Customer Reviews

Samurai 7, Vol. 3 - From Farm to Fortress

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It was clear that volumes one and two of Samurai 7 were specifically meant to introduce the characters of the story, and these volumes do so fairly well while still presenting the conflict and the story along the way. Volume three, though, gets much deeper into the story since the character intros are out the way, and action also gets a little role here as well, though this could be found in the other volumes.

In volume three, the final samurai, who's introduced earlier as an enemy, is brought on board early on and from there the samurai make their way to the village which they had gathered together to protect. Once here, the anime gets great. Anyone who has seen the classic movie Seven Samurai will begin to see all the similarities the anime of nearly the same name shares. I'd hate to spoil the rest of the anime, so I'll keep the rest to myself. I will say that one of the samurai reveals a surprising past, and another learns what is needed to be a samurai. This happens in one episode, and this is easily the best of the first twelve.

This anime is turning slowly into a great, and I'm a believer that it is Gonzo's current best, with the controversial Gantz being in second. I'd recommend this volume to anyone who enjoyed the first two, and to anyone who is a fan of Gonzo. Also, it's beginning to pay its respect to the classic movie, so I'd also recommend it to those of you who love Seven Samurai.

Synopsis:
As the story continues, the Samurai become Seven on their way toward Kanna Village - but the path is not as easy as it may seem - and the Nobuseri have been alerted to their presence.

In the first episode of Volume 3 (Episode 9), the Samurai emerge from the Caves with the help snd guidance of Honoka - a local woman who quickly catches the eye of a sympathetic Rikichi - but just as the group finds an exit from the dark caverns, they are ambushed by a squad of Nobuseri, as well as a gun-toting Hyogo. Just as Kambei appears to have been cornered, Kyuzo suddenly rescues him. Claiming that he is the only one that will kill Kambei, Kyuzo decides to join the group after betraying Hyogo and the bandits - becoming the Sixth Samurai. However, Kirara fiercely protests to Kambei about their new enemy-turned-ally. Meanwhile, a group of Bandits offers mercy to the villagers of Kanna if they are willing to hand over the Samurai - inspiring many treacherous thoughts in the minds of villagers whose fear grips their souls.

In Episode 10, the group splits up to avoid pursuance and fool Nobuseri scouts as they near the village. While Kikuchiyo, Kambei, and Komachi torment Katsushiro with questions about his feelings toward Kirara, Gorobei, Heihachi and Rikichi have to disguise themselves as women when they are suddenly discovered by Nobuseri. Meanwhile, Kyuzo and Shichiroji accompany Kirara as they head through the mountains - but Kirara is still wary of Kyuzo - until he saves her Life.

In Episode 11, the group finally arrives in Kanna Village - but the village appears to have been abandoned. Seized by fear, the villagers have hid, and most are trembling with fear and second thoughts about going against the Nobuseri. Luckily, Kikuchiyo arrives and lures the villagers out, assuring them that if they have faith in the Samurai, they will prevail. Kambei then assesses the situation and inspires the villagers to rise together against the Nobuseri. The Samurai each go about their seperate tasks, preparing the Villagers for battle, as well as changing Kanna Village into a make-shift Fortress. But Farmer Manzo is still determined to sell the Samurai out to the Bandits - and it is up to Kirara and Katsushiro to stop him when he tries to notify a Nobuseri sergeant. Katsushiro must succeed in his first battle - or the Samurai are finished.

In Episode 12, Manzo is brought before the angry village and the disgruntled Heihachi, who knows of Kambei's ease and mercy. Katsushiro is still in shock from his first taste of combat - but with a sharpened sword and strong words from Kambei, his resolve is strengthened. Just as the alliance between the Villagers and Samurai is about to be broken by the conflict over Manzo's guilt, Kikuchiyo appears yet again to save the day. With an emotional speech defending Manzo, Kikuchiyo reasons that Samurai are at fault for making Farmers desperate and hungry - finally revealing to the group (indirectly) that he was once a farmer, before he became fully-mechanized and became a Samurai. Finally achieving Kambei's approval, the group is finally complete at Seven. But the fight is long from over - the Bandits are growing restless, and the Village will soon be harvesting their rice. But with their alliance secure, the Farmers present a battle flag to the Samurai - and the group prepares themselves for the first of many battles to come.

