During a press conference in Tokyo's Roppongi district Sega gave an outlook at the further development of its popular Sakura Taisen series. The event clearly focused on Sakura Taisen V: Saraba Itoshiki Hito yo. As previously announced, series mastermind Ouji Hiroi revealed the five characters which will make up the game's New York-based Hoshigumi. Apart from Sakura Taisen V Episode 0: Arano no Samurai Musume protagonist Gemini Sunrise, the squad will feature Sachita Weinberg, Rikaritta Aries, Diana Capris and Taka Kujou. The successor of protagonist Ichirou Oogami is called Shinjirou Ookawa. Similiar to its prequels, Sakura Taisen V's story will unfold in a total of eight chapters. Series composer Kouhei Tanaka mentioned that the game's main theme will carry the title Chijou no Senshitachi. Despite being only 30% complete, Sega plans to show off the game during next month's Tokyo Game Show in playable form. Sakura Taisen V: Saraba Itoshiki Hito yo will be available in Japan in summer 2005.

For Christmas 2004, producer Hiroi has announced a new Diner Show featuring the girls from Paris Hanagumi, while the Teito Hanagumi will star in the New Year's show 2005. Following Sakura Taisen Atsuki Chishio Ni, Sega today revealed a second PlayStation 2 version of a previous series installment, by announcing a PlayStation 2 version of Sakura Taisen 3 for spring 2005. Additionally, the development teams at Sega WOW and Red Entertainment have started working on Sakura Taisen Monogatari Teito-hen for PlayStation 2. However, the game has yet to receive an official release date.

• SB Games