List of Samurai 7 characters

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents

[edit] Villagers

Kirara (キララ?)

Voiced by: Fumiko Orikasa (Japanese), Colleen Clinkenbeard (English)

A Mikumari ("water maiden", a village priestess) from the village of Kanna. She decides to go to help find the samurai to bring back to her village. She possesses a special water crystal on a necklace which allows her to detect the flow of groundwater. In addition, the necklace seems to have some sort of ability to read people's hearts, and on several occasions the amulet will glow whenever Kirara has a particularly strong emotional reaction. It is due to this ability that Kirara is allowed to go with Rikichi to the city to use the pendant to guide her to the right Samurai. Numerous characters speculate whether she loves Katsushiro or Kambei throughout the anime. Initial episodes suggest that she likes Katsushiro, but later episodes hint that her true object is Kambei. Her actions in episode 25 reveal that she is indeed in love with Shimada Kambei he sets off for the final stand against the capital. The object of her affection is made even more clear when Shichiroji later comments to Kambei in the same episode that Kirara "was about to throw away everything for him." Komachi in the preview of the next episode claims that Kirara shows an affection to Katsushiro because she feels guilty for making him kill. At the end of the series, Kirara returns to the village and gives up her water crystal to Komachi, saying that the water has been muddied by her sins.
Komachi (コマチ?)

Voiced by: Chiwa Saito (Japanese), Luci Christian (English)

Image:Komachi.jpg
Komachi
Kirara's little sister who follows along to see the city as well as help locate the samurai. She takes a liking to Kikuchiyo and asks him to marry her when she grows up. Her character provides the narration for the story summaries preceding each episode.
Gisaku (ギサク?)

Voiced by: Ikuo Nishikawa (Japanese), Andrew Haskett (English)

The leader of Kanna village. He is the one who suggests to hire the experienced samurai to protect the Kanna Village against the Nobuseri. He often provides a source of strength and resolution for the villagers before and during battle, quelling their fears and sending them back to their posts.
Rikichi (リキチ?)

Voiced by: Tadahisa Saizen (Japanese), J. Michael Tatum (English)

A peasant from the village of Kanna who is the first to step up and agree to go look for samurai in the city. He blames himself for the loss of Sanae, who gave herself up to the bandits to save the village. Kambei promises to rescue Sanae and in the end he is reunited with her, though he is initially devastated that she is reluctant to return to Kanna because of her continued love for the emperor. Rikichi learns some fighting skills from Gorobe and Kikuchiyo, and assists in defending the village against the bandits' attack, though he becomes severely injured. At the end of the series he is shown planting rice together with Sanae. It is implied that his injury has not fully healed.
  • Rikichi is derived from the movie (although there are some differences to the anime version); Kirara and Komachi are original characters.

[edit] Samurai

All the samurai are derived from the original movie, and they retain their core personalities. Several changes have been made to each of them in order to accommodate the new environment the story is placed in. Also, most of the anime plot following the initial battle against the Nobuseri is completely original and not from the movie.

Shimada Kambei (カンベエ?)

Voiced by: Masaki Terasoma (Japanese), R. Bruce Elliott (English)

The wisest of the seven samurai. He is the samurai who assumes the leader position and comes up with the plan(s) to defend the village. He's brave, strong, and has wisdom beyond his years that has come from the many battles he has fought in his life. However, all the battles he fought were for the losing side, and Kambei lives in the shadow of his painful and stigmatic past. He uses a stylized katana, though on several occasions, he uses two swords at once. He is probably the only character to have the kanji characters for his name revealed. He is selected by Kirara to lead the villagers against the bandits when her water crystal reacts to his passing in the city. In episode 25 it is revealed that Kirara is in love with Kambei, but he rejects her, saying that his heart withered long ago and that she will find no water there. At first Kambei disregards Katsushiro and Kikuchiyo as too inexperienced and immature to defend the village, but eventually recognizes both as full samurai and makes them the fifth and seventh, respectively. He takes on Katsushiro as his student, and in the end gives him his katana. He is on the cover of the first volume.
Katsushiro Okamoto (カツシロウ?)

