Richard E. Rae (76174.1410@COMPUSERVE.COM)
Sun, 17 Jan 1999 10:34:44 -0500
Message-ID: <199901171035_MC2-66F6-1A0@compuserve.com> Date: Sun, 17 Jan 1999 10:34:44 -0500 From: "Richard E. Rae" <76174.1410@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Internet Message Header
>>I just got this message from ADV!!!!!
New Releases - April 1999
Sakura Wars
Order Cut-Off Date: 03/23/99
Street Date: 04/27/99<<
Well, it's nice that the dub/sub of the OAV series is coming out, but I've said
it once and will say it again... the first 3 OAVs tend to confuse utterly
anyone who hasn't played Sakura Taisen. The OAVs were made for fans of the game
and really don't make any assumptions that the viewer ISN'T already acquainted
with the characters and the world. They're back-story to answer some of our
questions.
There are a LOT of nods and winks that I enjoyed, but I wound up having to
explain an awful lot to people on the CompuServe Anime Forum who weren't ST
cognoscenti. People who'd heard a lot about ST from my extended reviews and had
become very interested were quite puzzled, found it "disjointed" and were abuzz
with "who's that?" "what's that?".
On the other hand, the 4th OAV stands on its own and was brilliantly executed,
not only in the fact that it serves as a missing "Oogami Story" for midsummer
in the Sakura Taisen first year game chronology, but too in its use of "kuroko"
stagehands to represent player influence on the events.
I also regret that this series may wind up causing frustration for non-Saturn
owners who will find it a bit more difficult to fill out their story knowledge
should they get hooked <g>.
--Richard