Samurai 7

Samurai 7: 7 Points For 7 Samurai Perhaps if it had 10 samurai instead of 7, I would've given it a 10 instead. All joking aside, the best thing I can say about Samurai 7 is it's a solid series. I wouldn't call it a masterpiece, but it is indeed a pretty good series. My favorite aspect was the music, composed by Kaoru Wada. He's certainly no stranger to the industry, also doing the music for series like InuYasha, Casshern Sins, and Princess Tutu to name a few. My one complaint is that it might've sounded too similar to the music he did for InuYasha, but at the same time it still fit. I do think perhaps he should've tried mixing up the genres a bit since this anime did combine steam punk elements to a fictional feudal era Japan. However, I cannot complain too much. I found the music to be synonymous with the theme of the series regardless. The OP and ED for the series were pretty damn good, Unlimited by Aikawa Nanase is a personal favorite of mine that got me pumped up for the upcoming episodes as well as Fuhen by Rin to be a captivating ending that made me eager to watch for more. The characters for this series were fantastic and fun. There's a mixed bag of characters to like and dislike. I know I found myself enjoying every moment Gorobei, Heihachi, and Kikuchiyo were on-screen. Although, it had it's ups-and-downs. Some of the chemistry between characters were great, such as Kiku and Komachi while some felt painstakingly forced like the love triangle between Kambei, Kirara, and Katsushiro. A few things I will complain about and this is more from a personal standpoint, I didn't find many of the character deaths to have much impact. Honestly, there was only one character death I found to have a whole lot of impact on me and really, all of them should've had at least some. I do blame it a little bit on lack in character development behind those characters, as well as some of the blame on the execution of the scenes. Perhaps that was just my own personal feelings on the matter, but I will admit I am used to watching tragedy and I just didn't find much tragedy in the deaths. It's just a personal nitpick and I'm not sure if that's really the case or if I didn't watch the series with the right mindset. I also didn't like the resolution between Kambei, Kirara, and Katsushiro. Going back to chemistry, this whole thing felt forced in the first place and then it's whole conclusion was relatively weak. I actually had to watch that final scene between the three of them twice because it felt like I was missing something, but alas, I wasn't. THAT was just how it ended. The story is a bit of a mixed bag. For a samurai anime, the story was pretty typical with some rice farmers trying to hire samurai to ward off the bandits stealing their rice. Then again, Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai story has been reused and recycled on many occasions, so I'm sure there are only so many times you can hear the same story before you tend to get sick of it. The one element this anime changed was it added a steam-punk elements with the bandits and other samurai turning their bodies into machines. It did make for a somewhat refreshing re-telling of Seven Samurai, although I felt it might've been overdoing it slightly with the scale of steam punk elements in relation to feudal era Japan. Personally speaking, I wish it would've backed down on the use of technology, but with what they had made for some slight awkwardness to the fighting scenes and how society is affected in general. I mainly groaned at scenes where laser cannons were being used. That felt a little too over-the-top if you ask me. Although, with that being said, it was still interesting to see how strategy played a bigger role into the fight scenes than just samurai skills themselves. Overall, I wouldn't discourage anyone from watching this series. It's mood and atmosphere is great for a samurai anime, even if it's throwing steam punk in our face like a pie at a clown. I do have my own personal nitpicks with what this series and what it could've done to be better but it still didn't stop me from enjoying it. It's far from the best samurai series I have ever watched, but it's still a refreshing re-telling of Seven Samurai and it's worth a watch, even if this story has been recycled a million times over.

Opinion - The story was a bit hard to get into from the first episode, most good animes are, but after the first 10 mins I really started to enjoy it. Heart touching, action, chivalry, and sort of reverse harem I mean why not. and the action was good. It's like one of those books that are hard to put down afterwards. art - it had very good art for the fight scenes, and definite features. It did seem to me that some characters where almost copied if you will, but hey what isnt now a days. dont worry you'll know what I mean after you watch it. characters - favs are kyuzo and Heihachi. I like odd balls Kyuzo is the silent type who always wants to fight and Heihachi is the goofy mechanic who really REALLY likes rice.lol. well they have a good base for their characters nothing completely unique though

