Anime about samurai are certainly no rarity and the genre is full of shows taking place in feudal Japan and swordplay. A recent sub-genre of the samurai-type incorporates guns into the hands of the warriors and plays off of tidbits of a historical time period. The most recent show to do this is Samurai Gun and quite honestly, if you can't tell from the name this one's a straight shooter.

This is one of those shows that doesn't beat around the bush and is in your face with loads of over the top violence, adult themes and tons of action. Prostitution and senseless murder is a prevalent theme in Samurai Gun and it has a very seedy atmosphere for the time period its set in. All of these things put together sets this show apart from the rest of the anime crowd and it is definitely aimed towards an older audience.

The focus of the show centers on a one-eyed man named Ichimatsu and follows his exploits as a member of the Samurai Gun. They are an elite special force commanded by something called the council, which basically acts like a black ops government agency. Ichimatsu doesn't go at alone though and he teams up with his friends Daimon and Kurenai to carry out the Samurai Gun missions.

In the second volume we watched as the team saved Sutekichi from the anti-Samurai unit. He's another eye patch wearing member of Samurai Gun, but up to this point we haven't learned a lot about him other than the fact that he and Ichimatsu have a history. The team also took on a huge cannon crafted by a man named Archimedes that was being tested on innocent girls. Daimon's character also got fleshed out and the villain Watou reared his tattooed head to show the gang what he's made of.

Considering that the series doesn't have a lot of continuity in terms of a plot to follow it should come as no surprise that the first episode on this disc is another stand alone adventure. Ichimatsu has to escort Sutekichi because he has some blueprints for a new steam-powered military gear and is carrying a council secret. They have to cross the Kikou Mountain Great Valley Bridge, which is a heavily guarded territory. To make matters worse Ichimatsu is distracted by a nightmare regarding his sister's death.

The second episode follows the tale of a predictor that is being held captive by the Kawashima clan. You see, in the time period that Samurai Gun takes place the harvest is a very lucrative and important practice so knowing what the weather will be is a great skill. A predictor is basically a glorified meteorologist, but at any rate it's up to Ichimatsu and Daimon to infiltrate the mountain mansion of the clan and steal a scroll and they eventually meet up with a guy named Ryomo who is trying to rescue the woman. In the last episode of the disc there is more talk of blueprints and military equipment. It seems that there is a small village that was working on the specs for something for the council, but the only problem is that it burnt to the ground and its people were captured. Ichimatsu also finds himself in a delicate position for much of the episode.

The lack of any real continuity and single episode story arcs still don't allow for my character development or overall plot to emerge. Considering there are three episodes on this disc and that there is only one more volume left at this point, it's fairly disappointing. It is entertaining but a series like this would benefit hugely from devoting an episode or two for background story or to set up a multiple episode arc.

Samurai Gun is presented with a 1.33:1 full frame aspect ratio and looks pretty good on DVD. The image is very crisp and colorful with a great use of some animation techniques to spruce things up. My only real complaints are that there is some grain that appears in some scenes as well as some pixilation in the darker ones. In a couple parts I noticed some aliasing, but it wasn't anything too glaring or blatantly obvious.

There are two ways to watch this show as is the anime standard now-a-days. For all you dubbing fans out there you will definitely enjoy the 5.1 Dolby English set up since it features a decent channel mix. Most things come from the front channels though, but it's a step up in terms of quality from the Japanese 2.0 track. While I don't mind listening to the English tracks, I tend to enjoy my experience more with subtitles and the original language going. The audio is very good and clear, but it didn't blow my socks off either.

Samurai Gun Volume 3 features some bonus material worth mentioning just like the previous volumes. Clean opening and closing animations find their way onto this disc again as does some character and production art galleries. Just like the last installments as well the "Fun with Audio" makes its return and is really the crowning jewel of the extra stuff. Sure the gags have a scripted feel to them, but man they are pretty funny. You just don't see stuff like this in other shows and it really brings out the personality of the English dubbing cast.

Samurai Gun is just one of those shows that is going to be very polarizing among anime fans. The harsh and gratuitous violence will not be for everyone and there are several adult situations, although this volume is fairly tame in that department. The series is almost over and unfortunately there hasn't been an awful lot of character development or fleshing out of a larger story. Everything here is fairly stand alone but even so there's some good action and sentiment to be had despite that. Recommended

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