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Video Game / Sakura Wars 2: Thou Shalt Not Die
aka: Sakura Wars 2

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Sakura Wars 2: Thou Shalt Not Die is the second installment in Sega's Sakura Wars series, the first game in the series to involve Production I.G (with Bee Train as assistants) and the last Sakura Wars game on the Sega Saturn. First released for the Saturn in 1998, it has since been ported to the Dreamcast in 2000, as well as Windows computers from 2001 to 2007 and the PlayStation Portable in 2006 along with the first game.

One year after their battle with Aoi Satan and the Hive of Darkness, the Imperial Assault Force's Flower Division is called into action once again to fight the Black Demons, a new evil force that threatens Tokyo. Along the way, the Flower Division gains two new recruits, the Japanese-Italian actress Orihime Soletta, and the German tactical wunderkind Leni Milchstraße.

The game featured improved battle and dialogue functions, which expanded the CD-ROM disc size from two to three. It also introduced two modes for the LIPS system: Timing LIPS (in which an option is removed or added depending on the wait time) and Double LIPS (in which you have to do certain sequences within an extended time limit).

The game subsequently released in Russian for the PC for Russia and Russian-speaking countries/territories.

A direct sequel to the game was released in 2001, titled Sakura Wars 3: Is Paris Burning?. An OVA series, Sakura Wars: The Radiant Gorgeous Blooming Cherry Blossoms, was released in 1999 and set in the interval between Sakura Wars and Thou Shalt Not Die.


Thou Shalt Not Die provides examples of:

