Based on Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa's legendary martial-arts epic 'Seven Samurai' the action-packed anime series 'Samurai 7' offers an anachronistic spin on the film's famous parable of vigilante justice. This time around, the story takes place in a futuristic feudal society ravaged by years of brutal warfare, where the lawless bandits terrorising the rural countryside are a terrifying mutant amalgam of man and machine. One particularly poverty-stricken village decides to battle the mechanical menace by hiring a band of nomadic samurai for protection, resulting in a ragtag assemblage of masterful swordsmen with their fair share of personality quirks. Atmospheric and stylish, 'Samurai 7' does Kurosawa justice with top-notch storytelling and gorgeous animation rendered in a muted palette that evokes the source material's black-and-white cinematography yet remains completely vibrant and visionary.