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Sakura Wars crossing the border in February photo

Friends and fellows, open your arms to happily welcome the latest cheeky Japanese game: Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love. The campy steam-and-song-powered interpretation of 1920s America is due to arrive on English-speaking shores this February.

The process of immigration and naturalization has already begun, even before the cast sets foot on New York's streets. Like the actual immigrants stepping off onto Ellis Island in those early days, some of the characters with less-pronounceable names have been re-localized to roll off the tongue (and presumably the boat) better. And everyone will be receiving a passionately stereotyped dub, which you can taste in the trailer below.

Purists shouldn't worry about "preserving cultural identity" and other such nonsense, as Sakura Wars remembers where its heart is: located on a Japanese-voiced disc included in every copy. Now, check out the box art, see a load of screenshots, and prepare to see (and love) just who's going to be jumping into the melting pot next year.

LAUNCH GALLERY (2 IMAGES)
Photo Photo









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Josh Tolentino is Destructoid's associate editor, specializing in Japanese video games. He is also a contributing editor to Japanator.com Meet the rest of the team



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18 comments | showing # 1 to 18
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manasteel88's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/09/2009 10:21
manasteel88
Man I can't wait for this to come out. Any actual news on what wii features will be implemented?
Panzerwurst's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/09/2009 10:29
Panzerwurst
I have to say, this looks like the game designers had an actual checklist of mecha anime & American cultural cliches.
Gilgamesh1317's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/09/2009 10:35
Gilgamesh1317
Definitely looking forward to this, it seems to be a pretty cool game. And hey, if it does well enough, maybe Sega will bring the rest over and/or start it up again.
Excel-2011's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/09/2009 10:37
Excel-2011
I thought there was supposed to be two editions, one with the Japanese track and one without?
otakunoise's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/09/2009 10:45
otakunoise
the narration in this video makes me want to go on a murder spree.
thwak's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/09/2009 10:49
thwak
Huh, the female narrator in that trailer sounds a lot like arumi from magical shoppping arcade abenobashi, I wonder if it is.
Excel-2011's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/09/2009 10:49
Excel-2011
@otakunoise:
Do whatever you will. I will be there to stop you.
TheCleaningGuy's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/09/2009 10:50
TheCleaningGuy
I love the PS2 cover with the Fujishima art! Can't wait!
sewerraccoon's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/09/2009 11:02
sewerraccoon
I'll try to play with the English dub, but I have a feeling it might be cringe worthy
BulletTrain's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/09/2009 11:23
BulletTrain
Heck yeah sakura wars! I've always wanted to play one ever since my old buddy got a sakura wars Dreamcast back in the day. Looked fun, but I couldn't read the moon speak.
Inuboy1000's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/09/2009 11:47
Inuboy1000
Looks great. I probably will get it for PS2.
Killrig's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/09/2009 13:05
Killrig
I'm curious to know if there are any real differences between the PS2 and Wii releases. Anyone?
GundamJehutyKai's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/09/2009 14:13
GundamJehutyKai
@killrig: Aside from potentially having an awkward interface for certain LIPS segments (I'm thinking about the ones where you have to choose the severity of your answer) to make use of the wiimote, I doubt there will be many differences, if any.

I'm just trying to decide if I should import a PS2 version or wait till europe gets the wii version.
It's far from my favourite game of the franchise but it's freaking Sakura Wars! In english!!!!!
Zeik56's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/09/2009 14:33
Zeik56
That southern twang seems like it could get annoying, but I honestly doubt the Japanese would be any better.

Not sure if I'm going to pick this up yet, I'll look into it a little more.
Michael Lassiter's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/09/2009 14:52
Michael Lassiter
People that bitch about dubs EVERY SINGLE TIME are just ridiculous. It sounds okay, but it's just a narrator's voice, so I won't pass judgment yet. That being said, it does sound like Arumi from Abenobashi, but southern accents run together for me, being from Texas and all. Ha.

I really did like the dub for Abenobashi, though I disliked it in the first episode, it turned around as soon as episode 2.

They have a 2nd disc for the Japanese voices, anyhow, so I see no reason ANYONE should bitch about ANYTHING in this game.

I, myself, am looking forward to the English dub, because I usually like NIS America's voicework and I've never once craved Japanese dubs on any of their games (except Blade Dancer... but that was a bad game altogether).

/end longpost
Excel-2011's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/09/2009 15:09
Excel-2011
@Michael Lassiter:
You're the first person I've seen to agree with me on that, except for the NIS America does good voicework thing. I still take their remarks on them taking their time on this title with a grain of salt after seeing what they did with the DS ports of Disgaea and Rhapsody and how a lot of what they said would be there didn't make it to release.
Senger's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/09/2009 15:18
Senger
The narrators voice sounds like the dubbed girl from Abenobashi: The Magical Shopping Arcade
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