Search - Samurai 7: Box Set (Viridian Collection) on DVD

You Don't Want to Miss Out On This!

Rath Dragonhunter | Las Animas, CO. USA | 11/07/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Samurai 7 the Viridian Collection has all 26 episodes, is in a widescreen format, has clear audio and great graphics. The fight sceens are very detailed and so fast that you'd have to watch them in slow-mo to truly appreciate the detail. It has a good story line and you'll love all of the characters.
This series takes place in a futuristic world that's just suffered through a massive war. All the villages are controlled or terrorized by the Nobuseri bandits. These men were once Samurai but chose to become machines in order to be more powerful. All the villages are suffering. The villagers are starving because the Nobuseri are taking all the rice they grow; though some villagers tried to rebel against this injustice they were too weak and paid dearly.
But one village has no other choice but to try and resist the Nobuseri or they will surely parish. The elder decides the only way they'll have a chance is to hire 7 strong samurai to help them. The village sends it's water priestess, Kirara, to find these men and bring them to the village.

There are many adventures and quite a bit of intrigue in the royal merchant court. Only by watching this series from start to finish will you discover how and if these samurai can save the village.
I suggest this series to anyone who loves swordfights, adventure and good clean fun. It's a good series for anyone over the age of 13, due to some graphic violence. For $28.00 it'd be a shame to let this series go by.
"

Awesome

Morland M. Matthews | Queens, NY | 08/16/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Please excuse the sacriligous writing you are about to read. This movie might be as good as the original perhaps even better. The action was top notch and unpredicatble. The art, writing, comedy, romance, cutenesss, and interesting facts were enjoyable; it has everything. I missed watching it once it ended. The writing was very modern so was the dubbing. If you have not seen the original The Seven Samurai black and white movie I recommed that you see that first. Everything in this movie will matter more. I felt much closer to the characters in this version. But, this is an unfair comparison due to the 600 minute running time. This might be one of the best animes ever made. Without question there is no american made animated series that is as good as this. I just finished seeing it so I could be slightly biased or enlightened who knows."

Echoes of Kurosawa.

I. G. Howe | Calgary, Canada | 08/25/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I'll be honest and say that when I ordered Samurai 7, I wasn't really expecting to get Kurosawa's brilliance encapsulated in animated form. That said, the great man himself was fond of trying the impossible and I believe that he would have found the basic theory of the idea perfectly acceptable.

For my review I'm going to assume that you've watched the original movie, Kurosawa's 1954 classic "The Seven Samurai", a period movie set in the 16th century in Feudal Japan. A period of great unrest, many of the Samurai were forced to turn Ronin, masterless soldiers willing to fight to the death for a bowl of rice and a cup of water. Seven restless warriors turn their hands to defending a village of helpless peasants not for honour, not for profit - for all the rice they can eat.

Samurai 7 preserves that basic idea, but the details of the story are chopped around. You'll recognise each of the seven and some of the peasants too, but the rather wet love interest in Kurosawa's work is replaced by a stern young priestess and her irrepressible young sister. Whacky hijinks ensue. More time is spent on each of the characters backstories and additional plot arcs are whacked in around and beneath that central plank that is the spine of the story.

The writing is good, the dubbed version is actually pretty watchable and the animation itself mixes traditional and CGI elements acceptably, if not seamlessly. Although the tale twists and turns a bit, the bad guys are the bad guys and the good guys are always the good guys - and the central tenets enthroned in Kurosawa's work are held up here too - Loyalty, Bravery and daring to make a difference.

That said, this IS an action Anime show. The replacement of the eyepatch wearing and horse riding bandits with giant Mecha and battleships stretches credibility at times. You really have to understand Zen and Bushido to 'get' why the sword of a true Samurai can affect the biggest of these gigantic foes - even then it can look a little over the top. It is undeniable, however, that the makers had a healthy respect for the original work and looking for the many little homages that are densely scattered within this 'reimagining' of the original story warms the heart of an old fan.

I heartily recommend this Anime for any Seven Samurai fanatic or Otaku who likes action and Mecha anime. If you haven't seen the original movie and aren't a fan of mecha anime I rather more cautiously recommend it. If you're simply a fan of well made Anime looking for a new series, you can do a lot worse than try this out - especially at this price.

Above all, if you haven't seen the Kurosawa film and you really enjoyed this anime - go buy it!"

Best way to watch the series...

Michael Valdivielso | Alexandria, VA | 05/07/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I started to watch this series, DVD by DVD, and was really enjoying it. It is the Seven Samurai in anime form. But they expanded on the story, so in the end the Samurai go after who is behind the bandits. It can get pretty bloody and sometimes very emotional. But there is also tons of action and lots of battles. Swords and guns, robots and warriors, flying cities and hover cars. Great stuff, as the rest of the reviews have pointed out.
The reason I finally got the complete set, even after getting many of the individual DVDs was it was cheaper to buy the whole set, getting all the DVDs, then it was getting the last three DVDs to complete my collection. The advantage is the fact that the Complete Set costs less then most single DVDs. The only sad part is the individual discs each came with a booklet of interviews and information. And the Complete Set did not come with any extra material. On the other hand it will take up less space than buying all seven discs. But you only get one commentary no matter which way you collect the series. In other words, the DVDs are the same, with all the same photo galleries, character profiles, and trailers.
So I had to drop a star. When you put out a complete set it should have extras the other DVDs don't. At least I think so."