Shin Sakura Wars Gets First Trailer, Cast, Staff, Western Release on PS4

On March 29, Sega hosted the first day of its SegaFes fan event. During the show’s first event, “Sega Fan Meet Up and CEO Greeting,” the Shin Sakura Wars team unveiled a new trailer for the game, as well as the first cast and staff details.

We break the details down below.

Trailer

The two-minute teaser offers a look at the new characters, as well as Tokyo in Taisho 29. The newest versions of the koubu and demonic Kouma also appear in the teaser’s action scenes. At the 1:03 mark, the new version of theme song Geki! Teikoku Kagekidan, titled Geki! Teikoku Kagekidan kicks in as a background track.

The trailer describes the game as:

Imperial Capital of Tokyo
10 years since the previous Combat Revue was lost.
The winds of war blow once more…
Transporting us to an age of romance in a flourish of Sakura petals!

Staff

Bleach creator Tite Kubo is providing the original character designs, while Jiro Ishii (Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors, Under the Dog) is in charge of the story structure. Series composer Kohei Tanaka (Sakura Wars franchise, One Piece, Mobile Fighter G Gundam) is scoring the game’s soundtrack.

Cast

The confirmed voice cast includes:

• Clarice: Saori Hayami
• Hatsuho Shinonome: Maaya Uchida
• Seijūrō Kamiyama : Yōhei Azakami
• Sakura Amamiya: Ayane Sakura
• Azami Mochizuki: Hibiku Yamamura
• Anastasia Palma: Ayaka Fukuhara

A visual featuring the characters was revealed during the event, which you can check out below:

Gameplay

Shin Sakura Wars will bring back numerous systems that will be familiar to franchise veterans, including a modern take on the LIPS (Live Interactive Picture System) dialogue engine, as well as the familiar “adventure” and “battle” mode gameplay breakdown. An email communication sent to press outlets describes the game as An Eye-catching Anime Production–Complete with gorgeous animated sequences and dramatic character arcs, the story will leave you hungry for what happens next.

In the same email, Sega’s English branches described the battle system as:

Armed with powerful mechs known as “spiricle armor,” the gameplay is augmented by a deep and robust combat system that takes full advantage of each squad member’s unique abilities.

Release

Shin Sakura Wars will hit the PlayStation 4 in Winter 2019 in Japan. Sega of Europe and Sega of America both confirmed that they will release the title in the west in 2020.

The western release has a working title of “Project Sakura Wars.” In an email communication, Sega confirmed that the game will be presented in Japanese, with subtitles in English, German, French, and Spanish.

Characters

The main characters include:

Seijūrō Kamiyama

Age: 20

The protagonist of Shin Sakura Wars. A former Navy captain, he transfers to the Teikoku Kagekidan and is appointed leader of the Flower Brigade.

Sakura Amamiya

Age: 17

The newest member of the Flower Brigade. She adores Sakura Shinguji, the Flower Division’s top star. She has a strong love of the Teikoku Kagekidan and the Flower Brigade, and hopes to protect the hearts of the people.

Hatsuho Shinonome

Age: 17

A shrine maiden who’s the poster girl for the Shinonome Shrine. She’s an Edo native from the Downtown District, who adores Shitamachi, festivals, and her Downtown neighbors.

Azami Mochizuki

Age: 13

A Flower Brigade member who descends from a family of shinobi trained in the ancient Mochizuki style of Martial Arts. She is a prodigy at the martial arts, combat tactics, weapons, and the like, having been trained she she was a child. She’s a firm believer in the “108 commandments” that were passed down in her village and cherished by law by the shinobi.

Anastasia Palma

Age: 19

A Flower Brigade member, who originally hails from Greece. Anastasia was a star in the European theater, who performed in numerous troupes before making her way to the Teikoku Kagekidan. She has top-tier talents in both singing and acting, and can handle a wide range of roles from men, to attractive women.

Clarice

Age: 16

A Flower Brigade member, who hails from Luxembourg. Clarice is an intelligent and pretty girl who loves reading and literature. She’s a curious individual, who learns from various books on a seemingly daily basis. Her real name is “Klarissa Snowflake”, heiress/successor to a powerful magic that is made possible by special books passed down through the Snowflake family.

Plot

Shin Sakura Wars will be set twelve years after the events of Sakura Wars 5: So Long, My Love, in the year 1940 (Taisho 29, in the game’s lore, as the Taisho era only lasted 15 years overall).

Famitsu reports that a cataclysm rocked the globe in Taisho 19, known only as The Great Kouma War. The battles that ensued saw the Teikoku Kagekidan, Paris Combat Revue, and New York Combat Revue brought to ruin. In their wake, cities across the globe built up their own Combat Revues as a means of fighting back. As a result, these Revues began to clash against one another, resulting in a conflict that has since been known as “The Great Combat Revue World War.”

Seijuro Kamiyama must rise up to lead the New Teikoku Kagekidan, as the demonic Kouma reappear in the capital. At the same time, rival Combat Revues begin to appear across the globe, and begin to clash with one another.

Sega’s email communication describes the story as:

The stage is set in a romanticized version of 1940s Imperial Tokyo. 10 years ago, a cataclysm resulted in the devastating loss of the Imperial Combat Revue of Tokyo, the capital’s global defense force operating out of the Imperial Theater. The theater has since fallen on hard times and risks closure. As captain of the new Tokyo revue, it’s up to you to mend the hearts of your troops and restore the Imperial Theater back to its former glory!

Screenshots

Shin Sakura Wars was first revealed on April 14, 2018 at Sega Fes, and was originally tentatively slated to launch prior to March 31, 2019. On April 19, 2019, Sega Holdings President and CEO Haruki Satomi confirmed that the project will be “more than a game.”

A western release was not confirmed until March 29, though Japanese Asian releases were confirmed to be in the works.

On March 27, all-female theater troupe OSK Revue announced that they will host a new Sakura Wars musical in Kyoto. The production which will be an operatic adaptation of 2001’s Sakura Wars Kayou Show story The Sea God’s Villa.

Sakura Wars is an original project by Sega CS2 R&D (later Overworks) and Red Entertainment. Ohji Hiroi (Moeyo Ken, Far East of Eden), Satoru Akahori (Saber Marionette J, Martian Successor Nadesico), and Kosuke Fujishima (Ah! My Goddess, You’re Under Arrest!) are listed as the original creators of the franchise.

The first title appeared on the Sega Saturn in 1996. The initial entry, while released only in Japan at the time, was estimated to have a 200,000 lifetime sales goal. The title sold 205,270 units in its opening week, which was roughly 57% of the launch shipment. At the time, the title was seen as having the largest debut for a Sega title to date. It would go on to move 359,485 copies throughout the Saturn’s lifespan.

Since then, the title has gone on to spawn:

• Five main-line titles
• Fifteen spin-off games
• An anime TV series by Madhouse
• Five anime OVA series
• Seven manga and light novel adaptations
• Sixteen high-profile live stage shows

The final main-line title in the series, Sakura Wars V: So Long, My Love was released in North America by NIS America. The title is available on Sony’s PlayStation 2, as well as Nintendo Wii console.

Sources:

• Sega Fes Live Show
• Twitter (Sakura_Taisen) [1] [2] [3]
• Twitter (Sega)
• Twitter (Sega_Europe)
• Sakura Wars Website
• Shin Sakura Wars Website
• Sakura Wars Website (English)
• Famitsu
• RPGSite
• Twitter (SakuraRevue2019)

Shin Sakura Wars Gets First Trailer, Cast, Staff, Western Release on PS4 – Samantha Ferreira