Voiced by: Romi Paku (Japanese), Sean Michael Teague (English)

A young samurai who, until fighting for the Kanna village, had never been in a true battle, but always believed in the honor of the samurai code. He wishes to become Kambei's student, and promises to protect Kirara no matter what. He first meets the villagers when a thief attempts to steal their rice in the city, but Kirara initially has doubts about his skill because he does not have the "scent of battle" on him. However, Katsushiro gains steadily in skill throughout the series: at the outset he cannot defeat a simple thug and is beaten by a single blow, but by the end he can defeat numerous Nobuseri at once, deflect an enemy beam cannon shot with his sword and lead the villagers in their successful defense against the capital. He is on the cover of the second volume.
Of the samurai, Katsushiro's character evolves the most throughout the series. At first he is overcome with shock upon his first kill. Kirara is overcome with guilt for having brought him into a situation in which he is forced to take life, and says she will "fall with him" even as he falls into darkness. Throughout the series, Katsushiro grows stronger, and in the end, he says that Kirara's falling with him gave him the strength he needed. Kambei and the other samurai soon teach Katsushiro that taking life is part of being a true samurai. By the last battle he can kill numerous enemies without flinching. Katsushiro takes a liking to Kirara early on in the series, attempting to protect her in numerous situations, and at one point asks her to come with him after he has a falling out with Kambei. He later returns to Kanna village after his solo journey as a much more mature and skilled samurai.
Katsushiro is one of the 3 surviving samurai following the final battle against the capital, and is shown post-battle to have gained significant wisdom and maturity from his experiences. His skills are improved enough by the end that Kambei even shows great respect towards him, and presents Katsushiro with his own katana. In the end he leaves the village to continue his samurai life.
Gorobei Katayama (ゴロベエ?)

Voiced by: Tetsu Inada (Japanese), Bob Carter (English)

A skilled samurai who has made his living by entertaining people. Because of his skill in battle and acrobatic ability (among them the ability to pull arrows out of the air and dodge other attacks) Kambei makes him his "left hand man" in defending the village. Gorobei is one of the more lighhearted characters found in the anime, often making light of rather serious or dangerous situations. He admits at one point to believe that dying is losing and living is winning. He is the one samurai that does not survive the first clash with the Nobuseri, as he slices a Nobuseri bullet in two but is injured when one half explodes a nearby house. Even after his death he is shown guiding Katsushiro through ghostly visions.　Gorobei seems to have a bloodletting fetish of some sort, based on his reaction in two of the episodes. He is on the cover of the fifth volume.
Shichiroji (シチロージ?)

Voiced by: Tohru Kusano (Japanese), Duncan Brannan (English)

Kambei's "right hand man." Kambei and Shichiroji fought in the Great War side by side and thus have become the best of friends. He temporarily leaves behind his successful post-war business at the Firefly Inn, and with it, his "girlfriend", to join Kambei in battle once again. Unlike the other samurai, Shichiroji uses a kamayari as opposed to a katana that the other samurai use. He has a prosthetic left hand which has a grappling hook capability. He is often nicknamed Momotaro, from the traditional Japanese tale, as he was found by his girlfriend, Yukino, badly injured after a battle floating down a river inside a capsule reminscient of a peach. He is one of the 3 samurai to survive the final battle. He is on the cover of the last volume.
Kikuchiyo (キクチヨ?)

Voiced by: Kong Kuwata (Japanese), Christopher Sabat (English)

A robot, once a man, who paid to have his body forged with a mechanized exoskeleton, much like the Nobuseri. He is often looked upon as a clown or a bother; he gets angry easily and often causes trouble. He carries the biggest of the swords, which also acts as a chainsaw when need be. At first rejected by the other six, Kambei accepts Kikuchiyo into the fold when the latter reveals his reasoning for helping the villagers - that he, too, came from a family of farmers. He is a largely sympathetic character, having literally given up his flesh to become a samurai and change his fate as a poor farmer. He is well liked by the villagers, especially by little Komachi, who asks him to become her husband when she grows up, a request that he accepts in return for her keeping his (fake) family tree. In the end he becomes severely injured when he is shot numerous times by the emperor Ukyo and shows his samurai spirit by sacrificing himself to destroy the capital before it reaches Kanna. All that remains by the end are his boots. He is on the cover of the third volume.
Hayashida Heihachi (ヘイハチ?)

