Adaptation Displacement: Big time! For a large number of older fans especially those who grew up in the late 90s and early 2000s and renters/buyers of ADV Films' products, plenty still only associate the Sakura Taisen IP with the OVAs and TV series and are completely unaware they started out as Sega video games. Practically everybody who been playing the video game Sakura Wars as early as before 2016 were introduced to the franchise via ADV's DVD releases.
Complete Monster: Aoi Satan is initially one of the Deathlords in the Hive of Darkness serving Priest Tenkai in attacks on Japan with powerful demons. In truth, Aoi Satan is the devil himself, having possessed the prideful warrior Shinnosuke Yamazaki years ago. Upon revealing himself as the true mastermind, Aoi Satan attempts to flood the world with demons to wipe out all that lives and rule the universe.
First Installment Wins: The original game is considered the most successful in the franchise. It had the most sales of a Sega-produced title up to its release date and eventually became the 13th best-selling title for the Sega Saturn with nearly 360,000 copies. Not to mention it won four awards at the first CESA Awards. The Imperial Combat Revue is also the group most players will remember.
Hilarious in Hindsight: Shanghai was one of the original Combat Revue candidates for the game, but it was scrapped in favor of the Imperial Combat Revue. Cut to Sakura Wars (2019), and Shanghai now has a Combat Revue of their own.
Considering that production on this game began two years before the original Japanese release of Pokemon Red and Green, the fact that the robots Kohran summons in her special move look like Magnemites with two eyes is pretty uncanny.
Les Yay: In the first game, Tsubaki has a crush on Maria.
Signature Scene: Sakura meeting up with Ogami in Ueno Park after he arrives in Tokyo for the first time.
Woolseyism: The Fan Translation changes the squad members' various nicknames for Ogami so that they could be easily conveyed to a western audience. Kohran's use of "Ogami-han" becomes "Chief", while Iris calls Ogami "Mon Frère" (The French term for "Brother", referencing her French nationality) instead of "Onii-chan", and Kanna calls Ogami "Boss" instead of "Taicho".
Instead of keeping Aoi Satan's name as is or directly translating it as "Blue Satan", the translation went with "Cerulean Satan" for Added Alliterative Appeal