I loved this show. It was so different from a lot of animes that are out there and I was really suprised. Overall, Samurai Seven had a great plot and ending, and it was very suspensefull. Samurai seven is about a young water-priestess named Kirara from the farming village of Kanna. Tired of having their rice robbed by the Nobuseri (A group of ex-samurai who became bandits), the Kanna villagers send out Kirara, her younger sister Komachi, and farmer Rikichi to the trade city, Kogakyo. With nothing but rice for payment, the 3 need to hire 7 samurai to defend their village against the Nobuseri, and return peace to the farming village of Kanna. There were only 26 episodes, but I wish it could have been longer because it was so good. The art was amazing. Whether it be from compact city steampunk, to vast landscapes of desert and forest, I thought the illustrators did an amazing job. There were a few episodes that were different though, and I wished they had kept it consistant instead of changing it for those few episodes. I really liked the characters, because they had a personality that suited them so well, and the voice actors were really great (even though Funimation likes to "recycle" their actors). Another thing I liked about Samurai Seven's characters is that they were (Semi) realistic. They don't have any "special powers" and they weren't invincible, they were just really really really good at being samurai. Samurai Seven deffinitely deserves an 8 (At least!). I would deffinitely reccomend Samurai Seven to ANYONE who is intrested in watching a short, but great, anime.

I really liked the first episodes, however, as I continued watching it, by the 8th or 9th episode I managed to get why so many people were giving it low scores. Many characters feel empty and underdeveloped. There were some interesting ones like Kikuchiyo and Ukyo but they weren't able to redeem all the others. Many characters get straight up weird when the story is near its conclusion, and it has so many loose ends.. it makes you wish that they'd made it only 12 or 13 episodes long. It has some CGI and for 2004 it looks pretty lit, however, the quality is not consistent. Every now and then, It turns into one of my Paint drawings I made back when I was 11 or 12. I didn't pay attention to the OST, but I think it's pretty good. I really liked the opening and ending songs. I enjoyed watching it, but that's it. It's not great and not that bad. They could've made it better. EDIT: Grammar and dumb stuff.

✪ Genre: action (gunfights, swordplay), adventure, drama, mecha (organic mecha, piloted suits, robots), sci-fi (alternative reality), seinen, with elements of comedy & romance (unrequited love) ✔Positive Aspects✔ ◧ Good soundtrack: the only positive aspect of the series, though it was most noticeable during the regular, non-action-based interactions among the characters while the action scenes were clearly suffering. It was mostly comprised of Japanese folk music - a choice which proved to be neither overly enticing nor too disheartening. ✘Negative Aspects✘ ◧ Animation: although the character designs were fairly clear and distinct from one another, I was incredibly disappointed with the mecha designs and the more elaborate robotic structures which, unfortunately, immediately reminded me of Karas (2005-07), a series of OVAs that I thoroughly disliked. Specifically, I could not get past the glaring visual disharmony between the human characters and the mecha designs/robotic structures, which felt as if they were designed by 2 different groups of people or, at least, were never meant to be featured within the same end product. This series felt like a live-action film with some animated characters but in reverse. ◧ Concept: this alternative reality, which was essentially a newly-emerged Meiji Restoration time period reimagined with organic mecha, piloted suits, and robots, did not feel real, even momentarily, because of its countless contradictions. The idea that mechanized former-samurai-turned bandits are raiding villages, with their incredibly sophisticated offensive & carrier technology, for the sole purpose of obtaining a portion of their cultivated rice does not pass the smell test. How aren't those people able to get ahold of technology that would automatize, at least to an extent, the process of cultivating rice? As another example, how were non-mechanized samurai able to move fast enough to dodge or cut bullets in half, jump through very long distances, and cut through gigantic mechanized enemies as if the later were made out of butter, without being themselves superpowered? What a silly spectacle this was. ◧ Plot: I don't think there was anything there to speak of since it proved to be instantly forgettable. Even though each season had its own, distinct plotline, the entire series felt as if it was comprised solely of filler episodes. ◧ Character development: absolutely terrible since the series, despite devoting an immense amount of airtime on its characters simply walking around from place to place, ended with the viewer having a very insufficient understanding of the protagonists' (let alone of the antagonists') personal histories, beliefs, motivations, and thought processes. Just like the mechanized samurai enemies, the protagonists were portrayed as if they were empty shells of human beings. Overall: I had a hard time finishing this series through. Don't waste your time.

Mediocre. Despite the recommendations, this isn't Samurai Champloo, at least not in terms of quality. Samurai 7 is an uneven adaptation with an interesting premise and some strong moments, but inconsistent tone and mixed character writing. It had the ingredients for a decent premise, but regrettably, half of it was unbearable to watch. Fight sequences are laughably bad. At one point, the show seems grounded, but shortly later, characters began slicing and dicing through robots as if its made out of butter, like its Metal Gear Rising or something. Not only that, many of them tend to get super preachy about "Samurai is the path of the Warrior" mantra nonstop. Much, much further later, Ukyo had the potential to be a memorable, detestable villain but they mostly flunked that too. Romi Park saved Katsuhiro Okamoto—if it wasnt for his VA, he’d easily be the most obnoxious of the main group. Kikuchiyo comes a close second at being the least likable, lol. To be honest, I didn't expect a good finale given the quality of the first half, but surprisingly, this anime has a solid ending, so that is something to look for in an otherwise mostly, crappy show. But really, you're better off rewatching Champloo instead.