Voiced by: Junji Inukai (Japanese), Greg Ayres (English)

An amiable samurai who would rather eat than fight. During the Great War he avoided fighting by taking a position as a combat engineer and has since then taken up chopping wood in exchange for food or various devices that interest him. He is most helpful within the group as their mechanic, and orchestrates the construction of medieval-type weapons (such as a ballista) to fight the giant mechanized Nobuseri. He loves rice more than any other person in the series and can tell where it's from just by the taste. He hates traitors, and is uncompromising in that respect due to the fact that he once betrayed his comrades by revealing information that resulted in his entire platoon being killed. He grows to become a more forgiving and understanding man due to Kambei's influence. Heihachi is killed while setting charges to blow up the engine of the capital when it is attempting to destroy Kanna. His last words are, "I'll be in the rice," a reference to an earlier allusion to the "seven spirits" present in each grain of rice, as he drew parallels between the seven rice spirits and the seven samurai. He is on the cover of the sixth volume.
Kyuzo Dono (キュウゾウ?)

Voiced by: Shinichiro Miki (Japanese), Sonny Strait (English)

A mysterious blond man who wears distinctive crimson-red clothing. He formerly worked as a bodyguard for Ayamaro, the merchant. Kyuzo wields double blades that fit into one sheath on his back, and has skills matching, or exceeding, Kambei's. He ultimately becomes part of the team and helps to defend the village, as well as to refine his swordsmanship. However, he has another reason for joining the seven - he wishes to challenge Kambei to a duel to the death after the bandits are defeated. On several occasions, Kyuzo saves Kambei's life, saying that he will be the only one to strike Kambei down. Kyuzo becomes injured while fighting nobuseri during the final battle against the capital and is killed near the end by gunfire (fired by Katsushiro) that overpenetrated an imperial guard. He dies in Kambei's arms, saying he will wait for him in the afterlife. He is on the cover of the fourth volume.

[edit] Oppressors

[edit] Nobuseri (野伏せり?)

Former samurai/ronin (masterless samurai) who have converted their bodies into large machines during the previous war. Now, in the Akindo period they call themselves the Nobuseri and act as bandits since there is no longer any use for warriors in times of peace. These bandits now rob farming villages of their rice and occasionally women and children for the capital, and also trade rice with the Shikimoribito in exchange for battery cells. Because of their huge size, they encounter little resistance from the villagers, and when they do, they will exterminate them quickly. Ukyo later orders the court physician to remove the nobuseri's souls so they will be nothing more than mindless machines, accepting orders only from the emperor. His plan later backfires, as the soulless nobuseri are no match for the samurai during the final battle.

[edit] Ukyo (ウキョウ?)

Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu (Japanese), Anthony Bowling (English)

The young heir to a powerful Merchant, the Ayamaro, in the city where Kirara begins her search. His shielded lifestyle leaves him with a somewhat self-centered yet playful attitude on life, really a cover for a rather calculating, manipulative and cruel character. He falls in lust with Kirara upon first sight and seeks to add her to his harem. When Ayamaro is summoned to the capital, he becomes the new minister of the city of Kogakyo. However, Ukyo himself is soon summoned to the capital, where he is revealed to be a replicant of the current emperor, Amanushi, who sent Ukyo out to be raised by peasants and taught by merchants in the hope of creating a successor worthy to be emperor. After surviving a 3-day ordeal, Ukyo is proclaimed heir to the throne. He then murders the emperor to succeed him and launches a plan to pit the villagers, ronin and nobuseri bandits against one another to consolidate his control.

Ukyo has an extreme dislike for mechanical samurai, especially the Nobuseri and Kikuchiyo, because they remind him of his days as a peasant when he himself was terrorized by bandits. Ukyo is eventually killed in the final episode by falling into a ravine along with the capital ship.

