サクラ大戦2　〜君、死にたもうことなかれ〜 (C)SEGA ENTERPRISES, LTD., 1996, 1998 (C)RED 1996, 1998 サクラ大戦　〜桜花絢爛〜 (C)1997　SEGA ENTERPRISES, LTD. ・BANDAI VISUAL・ ANIMATE FILM (C)RED 1996, 1997

■Comment RED COMPANY INC. , Yasuaki Nagoshi

Hello. I am Nagoshi [name] of Red Company. Thank you for this honor. The executive producer of the Sakura series, Oji Hiroi, would be here to accept this award, but now that we have Sakura 2 and the OVA behind us, we're gearing up for the next project in the Sakura series and his schedule did not permit his attendance here today. So here I am in his place. Sakura 1 came out in 1996, but the project itself goes back two to three years before that, so the work was the result of a long maturation period. The series started with a computer game, and then Sakura 1 came out, and thanks to your support the series has, miraculously, turned into a major hit. A leading factor in this success has been the enormous efforts of the people at Sega, who are also represented here today, while the OVA version which was on sale from late last year through this year was made possible by the efforts of the people at Bandai Visual, and it's thanks to all of them that the Sakura world has grown as big as it has. I would like to express my gratitude to them here, on behalf of the entire Sakura series. With regard to Sakura, although the OVA version obviously includes a lot of animation, even the games incorporate close to 30 minutes of animation. As new hardware comes out, the software will begin to include computer graphics and other technologies, but I believe that animation as a technique is indispensable in terms of the softness, or flexibility, of its expression. So I think Sakura 3, which is what I suppose the next Sakura work will be called, will certainly include animation as well. I know there's a lot of young people here today, so let me say that I for one am sure that animation will find various new modes of expression in future: it will definitely not die out. There will be many venues for you to work in the animation field, so study hard and go for it! Thank you very much.

■Awards Screening Criteria

"サクラ大戦2 〜君、死にたもうことなかれ〜" is a hit adventure game that came out on April 4, 1998 as a Sega Saturn Killer Title. Character design, scenario, computer graphic animation and game design are all at a very high level, and merge together seamlessly in a vivid demonstration of package media's possibilities. It would hardly be an exaggeration to say that 1998 came along just for "サクラ大戦". Indeed, Hiroi Oji's Sakura world reaches beyond the games to include an OVA-version "サクラ大戦 〜桜花絢爛〜", which traces events up to the formation of the "花組", and performances of the musical, "サクラ大戦 〜花咲く乙女〜". In recognition of these achievements, and looking forward to upcoming projects in the series, the judges give this award to the "サクラ大戦" games.

Susumu Asaka Editor in Chief, CD-ROM Fan magazine