An updated map of the Sangokuden world from the official website.
The next time you visit the website, I'm sure it will be even more crowded ^^
From the map above, you can see that the different forces are getting more clearly defined. When I visited the website when it was initially launched, the characters look more like wanderers in an online game XD. Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei occupy the North East, and the Rebellion of Huang Jin resides on the West. Dong Zhuo (董卓) occupies the West side of the map, while most of the characters seem to be concentrated on the East and South East portion: Cao Cao sits in the East, while Sun Quan's kingdom of Wu in South East.
The new characters this time are mainly from Sun Quan's camp ^^ Even though its Gunpla is out, but Sun Quan seems to be still missing from the story.
From left to right, Sun Jian (孙坚 - I seriously can't recognize which Gundam he is ^^;), Zu Mao (祖茂) Powered GM, Cheng Pu (程普) GM Custom, Han Dang (韩当) Guncannon II, and Huang Gai (黄盖) Gouf.
Image from SRW Hotnews.
In the original novel of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Sun Jian is Sun Quan and Sun Ce's (孙策) father. Before the establishment of the Kingdom of Wu, Sun Jian served under Yuan Shu (袁术). He was killed in one sortie against Liu Biao (刘表), and was succeeded by Sun Quan.
The other four characters in the picture are among the many powerful warriors of Sun Quan. Some of them even served under Sun Ce before continuing their service to his son. Except for Huang Gai, their roles are neither sophisticated nor significant to the overall story, as they only saw action in combat. Huang Gai on the other hand, is a more interesting character. Besides his 'Oscar-winning' XD act to deceive Cao Cao before the grand battle of Chi Bi (赤壁), he was also one of the five Tiger Warriors after switching allegiance to Liu Bei.
The Kingdom of Wu in Sangokuden seems to be characterized heavily on tiger. You can see each of the three characters above have 'some tigers in them' :-D like tiger stripes on Sun Jian's body, and tiger head ornament on the helmets of the other characters.
(Left) Sun ShangXiang (孙尚香) GP04 Gerbera is Sun Quan's younger sister.
(Right) Dian Wei (典韦) Asshimar is Cao Cao's warrior.
Image from Sangokuden's official website
The very cute female character seen during Plamo Radicon Show this year is Sun ShangXiang, Sun Quan's younger sister. Although she seems to be quite cute in her Sangokuden design, she was like a female warrior in the novel. Although not directly involved in any combat, her stern characteristics did have some influence between his brother's diplomacy with Liu Bei. It was said that even Sun Quan feared her as well ^^
Dian Wei on the other hand, was among the many warriors of Cao Cao, one of the best in fact, at the beginning of the story. Anyone not being able to see him as Asshimar in disguise, I mean design? XD
More and more characters are coming to the Sangokuden world, but there are still so many important figures yet to be unveiled. Plus, the total number of Gunpla released so far is still less than 10. So you can be sure that it's going to get better and beyond.
