Samurai Gun: V1 Cocked and Loaded

It is the beginning of the industrial revolution, and feudal Japan is in turmoil. The ruling Shogun are wielding their abusive powers to instill fear and dominance over their oppressed subjects.

A group of Samurai have banded together, and, with the development of new weapons and new technology, they have both the will and the hardware to stand up and fight.

I know, many of you are thinking... another "Samurai" anime right?
Well, this one is different. For starters, the anime focuses on our main character, Ichimatsu.

Traumatized by the slaying of his family and forced to watch as his sister was being raped and then slain, Ichimatsu is bent on revenge.
Although touted as a killing machine, Ichimatsu doesn't like to kill but in his mind, he needs to fight back.

In the first episode, three murderous brothers are masters of many female prostitutes of different ages (young and old) and when they try to escape, the brothers enjoy the slaughter of them.

During this era, we learn of the "Samurai Gun". Samurai's that have special uses with technology and a high proficiency of using a gun.
And in this case, Ichimatsu's alter-ego is "Samurai Gun" and takes down those who are corrupted and murderous.

But in episode 2, we learn that there are more Samurai Gun's out there other than Ichimatsu who are also fighting the good fight.

Episodes 3-4 explores another comrades helping Samurai Gun in battle against a group that is ordered to eliminate them.

As for special features, viewers will be treated with clean opening and ending animations, outtakes, production and character art galleries and production notes.

"Samurai Gun" has a Batman and a Shadowhawk feel to it.

From traumatic experiences leading to fighting for justice and heroes donning cool outfits and using guns instead of swords.

Unlike many other samurai anime, "Samurai Gun" provides a unique spin to the samurai anime genre.

The anime is violent but is needed to show how ruling Shogun are abusing their powers and why the samurai guns do what they do.
The characters are interesting and the storyline so far has captured my attention.

"Samurai Gun" is based on an original story by Kazuhiro Kumagai (published in Young Jump Comics) and produced by AVEX Mode and ADV Films.

I like Samurai Champloo, Bebop, Trigun, Elfein Leid, Last Exile and like said before this doesnt even compare to any of those. Its graphic quality is odd, its like they intentionally did it a less quality version of anime, but only on some parts. They seem to shift back and forth between good quality drawing and poor.

There are great moments in it, but then theres moments were it makes you sigh, because it really didnt need that line or what not. For ex "I am Samurai Gun" He says it just about every episode right before killing someone, i personally think its un realistic and kind of stupid.

Well thats all the bad now to the good. The characters are easy to like and each have their own, so far, interesting story. The fighting is pretty good for the most part, exciting to watch and good animation, most of the time. Some parts the characters just have great lines to make up for the bad ones they say sometimes. So its kinda of evens out.

In the end this Anime is all gonna depend on whether you dont care too much about specifics..like graphics and animation and some of the stupid things they say. But its got its good moments that most people will find enjoyable if not great. Hoping the Second Dvd gets better, its still enjoyable though.

Samurai Gun should not be taken seriously. People expecting a typical samurai anime with sword fighting or historical accuracy will hate this series. There is NO sword fighting and the historical content is all make believe. This might be the only anime with samurai characters that use guns when fighting against the enemy. Taking place in a time period resembling feudal Japan, a group of assassins known as the, Samuari Gun

hunt down criminals and exterminate them. The Samurai Gun team consists of a school teacher named Daimon, a female singer named, Kurenai and a cafe worker named, Ichimatsu. Damion is usually the ones that gives out the orders to the team, they discuss plans of attacks and usually succeed.

It sound all good and dandy but the funny part is that most of the bad guys only have swords and bows to fight off the Samurai Gun. So they don't stand a chance. I was cracking up in one of the scenes where a bad guys shot arrows at Ichimatsu, but he caught the arrows with his hands. The bad guy tried to shield himself with the bow he was using while Ichimatsu, pulls out his pistol and blasts the bady away. The Samurai Gun team for the most part have this unfair advantage through out the series. The stories follow a cookie cutter formula like this: the bad guys are trying to steal something or are killing innocent people, then the Samurai Guns confront and kill them off. Each episode follows this same formula.

Even though the episodes were formulaic and predictable, I loved the action sequences filled with bloody shoot-outs. But it's not all blood and violence, the pacing is well done with flowing dialog and beautful artwork. All the characters and scenic areas look great and the animation is top notch (anime movie quality). The English voice acting and Japanese translations are excellent. The bonus features on the DVD are also good; lots of previews from ADV and something they call "fun with audio" which takes certain scenes from episodes which are recorded with jokes and silly dialog.

If you don't mind the fact that almost everyone here fights with firearms instead of old fashioned sword and you want to see a cheesey anime with excellent action, then this is the anime for you! I also recommend the anime called "Daphne in The Brilliant Blue.

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