My Review: Although not really comparable to Kurosawa's masterpiece, this epic re-telling continues to excite and dazzle. This colorful and beautifully detailed work of art brings Kurosawa's message and inspiring story to the 21st Century. If you're looking for an identical clone to Kurosawa's original, you'll be disappointed, but most likely just as entertained.

The seven Samurai are establish as they make their move to Kanaa Village. The characters we have grown to know are further fleshed out as we learn a lot more about the characters. The final episode even reveals a background to one character, a secret that I was suspecting from the first disk and is finally confirmed.

The story gets pretty good especially since, as the characters develop, there is no longer just good guy and bad guy but people that are stuck in between. While this causes a bit of a rift with the 7 Samurai the team actually seems to work well together drawing on each other's strength as they prepare the Villange and the people of Kanaa for the confrontation that is headed in their direction.

Great DVD for a great series! You should have the collection! The music is great, the menus are excellent, the costumes are very nice, there are a lot of thing to watch in this DVD!

Honoka, a farmer who lives on the patronage of the mysterious Shikimori told the band of samurai that she could lead them to their missing member, the blustering and reckless Kikuchiyo. What she leads them to instead is a trap set up by the bandits. Even though they have been betrayed in one way, they gain an ally from an unlikely source. Kyuzo, disgusted with his partner's failure to honor the way of the sword, switches sides to join Kambei's band. Now that the gig is up and the samurai discover that the bandits now know they are going to defend the village of Kanna, they decide to split into groups in order to escape detection. But if they do reach the village, do its inhabitants still want the warriors to help them out, or have they been scared into turning them over to the bandits?

Samurai 7 is nothing if not spectacular. It has pretty much steered clear of pyrotechnic battles in this third volume and concentrated instead on the psychological aspects of the samurai and villagers. Katsushiro especially has to go through a trial by fire, in that he has to kill his first man. Up until now, he's been able to cloak himself in his idealism, but when it comes down to it, samurai might kill honorably, but they have to KILL. It remains to be seen if he will be able to deal with this fact. The cool thing about Samurai 7 is that it tries to look at the problems it brings forth from all kinds of perspectives. For example, you get annoyed by the villager's renunciation of the samurai but surprisingly Kikuchiyo argues eloquently for their case, saying that peasants HAVE to be treacherous and sneaky because of the way the more powerful are always oppressing them! They are just pawns that have to figure out a way to survive because noone protects them. The challenge that Kambei and the others face is working up the backbone and will of these people whose pride still lurks somewhere in their hearts. Excellent show.

In the previous volumes, the show seemed to be slightly slow. Not that anime is immune to slow openings, it's just Samurai 7 seemed to be a little bit TOO slow, introducing its characters and the storyline. Well in volume 3, the samurai finally reach their destination and formulate a plan to deal with the bandits but like the other volumes, it's still slightly slow, only now there's a bit more tension.

The volume starts off with an encounter with a couple Nobuseri(bandits) which reveals there's a traitor in their midst. Helping them out is the 7th samurai to be found who's incredibly silent half the time and would rather fight Kanbei to the death. The samurai finally make it to the village which is met with slight resistance, including by one member while one samurai learns what it'll take against the upcoming battle.

Blessed with a huge budget, estimated at around 300,000$ US per episode, the show definately looks very stylized and great while other times character designs look slightly off. The weird overly bright feeling I had with previous volumes also seems gone(unless it was just my TV). One thing is slightly disappointing is the english dub. Unlike Fullmetal Alchemist's, which I actually prefer in English oddly, Samurai 7's VA's aren't that impressive but they're not outright terrible either.

In many ways I can use volume 3 and volume 4 as the point of no return: either you're a fan of the show by the end of this volume or volume 4 or simply you're not going to so if you're a fan, you'll enjoy it but otherwise, you'd probably try finding another series.