Samurai 7 Vol-3(2004)
Released by: Funimation
Animation Production: Gonzo
Running Time: 105 Minutes
By Jeffrey Couto

Introduction

Here’s another review I’ve been late in posting, Samurai 7 Vol-3. So far this show has been one of the most beautiful and best scripted Samurai dramas we’ve seen come through the anime labs and with these batch of 4 episodes everything we have liked about the show is back in even better form as the story finally turns the corner and we get to the point the plot has been building up to this point, the arrival of the Samurai to the village that hired them to get rid of the bandits.

While traditionally I would choose to be a ninja if given the opportunity to choose a martial arts’ path, today I will go with the traditions and swordsmanship of the Samurai. Read on to learn why.

Story

"Kikuchiyo has been foolishly captured by the Bandits, and the samurai must leave the caverns to rescue him. When daylight approaches, the towering machines plan to ambush them. Clearly a traitor is in ther midst. Kambei knows legions of Nobuseri will be searching for them soon and decides to the group must get to Kanna, though the team of seven is invomplete. To survive the trek, new bonds of trust must be forged. As their journey begins, the samurai must confront an even more dangersious deception: betrayal from the farmers who hired them. " -- DVD Box

Review

This third volume in Funimation’s release of Samurai 7 features episodes nine through twelve in the series, which include:

Episode 9: The Bandits
After leaving the underground lair of the mysterious Shikimoribito in pursuit of Kikuchiyo, who has been kidnapped by the bandits our heroes fall into a trap! Now against all odds they must defend themselves against giant war machines piloted by the bandits! Will a new ally help the Samurai out of this predicament?

Episode 10: The Journey
After overcoming so many challenges the Samurai alongside the farmers are making their way to the village they have set out to protect. The only thing left to do is to avoid detection, but with so many guards and enemies on their route this might prove more difficult than expected.

Episode 11: The Village
At long last, our heroes have arrived to the village, but, where is everybody? There’s no one to be found! Have the bandits gotten to them? Or are they hiding from the Samurai? The answer will surprise everyone!

Episode 12: The Truth
With the entire village now scared to take action it’s more important than ever for our heroes to take a stance and show them why they need to stand up for themselves! If they can do this then with the villagers’ help the Samurai will really be able to protect everyone from the bandits.

I have to say, Gonzo can really produce and turn out some beautiful work! Of course all the animated beauty in the world wouldn’t amount to much by itself, so it’s a good thing that this series has such a strong storyline and even better character development that not only gives us meaningful insights into our protagonists, but also makes it easier to relate to them on several levels.

If we were to take a look at the previous DVD release for this series one could say that volume 1 was the introduction and setup of the characters’ mission. Volume 2 then would be the team building-focused and world expansion episodes and now with this installment we get to our first major plot climax as our heroes arrived at their destination, one that was setup as such in episode 1. The journey here has been nothing short of spectacular and entertaining and as we begin to see preparations for the village’s counterattack the anticipation builds up to levels rarely experience here at the anime labs.

Starting with episode nine we get things underway with a huge bang as Kambei and the others take on a small team of bandits and their giant robots in a clash of cultures, ideals and fighting styles. The conflict which at first seems hopeless quickly turns to our heroes favor as Kyuyzo, the silent, young Samurai we met in the last DVD protects Kambei and the others from his own teammates, throwing his luck with the small band of Samurai warriors. With his arrival Kambei now finally has his 7 Samurai, which he thinks is what will be needed to take on all of the bandits.

With the team now fully assembled they set out for the village of Kanna. Broken into three separate teams they all take individual paths with different challenges and obstacles to overcome. It’s during this small detour in their journey that we start seeing increased friendship and bonding taking place with each character evolving and gaining better contrast from the others via conversations or quite meaningful actions. By the time they reach the village of Kanna they are a powerful to be reckoned with that will stand together for each other and the innocent villagers they are determined to protect.

There’s just one thing they weren’t planning on and that is the villagers own doom-and-gloom attitude, which ultimately results in one of their own even becoming an agent for the bandits! It takes everything Kambei’s team has to convince these people to finally stand up to fight their own battle. Now the question remains as to whether their combined efforts will be just enough to push off the villainous bandits that have been forcing the villagers to work for them for so many years.

The production quality here is absolutely drop-dead gorgeous and the show is filled to capacity with brilliant visual effects, amazing background layouts and scene layouts that are truly awe-inspiring. As with volumes one and two I found myself enjoying the visuals here more than I normally would with a title like this because so many scenes are unusually rich in detail and quiet movement that give the show a unique life that truly jumps out from the screen. The colors tend to lean more towards the neutral end of the scale, but this works well in that it makes the under-used pastels stand out even more, adding to the richness of the drawings and background paintings.

The soundtrack here again relies heavily on traditional sounding Japanese music, which sets the mood of the show perfectly and add to the presence of the Samurai characters that are its focus. The opening and closing themes didn’t really catch my attention though and felt for the most part as adequate, but ultimately easily forgotten pieces. The voice acting on the hand is as usual, with a release of this quality, outstanding. The casts do a fantastic job at bringing their characters to life in both the Japanese dubbed and English dubbed tracks.

On the product front Funimation did a particularly nice job with this one. The DVD box cover features Kikuchiyo in a painted portrait that is very different from the typical art that adorns anime products domestically (the other side of the cover has a larger piece of art that depicts our heroes fighting off their enemies). Inside there is a nice-sized booklet with tons of artwork and line drawings from the series as well as interviews with the production team. The DVD itself includes a couple of extras including clean versions of the opening and closing themes, character profiles and promos for other Funimation releases. The quality of the audio and video transfers is without equal with everything sporting a beautiful crisp quality to it.

Final Thoughts

If you like Samurai stories or anime with richer stories and characters than the norm don’t look any further. Definitely one of the better releases being distributed in the U.S. market at this time.

A must add to your anime collection.

Jeffrey Couto