Synopsis:
What happens when bandits threaten your village? You hire 7 badasses to defend it of course! Samurai 7 is the anime remake of Akira Kurosawa's legendary Seven Samurai. It follows a water priestess, her younger sister, and a helpful farmer as they try to recruit samurai to defend them from the "Nobuseri." They are samurai who have implanted their brains inside of giant mech bodies (that's right mechs!) So anyway as the farmers try to find samurai various events occur like their rice being stolen, the priestess being kidnapped by a white faced man (at least I think he's a man), and get hunted down by imperial troops. The first of the seven noble warriors they find is a child named Katsuhiro (pronounced Katshiro) who's goal is to be a true samurai. Let me tell you this kid is insane... and then they recruit the fearless leader of the group, Kambei. He's an older man who fought in the last war, and he also always on the losing side of a fight (which is brutally drilled into your head over and over.) and then the rest of the handy crew is assembled that includes everything from a street performer to a steam punk machine loud mouth. After all seven have been assembled, its apparently time to turn a small farming village into a fortress of death and destruction. And then war basically ensues for next 13 or so episodes.
Plot:
The driving force behind any show or movie, the plot. And Samurai 7 is chock full of enough plot to satisfy even the most hard core novelist. The story is essentially the same as the movie Samurai 7 is based on, there is death love, twists and turns blah blah blah. To be honest it all felt very cliche of a story. I honestly did not watch the original movie until I started watching this show. And Akira Kurosawa's movie is amazing. It is easily the best movie I have seen in a long time. And Samurai 7 had a lot to live up to. And for the most part it does. Many of the same events occur (changed slightly obviously) as well as a few new ones. The problem is because Samurai 7 is a 26 episode series, there are some sections that became just too drawn out for its own good. But all in all it has a solid story.
The driving force behind any show or movie, the plot. And Samurai 7 is chock full of enough plot to satisfy even the most hard core novelist. The story is essentially the same as the movie Samurai 7 is based on, there is death love, twists and turns blah blah blah. To be honest it all felt very cliche of a story. I honestly did not watch the original movie until I started watching this show. And Akira Kurosawa's movie is amazing. It is easily the best movie I have seen in a long time. And Samurai 7 had a lot to live up to. And for the most part it does. Many of the same events occur (changed slightly obviously) as well as a few new ones. The problem is because Samurai 7 is a 26 episode series, there are some sections that became just too drawn out for its own good. But all in all it has a solid story.
Sound:
I don't really know how to describe the soundtrack to this show. It is orchestral mixed with traditional Japanese instruments. And it can work and not work at times. It adds to the mood quite well during the awesome sword play scenes, but when the show slows down the music tends to make it seem much slower and more boring then the scene really is.
Look of the Show:
So now onto the part that can potentially make or break an anime, its look and style. I'm gonna start by saying whoever thought up samurais and mecha together is a genius. Combining my 2 favorite things into one basically turned this show into pron for me. The Nobuseri are the mechs (shown below) and they are the antagonists for the majority of the show. They are samurai who have taken their brains and inserted them into giant armored bodies. Score right? The funny thing is that the main samurai in the show destroy these guys left and right. The actual look of the mecha is quite unique. they seem like primitive version of mobile suits from some of the newer gundam series.
The people also have a rather interesting look. The show is definitely steam punk themed and they dress accordingly. The coolest outfit in my opinion is worn by Kyuzo. The last of the samurai to be recruited, and all around awesome dual sword user.
As far as action sequences go, the show is very streamlined and smooth. The fights themselves are like Samurai champloo. Quick and little over the top movements. But that's not saying there isn't some parts that are overplayed (it is an anime after all). There is one episode that is extremely intriguing. For whatever reason the show takes on a completely different look, almost like that of an american anime company similar to the Riddick anime. Now alot of shows use this style, but normally its for fighting. A great example is Naruto, many a time you will see the same style used I guess to save money. And I actually have no problems with this particular art style... as long as things are moving. In the more static scenes the art style is just well ugly as hell. It's almost like after making the entire series the folks at Gonzo went, "Oh Shit we forgot a really important episode" and hired a cheaper company to pound out the show
The people also have a rather interesting look. The show is definitely steam punk themed and they dress accordingly. The coolest outfit in my opinion is worn by Kyuzo. The last of the samurai to be recruited, and all around awesome dual sword user.
As far as action sequences go, the show is very streamlined and smooth. The fights themselves are like Samurai champloo. Quick and little over the top movements. But that's not saying there isn't some parts that are overplayed (it is an anime after all). There is one episode that is extremely intriguing. For whatever reason the show takes on a completely different look, almost like that of an american anime company similar to the Riddick anime. Now alot of shows use this style, but normally its for fighting. A great example is Naruto, many a time you will see the same style used I guess to save money. And I actually have no problems with this particular art style... as long as things are moving. In the more static scenes the art style is just well ugly as hell. It's almost like after making the entire series the folks at Gonzo went, "Oh Shit we forgot a really important episode" and hired a cheaper company to pound out the show
Despite having a burst of bad animation the show does deliver on looks. As well as a great story and well developed characters. Basically you should watch this anime period.
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