Samurai 7
Cast & Key People
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Our Review
Cast & Key People
▶
Our Review
Samurai 7 (2004) is a anime and action series from Animax. It has built a run of 26 episodes at roughly 30 minutes each. It premiered on June 12, 2004. Viewers rate it 7.7 out of 10. It is currently ended. It runs 1 season.
What Samurai 7 Is About
Kanna, a small village, is being persecuted by mechanized samurai called Nobuseri. The Nobuseri return every harvest to seize the village’s crops. Faced with starvation, the villagers send out a mission to find and recruit some samurai to defend them. With no pay to offer except rice, and knowing full well that only helpless and eager samurai would even consider accepting such a deal, the villagers can only hope that their saviors will appear before the rice is ready for harvest. Samurai 7 is based on Akira Kurosawa’s classic movie, “The Seven Samurai” or Shichinin no samurai. The Japanese promo for the series aired on April 15, 2004 and the Japanese preview aired on June 13, 2004.
What to Expect When You Watch
Episodes run about 30 minutes, which keeps the pace tight, the full run covers 26 episodes, spread across 1 season and it leans into its anime/action roots while leaving room for the quieter character beats.
Performance-wise the series leans on Fumiko Orikasa, J. Michael Tatum and Masaki Terasoma to carry the emotional weight, with the rest of the ensemble filling out the world around them.
Cast and Creative Team
Fumiko Orikasa, J. Michael Tatum, Masaki Terasoma, Inukai Junji, Kong Kuwata and Luci Christian lead the cast.
Key roles include Fumiko Orikasa as Kirara Mikumari; J. Michael Tatum as Farmer Rikichi; Masaki Terasoma as Kambei Shimada; Inukai Junji as Heihach; Kong Kuwata as Kikuchiyo.
Why It Stands Out
Fans of anime, action and adventure have a clear reason to give this one a shot. It sits comfortably alongside Animax’s other originals, a 7.7/10 audience score puts it in steady company and it commits to its premise instead of hedging between tones.
Released in 2004 and carried by Animax with the series still ended, it lands hardest with anime and action viewers.
How Samurai 7 Compares
If Samurai 7 lands for you, the next stops are Death Note, Attack on Titan and Hunter x Hunter, which share its anime/action lean.
Each of those sits at a different point on the same spectrum, so they make a natural follow-up once you finish the run here.
Where to Stream
Samurai 7 is available to stream on Crunchyroll. Availability can shift by region, so confirm on the platform before you commit.
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On the whole Samurai 7 is the kind of series that rewards a patient watch, with Fumiko Orikasa and J. Michael Tatum doing the heaviest lifting, a tone that stays true to its anime/action roots, It has held up since 2004 and so if the premise sounds like your lane, the execution holds up.
The Bottom Line
Samurai 7 is a safe bet for anyone already inside the anime and action lane, at 26 episodes it is an easy run to work through, it is streaming on Crunchyroll right now, the audience score holds around 7.7/10 and so there is little risk in starting it tonight.
Verdict: 7.7/10. Watch it if you want anime/action you can settle into.
