Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Originally published on otakureview.net

NOTE: This review is a continuation of my reviews of this series. If you have not seen any of the volumes or my previous reviews, you risk spoilers by continuing.

Intro

I still have no idea how I missed this series the first time around.

The Story

In this second volume, word is sent back that only two samurai have been found but the search will continue until seven are found. The next samurai to join the team comes in the form of Hahatchio, a samurai who earned his stripes as an engineer instead of a fighter. But after an Imperial figure is assassinated with a samurai sword, the hunt is on for samurai in the city.

Shiraji is the next to join the crew, a samurai who has given up the way of the sword and finally one more is officially made into a member.

The Good And The Bad

This volume manages to continue all the great things that made the first volume such a hit with me. The story takes an interesting new turn in this volume with the villains becoming much more prominent now that we’ve managed to meet the majority of the samurai that will be making the trek back to the village. With this volume moving into a new chapter that has the heroes on the run; it adds an interesting new dynamic of suspense that I really enjoyed.

There were quite a few battle scenes in this volume as one would expect. The scenes in this volume though were really quite well done and I really enjoyed watching them. They were all very well choreographed and really did well by the name Akira Kurosawa.

Still, with so many new characters getting featured within this volume I did notice a real lack of any real development of established characters. There is still very little that the audience knows about the heroes that we’ve met so far which is making it hard to really sympathize with them so far. While the non samurai characters such as Rikichi are getting developed, they are also starting to sound really whiny which makes it even harder to sympathize with their cause.

Music

The music on this volume really all over the charts. The first thing that struck me was the very nice mix of tradition and contemporary Japanese music to create a very nice diverse feel to the scenes. The scenes played well throughout most of the volume but in the four episode of the disc I couldn’t help but notice how over the top the music was starting to sound and I really was having a hard time getting into the scenes.

Dub vs. Sub

Both the dub and sub tracks were very well done with no real complaints on either end. I really did enjoy Luci Christian as Komachi and the scenes where she played opposite Christopher Sabat were really quite fun and well done.

Extras

There are some basic character profiles and a promotional video but that’s all.

Overall

Glancing down, I can see right now how short this review is but honestly this volume didn’t have anything in it that really stood out as special and worth noting. The characters and story all progressed, the battle scenes were well executed and fun to watch and the animation has remained at a high level of quality. Still, this volume left me with a very empty feeling and didn’t leave me very satisfied. While I am still very interested in watching the third volume of this series, I don’t have the same level of excitement that I did when I was waiting to see the second volume. Still recommended though.

Final Grade: 81% - B

Related Reviews


Samurai 7 Vol. 1: Search For The Seven
Samurai 7 Vol. 3: From Farm to Fortress
Samurai 7 Vol. 4: The Battle for Kanna
Samurai 7 Vol. 5: Empire in Flux
Samurai 7 Vol. 6: Broken Alliance
Samurai 7 Vol. 7: Guardians of the Rice

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older