since the release of the original game in 1996. This wish was greatly magnified after seeing the animation work of Production I.G, which was responsible for producing the anime FMV sequences in Sakura Wars 2: Thou Shalt Not Die. During production of Thou Shalt Not Die and its sequel Sakura Wars 3: Is Paris Burning?, Hiroi and Production I.G each voiced their wish to create a feature-length animated film, but Hiroi did not expect the project to come through. Production began in 1998, after Hiroi had long talks with King Records' Toshimichi Otsuki, who was given permission after positive discussions with Hiroi and series owners Sega and Red Company. The film was directed by Mitsuru Hongo, who had previously directed adaptations of Outlaw Star and The Candidate for Goddess. Otsuki served as executive producer. Hongo and Hiroi contributed to the script along with Hiroyuki Nishimura and Nobuhisa Terado. Original Sakura Wars scriptwriter Satoru Akahori served as the film's supervisor. The characters were designed by animation director Takuya Saito, based on the original designs by Kōsuke Fujishima and Hidenori Matsubara. The film was produced by Sega, Production I.G, Kadokawa Shoten and Imagica, and distributed by Toei Company. In June 2001, Sega revealed that the film's budget was Hiroi's wish for the film was to create an experience that neither the games nor other media such as the stage performances had been able to capture. Like their work on Sakura Wars 3, Production I.G used a fusion of traditional 2D animation with 3D CGI graphics in their then-new technique, "Neo-CGI". Hiroi originally wanted the entire project to be of a similar quality to the short cutscenes of Sakura Wars 3, but Production I.G said that it was impossible due to resource management becoming impractical. The original actors for returning characters featured in the film reprised their roles from the video games, including Chisa Yokoyama as Sakura Shinguji and Akio Suyama as Ichiro Ogami. The new character, Ratchet Altair, was voiced and sung by longtime stage and TV drama actress Akiko Kuno. This casting decision fell in line with Hiroi's wish for the Sakura Wars series cast, who had to have experience in voice acting, singing and stage work. Kuno was suggested to Hiroi by actor Shintarō Sonooka, who had worked with Hiroi on the Sakura Wars stage play (in which he portrayed Kosuke Dan) and with Kuno during an earlier period as