Sega held the ninthProject Sakura Wars stream on November 20, revealing new info on the game. As usual, the stream featured game producer Tetsu Katano and was MCed by Mami Yamashita. Yohei Azakami, who voices protagonist Seijuro, was there too along with Hibiku Yamamura, who voices Azami. The stream most notably revealed a brand new character, Hakushu Murasame. She’s designed byPersona’s Shigenori Soejima and voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro.We covered everything about Hakushu in a separate article.As the stream started, Producer Katano jokingly acted as if he was tired of always starting these streams by repeating past info. When reintroducing the Shangai Combat Troupe characters, Katano joked that its captain Yang Xialong is “Ready Perfectly”, referencing Seiya inCautious Hero.Both characters are voiced by Yuichiro Umehara.We covered all the info onProject Sakura Warsso far. You can find everything linked at the end of this article.First off, we saw a new gameplay video introducing Azami.It’s slightly different than the one they showed in a previous stream:
Next, they also re-announced the first volume of the manga will be out on December 19. A novel adaptation titledShin Sakura Taisen The Novel ~Sakura no Koro~will also release on the same day. The novel is written by Ayumu Mugi, a freelance scenarist who writes many things from Vtubers to routes in visual novels. They know theSakura Taisenseries pretty well according to Katano.
We also got an update on the toys. Most notably we saw the interior of the 1/20 Koubu Kai toys releasing in early 2020. They’re designing them in CG for the first time, seeing we couldn’t see the whole cockpits in the past games.
We also got to see one of the TV commercials forShin Sakura Taisen. They’ll start airing in December. Yohei Azakami was happy one of his voice clips is in the CM:
Producer Katano also shared new comments on the recently revealed characters. As you already know, Sakura Amamiya uses a sword called Amamiya Kunisada, and this sword belonged to her late mother, Hinata Amamiya.
Katano said it’s Kubo Tite who named the sword. Kubo Tite similarly picked the names and wrote the setting of other weapons and elements in the game.
Following that, we got to see some of theProject Sakura Warsdemo releasing on November 21.The gameplay most notably shows the combination attack cutscene with Azami. It’s prettySakura Taisen-like:
After that, we saw even more gameplay, this time showing a battle from the World Combat Troupe Tournament:
Unlike what I previously thought, the gameplay makes it clear here that both teams can only hit the enemies and initially don’t directly fight each other. You can see Yui there multiple times, but her attacks can’t reach you, and vice versa. We’ve detailed these battles in a previous article linked at the end of this one.
It was also revealed that you may replay previous battles inProject Sakura Warswith a simulator. Getting the highest rank in battles will net you bonus bromides. In-game, the simulator was named “Ikusa-chan” by Reiji Shiba, the technician character voiced by Sugita. It’s a dumb pun with how “ikusa” means “war” in Japanese.
Newt up was live gameplay, showing the various functions of the Smartron, the steam-powered smartphones used in the game:
You can use Seijuro’s Smartron at any time by pressing Triangle. Mami Yamashita and Hibiku Yamamura pointed out how the girls have no privacy as Seijuro can trace their own Smartron to always check where they are with the map.
Characters with a green mark mean the story will advance if you go talk to them.
Blue exclamation marks mean side dialogues and events.
Pink heart mark means it’s an event related to their romance route.
You can also rewatch past events and 3DCG anime cutscenes. You can also check the bromides you’ve collected so far. Lastly, you can play Koikoi Taisen, one of the many minigames which appeared in pastSakura Taisengames.
You can pick which character to play against. Yohei Azakami screwed up at first and picked Azami. So they had to reset. What they initially planned was that he’d pick Claris “by mistake” to show how she’s wearing a swimsuit, and then pick Azami.They did this to teaseProject Sakura Warswill have DLC costumes.This is the first time they revealed the game will have DLC in general, and they mentioned these DLC swimsuit costumes will be released sometime after the game.
Next was a sequence with Yohei Azakami and Hibiku Yamamura throwing shuriken together. They both completely missed the mark. So they were forced to eat super bitter Manju all while maintaining a poker face for ten seconds. Mami Yamashita tried it too and apparently the manju were actually pretty good, just that had a really bitter aftertaste. It was pretty fun to watch:
After that sequence,we got to see another commercial, which again shows some brand new scenes:
It was followed by the goods and collabs corner.Yamashita and Azakami always wear glasses during this segment to shows they won’t screw around, seeing this involves other companies. (This made me think of the stupid workplaces in Japan that prohibit women from wearing glasses among other things). You can watch the corner starting at the timestamp below:
We first got a look at the various goods sold for the game.
We also learned the full version ofShin Geki Teikoku Kagekidanwill be released on various digital music stores on November 27. The instrumental version as well.
Then we heard about theShin Sakura Taisen xPuyo Puyo Questcollab.The collaboration happened not only because they’re both Sega games, but because Producer Katano also worked onPuyo Puyo Quest.
They also revealedShin Sakura Taisenwill be a time-limited addition inSuper Robot Wars X-Ω(Cross Omega) in December.This isn’t surprising considering the originalSakura Taisenand tons of much less probable series appeared inCross Omegaalready. I’m still waiting forPretty RhythmandSakura Taisento appear in a consoleSRWgame though. Azakami jokingly pointed out howShin Sakura Taisenisn’t coming toSRW DDinstead, where he’s voicing the main protagonist.
Next up, they detailed theShin Sakura Taisen x Border Breakcollaboration that’ll happen in December.Border Breakwill add the five girls from the Flower Division as playable pilots, and a weapon with a Sakura petals effect. They all have voices recorded for the occasion too. Producer Katano mentioned this was the first collaboration Sega set in stone. It was definitely over a year ago seeing Azakami and Yamamura mentioned they recorded for this collab around the time they recorded for the game itself.
Shin Sakura Taisenwill also be getting a collab with Animax Café +. Some super cute SD illustrations of the characters were made for the occasion.More details are on the café's Twitter.
A collaboration with the Lawson shop in Ginza will also be happening from November 28 to December 23.They’ll sell many exclusive goods there, and decorate the storefront for the occasion. One of the two towels to be sold is pretty funny. It uses a LIPS User Interface as artwork and all four choices say the comedic andSakura Taisentraditional line “my body is moving on its own!!”.
Lastly, they went over the various shop-specific preorder goods for the game.All of them have been finalized. Note the cool Hatsuho PS4 theme found at Amazon JP. They also unboxed live part of the Sega Shop specific deluxe pack, which includes a portrait of Sumire and a 3D character crystal:
Ending this stream,they announced the next stream will happen on December 11, from 19:00 to 21:00 JST(click here for time conversions). It’ll be held at the Hanayashiki Amusement Park in Asakusa. People part of theSakura TaisenOuengumi can participate in a lottery to get to attend the event live.
One interesting thing Katano mentioned as the stream ended is how Azami’s popularity grew a lot the more they revealed about the game and her in particular. It doesn’t mean that the other characters aren’t popular though, needless to say. Katano also added it was really fun chatting with everyone all these streams, how he loves exchanging with the fans, and how he always reads the comments live.
The usual end of stream photo from theofficial Twitter, with from left to right: MC Mami Yamashita, Yohei Azakami, Hibiku Yamamura, and Producer Tetsu Katano.
PS4 exclusiveProject Sakura Warslaunches on December 12 in Japan and in Spring 2020 in the west. A demo will be launching on the Japanese PlayStation Store on November 21. We’ve covered every single detail Sega revealed about the game:
