Hayate Kurogane
04-11-2007, 09:59 PM
EDITS: Added cover description, fixed a name that was misspelled as a result of a bad habit, changed stuff about Taiga's role in the next show (misunderstood a couple of sentences).
Huzzah! More Sakura Taisen anime! :D
LE Packaging and Stuff
The first volume limited edition comes with a sturdy box to hold all three volumes. One side features a beautiful watercolor-ish piece by Hidenori Matsubara of the five New York girls, the series title is on the spine, and an image of the Little Lip Theater is on the other side.
Apparently, the DVD included with the LE is different from the regular version in that it comes in a white keepcase, features different cover art, and the disc itself is silkscreened.
The cover features an arrangement done to look like a desktop (real, not computer), with a photo in the middle of Gemini and Diana on Rally. It's kind of busy, and there isn't much of a focal point, but it's still a nice cover.
Also included is a CD with the episode edit version of the ending theme, "Taboo."
The LE and the regular edition are the exact same price. This confuses me, since I'm not sure then why people wouldn't all just go for the LE as long as copies were available. :sd:
A/V
The disc is anamorphic widescreen. Interlaced video.
Audio options include 5.1 DD and 2.2 LPCM. Someone will have to explain to me what the latter means exactly, unless it's a typo of some sort (which would be weird since it's listed as 2.2 on both the disc cover insert and the box obi).
Extras
There are no on-disc extras. Not even trailers or ads. :cry:
Content
After ten years of questionably-animated Sakura Taisen, with the notable exception of the movie by Production I.G, there finally arrives an OVA that looks as good as the franchise deserves. Animation by AIC. CG by Gonzo. Characters that are on-model the whole time, and actually look strikingly close to Matsubara's animation design adaptations from Fujishima's originals. Enough distinct cels that you aren't able to count them while watching normally. :sd: Two thumbs up for good animation! :D
The disc includes two episodes, which is a heck of a lot better than just one, considering this series runs for six episodes, though I would've bought them at one a disc anyway. :sd:
The first episode, "Me and My Girl," starts by briefly introducing a new mysterious dark-skinned villain (resurrected from ancient Egypt, apparently), before going to opening credits. There's a brief scene of the New York team saying goodbye to Ratchet Altair, who's leaving to go oversee the establishment of the Berlin Kagekidan. This, plus Taiga's narration about the defeat of Nobunaga, places the OVA shortly after the conclusion of Sakura Taisen V.
Taiga meets with Sunnyside about the state of the team following Ratchet's departure, where conversation quickly turns to Taiga taking the lead role in the theater's next show and following in Ratchet's footsteps. The five girls and two maids show up to voice their support, and so Taiga bails, deciding to escape out onto the town dressed as Petite Mint. Convenient encounters with Sagitta, Rikaritta, Diana, and Subaru occur, allowing for individual lines of dialogue and little character moments (why, I ask, when Rikaritta is imagining happiness for people, there are Big Macs and french fries floating above their heads?), before he ends up in a park by the water where he gets clobbered by Gemini's horse, Rally. After a token conversation with Gemini, signing an autograph for a little girl who's a huge Petite Mint fan, and a speech by Gemini about New York and America, it's time for an action sequence.
While Taiga's been running around the city, our mysterious villain has turned a bank robber to sand, and set up shop on top of a building along with a cute-as-a-button, bat-winged, cat-eared girl sidekick. Then, as should be obvious, he decides the Statue of Liberty has to be destroyed. O.O So, he calls upon undead mummies and a giant floating robot that looks like a cross between the Egyptian god Anubis and Char's Zeong from Mobile Suit Gundam, and tries to blast the Statue of Liberty with a laser. :sd:
The rest of the NY Kagekidan suit up for battle while Taiga and Gemini try to help tourists get off of Liberty Island safely. Taiga, still dressed as Petite Mint, saves the villain from an explosion, and the villain has an odd moment where he thinks Taiga looks like a girl he once knew. Then there's a cool fight scene between the villain and the NY Kagekidan, and the Statue of Liberty is saved. The villain goes away to plot further, and Taiga agrees to be the lead, at which point Sagitta and Diana present him with skimpy lingerie to wear. :sd:
Episode 2... is as of yet unwatched.