  • Actually a Doombot: In Chapter 10, Kyogoku's death during the failed coup on the Great Imperial Theatre actually turned out to be a body double so he can resurrect the Musashi.
  • All There in the Manual: The Taisho Roman Route - New Chapter stories that were available on Red Entertainment's "Dragon-za" official website explains some plot points that took place during the events of the game (such as Michika Hoshino being the only hope for the Dream Division and Juro Suzuno being a major player in the battle between the Black Demons and the Imperial Combat Revue).
  • All Your Base Are Belong to Us: The Imperial Japanese Army instigates an invasion of the Great Imperial Theatre in Chapter 8. Fortunately, the Flower Division thwarts their plans before the Theatre can be fully taken.
  • And the Adventure Continues: The game ends with Ichiro Ogami being sent overseas to Paris to lead a new Flower Division there.
  • Back for the Dead: Shinnosuke Yamazaki is revived at the beginning of the story, only to be defeated by the Flower Division and killed by the Demon King/Kazuma Shinguji in Chapter 1.
  • Back from the Dead: As it turns out, the Demon King is actually a revived Kazuma Shinguji, who is Sakura's late father.
  • Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: The one who ends up killing Shinnosuke Yamazaki in Chapter 1 is the Demon King/Kazuma Shinguji.
  • Better to Die than Be Killed: Once Suiko is overpowered by the heroes in chapter 6, she decides to blow up her mecha and kill herself.
  • Big Bad: This time around, Keigo Kyogoku is responsible for all of the danger in the game and the Flower Division stopping his plan is their main mission as a team.
  • Bittersweet Ending: Keigo Kyogoku is dead, the Musashi is destroyed, the Black Demons are no more and Tokyo is safe once again. But Kazuma Shinguji sacrifices himself for good to save his daughter Sakura in the Final Battle and Ichiro Ogami has to leave for Paris.
  • Canon Immigrant: Wakana Shinguji and Tadayoshi Kanzaki from the first OVA make brief appearances in this game.
  • Casting Gag: As with Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki, Akio Ōtsuka and Yoshiko Sakakibara voice the parents of one of the game's main heroines.
  • Darker and Edgier: The game's storyline has more darker elements as opposed to its predecessor, like including more tragic scenarios for the main characters.
  • Dark Reprise: Kasha's assault in chapter 7 contains a sad reprise of Orihime's leitmotif.
  • Does Not Like Men: Orihime understandably resents men ever since her father, Seiya Ogata, abandoned her to pursue his work as an artist since her maternal grandfather disliked the idea of him marrying her mother. Orihime does eventually get over it by the time Ogami reunites her with Ogata in chapter 7.
  • Does This Remind You of Anything?: Kyogoku's attempted coup was inspired by the February 26 Incident, in which the radical factions of the Imperial Japanese Army attempted to establish an ultranationalist military government on February 26, 1936, but failed three days later thanks to the efforts of the army, the Imperial Japanese Navy and the royal family.
  • Downer Ending:
    • Some of the levels can end in this manner if you fail your objectives. For example, chapter 7 may end with Ogami failing to defuse the bomb to save Orihime and Ogata, killing them; and chapter 11 may end with the Mikasa's engines being destroyed or Tsuchi-gumo jumping into the exhaust port to blow the ship up, both killing everyone instantly.
    • Chapter 10 ends with Kyogoku's resurrection of the Musashi.
  • Dropped a Bridge on Him: Shinnosuke Yamazaki is unceremoniously killed in one fell swoop by the Demon King after battling the Flower Division.
  • Dying Curse: Yamazaki curses Tokyo after he gets Impaled with Extreme Prejudice by the Demon King (aka Kazuma Shinguji) at the end of chapter 1.
  • Dying Moment of Awesome: Kazuma Shinguji sacrificing himself again to save Sakura from Keigo Kyogoku's blast as an act or redemption.
  • Evil Old Folks: Mokujiki is 99 years old and works for the Black Demons.
  • Extra-Long Episode: With 13 chapters, this is the longest video game in the Sakura Wars series as of 2020.
  • Family-Unfriendly Death:
    • The Demon King runs his sword through Yamazaki, with the latter coughing up blood.
    • Kyogoku gets killed by Ogami's sword, causing him to disintegrate into dust.
  • From Bad to Worse: In the second half of the game, Kyogoku has the IJA launch a coup d'etat on Tokyo. The Flower Division's efforts to stop the coup fail when Kyogoku has a body double commit suicide so that he can revive the Musashi. Then he brings down the Musashi on Tokyo to cause utter chaos. And all of this happens just before the Final Battle.
  • Godzilla Threshold: Towards the end of the game, Yoneda and the Imperial Combat Revue have no choice but to use the Mikasa again to stop Kyogoku from achieving his goal as the new Emperor of Japan and bringing down the Musashi on Tokyo.
  • Heroic Sacrifice:
    • Subverted by Maria in Chapter 5. While trying to escape the cave as it fills up with water, Maria intends to sacrifice herself to let Ogami out to reunite with his friends, but Ogami decides to help her out of the cave.
    • Kazuma Shinguji dies after taking Kyogoku's blast meant for Sakura towards the end of the game.
  • Hope Spot: Sakura and Ogami destroy the crystal in the Musashi to clear out the demons. Unfortunately for them, Kyogoku summons another demon army to fight them.
