Sakura Wars OVA Collection
Based on a popular Sega game, the OVA ofSakura Warsis set in the  1920s, when demons are attacking Tokyo. To combat them, Kanzaki Heavy  Industries has developed theOobu, a low-techmechaarmor  powered by "spiritual energy." Sumire Kanzaki, the arrogant granddaughter of the owner,  is the first to control the armor successfully. She's  immediately taken into the Imperial Floral Assault Unit, charged with  defending the capitol. She's joined by karate champion Kanna Kirishima,  sharpshooter Maria Tachibana, psychic Iris Chateaubriand, klutzy gadgeteer Ri  Kohran, and sword fighter Sakura Shinguji. The arrival of their male  commander, Ichiro Ohgami, a comic cute guy in theTenchi Muyomold,  inflames tensions and rivalries. When they're not quarreling, the members of  the Floral Unit put on plays, which somehow increases their spiritual energy.  The threat of the assault by demons who resemble the monster inAliengets derailed as the girls defeat a Russian murderer and his steam-poweredmecha, and the ghost of a silent film star. Even the plays fall by the  wayside when Sakura leaves Tokyo to attend a cousin's wedding, and the rest  of the Unit follows, convinced they have to save her from an arranged  marriage.Sakura Warssuffers from a surfeit of characters and an  underdeveloped plot--and the hokey European accents the voice actors affect  don't help. (Rated 7 and older, but more appropriate for 12 and older:  violence, minor profanity, alcohol and tobacco use)--Charles Solomon