Samurai Champloo

I promised to some friends that some day I would do a review on Samurai Champloo.
And well, since the dough for the Nikuman is still rising, I might as well do this now. So, where to start?

First of all, if you visit my profile you'll find out rather quickly that I'm not a big fan of Watanabe Shinichiro. Or his works. Still, I try to rate it as objective as possible. So, lets get started already.

The first point on my list would be the story aspect, which I split up in three sections (something I'll do for every category, be prepared): The actual story, the ... setting used, as well as the execution of said story.
Story 2/3: As you know from the synopsis, Fuu is searching for a 'samurai that smells like sunflowers'. Why she does that is left in the dark at first, but is a pretty promising start. It leaves a lot of options where to go with the story, and grabs your attention. On the other hand, this plot isn't anything special either, we have seen this plot before, and I can guarantee, we will see it again.
Setting 1/3: I am a weaboo. And I f'n love japan, I love the Sengoku era, I love the Meiji era, so what could possibly go wrong, right? To be honest, while I like this time setting, I never felt like Watanabe made much use of it. It might as well have played in renaissance europe, or in space, or in medieval america or parts-unknown. It wouldn't make any difference to the story except the samurai being a knight, panther warrior, astronaut or whatever.
Execution 1/3: Just like in Cowboy Bebop Watanabe nearly spends no time on developing his characters or story, but instead focusses on pointing out the differences between that time depicted and our own time, which he describes as better (Sidenote: Our time is not better than the past, each time has its own problems to tackle. But this is a discussion for some other time).
The story is mostly episodic, with moreoften than not episodes, which absolutely do nothing to the overaching plot. So overall, lots of episodes felt to me like a total waste of time.

So the overall story score is 5/10 (No, this is no error)

The Art. This section contains the character designs, the Backgrounds, as well as the fluency of animation (especially in battlescenes).
Character designs 1/3: To be honest, the character designs are the worst part of this anime, because quite frankly, they look unproportional. Especially Fuu's and Jin's heads.
I feel like Jins head is way too thin for his body, while Fuu on the other hand has a rather broad head. Your typical head would be like 1/3 of the shoulders, but Fuu's head is big enough to fill over half of her shoulders. Jins head on the other hand is thin enough to only take 1/4 to 1/5 of his shoulders. This looks really weird (for reference, I took ep 25 7:17 as example).
Also, in contrast to the background the characters are quite pale, with their skin being nearly white. The characters are (thats hard to describe, I hope I can get this across correctly) outlined pretty sharply, so they look like cut-out figures running over a paining. Which is a rather good transition...
Background 2/3: ...because the background seems like a drawn painting which uses oil colors. Well, I'm not much of an artist though. Why is it not full score? Because I miss some clear contures. Even on distances like 10 meters or so, most objects are depicted as rough outlinings.
Animation 2/3: This is probably the point I pondered on the most. So I will start the simple part. Outside of battlescenes the animation is just as good, as you'd expect. It isn't mindblowingly good, but it does it job. But now the fightingscenes... (again, I took ep 25 as reference) For some of the scenes I were pondering whether this is 2 or 3 points, and for some I were pondering whether I give 1 or 2 points... First of, the battle scenes are rather americanized. What does that mean, you wonder? The battleanimations certainly look flashy and all, but to a point where they sacrificed realism for action. Pretty much the same way as Hollywood does on a regular basis. As a kendoka myself, I obviously disliked that fact. Scenes I remember clearly are for example running on the sides of buildings, cutting whole stones with a kama, or single animated strikes with 3 or more after images of attacks. Don't get me wrong, other anime do this, too. But those aren't set in a (pseudo)realistic Meiji-era japan.

Thats not too shabby for the art works at least, 6/10.