  • "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: During the final battle with the Demon King, Sakura tries to get him to remember that he's her father. It turns out to be successful when his mask is destroyed.
  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: When Shinnosuke Yamazaki is defeated by the Flower Division, he gets brutally stabbed in the back by the Demon King.
  • It's a Wonderful Failure: Failing certain objectives during battles will show you the consequences of your actions:
    • If you fail to save all seven engines on the Mikasa, the ship will be destroyed.
    • If you don't stop Tsuchi-gumo in time, she will jump into the Mikasa's central vent.
  • It's Personal: At the beginning of Chapter 7, Kongo personally decides to take on the Flower Division for their involvement in Suiko's death.
  • Killed Off for Real:
    • Shinnosuke Yamazaki gets permanently killed off by the Demon King at the end of the first chapter.
    • At the end of the game, the Demon King (aka Kazuma Shinguji) dies for good when he takes the full force of Kyogoku's blast meant for Sakura.
  • Load-Bearing Boss: Since Kyogoku's mecha, the Shinno, is directly connected to the Musashi, the lair collapses when Kyogoku is killed by Ogami.
  • Make Way for the New Villains: Shinnosuke Yamazaki is killed by the Demon King at the end of Chapter 1.
  • Making a Splash: Suiko's main element is water.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In the third episode, telling Kanna to break down the Kanzaki mansion gate will inadvertently allow Tsuchigumo's reinforcement to come flooding through later on, making the battle against her even harder if the player has chosen to prioritize the evacuation of civilians.
  • One-Hit Kill: If you take too long to kill Tsuchi-gumo in chapter 11, she will jump into the Mikasa's central vent and kill you instantly along with everyone else.
  • Papa Wolf: Despite serving as The Dragon, Kazuma Shinguji puts himself in harm's way at the end of the game when Kyogoku attempts to kill Sakura.
  • Playing with Fire: Kasha can control fire to the point that he can destroy buildings.
  • Post-Defeat Explosion Chain: After Ogami deals the final blow on Kyogoku, the Musashi is wrecked by quite a few explosions before the Imperial Combat Revue is rescued by the Mikasa.
  • Ramming Always Works: Yoneda rams the Mikasa into the Musashi so that the Imperial Combat Revue can infiltrate the lair and kill Kyogoku.
  • Rearrange the Song: The game features an updated version of the series' main theme, "Geki! Teikoku Kagekidan", with an additional verse written by Oji Hiroi.
  • Recycled Soundtrack:
    • The nighttime theme from the 1996 game is given an updated version in the game.
    • "Blooming Maidens", the ending theme to the 1996 game, is given a new rendition when Ogami leaves for Paris.
    • The Final Battle music is an updated version of the one used in the first OVA, The Gorgeous Blooming Cherry Blossoms.
  • Reforged into a Minion: Kyogoku revived Kazuma Shinguji and reforged him into the Demon King.
  • Relative Button: Kyogoku attempting to kill Sakura is what causes Kazuma to shield her from the blast, but at the cost of his own life.
  • Sequel Hook: At the end of the game, Ōgami departs for Paris. See you when Sakura Wars 3: Is Paris Burning? comes out!
  • The Stinger: In the post-credits chapter, Ōgami gets an assignment from Paris and departs to lead a new combat revue there.
  • Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: Shinnosuke Yamazaki/Aoi Satan, the main antagonist of the original game, is abruptly killed off by the Demon King in the first chapter.
  • Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Kaede Fujieda stands in for her late sister, Ayame, as the assistant commander.
  • Taking the Bullet: By the end of the game, the now-redeemed Kazuma shields Sakura and takes Kyogoku's lethal blast for her.
  • Time-Limit Boss: Quite a few bosses have time limits that trigger an instant Game Over if you let the timer run out:
    • If you don't defuse Kasha's bomb in time, Orihime and Ogata will be killed, forcing you to restart the level.
    • If you take too long to kill Tsuchi-gumo aboard the Mikasa, she enters the central vent and kills everyone aboard instantly.
    • Also, if all seven Mikasa engines get destroyed, the ship explodes and everyone dies.
  • Time Skip: The game takes place one year after the events of the original game.
  • Trash the Set: The Musashi is eventually destroyed after the Flower Division destroys the Shinno, causing Kyogoku to disintegrate as a result.
  • Triumphant Reprise: The main theme has a reprise when the Imperial Combat Revue instigates a final battle against Kyogoku.
  • Unsettling Gender-Reveal: During the Flower Division's vacation, Ogami is about to take a bath in the hot springs. When he sees Leni in the bath, it turns out that the latter is not a guy, but a girl. Cue an Oh, Crap! when Leni makes him aware of this.
  • You Can't Thwart Stage One: Despite their valiant efforts in Chapter 10, the Flower Division is too late to stop Kyogoku's resurrection of the Musashi.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Kyogoku has no problem with deeming his henchmen as liabilities if they're no longer needed in his Evil Plan. Just ask Suiko or Kazuma (aka the Demon King).

Alternative Title(s): Sakura Wars 2

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