Sakura Wars is a series of dramatic adventure video games developed and published by Sega and licensed by Red Entertainment (formerly Red Company). Its first game, classified as dramatic adventure, premiered in 1996 and Sakura Wars games have later been on nearly every video game console since the Sega Saturn, including Dreamcast, Sega Titan, Game Boy Color, PlayStation Portable, Microsoft Windows, Wii, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, and several models of mobile phone.
In addition to the five games released as part of the main (numbered) series and their many spin-offs and related titles, the Sakura Wars series has spawned many works in other media including anime, movies, novels and manga, and radio dramas. For the Sakura Taisen World Project, seven games were announced: Sakura Taisen: Atsuki Chishio ni, Sakura Taisen V: Saraba itoshiki hito yo, Sakura Taisen V: Episode 0, Sakura Taisen Monogatari - Teito-hen & Paris-hen, a title that tells the story of the Anti-Kouma Battle Squadron and the Kouma War. Also announced was a game that took place during the Sengoku Jidai and a PC port of Sakura Taisen 3.
Live performances
From 1997 onwards, the voice actors of the series performed onstage and in-character as their Sakura Wars counterparts in a series of live-action musical stage shows. By 2001 to 2006, the Teikoku Kagekidan (Imperial Assault Force) performed two major musicals in a year: a New Year's Show and a Summer Kayou Show, in addition to multitudes of other smaller shows where one or more characters make appearances. Some of the stage performances could be seen in the series' other forms of media.
In August 2006, the Teikoku Kagekidan held their final summer show. Although the live-action shows still continue as of May 2007, they are no longer focused entirely on the Teikoku Kagekidan.