The soundscore is pretty obvious. Voice acting (since I nearly never watch dubs, I'm just rating the japanese ones), BGM/OST, and OP/ED.
Voice acting 2/3: With Saber as one of my favorites one would think, that I throw all rationalism out of my window right now, but unfortunately I dislike Kawasumi Ayako in her role as 'Damsel in distress'. It doesn't really fit her image, but obviously she's a good enough voice actress to make it at least work. Nakai Kazuya on the other hand is just as great as always. I mainly remember him from Gintama (Hijikata), and well... there is absolutely nothing I could criticize here. He hits the role of Mugen perfectly. Period. Sato Ginpei on the other hand is rather unexperienced, and for his particular role he works pretty well. He doesn't seem to emotional, but I can't remember Jin having emotional lines to begin with... Same for the rest of the cast, they definitely do their job good enough to not drag down the anime, but they don't blow off my head either.
BGM/OST 0/3: I think I should mention this first - I.am.not.a.Hip-hop.Fan. Now it's out. Nonetheless. Anime like Peace Maker Kurogane prooved for me that Hiphop-Meiji is a viable combination, if used correctly. And as you already can guess from 'if used correcty' I don't think that Samurai Champloo did a good job with it's OST. Rather than supporting the themes or situations of the anime, the OST just went off and did its own thing. To put it simply, I felt like watching an anime, while at the same time having a random Hiphop CD in my CD Player. The music and the pictures were never in sync, at least thats what I feel like. Especially as fighting themes the BGM used felt really misplaced (I don't even need to write this anymore, but again ep 25).
OP/ED 1/3: As mentioned earlier, Hiphop and Meiji is viable. Unfortunately I seriously disliked the OP 'Battlecry'. So much, that at some point I started skipping it. However, even though it is not my taste, I feel like it fits the anime. The EDs on the other hand are more to my taste, even if just by a small margin. Still, I rarely listened to any of those, so I won't dwell to long on this.

Of course, the score went a bit down because music taste is subjective, but I think I tried my best to stay more on the objective side of things. Overall 4/10 for the Sound.

Next is the characters-section... Short spoiler, I never came to like any of those characters.
However. I rate for the initial character design, their development (both characters and relationships), as well as the relation/interaction between the characters.
Initial character design 2/3: The anime starts with a cast of three completely different characters. Ditzy Fuu, mysterious Jin, and wild Mugen. They all have their points of interest, vived backgrounds, and are overall well rounded. Again though, without blowing your head off of excitement. The same goes for the introduced side characters. the episodes in which they appear deliver adequate information on their backgrounds, as well as reasons etc.
Development 1/3: I... just wanted to write something witty, but I can't come up with anything! To be honest, if I compare the start and end traits of the characters and relations I reach just one conclusion: Next to nothing changed. Don't get me wrong, they definitely developed, but I don't feel like they would act different from before.
Relations 2/3: Well, I already mentioned that all of the maincharacters act and think completely different. This obviously ends up in pretty interesting interactions as well. Unfortunately those interactions are as old as anime. Or even older. None of the situations are new or groundbreaking, but they are not bad either.

So overall, its 6/10. (I don't want to compare the cast of Champloo and Bebop, which is pretty much identical)

Finally, my Enjoyment. This is the only section which is, and always will be, completely subjective. I decide on how much I liked what I saw, how much I want a continuition (or in ongoing anime how much I look forward to the next episode), whether or not I would recommend it to friends, and whether I would woatch it again (and how often i would watch it again).
So, much ado about nothing...
Did I like it? No.
Do I want a continuiton? No.
Do I recommend it? Depends on who asks me, but I wouldn't recommend it to most people I know at least.
Would I watch it again? Please.
So, Enjoyment ist pretty much 1/10. I can't remember myself even smiling once during this anime.

But here's the point. I don't really feel like rate something bad, just because I dislike it.
For the overall rating I won't use my own Enjoyment, but an average of 5 pts.
Just for reference, an enjoyment of 1 would result in an Overall score of 4.4, the maximum enjoyment would result in an Overall score of 6.2.
As usual I appreciate feedback to improve my reviews.
And now, my dough is done, time to eat.

Oh, tl;dr:

Story 5/10 - Mediocre story of a girl searching a certain person.
Art 6/10 - Fluent animation with unrealistic movement
Sound 4/10 - Good voiceacting, but no synergy of sound and picture
Char 6/10 - Well round cast, without much development.
Enjoy depends on watcher.

