Sakura Wars: The Movie (2001)

Original title

サクラ大戦 活動写真

Directed by

Mitsuru Hongo

Genre

science fiction film

Country

Japan

Runtime

1h 25m

Rated

PG

Rating

4.6 of 10 from 14 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A new recruit joins an all-female combat team that uses both magic and mecha to defend Tokyo. They must stop a foreign company that threatens to shut down their division.

action-packedtheatricalheroicadventurousdramaticteamwork-focusedhigh-stakescolorful

What happens

Sakura Wars: The Movie is a 2001 Japanese animated action-adventure film produced by Production I.G and distributed by Toei Company based on the video game franchise published by Sega. Directed by Mitsuru Hongo, and written by Hongo, Hiroyuki Nishimura, Nobuhisa Terado and Oji Hiroi, Sakura Wars: The Movie stars the voices of Chisa Yokoyama, Michie Tomizawa, Urara Takano, Kumiko Nishihara, Yuriko Fuchizaki, Mayumi Tanaka, Maya Okamoto, Kazue Ikura, and Ai Orikasa. A sequel to Sakura Wars 3: Is Paris Burning?, it follows the Imperial Combat Revue's Flower Division as they team up with new recruit Ratchet Altair to defend the division's existence from the schemes of the American Douglas-Stewart company. Production I.G had previously collaborated with the Sakura Wars developers on cutscenes for the video game series since Sakura Wars 2: Thou Shalt Not Die. The aim was to create an experience impossible to achieve with either the video games or other released media. Production lasted three years, with a budget of ¥500 million. Announced in 1999 alongside Is Paris Burning? and other Sakura Wars anime projects, the film was heavily promoted in Japan. The film was released in Japan on December 22, 2001, where it underperformed at the box office. It was licensed for a North American home media release in 2002 by Pioneer Entertainment, with later releases handled by Funimation. It was praised by critics for its animation and music, but the plot and characters were negatively received. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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