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This review assumes the reader has already watched either the original two seasons of Code Geass, or the recap movie trilogy, as this particular movie, Lelouch of the Resurrection, follows on from the trilogy (which created its own timeline).

Something just felt so off with this movie to me, that it did not feel sincere at all. Like, literally every single character from the previous two seasons of the original show / movie trilogy are all somehow ok with Lelouch now, a guy who had angered both sides of the conflict between Japan and Britannia, a guy who had ordered the deaths of thousands of people, ... brain-raped everyone around him, and literally massacred children.

It's just bizarre and contrived to suddenly surround him with people who are totally fine with being in his presence. The characters as a result don't feel genuine, they have no consistent moral code or personality, no meaningful inner lives or depth to them, they go wherever the writer needs them to.

Lelouch himself has been defanged into a good guy (which had already begun to happen at the end of the second season of the original show / third movie), which is a shame, because his morally ambiguous anti-hero shtick was the most interesting thing about Code Geass in the first place. (with all the mystical cosmic shit the least interesting thing, which sadly this movie does not agree with me about)

The antagonist in this movie ostensibly has the same goals as the antagonist of the original show, which made things a bit repetitive. And it's a shame their nation wasn't more diverse in its characters, considering it evokes somewhere like Afghanistan.

Otherwise, some positives:

The animation was nice.
The music was nice. (still not as good as the first season of the TV show)
The main antagonist's geass is really cool and the movie does creative things with it.
The resolution to the characters was satisfying.

I've seen far worse movies than this, so I can't hate on this one, if the review seems overly critical it's because I enjoyed the first season of the show so much and wanted something to rival it. But at the same time this movie was missing many qualities that made us love the original franchise to begin with. The cliffhanger endings, the intersection of politics and philosophy, the underdog fight against the odds, etc.

Finally, to add my two cents to the eternal debate: you can add add my vote to the opinion that this movie can be watched after the second season of the original TV show. Rather than subject yourself to a trilogy of recap movies set in their own alternate timeline, all you really need to know is that one character who died in the original show did not actually die in this new timeline, but even knowing that info barely has any consequence on proceedings. That is indicative of how pointless those movies ended up being, that changing the fate of one minor character had no meaningful impact on anything. So trust me, don't bother yourself with the movie trilogy, they removed far too many scenes from the original show to justify themselves anyway.

Look, I'm just going to say it: I like Venus Wars more than Akira.

Let's get two things out of the way.

1) Reasons to compare the two movies. One came out only a year after the other. They're both about rebellious youth living in a cyberpunk landscape who are thrust into an apocalyptic conflict that is drawn painstakingly well in that 80s anime way.

2) I wrote a 4000 word dissertation on Akira at university, so I am not what you would call a 'hater'. It was one of the first anime I ever saw, so it holds a special place in my ... heart. It is a seminal piece of work, but I now feel Venus Wars has been in its shadow for long enough and deserves its time in the limelight, hence this review to get more eyes on it (and hence why Sentai released it on bluray).

Both Akira and Venus Wars suffer from thin characterisation and superficial plotting, but I consider Venus Wars a superior work because its thematically more rich and the character arcs are more coherent.

Akira is not a thematically bankrupt piece of art, not at all. For my dissertation of Otomo's movie I carefully studied the text of the work and behind the scenes interview with cast and crew, ultimately coming to the conclusion that the movie's most compelling theme is about exploring Japan's relationship to modernity. This is a meaty abstract theme to chew on, but there's no character in it. Character is what drives story, without character a story is not worth a damn in my opinion. You could have the most amazing plot in the world but if I don't care about any character, then what's the point? A paper-thin story with compelling characters will always be rewatchable though.

Despite its thin characterisation, Venus Wars still has more compelling character archetypes than Akira. When protagonist Hiro's nation is invaded by the enemy, his first reaction is a petulant sort of anger. There's no heroics, these are just kids who have an addiction to racing. They flail about as their lives are destroyed by occupation, only coming together to fight back when their rage boils over at the mere sight of a tank parked on their local stadium. One thing leads to another and the next thing you know they are part of the war effort. A plucky opportunistic journalist comes along for the ride, providing a few laughs (some unintentional).

