As many of you know, Sakura Revolution is coming to an end. On April 22, the official Sakura Revolution website announced that they will be shutting the service down on June 30. Once the servers go dark, the app will effectively become lost media, erasing the entirety of Taisho 100, outside of the Internet Archive, a few YouTube videos, and the Sakura Wars fandom’s collective memory.
HOWEVER!
I refuse to entertain this idea, that we’re the type to just let things fade away. The Sakura Wars fanbase is one of the most resilient around, finding hope even in the darkest of hours. Since the series’ 1996 debut, we evangelized, we imported, we straight-up wrote translation guides to help newcomers. There’s a very real adoration for the series, and deep down, I know that we won’t be content to let this slice of the Taisho era simply fade away.
Or, at the very least, we won’t let this Katamari of adorable dorks disappear.
With that in mind, The Combat Revue Review is officially announcing the Sakura Revolution Archival Project: an effort to archive as much of Sakura Kakumei: Hana Saku Otome-tachi as possible, before everything is pulled down on June 30. From there, the files will be disseminated to the Internet Archive, and to every single outlet that is willing to maintain an archive of their own.
This includes:
- Gameplay screenshots of all in-game dialogue
- YouTube video archives
- Art archives from the Sakura Revolution website and social media accounts
- Archives of the manga chapters listed on the Sakura Revolution website
- Anything I’m forgetting
For now, all I can safely say is “Stay tuned to this space for more details.”
The odds are daunting, and the project is, well… yeah. There’s still a lot to unpack. However, I know that we can do this.
Alright! You can do it! Do your best! Yeah! We’re unstoppable! We can’t stop!
Everyone, everyone, everyone’s hearts come together as one!
