Sakura Wars - Geki! Teikoku Kagekidan Performed by NJGSO

Premiered at NJGSO's Fall 2023 Concert
Composed by Kohei Tanaka
Arranged by N.J.C.
Video Editor: Jon Rosario of Elementality Studios
https://www.elementalitystudios.com
Audio Engineer: Bill Rouse
https://billrouseaudio.com

(Title translates to: Attack! Imperial Combat Revue)

Sakura Wars is a game that defies easy classification. It’s a hybrid mecha tactical combat game, alt-1920’s visual novel and dating simulation starring the Imperial Combat Revue, an all-female Japanese theater troupe that moonlights as the Japanese empire’s elite spiritual defense squadron. Commanded by a liaison from the imperial army, they pilot steam-powered, psychically-controlled combat suits to fight the summoners, sorcerers and evil monsters that threaten the peace of interwar Asia and Europe.

The series is largely unknown outside Japan–only the fifth and sixth games were released in the US, a decade after the release of the original–but domestically the series was a massive hit. It produced six mainline games, dozens of spinoff games, dedicated shops and cafes, and even a real-life touring stage show starring the original voice actors that ran regularly for nearly a decade.

Geki! Teikoku Kagekidan is the game’s opening theme: a bombastic introduction to the Imperial Combat Revue in the style of a musical’s opening act, befitting the setting of the game. Kohei Tanaka, the series composer, strove to evoke the alternate 1920’s setting of the games by blending the classic orchestration of Western stage revues and pre-war Japanese popular music, and the energy of modern Broadway musicals and themes from contemporary anime and tokusatsu (Japanese superhero shows).


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