Samurai 7 is based on Akira Kurosawa’s classic movie ‘The Seven Samurai”. The series is set in a sci-fi world where some characters can be completely mechanical and the Capital is a city on a flying ship. On the other hand, the Samurai still use metal swords and the peasants of the outskirt villages still perform daily tasks with the most basic tools known even to us. The story starts off in an era after a huge war has taken place. The Merchants emerged as victors over the Samurai, which resulted in the once glorious title of a Samurai tarnished. Because of this, many who once called themselves Samurai decided to trade their organic self for mechanical body parts, and they are then known as the Nobuseri. In order to make a living, the Nobuseri became bandits and robbed the peasants of their harvest.

        After witnessing their hard-earned rice being taken away by the Nobuseri year after year, the peasants of Kanna Village decided to stand up against their oppressors. Realising that they have no chance to win in their current form, the peasants decided to hire Samurai to defeat the Nobuseri. Therefore, three representatives; Rikichi, Kirara and Komachi was sent to the nearby city to recruit Samurai with the only thing they have; rice. This task turned out to be very hard as many who still live the lives of Samurai will not stoop so low as to accept rice as payment for their services. However, being a water priestess, Kirara was able to use her abilities to locate a trustworthy Samurai; Kambei, who eventually gave in to their request.

        According to Kambei, they will need 7 Samurai to successfully defend the village, thus they set out to locate the remaining Samurai needed. In the end, the 7 is complete and they set off towards the village to carry out their task. The pack consists of Kambei, Katsushiro, Kikuchiyo, Gorobei, Heihachi, Shichiroji and Kyuzo. However, while the search for the Samurai was done, word has gotten to the Nobuseri of what the peasants intended to do. So the journey to Kanna Village was not easy as the pack were pursued by the Nobuseri.

        One would expect the arrival of the Samurai to be celebrated warmly but due to certain peasants having insecurities regarding the whole ‘stand-up against the Nobuseri’ plan, the Samurai arrived to find abandoned houses with no welcoming ceremony as they had expected. Many were scarred of the Samurai as they are known to have raped young women and take the harvest for themselves. Others were just plain afraid of the Nobuseri who had threatened to kill the peasants if the rumours of the ‘Samurai recruiting’ plan was true. However, the Samurai was not going to abandon their task and with a few telling offs and a surprising reveal of Kikuchiyo’s past, the peasants found the courage and determination to carry on as planned. Without further ado, the peasants were instructed by Kombe to start their preparations for the coming battle. Some were trained to use the bow and arrow whereas others were instructed to construct some defence structures around the village. Although the Nobuseri’s arrival was earlier than expected, all preparations were successfully completed without much time to spare. Later on in the anime, the Samurai found out that the Nobuseri are not the only ones they need to worry as they found themselves pursued by a somewhat mad emperor of that world, Ukyo.

        Samurai 7 really suits my taste. The animation and the action scenes were great and the level of intensity of the colours used is exactly what I look for in an anime. The plot wasn’t bad either, although it can be quite predictable at times. I loved the whole futuristic setting that still encounters hierarchy problems within the community. The ways of the Samurai was also successfully portrayed which blended well with the futuristic concepts of the show. The music is also pretty good with suitable background music for both battle and peaceful scenes. The opening theme ‘Unlimited’ and the ending theme ‘Fuhen’ is not to be missed either.

Characters

        Shimada Kambei – Kambei assumes the leader position in the pack of 7. He is a very experienced Samurai who used to be a part of the Great War that took place. However, he was on the losing side and hasn’t been able to come to terms with the loss ever since. His refusal to help Kanna at first was due to his fear of causing the village’s destruction due to his tendency to be on the losing side. Kambei is able to identify a true Samurai from those who just claims to be one, which made the recruiting task rather hard. His preferences for the selection was so strict that he has refused to accept Katsushiro and Kikuchiyo into the pack and since there weren’t many eligible Samurai around anymore, they had actually left the city for Kanna with only 3 Samurai of the planned 7.

        Katsushiro Okamoto – Katsushiro is the youngest of the 7 who inspires to be a Samurai. However, he has never been in a true battle before which is why Kambei didn’t accept him for the task. Unperturbed by the decision, Katsushiro pledged to aid them in any way he can until he can do no more. He wishes to become Kambei’s disciple and always refer to Kambei as his ‘master’. Gradually, he gains experience and skills of the Samurai. Katsushiro also realises his objective in life; to help people, especially the people of Kanna in their plight. With the newfound aim and skills, Kambei eventually acknowledges him as a true Samurai and officially accepts him as one of the 7 who will protect Kanna Village.