If I were to rewrite Venus Wars to iron out its issues, I'd simply rewrite the third act a bit, add more character moments, a little more to the resolution to give some pay-offs, and also re-do the climax, as what occurs during it does feel both a little silly and a little anticlimactic despite the death and destruction on display.

Venus Wars actually has more in common with Gundam than Akira, in that the movie is a compelling depiction of not-Earth kids being thrust into war due to the insanity of adults. Gundam F91 and Venus Wars would make a fun double-bill.

The animation of Yasuhiko's movie is phenomenal and was what made me think of Akira in the first place. Both movies have incredible animation and attention to detail, the screen is constantly full of life and depth. They really don't make anime like this anymore. The soundtrack (by Joe Hisaishi!) is also an 80s banger with some nice pop tunes.

Despite the hyperbolic start of this review, both Akira and Venus Wars are worthy of attention, they are intriguing windows into the 80s, bold and kinetic depictions of futurescapes populated by jaded characters who don't fit into neat boxes, there's no cliched heroes here, just furious action and unbridled emotion.

This is literally the only anime I've watched in my life where:

a) people of colour outnumber white characters
b) a character has vitiligo

The show is already noteworthy for those reasons. It's simply refreshing to see something so different. One of the strengths of anime as a medium is its variety. There is an amazing variety of characters, premise, themes, you name it. Yet often, despite stories set in fantastical worlds where the creators have the freedom to make up any characters they want, they can still be lacking in diversity. Quite frankly it can be tiring when an entire cast of characters are the ... same race (white usually), or even the same body shape. So kudos to LeSean Thomas for putting out something different, and it never calls attention to itself either, its simply noteworthy for me as a veteran anime fan.

Is Cannon Busters a classic? No. I gave it a 7. That just means I was sufficiently entertained, it's above average but not great. But I was very close to giving it an 8. It's close to greatness. What lets it down are the main villain who is painfully generic, and the main narrative does sometimes feel a bit aimless without much momentum. Then it rushes towards a climax (begging for a sequel) with some contrived writing, but the characters are so fun it keeps you engaged.

However, the tone and structure of this show is no different than the ones that inspired it. Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Outlaw Star, Samurai Champloo, etc. Exactly like most of those shows, this one is mostly episodic, with a main plot running in the background. Critics who bemoan this show for being a "shameless copy" must have rubbish memories or are actually lying about being fans of shows like Cowboy Bebop.

Philly is nothing remotely like Spike Spiegel. Philly is a terrible fighter, a terrible shot, he literally dies in every single episode because of how dumb he is. Unlike Spike, Philly is an unemployed immortal bum who is the target of bounties. Unlike Spike, Philly is an actual anti-hero. Spike, despite his curmudgeon attitude, is deep down a good guy from the beginning of Bebop. Philly is a piece of shit for the entirety of Cannon Busters, constantly trying to get away from his robotic companions, and that is what makes him compelling protagonist. You're not supposed to like him. He is an amusing contrast to the androids. His is a typical character arc, we are witnessing a damaged guy slowly give away inch by inch to the travelling companions around him until they become friends. In that respect, the show is more similar to Samurai Champloo than it is Bebop, but even then Cannon Busters has its own DNA.

The main narrative involving Kingdoms, princes and political intrigue is actually the least interesting thing about the show for me, the comedic episodic stuff are the highlights, as are the adorable Casey and hilarious SAM. The English dub is brilliant too, highly recommended.

If you're a fan of 90s/00s anime like those inspirations mentioned above, bounty hunter tropes, a 'badlands' landscape, episodic shenanigans, a diverse cast, an amazing opening and ending credits music, then give this show a chance. Ignore modern hyperbole, just because something isn't a masterpiece does not automatically make it a dumpster fire.

This is a profoundly disappointing manga, exhibiting the worst traits of the medium, namely the sexual 'male gaze' of children, a nauseating relationship between a young teen and an adult double her age, and depiction of women as simple-minded folk obsessed with getting into the protagonist's pants.

