Tokyo Game Show 2019 has started and is lasting from September 12 to 15. Sega is holding one Sakura Taisen related stage event a day. Today, two new trailers, four gameplay videos and more characters for Project Sakura Wars were revealed. Sega didn't officially upload the gameplay videos shown on stream, so you'll have to make do with my recordings. I'll add timestamped links to the original stream when it becomes archived and fully accessible.
Update: I've added the timestamps.
(Original stream timestamp) First off, we got to see new gameplay introducing Kaoru Rindou, Sumire's secretary. Kaoru is voiced by Yui Ishikawa, who was present at the event along with Producer Tetsu Katano. As already detailed in the past. Kaoru is a huge Sumire fangirl and literally thinks working for Sumire is the best thing ever. We also see how she manages the Imperial Theather and the Imperial Assault Force's funds. She mentions Seijuro's Mugen (his mecha) cost them everything, so now they have no budget, meaning no food, shocking everyone.
Next, they revealed the pilot suits and the Spirit Particle Fighters for Azami and Anastasia. Each one of them got some battle gameplay videos shown as well:
(Original stream timestamp) Anastasia is both long-ranged and close-ranged. She uses ice-based attacks. She can also stay in the air and freefall using her umbrella.
(Original stream timestamp) Azami is the same and can either fight in close-range or throw her kunai. Producer Katano mentioned she's one of the best anti-air character and the best AOE character with her ultimate move, which has a huge range.
Next, a new character named Yasha was introduced. Yasha is a "mysterious masked woman" voiced by Chisa Yokoyama, who voices Sakura Shinguji in the Sakura Taisen games. In her message, Chisa Yokoyama mentioned the multiple occasions she had to act as a seiyuu recently, thanks to all the new Sakura Taisen events. She said she's looking forward to seeing the story's developments ingame.
A gameplay introduction video for Yasha was shown on stream as well:
(Original stream timestamp) Yasha is looking for an item called the Imperial Key. Her official description also states she looks similar to Sakura. Her sword looks similar as well. Producer Katano didn't hint at whether this is really Sakura Shinguji or not and only mentioned Yasha is an advanced Kouma.
Yasha's mecha, Shinmetsu, was introduced as well. Katano said they wanted to make it look as cool as possible even if it's an enemy, confirming we fight her at some point. I wouldn't be surprised if other former characters end up appearing this way as well. Them turning evil because of some evil influence would explain why they disappeared for all these years after the great Kouma war.
Next, they introduced the Berlin Assault Force characters with another gameplay video (Original stream timestamp):
Here are their translated profiles:
Eris, 18 years old. Eris is the leader of the Berlin Assault Force, which is also nicknamed the Schwarzstern. Eris is voiced by Nana Mizuki. Katano mentioned she's the sole female Assault Force leader in the game. As far as I know, she's also the first-ever female leader in the Sakura Taisen series.
Eris is a resolute and firm woman who flawlessly executes even the most difficult missions. She is taciturn, has an iron will and excellent leadership skills. She also holds an interest in Japanese culture, and she gets extremely moved when watching Kabuki.
Katano mentioned how Germany is developing the best Spirit Particle Fighters, so Eris wants to win the tournament at all costs to prove her country's superiority.
Next, we have Margaret, 15 years old. Margaret is a genius and the strategist of the Schwarzstern. She's also a very frank girl, who always says what's on her mind. Most of her strategies are considered impossible, and only the Schwarzstern can carry them out perfectly.
Margaret is voiced by Rie Kugimiya, who pretty much voiced every post-2000 popular twintails tsundere. Katano mentioned Margaret has a huge emphasis on the tusn part of tsundere. To the point that most players won't ever get to see her melt and act cute in their whole playthrough. This pretty much confirms all the rival Assault Force characters have their own optional sub-events too.
Eris and Margaret were designed by Strike Witches and Girls und Panzer's character designer Fumikane Shimada. Along with multiple other artists, such as Komatsu Eiji, Shimada is considered one of the pioneers in the modern way of designer Mecha Musume characters.
Katano said Fumikane Shimada was the obvious choice to design military girls from Germany. In his message, Shimada said he was quite happy to get this opportunity, seeing he's a fan of the series. When he worked on the designs, the main characters designed by Kubo were already complete, so he tried to bring out his own touch with his characters as well.
These are the Spirit Particle Fighters piloted by Eris and Margaret. They're called the Eisenyeager. Katano mentioned they're based on the Eisenkleid, which were piloted by Leni, Orihime, and Ratchet in past games; This makes me hope even more for a Ratchet comeback just like Sumire. At that point, Katano also made a really fun reference to Bleach's Aizen Sousuke. Katano was on fire on the stream and pretty much kept doing stuff like that. He also mentioned the brands and works of the artists on the game, like saying "Ken Sugimori is from Pokemon". They usually never explicitly say the name of unrelated brands like that on Japanese game streams or radio shows.
Katano then mentioned that all the Assault Forces in the game got revealed, meaning they can finally reveal the game's story trailer:
The trailer reintroduces all the characters we've seen so far. It also shows characters who weren't introduced, like a white-haired man voiced by Ryōtarō Okiayu. This character mentions how the "Assault Force system is obsolete" so he's probably the one behind the decision to disband the Imperial Assault Force.
It's also worth noting the trailer is narrated by the beautiful deep voice of Tomokazu Sugita, who also voices Reiji the mechanic. Katano mentioned he saw how much Sugita loves the series, hence why he let him handle the trailers' narration. Sugita was really surprised and really happy about it.
Next, they showed a new gameplay trailer:
The trailer is extremely tongue-in-cheek and hilarious to watch if you know the series; Completly clashing with the suave voice of Sugita, it shows tons of funny scenes, like Seijuro reenacting "I can't resist, my body is moving towards the baths on its own" iconic scenes Ogami used to do. The LIPS system is shown in action too. As usual, not picking a choice is a choice in itself, as Seijuro will stay silent. The characters' physical reactions change greatly depending on your answers too, a huge evolution for the series as it always used 2D portraits until now. Then we've got that hilarious scene with the player maxing the Analog LIPS to control's Seijuro's voice, which makes him scream a marriage proposal to Anastasia. They were probably while rehearsing some roles.
The trailer also reveals the tournament's battles will be playable as well. It seems to be a mix between a normal fight and a time-attack like battle, where the team who defeats the most enemies win.
The trailer also reveals that just like in past games, characters with high trust will unlock combination attacks, and these attacks have anime cutscenes.
Two short commercials were published as well, you can find them below. You can also read our summaries of the previous Shin Sakura Taisen streams: first stream, the second stream (part 2) and the third stream. You can also check the info from the game's demo event.
This is all for now. The Sakura Taisen series is getting one stream a day at TGS 2019, so we'll be back with more coverage tomorrow.
Project Sakura Wars will be the best game of 2019 as it releases on December 12 in Japan, and the best game of 2020 as it releases next spring in the west.