        Kikuchiyo – He is the only completely mechanical character amongst the pack. Although he certainly looks very menacing with a huge mechanical body, Kikuchiyo is actually rather inexperienced as a Samurai. He is also very short-tempered and this trait of his often leads to many blunders on his part. He is originally not one of the 7 to be accepted by Kambei, but a surprising confession by him has made Kambei change his mind and accepted Kikuchiyo as the last of the 7 needed in the battle. It was revealed that Kikuchiyo was once a farmer but vowed to be a Samurai to change his fate. Kambei’s reason for accepting Kikuchiyo is “who better to protect a village of farmers but a Samurai who was once a farmer himself”. Kikuchiyo’s confession has also impacted the villagers into standing up against the Nobuseri once they realise that one of their kind has actually made it into the ranks of the Samurai.

        Katayama Gorobei – He is a very skilled Samurai and the first one to be selected by Kambei as part of the 7. Due to the hardships of living as a Samurai, Gorobei has resulted to being an entertainer in cities to make a living. Using his skills, he is able to entertain the crowd with adrenaline pumping shows, such as catching an arrow shot at him by one of the audience. He is often light-hearted, making jokes and releasing the tension that surfaces within the group.

        Hayashida Heihachi – During the Great War, Heihachi served as a combat engineer in charge of the mechanical components of war. After which, he has been chopping wood for others in exchange for food. Upon examining a toothpick that was made by Heihachi at a food stall, Kambei immediately recognised the toothpick as a skilful Samurai’s work, which led to Heihachi gladly joining the pack in their quest in exchange for rice. His knowledge in engineering has helped the pack lots by being the person in charge of the village’s defence structure. He has also managed to convert an abandoned ballista found by the villagers into a working one that dealt a huge blow to the Nobuseri during the battle at Kanna. Heihachi hates traitors and will not hesitate to kill them as he was once betrayed during the Great War.

        Shichiroji – Shichiroji and Kambei used to be comrades in the Great War but they were separated when Shichiroji was severely injured. He was rescued and cared for by Yukino, who works at the Hotaruya. To repay for what she has done for him, Shichiroji has not left Yukino’s side, instead he decided to help Yukino with her work at Hotaruya which included entertaining the guests and breaking up any fights that broke out. Kambei has only managed to recruit 2 eligible Samurai (Gorobei and Heihachi) before they were forced to flee from the city as they were hunted by the authorities. To escape capture, Kambei led the pack to take refuge at the Hotaruya in hopes of convincing Shichiroji to join him in his quest. The prospect of being able to fight alongside the great Kambei is something Shichiroji couldn’t resist, thus he agreed to be one of the 7 Samurai to protect Kanna Village from the Nobuseri.

        Kyuzo – Kyuzo was introduced as a bodyguard for the merchant who ruled the city where the recruiting of the Samurai was carried out. His first encounter with Kambei was under the orders of his boss, which led to a fierce fight between the two. Realising that Kyuzo is a very skilled Samurai whose skills matches or exceeds his own, Kambei decides to walk away from that fight. Wanting to finish the fight with Kambei, Kyuzo abandons his duties to locate Kambei. Kambei offered Kyuzo to help protect Kanna Village which Kyuzo accepted, with hopes of finding a chance to challenge Kambei once again into a duel.

        Kirara – She is a water priestess of Kanna Village whose role is to use her abilities with the water to aid with the plantations. She collects books from passing travellers as she loves to read. Because of this, she has developed a desire to travel to other places to experience what she has read for herself. Her opportunity came when the villagers decided to send some men to the city to recruit Samurai. Kirara volunteered for the task claiming that her abilities will help them recruit the right Samurai for the job and she wasn’t lying about that as she managed to locate Kambei with the help of a water crystal she keeps at her side.

        Komachi – Komachi is Kirara’s little sister who decided to tag along in the task to recruit the Samurai. She is very fond of Kikuchiyo and is often defending him for every blunder he makes. Although the others were not convinced that Kikuchiyo should be one of the 7, Komachi has kept faith in Kikuchiyo and insisted that he be included.

        Rikichi – He is one of the three who was sent on the task to recruit the Samurai. Rikichi was the first to volunteer for the task as he has a past with the Nobuseri, who have taken his wife away from him during one of their raids of the village.

        Ukyo – He is the young heir to the powerful Merchant Ayamaro who ruled over the city where the search for Samurai has taken place. He has taken a liking for Kirara during an encounter with her in the city and has given the Samurai lots of trouble with his efforts of getting Kirara to become one of his mistresses. In the middle of the series, it was revealed that he is one of the many clones of the Emperor that were sent out of the Capital to be raised as ordinary citizens. Ukyo was then invited to the Capital and was subjected to a series of tests to decide if he is suitable to be the next heir to the throne. Once he was announced as the heir, Ukyo killed the Emperor and became the new Emperor. Using his newfound power, he had led the whole imperial army to Kanna to destroy the village and eliminate the Samurai who had many times got in his way.

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