It's disappointing because the manga's premise is bold and its themes highly compelling, exploring the suffering and injustice of children during wartime, and the predicament the protagonist finds himself in. Using children as soldiers is obscene, and yet the protagonist believes the alternative for them is even worse (prostitution, death, etc). Their justification is to somehow make enough money ... to give them a better life, but they will have to literally kill to make this dream possible, which agonises the protagonist. This is all a good foundation for character study and just plain entertaining as a story.

But like I wrote, the author sabotages themselves with a grossly inappropriate relationship and lewd humour, which often depicts a young girl in sexual poses and scenarios. It's the ultimate betrayal of the manga's premise. How can you explore a topic like the sexual abuse of children while also using male gaze on them to titillate otaku readers? It's disgusting. There's also a disturbing rape scene, which fine, this is an act that happens in real life and is not forbidden to portray in entertainment, and yet the artist (Daisuke Kimura) felt it necessary to constantly show us close-ups of the victim's big tits. Again: this is a pathetic attempt at titillation and really unnecessary in the midst of a violent scene when she's being held at gunpoint. The artist could have just stuck to a profile shot of her, but no, we had to get close up of her boobs for...reasons.

What starts off as a dark drama/thriller about a guy who finds himself with the skillset for a brutal line of work, descends into a harem manga. I'm not even joking.

I gave it a 4/10 in the end because the last chapter pushed me over the edge with its obscenity.

Chainsaw Man is torn between being seinen and shonen, while failing to be adept at either.

It's as violent as seinen with its body horror, but with nothing remotely meaningful to say or thematically explore that you can't read in stories aimed at young children (killing's bad m'kay? Humans emotions are good m'kay?). It's as creative with its battles and abilities as a shonen, but without the coherent rules of the genre.

The author regularly pulls undeserved plot twists and powers out of his ass during battles, making it seem like we've just seen a pay-off. But pay-offs don't work without set-ups. Visit the forums to see ... people often wondering "how did the character do that?" "why did that happen?" "how is this character not dead?" "Why is that character so strong now?" "Wait, how is that possible?". The commenters are all positive, they love the manga. They're not complaining. They're patiently waiting for everything to make sense later.

They're waiting in vain. Because the author is seemingly a fan of the 'soft magic' system of literature, where anything goes. But soft magic and the shonen genre are not good bedfellows. When you read something like Naruto, One Piece or JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, you are methodically given explanations for every characters abilities and limitations. Characters like Naruto or Luffy can't just sprout wings or teleport from here to there without training first or other some such thing. Or if they don't proactively get the power, then the narrative at least sets-up the fact that it's possible for them to do things under certain circumstances.

Chainsaw Man does not set-up anything, it just makes shit happen for dramatic affect. The main character will suddenly use his chainsaws in a new way in the middle of a tough battle...just because.

Simply, it's not fun when the author can make a character do whatever the plot needs them to do. It's deflating, anticlimactic and quite frankly amateurish.

There are times when the manga wants to aim for emotional resonance, but it's futile. How can I be emotionally invested in the characters and narrative when the author can make up things on the fly? Why can this character teleport, why can that one be mind-controlled? There's no concrete rules established, so if anything bad can happen then the opposite is true: anything good can happen too. The author undermines every source of dramatic tension.

The manga is fun, it's creative in its irreverent humour with good art composition. Though at times it veers (or should I say 'leers') into pervy territory too much for my liking. It doesn't seem to know what its about. If you want to be a pervy manga then be a pervy manga. If you only dole the titillating nudity out here and there, it's not only odd but sticks out like a sore thumb, destabilising the tone of the narrative. Its treatment of women as a whole is arguably problematic as well, though as the manga has not finished at the time of this review, perhaps the author will avoid the pitfall of painting women weirdly.

It's not a bad manga, but it's hindered from being a great one. The colour version is pretty good with its creative usage of colours.

This has the worst structure of a show I've ever seen. Despite that baffling aspect, Bamboo Blade is a lighthearted irreverent comedy maybe worth your time.

Let's get the negatives out of the way.

First off, the show's premise is that a school's kendo sensei, Ishida, makes a bet with his friend that his team of girls can beat his friend's, with the reward being a year's worth of eating at a restaurant.