This series is an adaptation of a film known for its excellence. It attempts to readapt its story over a longer period with a new setting halfway between traditional Japan and science fiction. The potential to create a good series was there but unfortunately, the execution is not up to expectations. The result is an adaptation that has not aged very well despite some good ideas. I nevertheless had a pleasant time although punctuated by some somewhat boring episodes. ==Story== 6/10 The story follows the original movie's storyline most of the time, and fills it all with lots of sub-plots to fill the 26 episodes. If you've already seen the original movie, what you'll probably be interested in are the additions because most of the time, it's like the old movie but less subtle and longer. When it comes to the extra parts, sometimes we have good ideas, especially the additions related to the capital after the battle: the stakes are renewed, we have court intrigues and small plots that make you want to get back into the adventure. The world of merchants and the empire are probably the best additions. However, some filler plots are quite clumsy in their execution and often uninteresting. Overall, I'm not sure it's worth it compared to the original movie. ==Characters== 7/10 We have our famous seven samurai who gain in characterization for some but who generally respect the originals well. Kikuchiyo, Heihachi, Gorobei and Shichiroji are the most endearing with scenes and backstory that allow each one to express themselves and touch the audience. I particularly like the relationships that some can have with the villagers, it really highlights them. Kambei and Katsushiro are on the other hand quite quickly annoying. The first is shown as a badass strategist and wise, but his way of behaving with Katsushiro makes him quite unpleasant. Katsushiro for his part has become unbearable and all attempts to give him an evolution often fall through. As for Kyuzo, he is perfectly anecdotal compared to the original film. We also have a whole set of characters among the villagers, merchants or representatives of the empire whose interest can vary greatly. Kirara is one of the most important, she has a pretty good arc but unfortunately linked to the two least endearing samurai (although they are supposed to be the most important), and Ukyo is a good villain even if it borders on the ridiculous from time to time. The most positive contribution is perhaps Komachi and his relationship with Kikuchiyo which is comical and full of joy. On the other hand, the bandits are at the height of uninteresting. One point that I regret is still the general treatment of the female characters who are almost all linked to love stories when they are adults, or little things to defend when they are younger. This is what prevents Kirara from being a really good character in my opinion. ==Art== 4/10 The artistic direction is really average for its time, which implies all the aesthetic problems of small productions from the early 2000s. The character designs are creative for some, but the sets are not very detailed and lack interest. Moreover, the change of setting in a semi-scifi world does not offer much more. The mecha-bandits, on paper it's cool, in the execution we don't care at all. Even the capital that becomes a mothership is poorly exploited. And it does not help to make the battles understandable. We also feel that the digital technology is not very well mastered at times. The 3D of the mechas really looks like a video game and does not integrate well. I noticed big compositing problems at the beginning of the series too but we don't have too many notable ones afterward (in fact there is not much compositing). ==Animation== 3/10 (but 10/10 on episode 7) It's static most of the time. The characters move badly, float in the air, have no mass in the action scenes. And very frequent off-model issues (I'm talking about unjustified off-model). We also have all the 3D issues of the time, where 2D characters don't interact well with 3D mecha. It gives the feeling of a somewhat botched production. But there are flashes of brilliance, Hisashi Mori's work for a few episodes is one of those little miracles that are appreciated. If you're interested in expressive, slightly surreal animations, episode 7 is highly recommended. We would have liked this level of quality throughout the series. ==Sound== 7/10 The music may not be very striking, but it is pleasant and serves the action well. I watched the series in Japanese, and the voices are generally good (except Rikichi's intonations which are annoying). And as for the openings and endings, the music is quite catchy but terribly average. ==Conclusion== 5/10 This is a terribly average anime for its time and it hasn't aged very well. The series isn't exceptional anywhere and the staging isn't very striking. I had to force myself a bit to finish it because by the middle, I was a bit bored. Fortunately, the series regains interest when it deviates from the original material after episode 17. Speaking of which, the adaptation remains faithful most of the time but for someone who already knows the story, it doesn't bring much. The original is artistically much more accomplished, with its staging, its handling of black and white, its poetry. In comparison, this series is clumsy.

