"jeffbert" wrote:This is a modern scifi version of the 7 Samurai, with a few tradititional things mixed in. I just finished disc 2, & am awaiting #3. The characters are more than a bit different from either T7S or The Magnificent 7 for that matter. While there is the young kid wannabe, he is joined by a robotic comic-relief wannabe.
The Village elders send a young girl who has a magic locket that detects appropriate Samurai. She is accompanied by her kid sister who falls asleep at the end of each episode as she is writing about the day's events. There is also a teenage boy who carries the rice that they offer in exchange for vanquishing the bandits. They first encounter a young kid samurai wannabe (not exactly a Mifune Tochiro-type, but tough). I have yet to see whether he becomes romantically involved with the girl, but I think he will.
The Bald Samurai has long hair (makes sense, doesn't it?)
I did not see any knife-throwing (James Coburn-type), but the story is still young.
Additions to the plot:
The city's leading merchant's son lusts for the girl & has her abducted.
Later, as they are still a few short of 7, the same merchant tries to arrest all the samurai in the city becuse it is thought that an emmasary was assassinated by one of them. So, catch them all, then figure out which is guilty.
There were a few other new plot elements, & the story seems very promising.
irate:
I just finished the series, and viewed T7S' commentary track afterward. I really forgot a whole lot of details since last seeing that film. I shall summarize some details:
This is an anime Sci-fi version of Akira Kurosawa’s 7 Samurai. As a science fiction version, it naturally includes elements not found in typical samurai stories. However, I shall limit myself to commenting upon the most important differences. First, the setting is different. Aside from the science faction elements, the original was set during time when Japan was ruled by many warlords, and the Samurai were at the top of the socio-economic ladder, while the merchants and farmers were on the other end. In the anime, while the farmers remained at the bottom, the merchants had replaced the Samurai at the top. The Samurai had been reduced to menial tasks, finding work in fields they would never have considered before; thus, the task of finding a few who were willing to risk life and limb for mere rice seemed more likely than before.
The main character in the original story Kikuchiyo is now a robot, although his character remains largely unchanged. He is the favorite of the children, and one in particular, Komachi has a very strong attachment to him, as he does to her. Although at first he seemed annoyed by her, especially her disrespectfully calling him ‘Nunky’ and “my groupie,” he soon has her riding on his shoulders. When she believed him dead, she wept and wailed, and when it was obvious after the final battle that he was dead, all the more weeping and wailing. She even went so far as to make him not only promise to survive the battle, but to marry her when she comes of age. Poor Toshiro Mifune’s Kikuchiyo never enjoyed such dedication from any of the many children who thronged him. While Kikuchiyo provides comic-relief, Komachi adds warmth to the story, falling asleep as she writes to her friend Ochara about each day’s adventures at the end of most episodes. Okara sometimes does the summary when Komachi is too busy.
Komachi accompanies her elder sister Kirara, who along with the rice-bearing Rikichi, goes off in search of saviors. Just as Shino in the original, Kirara serves as the love interest for the boy Samurai-to-be, Katsushirō. She, however, sets her sights upon the group’s leader Kanbei, while Katsushirō eventually becomes more interested in war than love. Hoewever, Kirara is not as unfortunate as Shino, for unlike Shino, she is not Manzo’s daughter.
Kirara is moreover, a Water Maiden, and as such enjoys a status above other girls her age. She has a mystical jewel she wears on a necklace that is somehow able to discern worthy Samurai from unworthy. She seeks one who has the scent of battle, and poor Katsushirō, who is eager to prove himself, lacks it. Manzo, while both timid and untrustworthy as in the original, is even worse in the anime. He is uglier, with a misshapen head and buck teeth.
Rikichi, whose wife had been taken by the bandits in the original, suffers the same misfortune in the anime.
Katsushirō, while obviously a young man in the original, is merely a boy in the anime. However, despite his boyish face, he soon shows his mettle. His rite of passage in the original was his activity with Shino; here, however, it is killing his first man.
Kanbei while he does rescue the child from the thief here as well as there, does not shave his skull or ever feign being a priest. He does not even have the traditional topknot. Yet, he is just as forceful a leader here as there. It is the saving of the child that brings him to Kirara’s attention, and then as now, Kanbei, Katsushirō, and Kikuchiyo are all present at the event.
Heihachi here is a combat engineer, though he was willing to fight the bandits, he had never once killed a man. He was not a skilled warrior, but as then so too, now, his optimism was much appreciated.
Gorobei, still 2nd in command, but having become an entertainer since the warrior class fell from power.
Kyūzō at first challenges Kanbei to a dual to the death, and agrees to defend the village, but insists upon the dual afterward. In the original, he was the one whose dispute over the outcome of a kendo dual led to his opponent foolishly challenging him to a real fight, one which he easily won. This is the character immitated by J. Coburn in TM7.
Shichirōji, then as now, Kanbei’s former comrade-in-arms, although here his occupation had been a hotel manager since the Samurai fell from the top position.
Kanbei was first portrayed by Takashi Shimura, who, despite costarring with Mifune in other films such as Stray Dog, Throne of Blood, & Rashomon, is probably best known to Westerners for his portrayal of the scientist in Gojira (Godzilla). Despite his being known in both versions a fighter of lost battles, and having other similarities to the character in the film, Kanbei here is much different. He is not about using unconventional tactics to achieve his goal, tactics that apparently violate the code of Bushido. However, one such tactic costs him the admiration and respect of the young and idealistic Katsushirō, who goes off on his own, and being first to return to the village, declares himself the new leader.
The bandits are, by far, the most different from the originals. Here, they are not only mechanical, but massive flying monstrosities, any one of which could certainly lay waste to an entire village.
The length is over twice that of the 3:26 minute original, thus the need to add elements to the story; hence the abduction and rescue of Kirara, among other things. This leads to Katsushirō seemingly becoming infatuated with her, and they do make such a nice couple. However, his only interest is in protecting her from harm, as he thinks a proper Samurai should. When he fails, and she is taken, he loses heart, not because she was taken, so mush as because he was trying to prevent it, but failed.
I really liked this series, & highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good action anime. However, for those who have yet to see 7 Samurai, I advise watching it first.