This weak hook to the show is resolved in a handful of episodes. Let me repeat: the reason for this show existing is resolved in a handful of episodes.

After some meandering, the show comes up ... with another premise: after a disastrous encounter with an influential figure, Ishida's job is at risk so he decides to win the national kendo tournament to make himself indispensable.

You'd think this should have been the premise all along, considering the high stakes. Regardless, the show's complete lack of urgency, momentum or adherence to sports tropes almost makes this new premise as meaningless as the initial one.

By the time episode 20 rolls around there is no sense of escalation or impending finale to the story. The characters are not knee-deep into a tournament or anything like that, in fact there's no kendo in that episode at all, the show is more concerned with inter-relationship dynamics and characters goofing around.

So if you go into this show expecting the traditions of the sports genre, think again.

There's no explanation for newcomers as to what kendo even is. There's no "discovering a sport via a character new to it" structure. There's no shonen/Naruto-esque explanation of the tournament and its rival teams. All this, despite the fact that there are indeed characters who join the kendo club for the first time and need to be taught the sport, and that there is indeed a tournament with rival teams making an appearance. The show just doesn't have the time to treat the viewer as kindly as it treats Dan-kun (a humorously drawn character who creepily sounds like he's 30 years old).

I already knew enough about kendo personally, so I didn't feel in the dark, but I imagine people who know nothing about it, will feel a mild frustration that the show doesn't take the time to methodically explain the ins and outs of the ritualistic martial art.

So, instead of a structure of a sports show, you're just kind of thrown into the lives of these girls who hang out at the kendo dojo. The show's comedy is its highlight. It's irreverent and goofy, with a pleasant cast of characters.

Tamaki is a standout, and ostensibly the show's protagonist. You'd think that would be Ishida, but he's such a superficial character, useless as a teacher and has no character arc, that the actual protagonist is Tamaki. She's the one the viewer goes on a journey with, she actually has a character arc.

Tamaki is an introvert, and in a show tempered with incompetent narrative writing, she stands out as being authentic. My favourite moment is when she starts a job for the first time. The writers nailed what it feels like for an introvert to do that.

On the negative side, there's a subplot involving a stalker that struck me as very odd. Sure there's plenty of laughs to be had during the storyline, but the victim of the stalking is (accurately) portrayed as being freaked the hell out about it, to the point of paralytic fear, and I don't really find that amusing. The whole thing just stuck out like a sore thumb compared to everything else going on in the story.

Also worth noting that Ishida sensei is beyond useless, he doesn't teach anyone a single technique in the entire show. Near the end instead of taking responsibility himself, he decides to leave a pivotal and stressful decision to one of his students like a coward. Garbage writing for a garbage teacher.

So Bamboo Blade has a baffling structure about it, you keep waiting for the plot to heat up, but it never does. Its stuck between being a slice of life show, and one with stakes. It feels as if it was written by someone completely new to the art of storytelling. If you go in with lowered expectations, you might find the show a good time though because it can be quite funny.

Oh boy. Re-reading this was eye-opening. It's been on my personal favourite list for decades, it was the first anime and manga I ever saw, so it'll always have a special place in my heart. I rewatched the movie on 4K bluray recently and it holds up well. The Akira Club artbook is also gorgeous. The manga though...

I'd recently bought all 6 volumes (the long-selling English ones by Kodansha), and was excited to re-read them for the first time since the late 1990s, but after reading one volume I was shocked to feel that nothing meaningful had happened. Despite the fact that the story is ... 99% fast moving plot. But that crucial and paltry 1% dedicated to characterisation is what's upsetting me.

It reminds me of a golden rule of storytelling that I believe in: you can have the most amazing plot ever, but if you don't have engaging characters, your story isn't worth a damn. People will barely rewatch movies with good plots with unmemorable characters, but people will always rewatch movies with mediocre plots just because the characters are awesome. Character is everything in storytelling.

