Sakura Taisen Volume 1

I have to admit when I first bought Sakura Taisen #1, I was hesitant to buy this. Steam-powered machines in the Taishou era with Tenchi Muyo-like characters...Harem mangas don't bother me, but I usually don't buy them, either! Anyway, I have never played the Sakura Taisen games and I haven't seen the anime either. So, I must disagree with the other commenters who say that ONLY (just only!) fans of the anime and games will like this manga. You couldn't be farther from the truth, people! The art is wonderful and (to me at least) the characters are fun and enjoyable. It's always a joy to find out about their lives and their pasts. Perhaps the creators of the manga did Ogami's character ("an outsider looking in") to attract first-timers to the Sakura Taisen world. The reader goes through the same experiences as Ogami, we (the readers) have absolutely no clue what's going on in (or underneath) the Imperial Theater. It's always one surprise after another and the plot changes from one female character to another. This way the reader's can experience all the girls' lives and undertsand them a little bit better than they did before. I may be a greenhorn to this new world and not completely understand just what's going on, but dammit, if I'm not going to get my money's worth out of this XD Welcome to the Imperial Theater and we hope you enjoy your stay!

I was a little surprised at the reviews for this book -- but they're right. If you're not already familiar with the Sakura Taisen franchise (I only saw the four-episode anime series), you won't understand that this manga tells the story in the anime series from a different character's viewpoint, that of Ensign Ogami. Indeed, given the short length of the anime, we're barely given any of his background, and, in my opinion, not shown enough of his reaction to being assigned to the Imperial Theatre, ostensibly an all-female acting troupe. So that's what volume one does. However, I suspect that the manga assumes we already know the plot. Thus, we're in on the secret that everyone *but* poor Ensign Ogami knows of -- and it's a fun little secret. Indeed, it's not until volume two does Ogami find out the *true* purpose of the Imperial Theatre, and not until volume two does the series truly start. I'm not sure what new readers thought after they read volume two, but fans of the Sakura Taisen franchise will certainly not be disappointed.

Sakura Taisen is my absolute favorite series, so I was very excited when the manga edition was released. The artwork is beautiful with the visual humor only manga can really offer (those funny eyes when someone is angry or the jaw drops etc). My only problem with this is some of Tokyopop's translation. First, it's Ayame Fujieda, NOT Ayame Fujie. If you watch the anime in its original Japanese, you can clearly hear them address her as Fujieda-san. And secondly, the bullet train is called Gouraigo, NOT Gourai. Again, you can hear it in the Japanese versions. And lastly, although it's only a cameo mention on the artwork page facing the start of Chapter Six, it's definitely Reni, not Leni as it's written (and as Pioneer called her in the Sakura Wars movie). In the live performance DVD Sakura Taisen Hanagumi Christmas, they roll out a cake at the end of the show to celebrate Reni's birthday (she was born on the 24th of December). In the credits of the show, which is only available in Japanese without subtitles, they show the cake close up and you can clearly see "Reni" written in icing on the top, in roman letters. If the producers and the creators of the series and the live performance use Reni, then her name must be Reni. After all, they created the series, they know best, right? Those are my only problems with this. Otherwise, it's a great retelling of the Sakura Taisen storyline. The notes at the back of Vol. 2 were informative about the timeline, especially if you haven't watched the anime first, and the ongoing notes from Ohji Hiroi and the seiyuu are interesting. This series kind of has a little bit of everything for everyone: shoujou romance, swords, maecha, fantasy, history, drama, comedy.

I have seen the anime and say if you liked the naime you will like this manga. The characters are designed by Kosuke Fujishima of "Ah! My Goddess" and "Your Under Arrest!" fame, and they are done well! The art is drawn by a new manga artist Ikuu Masa, and the art is well done indeed! No skimping on the quality of the art at all! All your Sakura Wars anime characters are in the manga, and this first book we meet them (well most of them). Get this book! ;]