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Sengoku Basara

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This article is about the Sengoku BASARA franchise. For the first game in the series, see Devil Kings.

Sengoku BASARA (戦国BASARA) is a series of video games developed and published by Capcom, and a bigger media franchise based on it, including three anime shows, an anime movie, a magazine series, a trading card game, and numerous stage plays, manga, and drama CDs. Its story is loosely based on real events of the titular Sengoku period in the history of feudal Japan. Sengoku BASARA is very popular in Japan with the video games getting really good reviews and sales, winning numerous awards, being used in pop culture, and gaining a huge and strong fanbase.[1]

While Sengoku BASARA remains very popular in Japan, it has gained some popularity in Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. Even though the franchise isn't really known well outside of Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan (except for the anime series) it maintains a strong fanbase even outside of those countries (mainly the US, UK, Germany, Russia, and Italy). Every Sengoku BASARA game in Japan has gotten a B rating (Ages 12 and up) except for Sengoku BASARA 3 Utage which got a C rating (Ages 15 and up) from CERO. The franchise started with the first Sengoku BASARA video game on July 21, 2005 for the PlayStation 2.

The franchise's producer is Hiroyuki Kobayashi (who has been the producer for every game in the series except for Sengoku BASARA Sanada Yukimura-Den, and is the creator of the franchise) and its director is Makoto Yamamoto (who has been the director for every game in the series except for Sengoku BASARA Sanada Yukimura-Den). As of September 30, 2018, the game series has sold 4 million units worldwide.[2]

Games

Sengoku BASARA (Devil Kings)

Main article: Devil Kings

The original game in the series was released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2 (PS2) as a hack and slash, action game. Devil Kings, an English-language version of the game, featured altered gameplay and a completely different, supposedly more western audience-oriented fantasy story with original characters. It was never used again due to the negative response the localization received from fans, critics, and consumers.

Sengoku BASARA 2

Sengoku BASARA 2 is a sequel to the original Sengoku BASARA, released for the PS2, only in Japan, on July of 2006. The game was ported to the Wii in 2007. An expansion titled, Sengoku BASARA 2 Heroes, was released in 2007. The game marks the series' first anniversary and is also considered to have started the "Sengoku Boom" throughout Japan, which is still happening even today.[1] The Sengoku Boom is basically a time period that sparked a renewed interest in the history of Japan (mostly the Sengoku period of feudal Japan, hence the name) where people in Japan go to museums, castles, and battlefields to learn about their favorite Sengoku BASARA character(s) real life history, buy merchandise related to the game series and the Sengoku period, and buy video games involving the Sengoku period (mostly Sengoku BASARA).

Sengoku BASARA 2 Heroes

Sengoku BASARA 2 Heroes is an expansion to Sengoku BASARA 2, and is the first expansion in the series. The game was released for the PS2 on November, 2007, and ported to the Wii later the same year. Characters that were unplayable in the previous game, Sengoku BASARA 2, are playable in Sengoku BASARA 2 Heroes. The game sparked a major boom in tourism to the hometown of Katakura Kojūrō, Shiroishi City.[3]

Sengoku BASARA X

Sengoku Basara X is a 2D fighting game developed by both Capcom, and Arc System Works, creators of the Guilty Gear and BlazBlue series, in 2008 for Japanese arcades and ported to the PS2 later the same year.

Sengoku BASARA Battle Heroes

A 2009 PSP-exclusive title. The game is a spin-off of the series.

Sengoku BASARA 3 (Sengoku BASARA Samurai Heroes)

Main article: Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes

The third game in the main series and sequel to Sengoku BASARA 2, released in 2010 for the PlayStation 3 and Wii. The first game in the series to be localized outside of Japan since the original game. An expansion titled, Sengoku BASARA 3 Utage, was released in 2011. The game marks the series' fifth anniversary. The game currently ranks as the best-selling Sengoku BASARA game in the series (before this game, it was originally Sengoku BASARA 2).

Sengoku BASARA Chronicle Heroes

Released for the PSP in Japan on July 21, 2011.[4] The game serves as a sequel to Sengoku BASARA Battle Heroes.

Sengoku BASARA 3 Utage

Released for the PS3 and Wii in Japan on November 11, 2011. The game serves as an expansion to Sengoku BASARA 3. Characters that were unplayable in the previous game, Sengoku BASARA Samurai Heroes, are playable in Sengoku BASARA 3 Utage. Utage is Japanese for Party.

Sengoku BASARA HD Collection

Released for the PS3 in Japan on August, 2012. Comes with Sengoku BASARA, Sengoku BASARA 2, and Sengoku BASARA 2 Heroes in HD. Was originally rumored, by some, to be the final game in the series during early 2013.[citation needed]

Sengoku BASARA 4

Main article: Sengoku Basara 4

The fourth game in the main series. It was released on January 23, 2014 for the PS3. The game serves as a mixture of a sequel to Sengoku BASARA 3, and a reboot of the series to get new fans into the series without having to play the previous games. A complete edition titled, Sengoku BASARA 4 Sumeragi, was released in 2015.

