Sakura Taisen Appreciation Half-Week: Return of the Texas Samurai

In honor of my and aster_dw's fabulous trip to the Sakura Cafe in Tokyo;
In honor of the fact that the Sakura Cafe is closing forever on March 30th;
In honor of the fact that the franchise just refuses to die;
And in honor of the fact that I just feel nostalgic,

I hereby declare this to be SAKURA TAISEN APPRECIATION HALF-WEEK in my livejournal.

Why is Sakura Taisen (AKA "Sakura Wars" in the English-speaking world) so awesome? Because it features one of the greatest casts of kick-ass women ever featured in a combined video game/anime/manga/novel/stage musical franchise. Because it spread Japanese visions of steampunk to other countries a decade before steampunk really exploded in the English-speaking world. Because it made Hidenori Matsubara a star. Because it proved that an FPS game played almost entirely on horseback could be awesome. Because the theme songs are so damn catchy.

And because it is absolutely, utterly, completely batshit INSANE.

( How insane? I will illustrate WITH VIDEOS. )

Coming up next: You know what would be awesome? So we've got this series of video games, and a bunch of animated adaptations, about a fictional theatrical troupe that's actually a group of psychic-powered giant robot pilots who save the world from demons like, every Tuesday. So you know what would be awesome? If we made a REAL theatrical troupe of REAL women, had them dress up and pretend to be Sakura Taisen characters, and then have them dress up as Sakura Taisen characters dressed up as other fictional characters, and have them perform musicals! Just like in the video games!