Samurai 7

Based on the old samurai film made by Japan's legendary filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, Samurai 7 is probably the first remake ever to be fully approved by the Kurosawa Estate after years of being 'unofficially' spawned into several versions by other international filmmakers.

This animated TV series tells the story of a maiden and her friends who seeks for the seven warriors who are willing to protect the rice fields in a faraway village from the bandits (basically, the premise is almost the same as the original, albeit with different arrangements and settings). Despite the fact that the show's anachronistic nature (humans and robots roam in this industrialized-world of feudal Japan) seems to be ripped off from a Final Fantasy game, it still retains the crucial themes and its dramatic storytelling that make the original Seven Samurai a legend among film buffs. It's an entirely new realm, everyone may admit, but hey, it's still worth the price of its complete DVD collection.

Let's start off with the animation flow: generally, it's really good but no, it's no Miyazaki (and it's not even up to the par with the giants like Cowboy Bebop and Evangelion) but its butt-kicking action scenes are undoubtedly impressive anyway. The only thing that ticks me off is the 3D robot designs and stuff: they seem to be way too obvious and easily distract viewers from enjoying the story in its entirety. If only they were designed as they were on any Gundam shows (and hey, some of the giant mecha samurai DO resemble of Gundams, only stiffer) Characters develop nicely throughout the show, with some valuable info slowly coming out into the light, revealing the main reasons behind the feudalistic atmosphere and yes, there are some hidden pasts behind each of the characters that will augment only the story's thematic plot.

There are so many reasons why Samurai 7 is both loved and hated by not only fans of Mr. Kurosawa but also anime buffs as well. But I'll leave this up to you. For me, it's one of the best stuff everyone can expect in terms of its visual feast and enticing storyline.

First of all, this is definitely a high quality anime series that does have the blessings of the Kurosawa family.

At first I was unsure about the story being changed into some sort of fantasy future. The city setting and the "robots" are pretty impressive though.In fact the whole production is of the highest quality. This is one good looking anime series. The music and soundtrack are really good also. But it would be meaningless if the story and the characters didn't have something to offer the viewer. And they do. While not in league with the strong characters of other top animes, Samurai 7 has a well thought out and developed cast. The story is paced for a full series so your memories of the film have to be kind of tempered. There is a new sub-plot and a number of invented incidents.

The creators of this series do experiment at some points with mixed results. There are some other anime concessions (beautiful girls, mega destruction) but overall it doesn't hurt the series.

Some notes on the US DVD release: The video quality is excellent and so is the sound and translation . The dubbed track is different compared to the subtitle track. A lot of dialog is slightly different or changes the original intent of the Japanese writers. I recommend avoiding the English track for this reason although the voice actors are very well cast and do an excellent job. The sound mix is sloppy at times. With some episodes, the Japanese track has the sound effects turned way down but the English track has the music and sound effects overpowering the vocal track.

Overall, I believe the series is very enjoyable and fun while not being over the top...9/10

I loved this, it found me and gave me 26 episodes of fun and delight.

I didn't give it the full 10/10 only because like Ukyo - I am not a fan of robots - normally anything with robots in, is a turn away. However the characters and the relationships were brilliant, and it was good to see on UTube that others felt the same concerning the deaths of some of the characters.

This is the best anime i have seen so far like the story about it Wacht it 👌 You Can see it om Netflix

I just watched the first episode of this take-off on Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai on IFC, dubbed into English (and possibly edited in other ways I'm not sure). At first I wasn't sure what to make of it, and in the first five minutes or so I had no idea what connection, if at all, this had to Kurosawa's original story. Then as the episode unfolded I could see the relationship to it, if only on a loose basis; large mechanical machines in battle and dominance over people has a farming community panicked, leading to reaching out to find samurai to protect them. In the first episode there is only minimal swordplay towards the end, as the "one" is discovered, at least one of them I could figure.

In order to have more of an appreciation for the show, I think, one has to take it sort of apart of the original film. The original 1954 classic takes from both samurai/Japanese lore, as well as the Western genre (originally some John Ford influence in there), forming into this big, but focused epic. Watching this series, I could see this owes a lot more to the dozens of other anime like this, where samurai are cast against the light of a science fiction backdrop (some of the opening animation made me think of Star Wars, also a connection to Kurosawa coincidentally), as technological forces of mass destruction face off against those ultra-skilled with a sword, or maybe more. The hero of this episode, for example, and who I can imagine has a much greater role in the course of the series, is like the Takashi Shimura character from the Kurosawa film crossed with one of the characters from an ultra-stylized Magma comic book, to give a generic comparison to be sure.

I'll keep on watching the series to see how and when the action unfolds, and I'm even intrigued enough to seek out the uncut, Japanese-language version of the DVD. But make no mistake, this will divide (or just make made) those who place the Kurosawa film in such high regard, as to whether such a work of art can be transposed into a well-made, if not that spectacular on a first go-around, anime show. Those who are already fans of the animation style anyway may gravitate to it, however when compared to programs like Fist of the North Star and Ninja Scroll it isn't quite the caliber either. My recommendation- if you have IFC, it's worth a view, but if you are expecting a literal translation from live-action film to animation, look elsewhere.