Sakura Wars

is a Japanese media franchise created by Ouji Hiroi, and is developed and owned by Sega and licensed by Red Entertainment and Sega. The various OVA tie-ins, the animated TV series, and the motion picture were licensed in North America by ADV Films, Funimation, and Geneon (previously Pioneer Entertainment). The manga version, previously serialized in Kodansha's Magazine Z and now in Magazine Great, is also released in English by Tokyopop before it ceased a majority of its operations.

Plot
Sakura travels to the capital with aspirations of defending the city from the demonic forces of the Black Sanctum Council like her father before her. However, things are not as she imagined as in addition to using her great spiritual energy to pilot a mech called a Kobu, she must also perform on stage as an actor, as The Imperial Flower Division's cover is an art theater. Making a fool of herself and ruining a production gets her on everyone's bad side, and somehow she must learn to work with them as well as prevent the enemy from destroying several shrines which protect the city.