My experience in anime revolves mostly around fighting animes, and with that point in mind ill start off by saying that it's one of the best fighting animes I've ever seen. Let's break it down:

Story: Rather than being one continuous arc, the series is broken down in small adventures that usually start and end withing the frame of one episode.While some may complain that it's hard to keep track of what has happened in past episodes, I think that for an anime less concerned with feelings and more with fighting, it's an excellent configuration.It also fits well the theme of the anime which, instead of ... being the heroes' self-improvement and conquests is rather a take on subtle aspects and issues of japanese culture and history, such as Bushido, Baseball, corruption, sexism, honor, The West, and Yakuza. AND FIGHTING!!!!!!! The developpers also threw a recap episode in there. 9/10

Art: Stunning. Absolutely marvelous fighting sequences. I had to wait 120 episodes of Naruto to come slightly close the the fluidity and choreography of the fighting sequences in this anime. The drawing style is also unconventional, rending the ugly uglier and the beautiful more so when necessary, making certain moments look like something you could frame. Excellent. 10/10

Sound: Since the anime is somewhat meta, instead of trying to look serious with hardcore samurai music, it mostly relies on jazz, hip-hop and chill-out music, making it elegant. Also, once, it used beatboxing as backround music. You gotta like that. ;) 9/10

Character: The characters are well defined and have very clear personalities.
The heroes' backround stories are rather frustratingly vague, but if they had more it would've weighed the anime down and detracted from it's intention. 8/10

Enjoyment: I very much enjoyed this anime. It made me laugh, it brought tears to my eyes and it made me stare in awe at the awesomeness of the fighting scenes. It did exactly what it had in mind to do: To make the spectator enjoy it and to plant a pleasant memory in his mind. 10/10

Overall, this anime is awesome. It will satisfy your thirst for fighting in a very elegant and pleasant way, making you sad once it's over. Watch it. Trust me. 10/10

Samurai Champloo is a funky train. It's gonna take you up and down, all over a parallel Edo period Japan.

The train conductors? Two extremely skilled swordmen, two completely different styles. There's Mugen. A loud, rather simple man, with a more unorthodox fighting style. There's Jin, the refined, quiet type, closer to your idea of a samurai who earns the respect of others. Both of them have to carry their own weight; be it that of coming from a tough place, or that of being too skillful for others to stand it. Ah, there's Fuu too. She's there, being all cutesy and stuff with her ... ``Mo!`` 's and ``Uso!`` 's. Don't you dare look down on her though. She is the link that holds this chain of unlikely travellers together, after all. And well, you've seen a lot of girls with huge appettites in anime before, but this one WILL turn fat after eating a lot. Her desire to find ``The samurai that smells of sunflowers`` was what gave the reason for their journey to begin. And what a journey it was.

It's the little things that made Samurai Champloo special to my eyes. A little touch of realism, where actually our characters more than often do have to worry about things often skipped as trivial; like having to earn money for food and lodgings. How the creators constantly turn on the style. How the characters move so smoothly, the fights are quite a treat with the fluid motions and the polished choreography.

I was a bit doubtful about the suitability of this music genre for a story about samurai. Needless to say, I found it hard to skip the opening theme after a while. It is one of those little somethings that add to the charm of the show. Same goes for the ending theme, earning you a bit of nostalgia as it sees you off, before you hop onto this train again, heading for the next station. Through out the show the music is just so good. Be it gritty, chill out tunes, or hauntingly sad songs like Obokuri Eemui.

What is there not to like in Samurai Champloo? Well... Most "arcs" are two episodes long, at the most. There's no typical structured built up, where a group of powerful villains exists, and everything seems to lead to the final confrontation with them. Mugen is a streetwise antihero himself anyway, slashing officials without a second thought if they happen to get in his way. It's understandable that not everyone finds this approach appealing. For the rest, travelling with two strangers in pursuit of something as vague as ``the samurai who smells of sunflowers``? It's enough reason in itself. Here it's all about the journey. The places you see, the people you meet, the things you taste.

