Episode 1: The MasterReview by Jonathan April 1, 2006 In a large field, a peasant inspects his wheat crop, then looks up to see a large battleship falling to the surface. In the skies above, large red mechs start the attack on the enemy battleships. A group of silver mechs release a large electric blast on the enemy red mechs and destroy a large number of the enemy mechs but barely make a dent in the attack force. The silver mechs start their attack against the red mech, and a silver slices through a red, destroying it. Another red injures it, and another finishes it off. As the battle ensues, steel pipe-like soldiers fly in and board the enemy battleships. As a group of reds are about to fire on the battleships, one is split in half by an unknown attacker. As all eyes turn to the skies, a small ship emerges into view, a samurai standing on deck. The samurai jumps off of the ship and splits a battleship and two reds in half. He lands on another battleship and makes short work of some steel pipes. He returns to his ship and instructs his pilot, Shichiroji, to fly straight into the enemy battleship to buy time for their allies to retreat. Shichiroji asks if it's a losing battle, and the samurai says that it's all they have. As Shichiroji barks orders to his crewmen, the ship flies into the enemy force. Years later, the red mechs, now bandits, collect a rice offering from the peasants of a small village. As a few angry peasants attack, they are struck down by a bandit's large sword. In a rice field, a peasant cowers as a bandit fortress hovers above and scans the crops. At a nearby village, a ritual is performed by the resident water priestess, Kirara, to find a digging place for a well. Another bandit fortress flies over, and the villagers hold a meeting to decide what to do. As the villagers debate about what to do, the chief decides to fight them by hiring samurai. The villagers protest that all they have to offer is rice, so the chief suggests hiring hungry samurai. He says that someone would have to go into the city, and a peasant, Rikichi, volunteers. Kirara's water crystal starts to glow, and she volunteers to go along. The chief says to return with samurai before the ears of rice start to bend. As they walk along the path to the city, Kirara thanks her little sister, Komachi, for coming along. Komachi says that she just wanted to see the rest of the world. In the bustling city, Kirara uses her water crystal to search for a suitable samurai, while a figure watches the group. The figure jumps down, grabs the rice from Rikichi, and make a run for it. Komachi yells for someone to help, and a samurai hears her and stops the thief. The rice falls to the ground and breaks open, spilling the rice. After thanking the samurai, Rikichi, Kirara, and Komachi start to filter and clean up the rice. The samurai helps them, and says it's part of bushido to help people. As Rikichi is about to ask for the samurai's help in fighting the bandits, Kirara stops him, saying that he has not seen battle. Crowds go by, saying that there has been a break-in at the end of the street. The samurai offers to assist the shopkeeper in returning his baby when a mechanical samurai out of the crowd offers to help. As a hooded man watches him from the crowd, the mechanical samurai slices the storefront in two, revealing the burglar with the baby. The burglar threatens to ignite the dynamite strapped to his chest. The mechanical samurai falters, and the hooded man reveals himself as Zaemon Yoshichika, faking revenge upon the mechanical samurai, cutting him down in the process, to get close to the burglar. He cuts down the burglar, rescues the child, and proceeds to leave. Before he may do so, however, the mechanical samurai's head starts to complain about using him to get close to the burglar. Zaemon leaves, and Kirara's crystal points to him as she chases after him. Well, there you have it folks. The first episode of Samurai 7, and though I haven't seen the original Seven Samurai, this is definitely a good start to a series. The futuristic concept is implemented very interestingly, in that it makes the true samurai almost superhuman, even beyond Kenshin Himura. The art and design is very traditional Japanese, and it seems to have a good cast so far. Rikichi seems to have a personal vendetta with the bandits. Kirara and her little sister, Komachi, are your generic female characters. The kid samurai seems to aspire to be all that a samurai can be. The mechanical samurai, though it doesn't seem we will be seeing him again, will become a key component in the story. This episode receives top marks from me. Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
|