This is fine anime at best. I was hoping for much more but you know it's what it is. The best part of the anime was the music 2nd place would be the art style. Everything else it's at best ok. Character development is not fun at all, don't get me started on Kiara's semi-main character, it's hard to like her even a bit, she is like a flag on the wind. We have two well-written characters, Kikuchiyo who is the brightest and most likable Samurai, and Komach sister of Kiara. She also is BFF with Kikuchiyo. The rest of the characters are just generic, plain. The story is well-written, and it holds up I enjoyed it - don't expect anything too deep about it. Overall it's a fine anime and I can easily recommend it as a guilty pleasure. MAL doesn't allow me to give half of the points so I gave it 7 but a more suitable/proper score would be 6.5. Art is solid 8, music solid 8, characters 5, story 6. Watch it if you want to watch "something" but don't have anything specific in mind yet.

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.

(Sorry if my English it´s bad, I haven’t wrote something in a while :´c Also this is larger than I expected, so if you read everything i´ll be surprise) I´m in love with animes resembling some type of samurai theme who fight mechas (and it doesn’t have to have sense at all) and a somewhat steampunk look as well, so I was very invested in this anime that had not 1, but 7 samurais to enjoy. At least that’s what I thought that it will be, but I was utterly disappointed to see just a bit of that, it has good points, but, to me, every time I remember this anime I think about potential that was wasted. LONG STORY SHORT, if you like nonsensical physic laws about some samurais with no type of real depth about their character´s (and an annoying kid screaming) fighting a weird looking giant CGI mecha with a surprisingly good overall story behind (if you can ignore the animation), it´s a nice watch for the day. If you want a full review, continue, but before I’d like to clarify I WAS IN LOVE WITH THE CONCEPT, the trailers seems fine, with a lot of different characters and fight with nonsensical physic laws that I love and can be so engaging if they are well made. I wish I like it, a lot, but I didn’t, and it’s a shamed. It also had a lot of characters possibilities and development that I adore to death, but it didn’t. When it ended, I was so empty and in rage about a lot of things, so that´s why i´m writing this (like a nice letter to my past self). STORY= 8 The story it´s interesting and, for our heroes journey, very good; it doesn’t has an intrinsic plot about politics, money an honor and how they play in the world, it´s quite simplistic but I think that it´s a good thing because it goes fast, I just can think of 1 or 2 chapter that didn’t move the story a lot and are (supposedly) about character exploration, I guess (I have a lot to say about this). To be honest the first chapters look slower in comparison to the rest of the overall season. I will complain a lot about characters, animation, comedy, and other things, but the story it´s good, it has a plot that it´s interesting. There´s a bit of complexity about the political/economical game that’s goes behind our protagonist adventure, and it´s well flesh out. My biggest complain about this is that I didn’t have a lot of context about this apparently big war thar happened in the near past and change a lot of the world status quo, it could´ve been explore with a lot of main characters with some type of flashback. As well, it would´ve been nice some explanation about how magic and technology. Most light fantasy/science fiction setting are not required to be explain, but that works when it´s a character driven story and you could say it was but there are not supposedly a main character and, in my view, the ones who have more screen time are flat and annoying at its best. ART = 6 Short story long: Good designs, bad animation. Art direction and character design it´s great, most times you could tell more or less what the character was suppose to be like and their past it´s well integrated to it (except the villagers, to my opinion, it´s probably more an anime logic thing, than an actual choice itself, but still, why they have to use the same cloth that looks so impractical to work). I also love looking at the different samurais in the background that have some interesting designs, so it adds a bit to the ambiance. Except the big bad guy, he didn’t look threating at all (maybe it was the point, but it wasn’t well executed) The important settings are nice, but there isn’t some moment when I had to pause the screen to stare at it because it looked gorgeous. Most of them are typical/cliché and doesn’t add that much new ones to the genre, the first city looks far more interesting and complex than the village where a lot of the action happens, but I can’t say that there is something bad either. It´s just fine. But it has a six because the animation it´s bad, don´t pause the screen in an action screen, just don’t. I believe that it´s a case of needing a bit more of frames so it doesn’t look so stiff, probably it was a cheaper way of delivering the final product. There isn’t some complex camera work either, it just digestible, the only scenes I can recall that have a lot of movement are most of CGI big mechas. But I have to address the elephant in the room, fight/action scenes: They are bad. If it wasn’t for a distinct design of each samurai, I wouldn´t be able to distinguish between sword fight styles, obviously with the glaring exception of Kyuzo (who has 2 swords) and Shichiroji (who doesn’t even use a sword, but a spear that I love), and I’m not referring about the type of sword. When it´s a show about fighting and you have 7 distinct characters who fight with the same weapon (except 2), their style should reflect who they are (in a physical and psychological way), you have to take care also of the weight of each other and their momentum. The enemies are a variety of big CGI mecha and bigger CGI mecha, so you don’t have the to think that much how to approach to them to kill them but everyone does the same move (with maybe some variation) and the exact same thing happens to each giant robot, so a good way of explaining character it´s waisted and not well executed (I mean, you could show a flashback while someone its fighting at some point in the anime so I could now more about him and not just told little information about some tragic backstory that doesn’t even affects their purpose of the story). The animation it´s cheap, to say it in some way. Not a spoiler indeed, but in big fights where tension is the default feeling you should feel, you can see repeated action seen come and go fast enough so you don’t notice it happened the same 5 minutes ago. I noticed it and I never notice something, so I start laughing and a very emotional and important moment (expect this, but not really). It´s probably worst because of the characters designs, that are a bit complex, so they didn’t/couldn´t draw the animation to a full potential. Also, there is a lot of stiff images of some character just going bigger or tinier when they jump, that it not that annoying, just… disappointing. You have some times with flowy animation, that shows you that it could be better, but they are so few. You can´t blame the year when it came (2004), it was the same that Samurai Champloo and it has characters with clear sword fight styles and a good, engaging and rhythmic animation in each fight scene. I wouldn’t blame the animators either, but the studio and the head master who said, “yeah… this is bearable, send it” SOUND = 7 I like the opening, nothing that I would say amazing but I would have it to listen to it sometimes. The sound effects have nothing special either, they are what they are. Some sound effects of the swords are weird, but it´s just if you are picky. I have no idea of voice acting, so nothing to say here either. CHARACTERS = 3 I have so much feelings about this, I believe that even if the plot was the cliché of the clichés and the world the most average of it´s genre, it can become a good story if the characters are great. I love characters and are, at the end, the thing that you are supposed to attach to, but boy. Long story short: The main three who received some type of relevant screen time are Kirara, Shimada and Katsuhiro, so two teenagers that have flat and dislikable personalities (just for the drama I may add) and an adult that it´s interesting not much at its own but when he interacts with others. The other characters may have an interesting backstory, but we don’t know because they don’t tell us a thing about them and when they do, it´s a 3-line sentence that doesn’t affects the plot at all, it´s just a checklist. And it should have been showed, not told. Their personalities could have been summarized in a one line sentence and it would be the core element to the character. Main three: KIRARA: I didn´t dislike Kirara…

