Samurai 7: Box Set (Viridian Collection)
Starring: R. Bruce Elliott, Christopher Sabat, Sean Teague, Bob Carter, Greg AyresDirector: Toshifumi Takizawa
Studio: Funimation Prod
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Format: Box set, Color, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Running Time: 600 minutes
DVD Release: July 1st 2008
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DVD Review
The Viridian Collection contains all 7 volumes of the series inspired by Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai.
Samurai 7 is set in a futuristic world that has just seen the end of a massive war, many villages are being terrorized by Nobuseri bandits. The Nobuseri are no normal bandits. They were once men, but during the war they modifed themselves with machines to become living weapons and now apprear as more machine than man. A group of villagers decide to hire samurai to protect their village. These men of valor are as skilled as they are unique.
User Reviews
Worth a watch - Rating: 5/5
There's a few complaints about the series....varying quality in the art at some points is probably the main one but as for the rest of the series....if you watch episode one and you're even slightly like me then you'll be hooked all series. Does this anime break my top 5? No it doesn't but I'd still strongly recommend it since the action and characters are about as good as you can get.
The first two thirds are awesome. Then.....meh. - Rating: 3/5
So I just got done watching this and the first two thirds of this series were amazing. I was watching it thinking I had finally found the perfect anime. They truly did honor to Akira Kurosawa with their adaptation. Then they finished up Kurosawa's storyline and things quickly devolved into "What? Huh? This is crap!" I was quite disappointed. So I give it 3 out of 5 because the part that adapted Kurosawa's 7 Samurai was truly worth of 5 or even 6 stars if you could rate it that way, but afterwards it was less than a 1 star anime.
"On the battlefield, there were samurai. On the land, there were peasants." - Rating: 5/5
Absolutely, Akira Kurosawa's SEVEN SAMURAI is one of the great films of all time, and, in attempting a remake, one would require a hefty set of stones, as well as ample funding and talent. In 2004, with the approval of Akira Kurosawa's estate, a top notch anime version, SAMURAI 7, was created and debuted on Japanese television. In this DVD box set, we get the entire series, consisting of 26 episodes on 7 discs. SAMURAI 7 takes Akira Kurosawa's original masterpiece and transports it from the 16th century to a war ravaged, sci-fi future setting. However, the tweaked storyline still chronicles the tale of seven samurai who come to the aid of a tormented farming village that has been subjugated by bandits; this time, however, the bandits are the Nobuseri, mechanically-integrated predators who themselves were once samurai.
You don't need to have seen the 1954 film to enjoy SAMURAI 7, though viewers of both will make rapid connections between the two. The makers of this anime did a great job of instilling into their project the same heart and intent of the original SEVEN SAMURAI. This isn't just a meaningless point A to point B anime action flick. Emphasis is thoughtfully placed on character and plot development as we actually get to know the players in this series, from the ragtag samurai, which the last great war has largely reduced to a jobless and purposeless state, to the lowly farmers, who are insular, abhor fighting, and fear the samurai almost as much as the bandits.
Although palpable throughout the series, it's in the samurai's stay at the Kanna village where the distinction between the two social classes become most pronounced as the bushido code clashes with the villager's less "noble" but infinitely more realistic principles. The bridge between the two castes lies in the form of Kikuchiyo, the boorish but exuberant mechanical samurai who used to be a farmer; this was the role originated by the great Toshiro Mifune. Don't get me wrong, this animated Kikuchiyo version doesn't even come close to bringing to the table what Mifune did. It just underscores how bigger than life Mifune made his character that this incarnation actually had to be in a mechanical shell to halfway compete. Honestly, Kikuchiyo here is adequate and, at times, nerve grating.
But there comes a time when plot and character development must give way to serious hind kicking. And, in these moments, the samurai do NOT mess around. The action scenes are astounding! You almost believe a regular-sized guy can take out a mechagiant. These key sequences are significantly emphasized by the blood-pumping score, which uses a healthy dose of Japanese taiko drums. The animation is very, very nice to look at, even if, at times, the CG doesn't quite harmonize with the 2-d animation.
Along with the sci-fi trappings, there are a few other significant changes that were made from Kurosawa's original film. There's a more impactful role played by the love interest Kirara the water priestess, as well as the introduction of her younger sister Komachi, who, along with Kikuchiyo, serves as comedy relief (Kirara and Komachi, by the way, are also Japanese brands of rice). Another change made is that, here, the samurai actually take the battle beyond the village bandits. But, listen, even with the sci-fi elements, the cool animation, the awesome battle scenes, I feel that the best thing about SAMURAI 7 is that it somehow retains the humanity of the original film. This really is anime for grown ups. The ending is still appropriately bittersweet as, ultimately, it's the villagers who win. There will always be harvests and harvest songs for the farmers. The samurai, on the other hand, just drift away. And the samurai leader, Shimada Kambei, who claims to have lost every war he's been in, has just lost another one...
samuri 7 - Rating: 4/5
seven samuri work together to save a villiage. it takes place in a fictional world with robots and flying warships but it has some relavence to historically acurate events as the samuri were few and the ones that were left serched for their identity. good samuri anime that would be a good addition to any collection
Best way to watch the series... - Rating: 4/5
I started to watch this series, DVD by DVD, and was really enjoying it. It is the Seven Samurai in anime form. But they expanded on the story, so in the end the Samurai go after who is behind the bandits. It can get pretty bloody and sometimes very emotional. But there is also tons of action and lots of battles. Swords and guns, robots and warriors, flying cities and hover cars. Great stuff, as the rest of the reviews have pointed out.
The reason I finally got the complete set, even after getting many of the individual DVDs was it was cheaper to buy the whole set, getting all the DVDs, then it was getting the last three DVDs to complete my collection. The advantage is the fact that the Complete Set costs less then most single DVDs. The only sad part is the individual discs each came with a booklet of interviews and information. And the Complete Set did not come with any extra material. On the other hand it will take up less space than buying all seven discs. But you only get one commentary no matter which way you collect the series. In other words, the DVDs are the same, with all the same photo galleries, character profiles, and trailers.
So I had to drop a star. When you put out a complete set it should have extras the other DVDs don't. At least I think so.
