News
Kodansha's Monthly Magazine Z, Sakura Taisen Manga End
posted on by Egan Loo
The February issue of Kodansha's Monthly Magazine Z has published on Friday the "climax" for the first run of Ikku Masa's manga adaptation of the Sakura Taisen (Sakura Wars) game franchise. A "special edition" Sakura Taisen manga and an "important announcement" will be published in the next issue on January 26. Kodansha had announced in September that the issue that will be published in January 26 will be the last issue of the magazine.
Besides Sakura Taisen, Magazine Z also serializes the manga for Mobile Suit Gundam 00, Kamen Rider Spirits, and Ultraman Story 0. In the past, the magazine published the Abenobashi: Magical Shopping Arcade, Baby Birth, Big O, Culdcept, FLCL, Heat Guy J, Jing, King of Bandits - Twilight Tales, Magikano, Le Portrait de Petit Cossette, Psychic Academy, Turn A Gundam, Wild Arms Hananusubito, and Wolf's Rain manga. Tokyopop published many Magazine Z titles including the Sakura Taisen manga in North America, while Del Rey Manga and Viz Media has picked up several of the other titles.
The Sakura Taisen manga retells Ouji Hiroi, Satoru Akahori, and Kosuke Fujishima's alternate-history story of an all-female theatrical troupe that defends Tokyo with steam-driven robots. Tonami Minato and Kahiro Okuya's four-panel Sakura Taisen Show Theater manga spinoff has also been running in Magazine Z. Despite the end of the Sakura Taisen manga's first run, Masa been soliciting new assistant artists.
The Sakura Taisen Wars franchise began with the hit 1996 Sega game. Four more games, shelves of platform ports and spinoffs, anime, and a string of live musical shows would follow. However, the last major game for the main storyline, Sakura Taisen V: Saraba Itoshiki Hito yo, was released back in 2005. The latest anime spinoff, Sakura Taisen: New York NY., ended last year. The Osaka and Tokyo shops dedicated to Sakura Taisen had both closed in 2003 and 2008, respectively. After a 12-year run, the last stage musical closed its curtains in August.
Source: Muhyojo
this article has been modified since it was originally posted; see change history