Samurai Champloo

Manglobe Studio

My rating: 4.5 of 5

WARNING: MATURE AUDIENCE

In a mad series of events including a bar fight, a fire, and a couple of near executions, 15-year-old barmaid Fuu loses her home and her job–and recruits two young samurai to accompany her on a harebrained quest to find a “samurai who smells of sunflowers.”  Seriously, if they didn’t owe her so much, you’d really have to question the reason of Mugen (a rakish vagabond with an obviously rough past) and Jin (a mysterious ronin who clearly has some dark secret) in following her. Not that they do it particularly well. Although they do mostly follow the same (usually hungry) path together, it seems like any mention of women, food, or a ready fight will draw Fuu’s two bodyguards away. Not that you can entirely blame them. . . .

Samurai Champloo has got to be one of the most ridiculous by fun anime that I have watched in quite a while. Just to give you an idea: it’s the only anime I can think of in which you can hear both enka and hip-hop, sometimes in the same episode! Music really is a significant factor in this story, so if you’re a music geek like me, that’s a fun factor. Similarly, the story is this huge mish-mash of history and absurdity. You totally can’t accept it as historically accurate, but at the same time, you can get a good idea of some of the major events and issues that were present in the Tokugawa (Edo) Era of Japan. But then you get all kinds of random hip-hop cultural references thrown in as well–like punk kids who beat box around town. The three main characters are fantastic, definitely the carrying force of the story. Fuu is all ditzy and cute; I could see folks being bothered by her damsel-in-distress sort of role, but I personally didn’t get that feeling so much. Jin is totally badass and scary in the quietest, most subdued way possible. Mugen, on the other hand, is equally scary, but in a noisy, rowdy sort of way that contrasts strongly with Jin’s manner. Maybe that’s why they’re always at each other’s throat. . . . In any case, the interactions between these three characters provide the majority of the humor and heart of the story, although there are plenty of outside forces causing action. Lots of impressive sword fights. And I will say, you need to be in the right mood to watch this show, because it’s just that sort of story. As for the art, it’s mostly really attractive, although a bit older; there are a few spots where the faces get somewhat distorted, like an assistant was left with the responsibility to draw them, but it doesn’t really detract from the story. The voice acting is excellent; I especially love Kazuya Nakai’s work with Mugen (well, I love his voice acting in general, but he does a particularly good job with this character). Only other thing I’d like to note is that this really is an 18+ show–there are lots of mature themes, sex, drugs, violence, etc. Lots of violence. But if you’re an adult who’s in the mood for a fun samurai anime, Samurai Champloo has a lot to offer.

Written by Shinji Obara/Directed by Shinichirō Watanabe/Produced by Takatoshi Hamano, Takashi Kochiyama, & Tetsuro Satomi/Music by Nujabes, Tsutchie, Fat Jon, & Force of Nature/Voiced by Kazuya Nakai, Ginpei Sato, &  Ayako Kawasumi

Note: This anime has two seasons for a total of 26 episodes.