Sengoku BASARA 4 Sumeragi

Released for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 in Japan on July 23, 2015. The game is the first Sengoku BASARA game to be developed for the PS4, and is also the first game to be developed by Capcom for the PS4.[5] The game comes with all of the content in Sengoku BASARA 4 and a lot of new content, and the game is said to come with the most content in any game in the series. The game marks the series' tenth anniversary. Characters that were unplayable in the previous game, Sengoku BASARA 4, are playable in Sengoku BASARA 4 Sumeragi. Sumeragi is Japanese for Emperor.

Sengoku BASARA Sanada Yukimura-Den

A spin-off game focusing on the life of one of the series' main protagonists, Sanada Yukimura, released in Japan for the PS3 and PS4 on August 25, 2016. This is the first and only game in the series to not have Hiroyuki Kobayashi and Makoto Yamamoto involved. The game currently ranks as the worst-selling Sengoku BASARA game in the series (before this game, it was originally Sengoku BASARA X). Sanada Yukimura-Den is Japanese for The Legend of Sanada Yukimura.

Adaptations

The Sengoku BASARA franchise has had several different forms of media.

Notably, an anime series was planned and written by Yasuyuki Muto. The first season, Sengoku BASARA, started broadcast in April 2009.[6] The series' second season, titled Sengoku BASARA II, began broadcast in July 2010. Furthermore, a movie finale titled Sengoku BASARA -The Last Party- was released in 2011.[7][8] Both anime adaptations were licensed and published in the United States by Funimation under the titles, Sengoku BASARA Samurai Kings, Sengoku BASARA Samurai Kings 2, and Sengoku BASARA Samurai Kings -The Last Party-. An anime based on Sengoku BASARA Samurai Heroes titled, Sengoku BASARA Judge End, was broadcast in 2014 and licensed in the United States by Funimation under the title, Sengoku BASARA End of Judgement. Another anime titled, Gakuen BASARA, based on the Gakuen BASARA manga series, started broadcasting in October, 2018, and is still running on Japanese Television.

Several manga adaptations of the series were serialized in manga magazines, and later released in tankōbon format in Japan. A manga adaptation of the second game was created by Yak Haibara. The four volume series, Sengoku BASARA 2, was published in Japan from 2007-2009. It was published in the United States from 2012-2013 by UDON under the title Sengoku BASARA Samurai Legends.[9] The title change was due to the Sengoku BASARA 2 video game not being released in the United States.[10] Kairi Shimotsuki created the first manga adaptation of the series, based on the first game, which was titled, Sengoku BASARA Ranse Ranbu, and was released as a three volume series in 2006.

Radio shows have been produced with the first series being released on four CD volumes. A stage play based on Sengoku BASARA 3 was announced on July 17, 2011 in Japan and ran later in 2011 from October 14 to October 30, and was later released on DVD in Japan on February 23, 2012. Even though it was the third stage play that Capcom has done for the series, it is considered to be the beginning of the Sengoku BASARA stage plays success and popularity in Japan with the later stage plays in the series gaining even more success and popularity while the original first two stage plays weren't as successful and popular. There has been a total of 16 stage plays in the series as of 2018 with Capcom doing 1-2 per year (1 in 2009, 1 in 2010, 1 in 2011, 2 in 2012, 2 in 2013, 2 in 2014, 1 in 2015, 2 in 2016, 2 in 2017, and 2 in 2018). A live-action television drama titled Sengoku BASARA Moonlight Party premiered on July 12, 2012 on the Mainichi Broadcasting System.[11]

A large range of merchandise has been created for the series, including books, CD soundtracks, drama CDs, radio CDs, trading cards, and figures.

References

  1. ^ CAPCOM | Game Series Sales
  2. ^ Takayoshi, Yamamura (2017). "Pop culture contents and historical heritage: case of heritage revitalization through 'contents tourism' in Shiroishi city". Contemporary Japan. 30 (2): 144–163. doi:10.1080/18692729.2018.1460049.
  3. ^ "CAPCOM：戦国BASARA CHRONICLE HEROES | 戦国バサ クロニクルヒーローズ 公式サイト". Capcom.co.jp. Retrieved 2011-05-03.
  4. ^ "Sengoku BASARA 4 Sumeragi Development Anecdote". Capcom. February 26, 2016.
  5. ^ "戦国BASARA - On Air" (in Japanese). Capcom. Retrieved 2009-04-24.
  6. ^ http://www.basara-movie2011.com/index2.html
  7. ^ [Official Trailer] Sengoku BASARA -The Last Party-
  8. ^ "UDON Fans! 6 New Books In Stores Today!". UDON Entertainment. April 18, 2012. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
  9. ^ Haibara, Yak. Sengoku BASARA Samurai Legends. UDON. P. 8
  10. ^ "GACKT to star in live-action show of Sengoku BASARA game series". Anime News Network. June 16, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2012.
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