Sense of loss

Ah, just finished an excellent series called Samurai7. It's a tragic tale about a village of farmers. These people are oppressed by the Nobuseri (bandits), groups of gigantic robots that were formerly human Samurai. These Nobuseri would demand that the villagers from all over the region pay protection fees in bundles of rice, or else risk their wrath and destructive force. For years the farmers have bowed down to the preposterous demands of these machines, until one day the Kanna village decide that enough is enough. They send a priestess and her sister together with a farmer to journey to the city in search of 4 Samurai to help them kill the Nobuseri and escape the yoke of slavery.

They end up meeting a legendary Samurai, Kanbei, who suggests that they find a total of 7 Samurai for their purposes. In the end all 7 are found, 7 who are willing to stake their lives on behalf of the villagers for the reward of a lifetime of rice.

This is quite a captivating series, which starts off quite light-heartedly and gradually turns into a tragic story. Based on the classic Seven Samurai with a twist, this show has quite some entertaining Samurai moves. I also like how Akira Kurosawa managed to combine both the old and the new, with katana-wielding Samurai going against mechanised gun-wielding Nobuseri.

Ah, wars are horrendous, and there really is no winner. Like what Kanbei said, this is just another losing war, just like every other battle he has been in. No matter the outcome of the battle, the victory rests on the bodies of the dead.

Highly recommended show, if you care to look past the fact that the manga artists tend to draw the characters in traditional classical Japanese drawing style at times. However, it's not for those who don't appreciate tragic shows. Hehe..the sense of loss and emptiness within the characters grow ever clearer towards the end of the series.



Anyway, enough of anime for now.

Time to send a certain pigpig off at the airport.