Reviews

Samurai 7 is a powerful, insightful retelling of Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, adding in a variety of new and creative elements while remaining true to the essential spirit of the original work. Couched in utterly unique worldbuilding and character design are the original film's core themes of honor, identity, and the nature of war. This alone is a feat in and of itself, but on top of that it manages to be both cerebral and expressly entertaining in a way unique to the era of early 2000s anime. Samurai 7 represents an intersection of thematic weight and viewer engagement in a manner which is exemplary of a medium forging a new path at the dawn of the 21st century. Beginning with the story, it is easily the strongest part of this anime, and the foundation upon which the rest of the show relies. As was stated earlier, Samurai 7 manages to blend distinct, creative elements like a fantastic setting and even original storylines with the spirit of the work which inspires it, which expresses itself again and again. Even when our heroes are fighting legions of giant robots, or besieging a flying castle, or fending off mechanical assailants, the essence of their struggle remains poignant and serious. What it means to be a samurai, or even a good person, what it means to take a man's life, what is the purpose of struggle, and the tug-of-war between living a happy life and a life of meaning. The story arcs beautifully from beginning to end, with a small-scale urge to defy the bandits, developing as the main cast grows in size and in their bonds to one another, ending up bigger than any of them could have imagined. Their paths are all different, as loose threads blowing in the wind, a desire to protect their people, or a desire to redeem themselves, or a desire to figure out who they are, all of their desires and missions in life coming together to form a rope which pulls the course of history in a different direction. Not for a moment did I feel the story was moving too fast or too slow, the pacing was perfect, and by the end I was so invested that their high-risk missions, which once felt matter-of-fact and routine, instead felt like there was a true risk of death every time. Not only was a brave samurai putting themselves at risk, but a three-dimensional person who developed and grew over the course of the story to find a place where they really belong, or at least something close to it. As a particular character says near the end of this tale "It is these men... that showed us what it really is to be samurai, are they not?". Even the villains, who began as uncompelling and plainly evil, were explored in full by the end of the story, revealing their inner motivations and the events which have compelled them to become the people they are. This is all not even to mention the complex and detailed strategy explored throughout. Be it the battle plans drafted to resist the bandits, or the gently unfolding Machiavellian plots on behalf of decadent, power-hungry elites, who have a delicate system of loyalties and economic agreements to navigate. The art, meanwhile, proves to be Samurai 7's weakest link, and keeps it from achieving its full potential. However, most of the time, the art is actually pretty compelling, with a distinctly early-2000s art style which is warm and emotive, complete with richly detailed backgrounds and a color palette which brings these various elements together, grabs the viewer, and doesn't let go. My major issue here is with the CG. The CG is truly awful, which is to be expected of anime, especially those from 2004, but even considering this it shows up far too often for me to simply ignore. In fact, I tried to start this anime a while ago and dropped it because of how ugly the full-CG battle scene is at the very start of episode 1. This ugliness rears its head again and again, namely whenever the bandits show up. It makes fight scenes involving them feel cheap and unrewarding. A true shame, for a show which is otherwise so good, especially in regards to its striking character design and kinetic fight choreography. Next, the sound proves itself to be an excellent accompaniment to this anime, with its full-bodied, emotional voice acting, realistic sounds of life, and a soundtrack which is poignantly reminiscent of the original film, yet still strikingly original. The characters are also another strong part of this anime, managing to make each and every one of the rather large cast feel like they got their time in the sun, with their fair share of development and internal conflict. Still, even so, it sometimes feels as though they are reduced to those struggles, but this is a fleeting state which the story always manages to solve. It is a testament to these characters that each of their various sacrifices, both tangible and intangible, still feel heavy and significant. It is difficult to choose favorites from among them, but Kikuchiyo and Rikichi are my personal favorites. Both of them have a lot in common, but took vastly different paths in life, and while neither of them are samurai in the sense of wielding the almost wizard-like powers which many of their comerades exhibit throughout the show, they do exhibit that determination and tenacity of spirit which makes their particular character arcs especially poignant. Overall, this anime had so much to overcome, like the fact it is a reimagined adaptation of a beloved masterpiece, or the fact it makes use of garbage CG, and yet it manages to overcome all the same, just like the samurai in the tale it tells. Samurai 7 is a diamond in the rough that I can easily recommend for those who want a longer experience that is still contained in a single season.