Huzzah! More Sakura Taisen anime! :D
LE Packaging and Stuff
The first volume limited edition comes with a sturdy box to hold all three volumes. One side features a beautiful watercolor-ish piece by Hidenori Matsubara of the five New York girls, the series title is on the spine, and an image of the Little Lip Theater is on the other side.
Apparently, the DVD included with the LE is different from the regular version in that it comes in a white keepcase, features different cover art, and the disc itself is silkscreened.
The cover features an arrangement done to look like a desktop (real, not computer), with a photo in the middle of Gemini and Diana on Rally. It's kind of busy, and there isn't much of a focal point, but it's still a nice cover.
Also included is a CD with the episode edit version of the ending theme, "Taboo."
The LE and the regular edition are the exact same price. This confuses me, since I'm not sure then why people wouldn't all just go for the LE as long as copies were available. :sd:
A/V
The disc is anamorphic widescreen. Interlaced video.
Audio options include 5.1 DD and 2.2 LPCM. Someone will have to explain to me what the latter means exactly, unless it's a typo of some sort (which would be weird since it's listed as 2.2 on both the disc cover insert and the box obi).
Extras
There are no on-disc extras. Not even trailers or ads. :cry:
Content
After ten years of questionably-animated Sakura Taisen, with the notable exception of the movie by Production I.G, there finally arrives an OVA that looks as good as the franchise deserves. Animation by AIC. CG by Gonzo. Characters that are on-model the whole time, and actually look strikingly close to Matsubara's animation design adaptations from Fujishima's originals. Enough distinct cels that you aren't able to count them while watching normally. :sd: Two thumbs up for good animation! :D
The disc includes two episodes, which is a heck of a lot better than just one, considering this series runs for six episodes, though I would've bought them at one a disc anyway. :sd:
The first episode, "Me and My Girl," starts by briefly introducing a new mysterious dark-skinned villain (resurrected from ancient Egypt, apparently), before going to opening credits. There's a brief scene of the New York team saying goodbye to Ratchet Altair, who's leaving to go oversee the establishment of the Berlin Kagekidan. This, plus Taiga's narration about the defeat of Nobunaga, places the OVA shortly after the conclusion of Sakura Taisen V.
Taiga meets with Sunnyside about the state of the team following Ratchet's departure, where conversation quickly turns to Taiga taking the lead role in the theater's next show and following in Ratchet's footsteps. The five girls and two maids show up to voice their support, and so Taiga bails, deciding to escape out onto the town dressed as Petite Mint. Convenient encounters with Sagitta, Rikaritta, Diana, and Subaru occur, allowing for individual lines of dialogue and little character moments (why, I ask, when Rikaritta is imagining happiness for people, there are Big Macs and french fries floating above their heads?), before he ends up in a park by the water where he gets clobbered by Gemini's horse, Rally. After a token conversation with Gemini, signing an autograph for a little girl who's a huge Petite Mint fan, and a speech by Gemini about New York and America, it's time for an action sequence.
While Taiga's been running around the city, our mysterious villain has turned a bank robber to sand, and set up shop on top of a building along with a cute-as-a-button, bat-winged, cat-eared girl sidekick. Then, as should be obvious, he decides the Statue of Liberty has to be destroyed. O.O So, he calls upon undead mummies and a giant floating robot that looks like a cross between the Egyptian god Anubis and Char's Zeong from Mobile Suit Gundam, and tries to blast the Statue of Liberty with a laser. :sd:
The rest of the NY Kagekidan suit up for battle while Taiga and Gemini try to help tourists get off of Liberty Island safely. Taiga, still dressed as Petite Mint, saves the villain from an explosion, and the villain has an odd moment where he thinks Taiga looks like a girl he once knew. Then there's a cool fight scene between the villain and the NY Kagekidan, and the Statue of Liberty is saved. The villain goes away to plot further, and Taiga agrees to be the lead, at which point Sagitta and Diana present him with skimpy lingerie to wear. :sd:
Episode 2... is as of yet unwatched.