S7
No polls this time, but I did promise some Samurai 7, didn't I? :)
A little corner of my heart will always be reserved for kyraensui who always brings Teh Pretty. ♥ Thank you.
I really like the classic movie. Okay, it's long, a bit tedious and its better half is spent with battle prep, but it's a great film. (Have you seen The Magnificent Seven version? :) ) I knew this was a remake, but I still went into this play expecting a lot of familiar scenes and dialogues. I had a little WTF moment in the beginning already, like: "Why is there a priestess? Why is there a merchant? Why is he buying her Coco Chanel?!" :D But hey, it was suspenseful and there was Masa they were gathering the samurai kinda like in the Kurosawa movie, so I was good.
...When the bandits were dealt with in the first hour and there was still one and a half hours left, I started to wonder about the setup. xD
There I had to wiki the anime to realize that it's actually a steampunk remake, hence all the machines and nanotechnology and whatnot and the main enemy is actually something entirely different from the original village robbers.
While I enjoyed it until the end and was interested in the fates of the samurai, after poor Masa got offed, the whole thing became... well, not that interesting. Although I was thrilled to have some of the orginal lines, like Kikuchiyo rebuking the samurai about how it was their own kind who made the peasants sneaky and mistrusting, the samurai making fun of Kikuchiyo's fake bloodline scroll, the flag and the graves marked by the swords stabbed in the ground that are exactly like in the movie - and of course Kanbei's lines at the very end: "The peasants have won. Not us."
If you haven't seen the Kurosawa movie, some of the changes are - besides the whole Ukyo-Kirara plot:
- They deal with the bandits by letting them into the village in groups
- Shichirouji is not a pimp, Gorobei is not a wannabe comedian (but Heihachi does spend his time with woodcutting xD)
- Kyuuzou is not of the nitouryuu (two-sword) school nor does he have any beef with Kanbei (even though he does tell the others to shove it at first :D)
- Katsushiro is not a traitor in the orginal
- He falls in love with the daughter of a peasant who returns his feelings, unlike Kirara
- The four samurai are all killed by the bandits
- Kikuchiyo dies after killing the leader of the bandits (well, technically the main enemy, just like he does in this version too).
But basically, the backgrounds and dispositions of the characters still echo the original in a way, which is definitely a nice touch.
I liked all the samurai, they were charismatic and well-portrayed, Gorobei, Katsushiro and Kanbei especially. I was also very impressed with Hijiri's performance! His Katsushiro is raw, naive and hot-headed and Hijiri shows his struggles very convincingly. Hard Gay is awesome and I can't help but compare his Kikuchiyo to the classic one. Unlike in the anime, his face is not obscured here and his jerky, impatient movements and sneers reminded me very much of Mifune Toshiro, who was an iconic actor of his time and the one who makes the classic movie into what it is.
So, Masa! :D
SO PRETTY. SO GRACEFUL. SO SEXY. ♥ He did his little trademark twirl during a fight scene! I was smitten. The two sword-style makes him even hotter, seriously. AND HIS VOICE. I've never heard a voice like that coming out of Masa. :O Guess Japanese are just born with the ability of producing these deep guttural tones. No wonder he was worried about his voice during the run! Also, the blond wig is disturbingly hot, even though I'm disappointed about the lack of a deliquent!blond dye-job. xD I've watched some of anime!Kyuuzou's scenes at YouTube and have to say, Masa = OMG perfect choice. His expressions (or rather lack of them xD), his movements, his body structure fit the character completely.
The most awesome scenes he has are with Kanbei, whose actor, Katou Masaya, was also mentioned in the Kira Kira Actors interview as being very sudden when it comes to swordfighting ("Yoroshiku, let's do it!"). xD I also loved how Masa always kept his toes pointed when moving - like the balett dancer he is - giving Kyuzo a swift and deadly air, as if his feet were barely touching the ground. He gets praised by Katou-san, like: "so quick, really quick, this guy". :)
To share a cute episode, in the DVD extras they talk about mess-ups and flubbed lines. There Masa tells this story...
Katou: So, what about Kyuuzou, was there anything?
Masa: Ah, right! It was actually two days ago. Before my highlight scene, the one where I die, I have these very important lines towards Katsushirou... The first one should have been: "Brat!" but I forgot to say that. I kinda blanked out after that. So there I said something like... "You! Walk your own path..." or what was it?
Hijiri: Right, it was: "You live life your own way, you bastard!"
[all laugh]
Masa: Originally, only after I say "Brat!" am I supposed to say: "For what reason are you wielding your sword? What do you wish from your sword?" But there I skipped over the very first line, and started with "For what reason are you wielding your sword?" There I have to leap [and say another line], so I was already thinking: "This is bad, this is bad!" So in the end I just belted out: "You live life your own way, you bastard! >:E"
[all laugh]
HG: Even though your character wouldn't say it like that at all. :)
-----------------------
Entrance YAY.
Fighting Kanbei.
Have I mentioned the TWO SWORDS?
Doesn't the crazy blond hair make his eyes look even bigger? ♥
You don't mess with Kyuuzou.
More swashbuckling coolness.
Trademark Twirl! ♥
Fighting MoriEiji's Hyougo. One of his highlights!
The infamous death scene.
And a flashback at the end.
