Ranked #61

Samurai Champloo

Historical anime don't usually interest me, but when it's as tongue-in-cheek and as full of anachronisms as this, I'm not sure it really counts as a historical anime anymore.

STORY - Like its predecessor Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo is a very episodic series, and it's perfectly safe to miss a few episodes here or there. Even the overarching story remains incredibly vague for almost the entirety of the series and the audience is sometimes left to wonder if there really is a point to all of that searching when they knew virtually nothing to begin with. There's something about the lack of details that makes this story appealing though -- it never seems that important, so you just continue along, but deep in the back of your head, you remain curious about it. So it's the perfect situation; there's immediate gratification within each mostly-standalone episode, but there's also the thread that ties all of those little adventures together, and in the end, there is an ending.

CHARACTER - As with many other slice-of-life or episodic series, much of the entertainment relies on the characters, and herein is a very strong point for the series. All three of our protagonists are rich, interesting characters with backstories that don't seem to clash with their general personalities. As strangers that all met coincidentally in the first episode, their histories are gradually revealed throughout the course of the series in a perfectly paced, even casual way. Though this involves a bunch of chance encounters with figures from their respective pasts, none of them ever really seem to intrude upon the story for the sole purpose of explaining things, which is great. And their stories all actually do contribute to their personalities as a whole, making them all fully-rounded characters with an enjoyable amount of depth to them.

The characters also really contribute to the sometimes satirical nature of the series. Jin could be, at first glance, your stereotypical samurai. Or maybe he really just is, but the fact that they poke fun at him for it makes his whole stance all the more questionable. Mugen is just ridiculous; after all, his fighting technique is rooted in break dancing. And Fuu... well, I suppose Fuu is the least notable of them all, though I sort of feel like I can conclude her a mockery of typical women in samurai anime if I'd seen more samurai anime. Even given the normalcy of her character, she has enough emotion and perseverance to keep her from being called flat.

ARTSTYLE & ARTWORK - Given the time period of the series and all the anachronistic elements, Champloo's art style is very fun and unique. The opening and ending sequences are a great example already. The blending of modern ideas with such a traditional setting is brilliant and very interesting to see. One of the best examples within the series would probably be the graffiti episodes, where yes, there's totally a town in feudal Japan with a street graffiti problem and two rival gangs that won't stop tagging everything. The animation itself is of good quality throughout and it's definitely an aesthetically pleasing series.

MUSIC - Yoko Kanno once again demonstrates her musical prowess by tackling genres others generally don't and mixing them all together. It never ceases to amaze me just what kind of eclectic ensemble the woman comes up with. The music in Champloo suits it perfectly with its clash of ancient and modern, traditional Japanese folk music and present-day hip hop. The opening and ending themes are also wonderfully appropriate to many aspects of the series.

VOICE ACTING - I've seen both the sub and dub, and I must say, both are quite excellent. While I wouldn't necessarily venture to say that the dub is better than the sub (as was certainly the case with Bebop), it definitely stands on at least the same level. Dub-wise, it might have been the easy choice to cast Steve Blum as Mugen, considering Spike Spiegel and Mugen not only had similar personalities, but also looked similar, but damn, the man sure does the job well. (Admission of bias: I love Steve Blum's voice.) Jin's and Fuu's English voices were also quite awesome and actually sounded rather similar to their Japanese counterparts. The characters introduced in each episode also maintained above average voices for the most part, with appropriately sinister voices for the sinister and bumbling voices for the bumbling. All expressed emotion well and were generally convincing all around.

OVERALL - Samurai Champloo was a very fun series. Almost all the episodes were excellent in themselves with a great story, as well as great technical aspects. But the overarching story, when it finally did come together in the end, was actually really nice too. And simple as the ending was, I liked it, was satisfied, and thought it was worth it.
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Samurai Champloo is frequently compared to Cowboy Bebop, but there's one thing that really sets it apart: the action. There wasn't anything bad about Bebop's action, but Champloo's action is among the best of any anime out there, especially among TV series. Though the main characters both use swords, they fight with wildly different styles (Mugen's use of shoes is particularly brilliant), and the fights against enemies with various weapons throughout the series all manage to make themselves interesting and different. Even if the rest of the series were terrible, it would be worth watching simply for the action.

But the rest of the series manages to be entertaining as well. The main story's not anything special, but the stories told in individual episodes range from hilarious to heartbreaking. Each story is genuinely unpredictable due to the bloody nature of the series, and you can never tell whether the encounter's going to end well or not. That's not to say that the show revels in violence for the sake of violence, as conflicts are frequently solved peacefully as well.

The main characters themselves are all solid, but where they truly shine is in their interactions with other characters. The series is never content to just follow one character's story. All three of the characters will often split up, meet separate characters, and go through development of their own while the tertiary characters develop as well. Sometimes the stories will all be related, while other times they share only thematic links, but this structure keeps the show interesting and fast-paced at all times.

The style of the show likewise contributes to making everything more interesting. The artstyle is gorgeous, and the animation is always pretty. More important is the way hip-hop themes are integrated into the show. I'm not a fan of hip-hop in general, but the style here is absolutely perfect, contributing greatly to the humor of the show. It never dominates an episode completely, but it provides little touches that make otherwise ordinary characters and scenes special. A rumor might be told as a rap, and the episode might otherwise be completely devoid of hip-hop references. The music does have some hip-hop influences, but they never dominate the score, so don't worry that you'll dislike the music if you don't like hip-hop.

The humor of the show in general is likewise top-notch. The comedy episodes are some of the best in the show, partly because they tackle serious themes (such as Japan being invaded) in very comical ways. These episodes are also just as violent as the rest of the show, and include the same hip-hop styling to make things stay fun. Mugen is frequently the source of most of the laughs, but Fuu and Jin also frequently amuse, as does the side cast. Even the serious episodes often have jokes at very inappropriate times, and because of the style of the show, those jokes work.

I watched Samurai Champloo for the action, but every other aspect of the show completely surpassed my expectations. While I wouldn't call it perfect, as one or two of the episodes aren't very good and only a few are truly exceptional, I will say that I was never bored, and I usually had a smile on my face. Samurai Champloo is just plain fun. read more