Sakura Wars Mechatalk: Sakura Taisen 2 - Maria Tachibana

 3rd time is the charm and we are almost halfway through the Sakura Taisen 2 Heroines mechatalk! This time the series will feature the Vice Captain of Teikoku Kagekidan herself, Maria Tachibana! While her story arc has pretty much wrapped up in Sakura Taisen 1, Maria still serve as the ever reliable member of Teikoku Kagekidan providing reliable assistance for Captain Ogami  throughout the Span of Sakura Taisen 2.

 Born as Half-Russian Japanese, Maria Tachibana one of the most calm and collected member of Teikoku Kagekidan, easily maintaining her composure during combat. She is a skilled marksman and her Koubu equipments reflects as such, armed with High Calibre rifle and Machine Gun. Before joining Teikoku Kagekidan, Maria had a rather rough life as she joins Russian Revolution in her teens and losing her lover in the process then briefly led a life of crime utilising her spiritual power until Ayame Fujieda scouted her to join Teikoku Kagekidan. 

Before Ogami joins Teikoku Kagekidan, Maria served as the leader of the group because she is the most mature member of the group however in the end she fails in bringing Teikoku Kagekidan perform in full capacity due to the members constantly bickering at least until Ogami arrives. When Ogami takes over the leadership role, Maria resents Ogami at first feeling due to uncertain if Ogami is fit to be a leader. However Ogami eventually gains Maria's trust after selflessly went his way to save her after being kidnapped by one of the Black Society Liutenants. From there on Maria assist Ogami faithfully in her capacity as the Teikoku Kagekidan Vice Captain.

In Sakura Taisen 2, after going through the adversities in Sakura Taisen 1, Maria has already automatically trust Ogami and early in the game she is unavailable for a time as she went on diplomatic errand for Teikoku Kagekidan, maintaining the relationships of the Elite organization backers. In ST2 you will get to see Maria's blushing expression more if Ogami flirts a lot with her much to the disdain of other Teikoku Kagekidan's waifus.

 In Sakura Taisen 2, Maria played a significant role in Chapter 5 where Teikoku Kagekidan went on Summer holiday trip. During this particular trip, Maria found out someone broke the Kinematron, the portable radio communication tool in the shape of travelling case. Detecting some kind of sinister plan waiting to trap them, Ogami and Maria went on investigation which they reach upon seaside cave. In this cave, Maria and Ogami discovered a communication tool used by Black Demon Society. With her ingenuity in deception, Maria found out the ploy to trap Teikoku Kagekidan leaving them defenseless by denying Koubu access by cutting off the comunication mean with HQ. Through this event, Ogami is one step closer to track the double agent that Infiltrate Teikoku Kagekidan.

In this encounter, the player had the opportunity to gain Maria's affection significantly by proving Ogami to be a capable leader and caring enough with Maria to trust Ogami when escaping the submerged cave despite the latter is incapable of swimming. Even one of the best member of Teikoku Kagekidan still has her weakness.

  After the Chapter 5 ends, Maria pretty much plays the role in the background unless the player choose her as the main heroine. In her route story, Ogami accompanies Maria on her regular trip to meet Count Hanakoji, one of Yoneda's old friend and a major backer of Teikoku Kagekidan. During this trip, Ogami has some touching moment in comforting Maria to keep finding new reasons to live despite have been facing many tragedy and sorrow.

 Maria unfortunately is one of the Heroine that I lose so many progress in Sakura Taisen 2 thus her CG won't be as much as other Heroine which is unfortunate since her Miracle Bell outfit is actually one of the better. Regardless Maria will be one of the Heroine that I will give priority to finish her route early when I play Sakura Taisen 4. Despite Sakura Taisen series has lost its popularity for a long time already, Maria Tachibana is most likely the character that give rise to the popularity of Half Russian/Japanese waifus like Anastasia from Idolmaster or Eli Ayase from Love Live and many others, given the Japanese preference of Exotic Blondes with local qualities which this stereotype provide.