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

Originally published on otakureview.net

The Story

The bandits have been defeated and the village of Kanna is safe for now. The battle may be over but the war isn't and the samurai have new challenges that they must defeat before their mission is complete which includes helping the farmers rebuild.

Kanbei has trekked out on his own to save the women who were kidnapped by the bandits and right into the hands of the Emperor. Luckily Kiku, Katsushiro and a few of the others have decided that they didn't like being left behind.

While the magistrate's son finds himself promoted and is hatching his own plan involving other samurai from the city and finds out something shocking about his life and the emperor.

Good and the Bad

As always, I was really looking forward to watching this volume and see where the story was going to go after the bandits had been defeated. The previous volume ending with Kanbei leaving the village was a little confusing to me but the first episode does a great job of getting right back into the scheme of things. The first episode of the volume being a recap episode wasn't entirely unexpected but I did like how it did a great job of progressing the story while re-introducing us to the characters.

The mid series recap episode is a pretty big staple in anime but it's hard to do it well without boring the audience who has already seen everything. This series does a great job with their recap episode though by not reusing tons of old animation from previous episodes and instead lets us relive the events through the characters words and reminiscing.

Regular readers know by now that I was very quickly won over by the adorable little episode recaps at the end of each episode. I'm glad to say that on this volume the little recaps at the end of each episode have gone back to Komachi sending letters back to her friend in Kanna. I really liked the change from Komachi to her friend in the village for a couple of volumes but it's nice to go back to what it once was as well. It's a very small decision on behalf of the staff but it makes a big difference towards continuity.

I was really unsure about where the series was going to go in the second half and so I was able to go into this volume with a fairly blank slate. No expectations were held when I hit play so seeing all the plot twists about the emperor made for enjoyable viewing. I have to admit that the story has moved in a slightly twisted direction but the fact that it was so entirely unexpected is what makes it work.

The writing just does a great job of easing the audience from one primary story into what is going to be the primary story of the second half seamlessly. Without missing a beat the characters have moved from their mindset of the first volume right into the mindset of the next goals that they have set for themselves. I was a little disappointed to see the focus shift from all of the remaining samurai to just a couple but it makes sense so there's no real way to fault the staff for that one.

Music

There are some nice pieces played during Kiku's scenes, especially early in the volume. Most of the music throughout the rest of the volume tended to fade into the background with no real lasting impression being left on me as a viewer. The sound quality remained consistently good throughout the volume though with no noticeable drops in sound quality.

Dub vs. Sub

As always I didn't have any clear favorites from one cast to the other. The Japanese cast was very well done and the dub cast had a chance to really spotlight a couple of their actors. This appeared to be absolutely zero problem for Christopher Sabat who takes the opportunity and absolutely runs with it making the volume all about him (and I mean this in a good way). Kiku is all over the place on this volume showing loneliness and confusion early in the volume before going back to his usual comic relief and anger roles later in the volume.

Extras

Just an image gallery and clean animations.

Overall

Moving at a very controlled but still quick pace, this volume takes us right into the second half of the series and refuses to let up in the slightest. With only two volumes left I am absolutely enthralled by this series and have yet to figure out why it has not gotten more buzz over the last couple of years amongst the community (unless I just haven't been paying attention). Filled with action, unforeseen plot twists and another cliff hanger of an ending, this is a volume that continues to make the series great.

Final Grade: 89% - B

Related Reviews

Samurai 7 Vol. 1: Search For The Seven
Samurai 7 Vol. 2: Escape from the Merchants
Samurai 7 Vol. 3: From Farm to Fortress
Samurai 7 Vol. 4: The Battle for Kanna
Samurai 7 Vol. 6: Broken Alliance
Samurai 7 Vol. 7: Guardians of the Rice

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older