PS: I wanted to add that MoriEiji, as always, is MADE OF ABSOLUTE WIN. OH EIJI. Y SO COOL. ♥
A little corner of my heart will always be reserved for kyraensui who always brings Teh Pretty. ♥ Thank you.
I really like the classic movie. Okay, it's long, a bit tedious and its better half is spent with battle prep, but it's a great film. (Have you seen The Magnificent Seven version? :) ) I knew this was a remake, but I still went into this play expecting a lot of familiar scenes and dialogues. I had a little WTF moment in the beginning already, like: "Why is there a priestess? Why is there a merchant? Why is he buying her Coco Chanel?!" :D But hey, it was suspenseful and there was Masa they were gathering the samurai kinda like in the Kurosawa movie, so I was good.
...When the bandits were dealt with in the first hour and there was still one and a half hours left, I started to wonder about the setup. xD
There I had to wiki the anime to realize that it's actually a steampunk remake, hence all the machines and nanotechnology and whatnot and the main enemy is actually something entirely different from the original village robbers.
While I enjoyed it until the end and was interested in the fates of the samurai, after poor Masa got offed, the whole thing became... well, not that interesting. Although I was thrilled to have some of the orginal lines, like Kikuchiyo rebuking the samurai about how it was their own kind who made the peasants sneaky and mistrusting, the samurai making fun of Kikuchiyo's fake bloodline scroll, the flag and the graves marked by the swords stabbed in the ground that are exactly like in the movie - and of course Kanbei's lines at the very end: "The peasants have won. Not us."
If you haven't seen the Kurosawa movie, some of the changes are - besides the whole Ukyo-Kirara plot:
- They deal with the bandits by letting them into the village in groups
- Shichirouji is not a pimp, Gorobei is not a wannabe comedian (but Heihachi does spend his time with woodcutting xD)
- Kyuuzou is not of the nitouryuu (two-sword) school nor does he have any beef with Kanbei (even though he does tell the others to shove it at first :D)
- Katsushiro is not a traitor in the orginal
- He falls in love with the daughter of a peasant who returns his feelings, unlike Kirara
- The four samurai are all killed by the bandits
- Kikuchiyo dies after killing the leader of the bandits (well, technically the main enemy, just like he does in this version too).
But basically, the backgrounds and dispositions of the characters still echo the original in a way, which is definitely a nice touch.
I liked all the samurai, they were charismatic and well-portrayed, Gorobei, Katsushiro and Kanbei especially. I was also very impressed with Hijiri's performance! His Katsushiro is raw, naive and hot-headed and Hijiri shows his struggles very convincingly. Hard Gay is awesome and I can't help but compare his Kikuchiyo to the classic one. Unlike in the anime, his face is not obscured here and his jerky, impatient movements and sneers reminded me very much of Mifune Toshiro, who was an iconic actor of his time and the one who makes the classic movie into what it is.
So, Masa! :D
SO PRETTY. SO GRACEFUL. SO SEXY. ♥ He did his little trademark twirl during a fight scene! I was smitten. The two sword-style makes him even hotter, seriously. AND HIS VOICE. I've never heard a voice like that coming out of Masa. :O Guess Japanese are just born with the ability of producing these deep guttural tones. No wonder he was worried about his voice during the run! Also, the blond wig is disturbingly hot, even though I'm disappointed about the lack of a deliquent!blond dye-job. xD I've watched some of anime!Kyuuzou's scenes at YouTube and have to say, Masa = OMG perfect choice. His expressions (or rather lack of them xD), his movements, his body structure fit the character completely.
The most awesome scenes he has are with Kanbei, whose actor, Katou Masaya, was also mentioned in the Kira Kira Actors interview as being very sudden when it comes to swordfighting ("Yoroshiku, let's do it!"). xD I also loved how Masa always kept his toes pointed when moving - like the balett dancer he is - giving Kyuzo a swift and deadly air, as if his feet were barely touching the ground. He gets praised by Katou-san, like: "so quick, really quick, this guy". :)
To share a cute episode, in the DVD extras they talk about mess-ups and flubbed lines. There Masa tells this story...
Katou: So, what about Kyuuzou, was there anything?
Masa: Ah, right! It was actually two days ago. Before my highlight scene, the one where I die, I have these very important lines towards Katsushirou... The first one should have been: "Brat!" but I forgot to say that. I kinda blanked out after that. So there I said something like... "You! Walk your own path..." or what was it?
Hijiri: Right, it was: "You live life your own way, you bastard!"
[all laugh]
Masa: Originally, only after I say "Brat!" am I supposed to say: "For what reason are you wielding your sword? What do you wish from your sword?" But there I skipped over the very first line, and started with "For what reason are you wielding your sword?" There I have to leap [and say another line], so I was already thinking: "This is bad, this is bad!" So in the end I just belted out: "You live life your own way, you bastard! >:E"
[all laugh]
HG: Even though your character wouldn't say it like that at all. :)
-----------------------
Entrance YAY.
Fighting Kanbei.
Have I mentioned the TWO SWORDS?
Doesn't the crazy blond hair make his eyes look even bigger? ♥
You don't mess with Kyuuzou.
More swashbuckling coolness.
Trademark Twirl! ♥
Fighting MoriEiji's Hyougo. One of his highlights!
The infamous death scene.
And a flashback at the end.
PS: I wanted to add that MoriEiji, as always, is MADE OF ABSOLUTE WIN. OH EIJI. Y SO COOL. ♥