Sakura Wars 2

—by Michael Poirier

I'll admit that SAKURA WARS features an interesting premise: early 20th century Tokyo is under assault by mechanized demons and only a team of six young women with spiritual powers and steam-driven robots can defend the capital. Naturally the girls don't always get along, and the fact that they are performers in a popular opera company only adds to their tensions. The mixture of different personalities, out-of-the-ordinary mecha, and the occasional theatrical routine had the potential to be highly entertaining... or so I believed.
Here is how SAKURA WARS 2 totally lost my interest: what is the best way to bring these talented but troubled ladies together? Assign a dashing young man to be their commander, of course! This video very quickly turned into a miserable 60 minutes of irritating sexism, dopey melodrama, lack-luster action scenes, and some truly insipid dialogue.
I was extremely unimpressed with virtually every dimension of this production. Each of the characters seemed to be flaccid stereotypes of various nationalities, and the plot skipped around like a broken record. The girls' reaction to the new commander Ohgami is completely passed over, as the viewer is taken from the ladies squabbling to suddenly relying on their feckless leader for everything from combat routines to picking out dresses. The dubbing was particularly painful as well with the English actresses attempting—and failing—at French, German and Chinese accents.
Overall, the animation is run-of-the-mill quality, which is disappointing for an OVA series. I found the action scenes to particularly uninspiring. The mecha look like garbage cans with exhaust valves and the fight choreography was little more than the pilot announcing some special move until the demon-bots explode. Of course, SAKURA WARS is based on a Sega game so maybe it was too much to expect any actual movement out of the mecha. I think it's sad that the creepy ninja stagehands that haunt the Imperial Theater turned out to be more visually interesting than the robots.
Ultimately though, the one thing I really can't stomach in any anime is preaching. "I want to shine my own ray of hope in this dark city," pronounces the pathetic Ohgami as he inspires the girls to stage Shakespeare's "Midsummer's Night Dream." He goes on to say, "I have learned that to fight evil you have to use your happiness and your pain." Good grief. Too bad his idea of fighting evil turned out to be a bunch of squealing women and the occasional glowing sword.
Back in EX 4.3, Darold Higa said of Volume 1 that the series had promise. I'm sorry to report I believe that that potential was wasted. This show doesn't bother to develop its characters, yet it treats the action as secondary to the melodrama; that is unforgivable. SAKURA WARS 2 is saccharine, but not sweet.

Released in North America by A.D.V. Films
VHS, 60 minutes
order# ¥price
English Dubbed: VHSSW/002D $19.98
English Subtitled: VHSSW/002S $29.95
Available now in the USA
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