[edit] Tessai (テッサイ?)

Voiced by: Michihiro Ikemizu (Japanese), Robert McCollum (English)

A grim-faced bodyguard of Ukyo, buckteethed and perennially gripping a pipe between his teeth. He carries a tantō throughout the series, but in the final confrontation uses a katana. He is a considerably powerful fighter, possibly on the level of Kambei or Kyuzo. He is killed by Kyuzo.

[edit] Amanushi (アマヌシ?)

Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu (Japanese), Anthony Bowling (English)

The name given to the head of state, or emperor, in Samurai 7 , he takes the place of a shogun in the futuristic feudal government. Due to the previous great war his body is only able to be sustained within a special chamber. He orders clones of himself to be implanted in women kidnapped from the villages in the hope of creating a royal successor. Ukyo kills Amanushi by unplugging his life support chamber after being proclaimed as Amanushi's heir.
  • Ukyo, Tessai, and Amanushi are characters original to the anime.

[edit] Others

All these characters are original to the anime.

Masamune (マサムネ?)

Voiced by: Tomomichi Nishimura (Japanese), Brice Armstrong (English)

An older man who often has to make repairs on Kikuchiyo.
Okara (オカラ?)

Voiced by: Megumi Tano (Japanese), Zarah Little (English)

Childhood friend of Komachi. Keen and Insightful, Okara notices things that go by others. She seems to have a crush on Shichiroji, and can be devilish at times. She is always seen carrying a baby around on her back, whose identity is never revealed, yet it is relatively safe to assume that it is probably her little brother or sister.
Sanae (サナエ?)

Voiced by: Yuu Asakawa (Japanese), Clarine Harp (English)

Rikichi's wife, abducted by Nobuseri (in exchange for preserving the Kanna village) and taken to the capital to become one of Amanushi's harem. Although the group swears to rescue her, during the time of her abduction, she has fallen in love with the Amanushi and has been implanted with a clone child of his. The child she's carrying dies during the birthing. She later returns to Kanna with her husband and the two work on their relationship.
Yukino (ユキノ?)

Voiced by: Rieko Takahashi (Japanese), Gwendolyn Lau (English)

A youjo (courtesan) who works at the Hotaruya (Firefly House), an inn at Kogakyo's pleasure quarter, where Shichiroji is first introduced. She is responsible for finding him and caring for him after the war left him severely injured. A romantic relationship between her and Shichiroji is strongly implied, though she specifically says that she is not his wife. She reminds many fans of a geisha-like character. She is especially supportive of Kirara, and attempts to help her deal with her mixed feelings towards Katsushiro and Kambei.
Honoka and Mizuki (ホノカ&ミズキ?)

Honoka Voiced by: Kumiko Watanabe (Japanese), Carrie Savage (English)
Mizuki Voiced by: Chiaki Osawa (Japanese), Laura Bailey (English)

They are sisters, survivors of an attack on another farming village. Honoka is introduced as a refugee at the Shikimoribito lair; Mizuki was taken to be a servant for Amanushi's harem. Muzuki often jokes around with Kanbei calling him "Kanbei the Thief" and seems to take a high liking to him.
Hyogo (ヒョーゴ?)

Voiced by: Takeshi Kusao (Japanese), Jerry Jewell (English)

A samurai serving as Ayamaro's guard, along with Kyuzo. The first among the major samurai characters to use a gun-like weapon. He is killed by Kyuzo, calling Kyuzo a fool with his dying breath.
Shikimoribito (式杜人?)
The Guardians, they are people (some or many of them are former samurai) who have opted to live in relative obscurity in exchange for a peaceful life without alliances. They accept refugees into their underground lair. The community trades rice and energy cells with merchants above ground for goods. They ultimately help the samurai in their cause by showing the way out of their underground caverns, but do so in secret.

[edit] External links

Samurai 7
v • d • e
Franchise: Media and materials • Anime episodes
Races: Nobuseri • Shikimoribito
Characters: List of Samurai 7 characters
Media: Akira Kurosawa • Animax • GONZO • Seven Samurai • Toshifumi Takizawa