So the three travellers will traverse Japan for a clue on the man that Fuu has to find. They'll work, steal and fight for a taste of the local delicacies, Fuu will momentarily turn chubby when she overdoes it. What about the people they meet? Any memorable journey requires a sequence of meetings with extraordinary persons. Our trio will meet a Dutch man searching for..something different. A housewife whose beauty radiates too brightly to be blurred by her husband's failures. The troubled young men who take the wrong path in life and, cruel as it might be, have to pay. Lethal, beautiful women. Your occasional powerful opponents. More lethal women. And umm..remember the forementioned realism? Scratch that when you witness a tribute to the zombie culture; or when eager..US navy officers choose as the deciding factor for the invasion of Japanese coasts a game of..ninja baseball, quick to turn into a massacre; finally, keep an eye for the references and the various legends making cameo appearances in a Forrest Gump-ish manner.

Still, there's an end to everything, and eventually for their journey to be meaningful, they'll have to find ``the samurai that smells of sunflowers``. After each of the three travellers takes care of what they have to, this train can briefly stop. It's only Death and Rebirth after all, right?

one of the things i missed most about living in the usa is watching anime on [adult swim] every night. hell, i remember all the times i spent staying up until 3am watching episodes of inuyasha and cowboy bebop when i should've been sleeping because i had class in the morning. but if there's one anime that i remember fondly, it's samurai champloo. i don't want to be "that guy" who says that the ost is what i remember the most, but that's definitely what first comes to mind.

i remember back in 2004/2005 when i was still attending high school and there was this massive ... hip-hop and reggaeton craze that swept pretty much every corner of the united states (and even my home country of india, since it seemed that virtually all bhangra music seemed to have a rap/hip-hop twist to it). samurai champloo started airing around this time period and i remember it so well because of all the promotional adverts on [adult swim] which featured that instrumental hip-hop soundtrack.

considering the fact that i was an impressionable teenager at the time who had nothing but 50 cent and eminem songs on his ipod mini, it was no surprise that i loved the hell out of this show. but looking back, i liked it for the wrong reasons. yes, the soundtrack is odd and yet works extremely well for a show with this kind of style. but there are many other reasons to like this show which i ended up finding out upon re-visiting this programme after 8-9 years. of course, i also found many reasons to criticise this programme as well but let's cross that bridge when we get to it.

at its core, samurai champloo can be viewed as cowboy bebop's younger brother. it's brash, impulsive, doesn't always make the right decisions and sometimes mimics its older brother much to our annoyance but we still love it anyway. unlike cowboy bebop, samurai champloo is much less serious. come to think of it, there weren't many serious episodes at all. episodes tend to vary between being action-centric and comedy-centric. unfortunately, this leads to quite a few problems.

cowboy bebop's biggest shortcoming is the fact that it's episodic in nature, and samurai champloo opts for a similar approach. however, it does have *some* semblance of a plot. the goal of mugen, jin, and fuu is to find the samurai who smells of sunflowers (which STILL sounds like a ridiculous name almost a decade later). the episodic nature is thus forgiveable since the show focuses more on the journey rather than destination itself. but it isn't all good.

i said before that shows of episodic nature tend to suffer from this problem of having episodes that vary wildly in terms of quality and that's further exacerbated in this show. considering the fact that it varies between being action-centric and comedy-centric, there exists a drastic margin of error. i'm biased toward the action episodes rather than the comedy episodes since some comedy episodes like the one which involved baseball (yes. that actually happened) were just plain average while other episodes like the one where there's a graffiti battle between two gangs and mugen learns how to read (yes, that actually happened) were fucking hilarious.

the action episodes are of particular note since it gets to showcase the absolutely gorgeous art and animation that champloo has. since the backgrounds moved in real time, the sword fights were intense as all hell. couple that with mugen's unorthodox fighting style and some rather bizarre scenarios that led to some intense fights, and you've got a happy desi anime nerd. speaking of art/animation, manglobe did a spectacular job animating this series. everything looks absolutely gorgeous and despite coming out in 2004, this holds up amazingly well 10+ years later (although some characters' faces tended to go off model from time to time, especially in shots that were at a small distance).

