Customer Reviews

Samurai 7 Volume 1

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55 years ago, the "Seven Samurai" appeared in theatres across Japan. Akira Kurosawa's landmark presentation told the story of a small village that hired 7 samurai to protect their crops and village from roving bandits.

As the Manga states, "Based on Samurai Seven", Gonzo and Mizutaka Suhou give modern readers a re-imagining of the original concept. Instead of bandits, and a rural village, there are cyborgs (Nobuserti), and thoroughly modern urban scap, Katsushiro, that contains the same battle.
I love the intro to the book that sets the stage so beautifully for readers who have not seen Samurai Seven. Unlike other manga, this book is a compelling read. It compares well to the best 'western' in a non traditional setting by writers such as Johnny Boggs, or Jeff Marriotte.

As for the action after the intro, it is cinematic in a true adventure way. This could be a Star Wars Jedi plot, or a Glenn Ford western as well. It could be a gang banger film too. I will read volume 2!

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Tim Lasiuta

The Samurai 7 manga is fun to read, drawn well and based on one of the most influential films (and one of my favorite anime of all time), however the story is very different then the anime and even more distant from the original film. This however does not make this manga not good. It's very enjoyable, but if you're looking for the same experience that you encountered from the movie or anime, you probably won't find it here.

The Seven Samurai. Than, came the anime series. Now there is the manga, based on the anime series. Yet the story line, character design and art work is different, not as different as the anime was from the moive, as the manga uses the same future setting as the anime, but there are major changes. The manga seems to be going at a much faster pace - many of the characters are already together before the end of the book - and we are getting a lot of backstory also. There are also translation notes and a preview of volume 2, still in Japanese!
Get it used if you find yourself interested in it. I liked it but it isn't a reread and I don't see myself suggesting others go out of their way to get it.