Takaaki Ishiyama's direction creates intrigue where the story fails to captivate. Stylized shots of nature hint at the world's intricate, yet cohesive, beauty paralleling how the girls of the Imperial Assault Unit work together as a whole.

The story follows its theme by portraying individual fragments that unite in the end. This fragmented narrative inadvertently creates bizarre story lines that defeat the initial intensity of writer Hiroyuki Kawasaki's vision.

Sakura's growth into a woman who can stand up for herself and Sumire's realization that she is not always the center of attention make wonderful character arcs. Since the A story concerns teamwork and the subplot mainly revolves around Sakura's development, the other characters in this "ensemble" piece play mostly peripheral roles.

Vibrant colors and picturesque nature scenes filled with amazing detail (individual droplets in a waterfall) make "Sakura Wars" worth watching.

The crisp banter clearly captures the rivalry between the girls. The explanation for why stage acting helps to do away with evil spirits needs more explaining.

The Russian and French accents are laughable, but the characters' vocal tones still convey compassion and sympathy rather than estrangement.

No blood and guts battles, just smoky explosions. Romantic interest springs up at the end but in a reserved and innocent fashion.

Not the usual meta-cinematic score, an explanation for "Sakura Wars" background music arrives when a giant blimp (filled with some sort of symphony) blasts the soundtrack over the city during an important battle against the demons.

Sickly sweet lessons learned make for sickly sweet happy endings.

Who needs an explanation of powers and their functions? Just be thankful that power invocation gets magnified by special armor...maybe.

Love it? Hate it? Buy it.