That's enough of a reason for the Troop to want her back, regardless of what Sumire and some of the others may think...
3 - Sakura's Stage Debut
Sakura may have won her first battle with the Flower Troop, but there are some aspects of the battle she's not at all happy with. Her simulator training hasn't been going too well, either - so her confidence isn't the greatest at the moment. That means it isn't exactly the best time to break the news to her that her position with the Flower Troop will also involve working on the stage with the rest of the team - not exactly what she was expecting when she joined the military. Still, jobs are meant to be done, and so Sakura begins preparations for her theatrical debut, but the pressure of having to learn so many different new skills at once soon begins to get on top of her...
4 - The Flower Combat Troop's New Commander
Yoneda's planning a change to the Flower Troop that's probably going to be unpopular. The problem: too many women in once place makes for far too much opportunity for clashes of personality, especially when you have someone like Sumire on the scene - and some of the collateral damage the troop has been causing while fighting would seem to back up the idea that they're not working together as best they could. The solution: a new leader for the troop, to replace Maria - and the new leader will be male. While Yoneda's off taking a look at his preferred candidate, Sakura and Iris head out to spend an off-duty day in the fun - but Sakura soon finds out that Iris is someone you don't want to make angry...
5 - Evil Shadow
A dark, ominous night, and dark, ominous deeds are afoot in a temple somewhere in the city. Not that the Flower Troop are aware of this - they're still deep in training, and in Maria's case coming to terms with having her position in the troop 'redefined' to be Ohgami's aide, rather than being the leader herself. She's not the only one less than impressed, either, as Sumire takes exception to having a man anywhere near the troop. Meanwhile, Iris is taken suddenly ill, while the Dream Division report back to Yoneda on their investigations into the recent Wakiji appearances...
The first question I had when I first saw Sakura Wars was, "what's the point of the acting?" Fortunately, the TV series answers the question - if a bit briefly - by pointing out that it's a good way of learning how to keep control of your spiritual powers, and thereby learn how to control a koubu that little bit better. Don't ever say these things sound contrived, even if they do.
Sakura Wars is based on a long series of video games, and as well as this TV series (possibly the most despised part of the franchise) there have been a number of OVA releases as well, featuring both the Tokyo troop that stars here, and the more recently-added Paris troop. The basic idea in any incarnation is essentially the same, though: actors by day, fighters by night, the featured troop must fight to save their home city from the forces of evil. The star of the show here, as the name probably gives away, is Sakura herself: the newest member of the troop and the latest descendant of a family with a long history of powerful spiritual abilities, her skills are of particular interest to the troop commanders, while her humble personality eventually endears her to just about everyone. In short, a really likeable character.
Shame the same can't be said for some of the other girls. Sumire in particular is someone I'd dearly love to slap - she's the most self-centered woman in anime, with a large dose of "Me! Me! Me!" in everything she does. She also bizarrely seems to be one of the most popular characters amongst fans of the series, which never ceases to amaze me. Maria is the most military of the girls - not really surprising as she's the de facto commander at the beginning of the series, before Ohgami's drafted in. She's cold and calculating, but does have a heart hidden in there somewhere. Young girl Iris is the last to be given a real introduction in these eps - she only acts and doesn't fight, but she does have some curious latent abilities that could come in useful in the future. On the downside, she's a very withdrawn young girl who doesn't interact well with others.
There are still a few main characters still to be introduced, but the overriding first impression of most of the troop is that we're dealing more with a bunch of primadonnas than a serious military unit - and then you see them go into combat, and that image is at least partially dispelled. Sakura Wars TV doesn't do much in the way of action at this stage of the show, but what is done is done very well - it's just a shame there's so much of the theatre side of the story to wade through to get there.
With the first four episodes being primarily setup, it's episode five before we start to see things really happen in terms of learning who the Flower Troop's enemies are and what they're up to. Enter the Black Sanctum Council, whose goals are still unclear but who definitely aren't prepared to let Sakura and the others get in their way. Come the end of the disc, the stage is well set for moving events forward, introducing the rest of the cast and beginning to work through the threats that the girls are going to have to face down.
At this stage, I'm not entirely sure about Sakura Wars TV - there's a lot of potential here, and the TV series is known for being noticeably darker in overall tone that any of the other anime incarnations of Sakura Wars - so I'm looking to see just how far the characters can be pushed. That said, I'm not finding myself particularly engaged by a lot of those characters, while the theatre side of things does feel quite contrived despite the reasons given for why the girls need to do it - but it's an integral part of Sakura Wars' background and will be something I just have to live with. These episodes make an enjoyable enough start, though.
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