The movie adaptation works because it's streamlined and razor focused. The characters are not deep, but they're coherent. There is a palpable relationship between Kaneda and Tetsuo. Also, unlike the manga Kaneda is not a repugnant piece of shit in the movie (who likely impregnated a random girl in the manga and abandoned her!). There's a clear rites of passage involved in the movie, set against a broiling backdrop that is rich in symbolism. I even wrote a university dissertation on the movie and its thematic commentary on Japan's relationship to technology. I cited my theories with numerous references to behind the scenes interviews with Otomo and the staff.

Akira the manga however has almost no characterisation whatsoever. Most characters are either just dumping exposition or reacting to explosions and gunfire. If you asked me to tell you something personal about Kei I honestly couldn't. In the movie she takes a life for the first time and is clearly shaken by it, but in the manga there's no reaction whatsoever during the same moment. It's weird how the movie can take the time to depict such a small character moment, but a 6 volume manga rarely stops to take a breath.

I sense no thematic exploration despite the deep cyberpunk atmosphere in the beginning and the post-apocalyptic tropes in the second half, there's barely any character arcs despite the lengthy tale, every character except for Tetsuo is exactly the same personality-wise at the end as they were at the beginning, there's no growth or development to be seen. There's barely any subtext or metaphor to chew on. What is this story actually about? I'm not talking about the plot, I'm talking about subtext and theme, why Otomo decided to put pencil to paper all those years ago.

For some reason Akira and Tetsuo are trying to kill each other almost immediately in the manga. At least in the movie Kaneda's immediate reasoning is revenge for the death of a friend, but in the manga Kaneda is trying to kill Tetsuo despite him not having done anything to Kaneda yet! Literally the only reason implied is that Tetsuo is running his own gang. That's it. That's the reason Kaneda and his friends want to kill Tetsuo. It's beyond stupid.

In volume 2 Tetsuo is intent on finding Akira, and then once he does, there's zero conversation, zero insight into his motivation, absolutely nothing. It's just "ok, let's get out of here".

It's shocking how shallow this manga is. Comments online are always praising the manga as having "such a better story than the anime". What story? There's no story! It's nothing but chase scenes for 6 whole volumes.

The art remains iconic and one of my favourites of the medium, and Otomo's ambition is infectious, which is why I've rated the manga so highly, but I find myself stunned by how little I care for anything that's happening from panel to panel.

As a digression, the popular and long-in-print English volumes of Akira are terrible. I was stunned. There are so many typos that Kodansha have left in all these years. The left to right format had no effort put into it, so all characters are left-handed, etc. In fact, I'm uncertain whether my next issue is because of the flipping, or because of Otomo himself but I was profoundly baffled by the panel progression in this manga. Traditionally you want big reveals or dramatic panels on a new page, so as not to spoil a reader's wandering eye, or even their peripheral vision. But in this translation, all the dramatic panels are on the second (right hand) page. I kept getting spoiled on big moments constantly. Then when you flip the page over, the start of the left-hand page just has mundane things going on.

If you get this manga, get the 35th Anniversary boxset, because it's unflipped for the first time ever.

So yeah, I found this re-reading experience sadly disappointing. Akira has a propulsive plot that has so much stuff happening, so much violence and characters running down corridors, and yet...it feels like nothing meaningful actually happens. The ending is also another huge question mark. No, I'm not talking about what on Earth happened in the climax (which again, is much more clearer in the movie than in the manga), but why the main characters behave the way they do. I won't spoil their inexplicable actions, but suffice to say some characters decide to exhibit emotions resembling nationalism for the first time ever, which almost made me angry with how nonsensical it is. This is not a character arc, this is not thematic exploration, it's just pulling shit out of thin air.

It's been a profoundly disappointing experience rediscovering this manga. I will try to cling on to my memories of the 1990s, reading Manga Mania magazine and learning to draw by tracing the manga as a teenager.

Hiroya Oku's follow-up to Gantz continues his exploration of nihilism in a hyper-real Japan, with an enticing premise and promising protagonist. There's not enough older folk utilised as main characters in manga, and Oku relishes the chance to shove Mr Inuyashiki into excruciating scenarios and to pull him out in cathartic fashion. He's joined by a malevolent antagonist who has a heavy presence all throughout the tale.

Which is a problem. But more about that later. Let me get some positives out of the way.

