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R1 DVD Reviews
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Written by maehara
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Tuesday, 26 June 2007 17:00 |
 A break from the fighting, but no less of a sense of foreboding as Yamazaki's plans become clearer. It's all very well knowing what he's planning, though - but if the Flower Division can't do anything about it, then there's a problem, and at the moment that seems to be the case. Can Yoneda find a way to stop Yamazaki? Can Ohgami turn the Flower Division into an effective fighting team? Will Sakura's leading-role debut cause Sumire to crack up? Told you it wasn't all fighting on this volume...
18 - Cinderella
When Sakura's handed the lead role in the Flower Troupe's production of Cinderella (a special request by Yoneda, against the objections of the stage manager - he's hoping the role will help Sakura increase her spritual powers), it's like dangling a red rag in front of a bull. A bull named Sumire, to be precise, and rehearsals soon become an exercise in getting Sumire to stop complaining about every little thing for long enough to let the troupe get some actual practise done. Meanwhile, Ohgami receives the Houshin Kishoden from Yoneda - a book that contains all that is known about the kouma and how to defeat them, and essential to his efforts to develop a plan to finally defeat Yamazaki and the Council...
19 - The Formation to Destroy Evil
Ohgami's finally got a plan to deal with the kouma that meets with Yoneda's approval - he calls it the "Formation to Destroy Evil", and before it can be used it has to be explained to the rest of the Flower Division and simulations run to get it right. It soon becomes clear, though, that his plan isn't going to work until his team begin to exhibit a little more teamwork - and his efforts to try and improve the situation don't exactly help, leading him to question whether he's the best person to be the team's captain. Meanwhile, Yoneda's received some information about how the Council is gathering its power - it's related to Tenpu Stones scattered around the city, so Yoneda sends the Flower Division out to find the remaining stones before the council can...
20 - The Darkness Steals Closer
While Sakura's role in Cinderella has brought her to the public's attention, she's also come to Yamazaki's. He's aware that Yoneda may be planning to use her as a sacrifice of some sort in order to thwart his plans, and is hoping to be able to use that to persuade Sakura to see the world a little differently. Stage one in his plan: a "chance" meeting to put her at ease, before trying to make use of her. Meanwhile, Kohran's stuck trying to figure out how to improve the koubu again - Sakura remembers that Yamazaki's Kohran's personal idol, but when she tries to tell her Yamazaki's back on the scene, she just can't get Kohran to listen...
21 - One More Battle
Once again, Yoneda's coming under pressure from his backers after the Flower Division's failure to protect the Tenpu Stone they'd found - their patience is running short, and there's now a very real possibility they'll withdraw their support for the division. They want results, and they want them now - and if that means resorting to desparate measures to deal with Yamazaki and the Black Sanctum Council, then so be it. Ohgami's still placing his faith in his Formation to Destroy Evil, but time is running short as Yamazaki searches for the remaining two Tenpu Stones, so Yoneda opts to take Yamazaki on himself...
Lots of time at the theatre, complete with Sumire's whining, and very little time for Koubu v kouma action - guess what my opinion of this volume will be. The theatre side of Sakura Wars would be so much more enjoyable if it wasn't liberally peppered with primadonna outbursts, but that's sadly what we're stuck with for a sizeable chunk of episode 18. Thankfully, things improve before the end of the disk.
Episode 20 is probably the highlight, as it's where Yamazaki makes things personal by approaching Sakura and trying to use her as a pawn in his plans. She is quite an innocent thing at heart, so if there's anyone he'd be able to turn to the Dark Side™ it would be Sakura - especially given his history with her father - so it's quite compelling watching how this sideline plays out. Just don't expect any surprising results - SWTV has yet to produce any really startling plot twists, and I get the distinct feeling it's not going to produce any now. A shame, really - a little bit of creativity or adventurousness on the part of the writers is usually a good thing.
Come the end of the disc, Yamazaki's building up to unleashing the ultimate evil, and Ohgami's got his plan developed for preventing that from happening - we're just waiting for the two sides to come together for the inevitable battle. With four episodes still to come, there's plenty of time to make that final confrontation an impressive one - here's hoping the opportunity is properly used...
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