Samurai 7, Vol. 5 - Empire in Flux
The characters inSamurai 7have achieved their goal: the bandits have been defeated and the peasant-farmers of Kanna village can harvest their rice in safety. Kambei, the leader of the samurai, departs to fulfill his promise to rescue Rikichi's wife Sanae--and pick up a long-neglected strand of the plot. At the capital, he discovers that Sanae has married the emperor and is carrying his child. (As the emperor resembles a Peking opera character floating in a tank of nutritive liquid, it's not clear how their relationship was maintained or consummated.) In an even more dramatic revelation, the emperor announces that the orchidaceous Ukyo is the 49th imperial clone and heir to the throne. Kambei is arrested when he threatens to assassinate the emperor and sentenced to death. The remaining samurai, "water priestess" Kirara, and her gabby little sister Komachi are heading to the capital, so it's unlikely Kambei will be beheaded. At this point,Samurai 7has lost even the vaguest ties to Kurosawa'sSeven Samurai, its supposed model, and has become pure sci-fi. (Rated TV PG, suitable for ages 12 and older: violence, alcohol use)--Charles Solomon