Oku really nails the banal cruelty of internet comments that you see everywhere online, from 2chan to reddit to MAL itself. We ... saw this in Gantz, and he continues his skewering of 21st century online discourse to entertaining effect here.

I sometimes see people complain about the backgrounds in his manga, because they seem traced, but the realistic backgrounds serve to immerse you in the story that feels very familiar, despite all the outrageous shit going on. When the antagonist of this story goes on a killing spree, it's all the more horrific to witness when it's set against mundane realistic backgrounds.

The antagonist is so menacing, so obscene in his nonchalant method of dealing death to everyone around him, that Oku himself becomes mesmerised by him, sacrificing the protagonist of his own story. Mr Inuyashiki is relegated to the background at a certain point and becomes super passive, even disappearing entirely from the narrative.

Oku establishes some rules to how technology works in this story, how Mr Inuyashiki can hear people in trouble. And yet, during one of the many shocking massacres in the story, for some baffling reason, Oku decides not to include the protagonist in the ensuing sequence. There is no in-universe reason for why our elderly protagonist would not have heard the cries of dozens of people being shot to death, and rushed to do something about it. But for whatever reason, Mr Inuyashiki is not involved at all.

Mr Inuyashiki himself is sorely missing for a substantial portion of this manga and it's infuriating.

So much mayhem happens, so much misery, and the entire time you'll be wanting to scream at the manga "where the hell is the protagonist?". The antagonist is so fascinating, it makes you wonder if Oku should have made the entire story about him to begin with. To have a tale about an antihero, like Light Yagami, up against the world, to see his rise and fall.

Anyway, at some point Oku remembers his protagonist and gets him involved again, but his passivity never really goes away, he has to be pushed by exterior circumstances or people in order to do anything remotely meaningful. The last half of the manga is disaster porn, populated by useless characters doing nonsensical things within repetitive and inefficient panels. It's like Oku forgot how to be a mangaka.

The climax of the story is also insulting and without coherent thematic meaning.

Inuyashiki is unfortunately a narrative failure and a disappointing follow-up to Oku's magnum opus Gantz.

How far the mighty have fallen.

The Ghost in the Shell franchise used to be pioneering. It created new visual iconography, new visual language and cyberpunk tropes. In SAC_2045 we witness a franchise flailing about in a last gasp attempt at being relevant. It's a show that has nothing to say about anything. I found the many references to the Wachowskis Matrix series during the 2 seasons of this show profoundly pathetic.

As mentioned above GitS used to create iconography that influenced cinema and animation, and now it has devolved into blatantly ripping off the Matrix, with no grace about it. Instead we just get straight ... homages to Agent Smith, the burly brawl, the highway chase, along with the obligatory and lazy homages to previous better GitS movies and shows (how many more times will we see a metal claw gripping Motoko's face as she dangles in the air?).

Similarly to the original SAC's Laughing Man subplot, SAC 2045 also has a literary homage which comes to the fore in the second season, but as you can tell by now, it's lazy and superficial. With characters seeking utopia sincerely quoting Orwell's 1984 like it's meant to mean something. It's like the writers have no idea that "War is peace. Freedom is slavery." is supposed to be IRONIC.

I thought GitS: Arise was utterly boring and unpleasant to look at, dropping it within two episodes. 2045 is better looking (despite the naysayers complaints), and watchable as simple entertainment. But as a Ghost in the Shell story, it's woeful, with the ludicrous character Purin behaving like a 12 year old (that we have to see naked for 'reasons'), its typical Japanese treatment of Black characters, and crucially relegating Motoko Kusanagi to a side character who barely gets any attention. We never see her by herself, she has no inner life or character arc. She has less screen time than Togusa and Batou, and is effectively nothing but an exposition device.

Some people will say season 2 is a vast improvement over 1, but take that with a grain of salt. It's simply more of the same.

Shame on Kenji Kamiyama. How the mighty have fallen.

I caught Samurai Champloo as it aired back in 2004, and though I liked it enough, it didn’t impact me as much as I hoped it would. Though maybe that’s not entirely true, as the soundtrack did indirectly change my life, thanks to the composer Nujabes introducing me to instrumental hip hop and providing a soundtrack to my life for the next few years.