An adaptation of the 1954 film, the Seven Samurai; This show is somewhat underappreciated for what it is. The way it was produced was noticeably small and focused in a lot of aspects but for what it is, it has a consistent blueprint as a show and progressed into something larger and more refined in comparison to its meager beginnings. Animation (6/10) - It is a noticeable early 2000s anime by the way its aesthetics and animation quality was presented; It had a passable, cookie cutter production value and easily on par with the shows from its time. Although to its credit, a lot of their action scenes has smooth movement flow on it, and that would be its saving grace because it adds onto the detail for what it is. Storyline (5.5) - Its storyline feels small and too linear even when it expanded from its original film origin, whereas bandits they had robots and so. Although it is arguably creative it still feels like, if this is a bigger anime production like the sorts of Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, et al. The story of Samurai 7 would just be an arc from it. It was so underutilized, for the potential it held on reshaping it. The pacing as well feels a bit slow. Other than that, it had an alright and followable story. Soundtrack (5) - Its soundtrack is very limited, in terms of songs; It only has like, three or four songs on its holster and the rest are just instrumentals and BGM utilized on the show. Although it has a noticeable pattern of using Traditional Japanese theme on their soundtracks list so, props for that thematic effort. Overall Rating: 5.5 out of 10

I review this as 'average', but it's sort of an overall score of a series that has highs and lows, and it tended towards being better at the beginning than at the end. I will say it's difficult to give an overall score, because I have to rate the fact that I found some parts really boring against the fact that some parts were pretty cool. I do get the feeling that the real highs are the stuff it takes from the original, but there are also some character moments throughout that were entertaining and even touching. I have not seen the original though. I do think the overall story is interesting and the conflict is one worth depicting. But it's also slow-paced and meandering, and the action throughout was quite disappointing: swords are waved around and mooks die, rinse and repeat. Lots of the time it feels like stuff is happening to fill out air-space. All in all the good parts are not exactly amazing, and while nothing is atrocious the show is pretty boring a lot of the time. Check it out if you are interested in a samurai show, but don't expect too much.