Samurai 7 

Set in an alternate feudal Japan where mechas and giant airships are a common thing for humans to see. With in this time period is a small village that gets raided by bandits during every ... See full summary »

Stars:

R. Bruce Elliott, Christopher Sabat, Sean Teague

Cast

Series cast summary:
R. Bruce Elliott	...	Kambei Shimada 26 episodes, 2004
Christopher Sabat	...	Kikuchiyo 26 episodes, 2004
Sean Teague	...	Katsushiro Okamoto 26 episodes, 2004
Colleen Clinkenbeard	...	Kirara Mikumari 26 episodes, 2004
Luci Christian	...	Komachi Mikumari 26 episodes, 2004
J. Michael Tatum	...	Farmer Rikichi 26 episodes, 2004
Roland Angelo Crisolo	...	Heihatchi 26 episodes, 2004
Inukai Junji	...	Heihachi Hayashida 26 episodes, 2004
Toru Kusano		26 episodes, 2004
Kong Kuwata	...	Kikuchiyo 26 episodes, 2004
Fumiko Orikasa	...	Kirara Mikumari 26 episodes, 2004
Romi Pak	...	Katsushiro Okamoto / ... 26 episodes, 2004
Chiwa Saitô	...	Komachi Mikumari 26 episodes, 2004
Masaki Terasoma	...	Kambei Shimada / ... 26 episodes, 2004
Bob Carter	...	Gorobei Katayama 24 episodes, 2004
Greg Ayres	...	Heihachi Hayashida 22 episodes, 2004
Duncan Brannan	...	Shichiroji 21 episodes, 2004
Kyle Hebert	...	Farmer Mosuke 18 episodes, 2004
Zarah Little	...	Okara 11 episodes, 2004

Storyline

Set in an alternate feudal Japan where mechas and giant airships are a common thing for humans to see. With in this time period is a small village that gets raided by bandits during every harvest season. The villagers can't take it anymore, so they decided to send out some volunteers to the city to recruit some samurai to help defend their land. In exchange for defense, the samurai that get hired for the job will receive rice for free of charge. Since the village is too poor to offer any money, the only samurai who would accept their proposal would be the kind who are down on their luck. Will the villagers find any samurai who would help free them from being robbed by bandits?

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Plot Keywords:

samurai | shounen | chop socky | adult animation | kendo | 

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Genres:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

FUNimation [United States] Gonzo [Japan]

Country:

Japan USA

Language:

Japanese English

Release Date:

12 June 2004 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Akira Kurosawa's: Samurai 7

Box Office

Budget:

JPY 32,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

G.D.H.,Gonzo Digimation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

25 min (26 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Based on the film: seven samurai (1954)

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Quotes

Kambei Shimada: How does it look?
Heihachi Hayashida: I think she'll fly for us.
Kambei Shimada: Good. As soon as the repairs are done, we'll head for the Capital.
Heihachi Hayashida: All right.
Shichiroji: Well, it might not be much of a warship, but it certainly is faster than that old wagon. It's too bad we don't have time to find something with defenses.
Kambei Shimada: The Capital isn't going to wait for us.
Kikuchiyo: So we're finally gonna strike?
Shichiroji: How many years has it been since we've taken on one of those airships? I'd say I'm nervous, but I keep thinking of what Gorobei-san would say if he ...
[...]

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Connections

Featured in Adventures in Voice Acting (2008)

User Reviews

Time changes. But its thematic essence isn't.

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.