I recently re-watched the show and felt compelled to write a retrospective/review of the series. While watching Jin, Mugen and Fuu traipse around 19th century Japan getting into ridiculous adventures, I realised Shinichirô Watanabe’s follow up to Cowboy Bebop is one of ... the most subversive animes ever made. Taking a staple genre, dressing it up in anachronism, but continually tackling subjects often avoided by the medium.

It takes 25 episodes until a character literally says “I was born in the wrong era.” Champloo is basically saying Japan’s lofty samurai era was actually a shit place to live for common people like us actually thank you very much.

It’s a divisive show that tested the patience of many viewers, drove others away entirely after a few episodes, and frustrated people who were too used to watching a plot move characters forward for 26 episodes. Champloo doesn’t even have characters who move the plot forward. The hook of how the three disparate characters end up travelling together through Edo period Japan is just that, it’s a hook to draw you in.

Samurai Champloo is about, and also not about, three characters hunting a samurai who smells of sunflowers. There’s an episode late into the series which features two street gangs having a graffiti battle across town, and though somewhat amusing also served no benefit towards the journey of the three characters. So if you hop into any forum thread you’ll see a multitude of complaints about it. However, the point of the episode is the same as the theme running throughout the entire show: people from a bygone era rebelling against authority and social norms in a way 21st century people do: through counter-culture.

I’ve gained a new appreciation for this show. It’s been so so long since I saw it, but rewatching it I realise how the story is about how incompatible Tokugawa era Japan is with our way of life; all the things we take for granted were rare luxuries back then. This is an obvious fact for anyone with a remote understanding of Japanese history, but still, the show rams it home with stark contrasts. Each episode highlights a 21st century aspect of our lives, a form of freedom (creative, sexual, geographical, etc) that characters in the 19th century yearned for despite the odds.

It’s set in an era ruled by rigid order, social rules and hierarchies. Stifling to the point of causing grief among the downtrodden populace. Yet a populace we should not treat as foreign aliens. The show asks us to empathise with them; they were just like us. Some of them had our modern spirit and ultimately struggled to exist in such a society as a result. Our heroes are a ronin, vagabond, and an orphan. Fighting against their era’s rules with a modern spirit.

One of the things I love about this show is how the three characters hate each other for the majority of the 26 episodes, but their hatred gives away inch by inch. They initially try to break apart, to run away from each other, but situations conspire to brig them back together, until a turning point where they actively make a choice to stick together, grudgingly recognising that they are of the same fiery rebellious soul. This is infinitely more satisfying than characters who automatically stick together from the outset. Another theme of Champloo is that travelling a journey with strangers can bring you together like family.

Champloo is more known for its scenes that are juxtaposed with modern quirks such as people beatboxing to humorous and surreal effect, and scene transitions that look like a DJ playing with their deck.

Episode topics try to cover every area that is barely explored by other samurai-era anime that are more concerned with traditional ‘fight evil’ plots (or even movies for that matter) from the prevalence of the yakuza co-existing with samurai, the tragedy of women forced into prostitution to pay off their husbands’ debts, human trafficking in the art world, existence of homosexuality, persecution of Christians and Ainu, and graffiti gangs with too much time on their hands. There’s even a hilarious baseball game with members of an American expedition that predates Commodore Perry’s by a few years.

Champloo features one of the best soundtracks ever, brought to you by Nujabes, whose life was tragically cut short in 2010. Instrumental hip hop might bring to your mind a certain perception of what to expect, but the soundtrack is a mixture of traditional beats with Japanese influence, floating ephemeral sounds constantly conjure a feeling of melancholy, or ‘mono no aware’, the fleeting transience of things.

The appeal of the show is ‘style over substance’, however that is a great discredit to what Champloo accomplishes. All the modern quirks in historical context are not just there to make the show stand out visually. The show is about entertaining this idea, this hope, that even back in Edo era Japan there were open-minded people fighting for creativity, individuality and basic human rights. Sure, most of them didn’t last long, but they didn’t die without a fight. Banzai!