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Plot Synopsis

This anime is based on the legendary Seven Samurai,a novel by Akira Kurosawa back in 1954.

In far distant future, there is a war between 2 types of samurais: one who keep their body, and those who gave in and made into robots. However, after the long war, people have retrieved a modest peace.

But there are now the Nibuseris: a mechanized samurai who lost their purpose to fight, and they've been robbing crops and women from villages.

People in Kanna Village are no exceptions. They have been robbed to poverty by the Nobuseries, but since they don't have any way to fight against them, they have to obey Nobureri's order.

One year, before harvest season, Gisaku, a head of the village, propose that they will hire samurais to protect them from Nobuseri.

Riki, who is a young boy full of energy, Kirara and Komachi, priestesses, go to a town to look for samurais to help them.

Seven samurais are gathered to help Kanna village, and romance as well as dreading battles and strategy war follows as the rolls along.

Synopsis by niomea.

Story & Characters

In the world that resembles ancient feudal society of Japan where samurais exists, there also exists beings, former samurais, that have turned their body into a fighting mechanical machines that have assembled into an organization called "Nobuseri," or the bandits. These super beings go around pillaging rice and woman in exchange for protection and a promise that they will not burn down the village. If the offer is refused, the bandits utterly destroys the village, regardless of gender and age. One of the village can no longer tolerate their harvesting to be taken by the bandits, and decides to send someone to hire samurais in the central city. Enter Kirara, the priestess of water, who uses her magic necklace to find the ones destined to protect the village. With the help of Katsushiro, Kambei, and five other samurais, the journey to protect the village against the overwhelming odd begins.

Seven will be the number that will be required to protect the village. Seven will be the number of the samurais that will cause a revolution against the bandits.

Rating

8 (good)

Art

With the animation done by the infamous GONZO, the quality of animation is guranteed to be a top notch production. Samurai 7 is no exception, as it is one of GONZO's most expensive project. The scenery is breathtaking, as it varies from the rice field to the bustling city of Kougakyo. The movement of the character is fluid, and each characters have distinctive characteristics that make them unique in its own way. Extensive use of CGing is done to the bandits, which doesn't quite fit into the show very well, and reminds me of Vandread mechs instead, although if separated on its own, it is one of the top modeled mech design.

Rating

9 (very good)

Sound

The opening song is one of my favorite song for anime openings (maybe I'm just weird) and the OST does what it is suppose to do; provide suspense and other mood necessary for the scene. The sound effect works very well in the series, such as the slashes of the sword, the sound of engines in the machanical fighting machines, and explosion of bombs. The voice acting is also top notch, as it gives the village people accents that fit the normal stereotypical farmer would have (kind of like how a southerner would have a southern accent). Each character's voices are very different, from easy going voice to serious tones.

Rating

9 (very good)

Presentation

While Samurai 7 was highly an anticipated series for a long time, it falls a little short on those expectation. Although the anime is exteremely well-made, one cannot help but feel that the direction of the plot is a bit too predictable. The storyline itself is a bit unrealistic in that it is hard to imagine that there would be mech action involved in a samurai-related anime. It is beyond me to think that a mere sword can chop down machines with ease. The characters have very nice attributes, such as Kikunoji who provide comical moments in the series. Katsushiro's aspiration to become a samurai despite the hardship in the battle is also admireable, and Kambei's mysterios past with his many battle is nothing but interesting.

Overall, I think that Samurai 7 is a must-see anime, but it certainly fails to break any boundary and give the viewers any jaw dropping moment like its prodecessor, Last Exile. Its attempt to spice up a generic samurai anime with the insertion of mech action may be dissappointing to many.

Rating

7 (above average)

Final Verdict

8.00 (good)

Reviewed by sammo, 3y 40wk ago