The Battle of Kanna Village has ended in victory but not
without cost. One of the Seven Samurai
has fallen in the Villages defense and now a period of reconstruction
begins. But one Samurai still has a
promise to keep. Kambei arranges
capture, in order to be taken to the illusive Capital in order to rescue the
women stolen by the Nobuseri, including Rikichi’s Wife. However, an old enemy is waiting for him at
the Capital, an enemy with a plan to grab ultimate power in one long,
calculated swoop. Will Kambei escape
with his life or will he be the one in need of rescue by his two protegees:
Katsushiro and Kikychiyo
We’ve now reached a point of Samurai 7 that I’ve been
worried about from the beginning.
With
the Nobuseri driven off and Kanna Village safe, what story is there left to
tell?
Nuggets of other storylines have
been planted in the lead up to now and even more popped up in the aftermath of
the victory at Kanna.
All in all, this
set of episodes was both about establishing where Samurai 7 will be heading in
its final act.
This came at the cost of
a great deal of action (there were only a handful of really brief
skirmishes).
But watching Kambei play
his continuing game of Chess and a sort of reset of one of the series weakest
characters kept things interesting and fascinating.
As predicted, Ukyo is officially the final big boss of
Samurai 7.
Now, we’re this the Ukyo from
the beginning of the show, the one who was super obsessed with Kirara, that
would be a problem.
However, the
revelation of Ukyo being a peasant influenced clone (one of 49 apparently) of
the ruler of the region, the Amanushi, ended up working in his favor.
One of the highlights from this very
talkative set of episodes was Ukyo’s examination by his father (a tiny guy in a
tube).
It’s a shame we never saw this
very intelligent and well spoken Ukyo sooner, I’dve had a bit more respect for
his cunning.
Why not have him already
planning his long game rise to power and make him a mirror chess master of
Kambei in the process?
Ukyo’s appealing
to the hearts of the people and the Samurai with the intent on changing things
to suit his vision and see the end of the Nobuseri in full.
He’s still a jerk though and has no qualms
about seeing Kambei killed and I have a bad feeling about Sanae, Rikichi’s wife
who has become Amanushi’s mistress and is carrying his child.
Kambei, meanwhile, began a new game of strategy.
With Kanna safe, he now had the lofty mission
of freeing the women taken by the Nobuseri.
Kambei’s a constant tactician, with his mind working two to three steps
ahead to achieve his goal.
But I’ve
noted how good of a heart he has that he’d make promises he intends to keep,
even when those promises aren’t easily kept.
Sneaking into the Capital as an assassin from way back is ballsy.
I’ll admit though, it was kind of fun to see
Kambei’s plan fall apart when Sanae was revealed to be so brainwashed by
Amanushi that she risked her life to protect him.
It was a rare moment to see a wrench thrown
into Kambei’s plan and he literally had no idea how to make this work in his
favor in the moment.
Still, that bit of
shock wore off as you could see the gears resetting and turning again while he
was sitting in his cell.
I seriously
doubt his head is gonna roll like Ned Stark during his execution next time.
With Ukyo and Kambei getting all the attention, the other
characters didn’t really have much to do in the meantime.
Katsushiro and Kikuchiyo are on their way to
rescue Kambei with Kirara and Komachi in tow while Schichiroji and Heihachi
tend to the repairs in Kanna.
I thought
Kyuzo would play a bigger role if Kambei was going off to possibly get himself
killed…cause you know, that’s Kyuzo’s promise to keep.
But no, everyone was just kind of wandering
or standing around without a lot of progress being made.
It was good for Kiku and Katsu to reflect on
how far they’ve come since the beginning of the journey.
I just wish it didn’t come in the form of a
clip show, always a downside for any Anime.
There was also that occasional dip in animation quality that made
Samurai 7 look more experimental than normal.
Again, I wouldn’t harp on this if the show had been told fully in this
artstyle.
When it detracts from the norm
though, its noticeable and questionable at times.
Plus, being as this was one giant setup for
things to come, the action was minimal.
I get that we needed a bit of a lull after the massive battle last
time.
But four episodes of nearly no
action in a show called Samurai 7 just doesn’t feel right.
Well Ukyo’s the final boss.
Kambei’s about to get his head chopped
off.
Kiku and Katsu are gonna try and
stop him and Ukyo’s made it clear Kanna’s not out of the woods yet.
Think that’s everything.
Cant say I’ve been let down yet, despite my
concerns and this set of episodes worked to quell some of those worries.
Now let’s see if Samurai 7 can finish on a
high note.
Check back Friday for the
double sized Series Finale right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.
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