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REVIEW: Sakura Wars Complete Collection

An English script which frequently entirely rewrites the original, and which inconsistently alternates between Japanese and English orders on character naming conventions, does not help.

Which makes me wonder why ADV, Geneon, and Funimation released this TV series, 3 OVAs, a movie, and a special, given that none of the games have been released over here until this year.

Madhouse Studios has earned a reputation for producing some of the sharpest-looking anime series of the past few years, but this one came along before they fully refined their techniques and learned to truly exploit modern digital coloring methods. As a result, the artistry stands at a transition point between the older-school look of the early-to-mid '90s and the sleekness of more recent productions.

I did get invested in the Kirika-Mireille relationship so that carried me along. I also dug the lush, painterly backgrounds. The character designs were less impressive and fall about mid-way between the real old school designs from something like, say, The Slayers and the slick, modern look of something like Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom.

With a guy as handsome as Ohgami around and a year passing over the course of the series, some kind of at least tentative relationship between Ohgami and Sakura would be expected, but that is not within the purview of this series.

My lawyer will be in contact shortly.

Fan service is not a factor in the slightest...

Upon reading the review, and seeing Sentai Filmworks as the license holder, this just pushed the title down even further. SF has been notorious of late of screwing up by hiring companies which can not translate Japanese to English well at all. Even my favorite series has issues, despite being sub only.

Upon reading the review, and seeing Sentai Filmworks as the license holder, this just pushed the title down even further. SF has been notorious of late of screwing up by hiring companies which can not translate Japanese to English well at all. Even my favorite series has issues, despite being sub only.

And Blood-, I have just one word for you: delusional.

PetrifiedJello wrote:

Upon reading the review, and seeing Sentai Filmworks as the license holder, this just pushed the title down even further. SF has been notorious of late of screwing up by hiring companies which can not translate Japanese to English well at all. Even my favorite series has issues, despite being sub only.

I can't imagine that they would have spent the money for a new translation for this re-issue, so this shouldn't be a problem.

I noticed the same problem with names in Monster Island's Dai-Guard, which was done about a year earlier. Except in Dai-Guard, they use the Japanese name order throughout, which is just bizarre. A shame too, as Dai-Guard is otherwise an excellent dub with re-writes for the better.

Sakura Wars TV is the only part of the franchise I haven't seen yet. I'll have to stick to the Japanese version, as it's got a great cast. Every SW anime has that "expected familiarity" factor to it, and drops you into stories that won't make much sense without knowledge of the games. Which makes me wonder why ADV, Geneon, and Funimation released this TV series, 3 OVAs, a movie, and a special, given that none of the games have been released over here until this year.