Samurai 7 Recommended

Director
Toshifumi Takizawa
Production
Gonzo Digimation
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
26 episodes
Year
2004

Samurai 7 Volume 3: From Farm To Fortress

By otaku_kei
1st Jun 06

I have made much about Samurai 7 and the comparisons it holds with the source material of Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai. This three hour long piece of cinema history has been padded out exhaustively to fill out a thirteen hour series, and the divergent plotlines finally start to come to the fore in this volume, and yet still manages to deliver some of the original film's key scenes. But that is not going to stop this show from packing in a lot of on screen action, along with a healthy dose of moralising and contemplation about the nature of war and the warrior. Samurai 7 may not the smartest show around, but it certainly is a lot of fun. Lets get back to the action...

At the close of the previous volume Kanbe and the rest of the samurai had been chased from the city and found themselves in the cavernous city beneath the mountains of the reclusive Traders. But in one of his many reckless moments Kikuchiyo raced after one of the monstous Nobuseri mech warriors, and ended up falling into their hands. So cue Kanbe and the others having to rescue their inept mechanical hanger-on. So we get some impressive sword work from Kanbe as he demonstrates just why he is such a respected samurai. The others also kick some shiny robot ass, but it is clear that Kanbe is the one you do not want to mess with. But it looks as if the samurai may have a traitor in their midst, and if Kanna village or any of these warriors are going to survive then this cancer must be rooted out!

So of course we get a lot of frenetic swordplay action in this volume. Kanbe demonstrates just how to cop a 40 foot tall mechanical space bandit into bite size chunks, Katsushiro bloods his sword for the first time, Kyozo finally joins up with the other samurai, but only after chopping a bunch of the bandits into itty-bitty pieces. Like I said - a lot of swordplay in these four episodes! And when it gets right down to it, the high octane action is exactly why we pick up this show in the first place. It has its moments of comedy, and of drama, but more than anything else the audience wants to see these samurai chopping away at every robo-bandit around! But whilst this show may excel at delivering exciting action, the other aspects of this story are not left undeveloped.

The characters also get a remarkable amount of screentime to develop considering the amount of events that are squeezed into this volumes running time. Katsushiro comes face to face with the pain of the battlefield, when he takes his first life. Kikuchiyo's past is finally revealed, for anyone who has seen The Seven Samurai this dirty little secret will come as no surprise, but it still is wonderfully brought out in this latest adaptation. The villagers also get a lot of screentime and we get much more reflection on how they feel about the intrusion of the samurai into their affairs. All of these developments weave a rich tapestry on which the conflict between the samurai and the Nobuseri are the main focus.

This latest volume of Samurai 7 continues to entertain and delight. It is not as dark or serious as other samurai tales currently on offer, and when compared to the sublime Samurai Champloo this show can come off looking inferior, but that does a disservice to this very entertaining show. If you like an ensemble cast of warriors, some taciturn, others exuberant but all of them focussed on kicking the crap out of giant robot bandits then this show will be perfect for you. Admittedly if that is the description of your favourite type of show, you have probably been waiting quite some time to even see a show like this, but lets not get bogged down in a circular, pointless debate about your viewing habits. In conclusion Samurai 7 = good. Nuff said.

R2 DVD Notes

Features: English Language 5.1; Japanese Language 5.1; English Language Subtitles; Character Profiles; Textless Opening & Closing; MVM Trailers

Release information: COMING SOON - 19th June 2006

Notes: What can be said about the quality of MVM's releases that I havn't mentioned before. They continue to present their shows in the best possible manner that they can. The A/V quality is top notch as to be expected from such a recent show. It is a shame about the lack of decent extras on this release, but extras are merely the icing on the cake, and with a show this entertaining its not like you are missing anything!

-- otaku_kei 1st Jun 06

Samurai 7 Images