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.

Wow, just wow. Years ago i saw this series and was amazed and now, going through immense growth in every direction, changing views, maturing i still feel a lot, when i see this series. This entertaining and emotional fantasy story finds time to reason about many things. After finishing it i'm just interested in 2 things: how long have you been carrying the pain inside of you? How long have you been hiding that sadness in your eyes when you smiled?

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

First of all, this high quality anime series comes from the Kurosawa company so it has the blessings of the Kurosawa family for whatever that's worth.

At first I was skeptical about the transference of the story to some sort of fantasy future. The city setting is impressive while similar to futuristic cities seen in other anime. The film "Metropolis" is one. In fact the whole production is of the highest quality in terms of art direction. 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 something they do. While not in league with the strong characters of a "Cowboy Bebop" or other top animes, Samurai 7 has a well thought out and developed crew. The story is paced for a full series so your memories of the film have to be tempered. There is a new sub-plot and a number of invented incidents. The whole production has the integrity of the Zatoichi film series and other classic samurai dramas.

The creators of this series do experiment at some points with mixed results. One early episode seems to have been done entirely by an artist from the "Fooly Coolly" series. The expressionistic loose art style works and doesn't work at the same time. 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 but the sound and translation are a mixed bag. The dubbed track is different compared to the subtitle track. A lot of dialog is dumbed down 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 episodes 5 - 8, the Japanese track has the sound effects turned way down, giant crashes sound like small drops, but the English track has the music and sound effects overpowering the vocal track.

Of course based on the similarly titled 1954 epic Seven Samurai by Akira Kurosawa, this "updated" anime follows essentially the same beats as the original, but with a lot of extra fluff and about triple the run time. Following a town being attacked by "bandits" as they need to assemble seven samurai to defend them, with only the rice they sow to pay. The original Seven Samurai is a 3 1/2 hour long black and white film from the 50s, so I totally understand if much of a modern audience wouldn't like to sit through it, and if this is aimed at the audience that was churning through hundreds of episodes of One Piece, Naruto, and the like, whats one more. It's a proficiently produced anime, its styles are good, the voice acting is fine, the plot is meh, but honestly all fairly par for the course. I just don't know if a such an honest take in the original really needed to be revamped in to giant samurai robots and what are essentially ronins with super powers. Its only 26 episodes so if you're obsessed with ninja / samurai anime I guess if you must.