Samurai Champloo...
I've taken the opportunity to revisit Samurai Champloo...
Samurai Champloo's animation quality is very good. Just as Cowboy Bebop mixed science-fiction and jazz, Samurai Champloo mixes classic samurai action with hip hop. There is some violence and bloodshed. But, not really any naughty bits to speak of. I had seen some bits and pieces of Samurai Champloo on Cartoon Network and enjoyed it.
The bits and pieces of the series that I saw, left me with a warm and fuzzy feeling, but, I didn't really care for the music. Despite the warm and fuzzy feeling that the bits and pieces of the series left me with, the fact remains that I'm not really a fan of the samurai genre.
My initial impression of this series was not all that good. But, the more I revisit the title, the better I think of it. I've seen most of the series so far, including the ending and found myself enjoying much of the series. Despite my early misgivings, I would recommend this series to anyone interested in the samurai genre. Ultimately, I gave Samurai Champloo a 4 out of 5.
According to Wikipedia...Volume 1
Mugen's a buck wild warrior: violent, thoughtless and womanizing. Jin is a vagrant ronin: mysterious, traditional, well-mannered and very strong as well. These two fiercely independent warriors couldn't more different from one another, yet their paths cross when Fuu, a ditzy waitress, saves them from being executed when they are arrested after a violent swordfight. Fuu convinces the two vagrant young men to help her find a mysterious samurai "who smells of sunflowers." And their journey begins.
Volume 2
No cash! Mugen, Jin and Fuu need money fast. Fuu tries to model, but it turns out to be a trap. When they arrive in the capital city, they delay their quest to join an eating contest, but find out the hard way they need to watch who they hang with! If some guy they meet isn't wanted by the cops, then he's trying to kill them or take their wallet - either way, you know they're going to wind up in the middle of a fight...
Volume 3
Money & Blood! Whether a fake promissory note or an empty wallet, a variety of challenges face Mugen, Jin and Fuu in their strugle to survive. Not even, monsters of legend, murderers or never-ending rain can shake their iron will and confidence! Then Mugen and Jin find Fuu's diary...
Volume 4
No cash! Mugen, Jin and Fuu need money fast. Fuu tries to model, but it turns out to be a trap. When they arrive in the capital city, they delay their quest to join an eating contest, but find out the hard way they need to watch who they hang with! If some guy they meet isn't wanted by the cops, then he's trying to kill them or take their wallet - either way, you know they're going to wind up in the middle of a fight . . .
Volume 5
After all, fate brings Jin, Mugen and Fuu back together. They meet a mysterious man, Okuru, a wanted man who has destroyed his own village, but Mugen sees something common in him. While traveling further to the south, the three are involved in a graffiti competition. Who can "tag" the most dangerous place? Can Mugen finally learn how to read?
In a small village, Fuu saves a girl who happens to know "sunflower samurai." With a more reliable clue, they continue traveling to Nagasaki, however, they don't know a deadly trap awaits them.
Volume 6
In this volume, the unexpected and often perilous adventures continue for Mugen, Fuu and Jin. Fuu elects Jin to accompany Sara on her journey, but no one is aware of the danger that awaits them on their journey. Later, Mugen, Jin and Fuu inadvertently land themselves in the midst of an interesting excavation site, where countless numbers of miners work around the clock hoping to unearth Heike's buried treasure.
The group then finds itself in the middle of a high-stakes ballgame after Mugen's baseball skills are discovered and all three are forced into a crash-course in baseball and recruited to join Kagemuru's baseball team.
Volume 7
In the moving series finale, Mugen, Jin and Fuu close in on Ikitsuki Island. Although the journey's been long and difficult, there is strong bonding between them. In the final stretch of their adventures, Sara had died and the government sends their ultimate assassin to hunt them down.
Meanwhile, three brothers who have a serious beef with Mugen take Fuu hostage. When she's freed, Fuu finally gets to see the infamous Sunflower Samurai. All the struggle, strife and butt-kicking leads up to the most dangerous moment yet in their journey.
Samurai Champloo is an anime series consisting of twenty-six episodes, directed by Shinichiro Watanabe of Cowboy Bebop fame. The show is set in a fictional version of Edo period Japan. Featuring elements of action, adventure and comedy that is blended with an anachronistic, predominantly hip-hop soundtrack. Its name comes from the Okinawan word "chanpur?" (e.g. goya champuru), which means to mix or blend. Thus, the title may be translated as "Samurai Remix" or "Samurai Mashup", keeping with the series' blended theme.
The show is unique, in that it matches modern hip-hop music with a stylized form of samurai swordplay known as chambara, much in the same way Cowboy Bebop married science fiction to blues and jazz. Champloo's score prodominantly features hip-hop beats by Japanese hip hop artists such as Nujabes, Force of Nature and Tsutchie, as well as American artist Fat Jon, among others.
Samurai Champloo's animation quality is very good. Just as Cowboy Bebop mixed science-fiction and jazz, Samurai Champloo mixes classic samurai action with hip hop. There is some violence and bloodshed. But, not really any naughty bits to speak of. I had seen some bits and pieces of Samurai Champloo on Cartoon Network and enjoyed it.The bits and pieces of the series that I saw, left me with a warm and fuzzy feeling, but, I didn't really care for the music. Despite the warm and fuzzy feeling that the bits and pieces of the series left me with, the fact remains that I'm not really a fan of the samurai genre.
My initial impression of this series was not all that good. But, the more I revisit the title, the better I think of it. I've seen most of the series so far, including the ending and found myself enjoying much of the series. Despite my early misgivings, I would recommend this series to anyone interested in the samurai genre. Ultimately, I gave Samurai Champloo a 4 out of 5.