now with that said, let's go back to the characters. unlike bebop, we aren't really given much in the way of recurring characters so we're pretty much stuck with mugen, jin, and fuu for the entire run. unfortunately, they pretty much remain static throughout the course of the show. i mean, mugen and jin start out wanting to kill each other and over time, they actually tolerate one another but that's about it. as for fuu, she is quite literally useless. the only purpose she serves is being a walking plot device. oh, and being a generic damsel in distress. mugen and jin on the other hand are pretty damn likeable but sometimes it feels like they rely too much on their "gimmicks" (what with mugen being a vulgar, illiterate break-dancing swordsman and jin being a reserved ronin with an extremely orthodox fighting style). other than that, not much to complain about here.

now we get to my favourite part of champloo: the audio. put it short, samurai champloo is basically flawless in this section. i know so many people who hate rap and hip-hop, and yet love the everliving shit out of this show. also, despite comprising of predominantly hip-hop music, the show does a good job of not shoving it in your face (most of the time). the background music consists of amazing instrumental hip-hop tracks done by the likes of nujabes (may he rest in peace), fat jon, and forces of nature and i must say that i wish these three did more anime soundtracks, but i guess that's too late now.

the dub is also really good stuff, but that's no surprise since this is bebop's little brother. steve blum does an excellent job voicing mugen (although his voice work did remind me a bit too much of spike spiegel from time to time) as did kirk thornton as jin. i really don't understand why some people give this dub shit since it's pretty damn good. can you really go wrong by a dub done by funimation (or was it geneon? i keep forgetting who licensed this show when)?

on the whole, samurai champloo isn't perfect and in many ways, i can see why people would give this show crap. at the same time, it definitely has quite a few merits to stand on. say what you will about this show being a carbon copy of bebop, but there's one thing that this show has that bebop will never have: its style. going back to that little brother analogy, it does borrow quite a bit from its predecessor, but they are ultimately two totally different shows. if you're in the mood for something with a lot of entertainment value you'll surely remember for a long time, i cannot recommend this show enough. in fact, i highly recommend buying it on blu-ray (provided you have the means to watch something on blu-ray). some shows simply "take" to blu-ray with no two ways around it and champloo is one of them.

Substance over style, style over substance? Pretty visuals, or powerful plots? Glamorous production, or memorable themes? Sometimes it feels like writers and producers often ask themselves this question as a way of deciding what part of the show to sacrifice in service for another—a tightly written, genuinely complex narrative or brilliant visuals, dizzying cinematography and a high-flown music backing? Sometimes as a viewer it feels like we have to ask ourselves the same question—what I just watched, did I enjoy it superficially or was it something deeper than that? Why does one matter more than the other? Sometimes I have to ask myself if I ... simply liked the way a show looked, or did it affect me on a more personal, genuine level?

But sometimes I’m left asking myself... was it both?

Samurai Champloo is one of these rare, no-compromise, all-inclusive anime experiences that leaves you feeling every conceivable emotion. It leaves you feeling warm because of its sincere themes, it leaves you inspired by the gorgeous, vivid visuals and it leaves you entranced by the dazzling soundtrack. It’s a show that you can enjoy in any capacity, in any mood, and under any lens. Do you like audiovisuals? Do you like action? Poignancy? Romance? Satire? It’s all there. If there was ever a show to embody the concept of universal enjoyment, in theory Samurai Champloo would be it.

A show can only go as far as its characters, so how far does Samurai Champloo go? The three main cast members were all treated fairly (although admittedly Mugen was given more treatment, being the main, main character) and they all had contrasting personalities. It's hands down one of the best use of character foils I've personally seen in anime; Mugen the big-mouthed and rogue criminal; Jin, the ice-cool and disciplined ronin; and Fuu, the brave yet petite teenager. Each of the characters are polar opposites of one another and because their personalities are written so consistently, their interactions are spectacularly entertaining to watch. The fashion in which they all bounce thoughts, dialogue and emotion off of one another is always enjoyable, but most importantly, natural as well. While as an anime emotions are dragged out and overplayed, it still feels oddly authentic—the characters are always true to how they are written so it never feels superficial.

Following the characters was the plot; it was kept simple: look for the “sunflower samurai” and in the process embark on an action-packed, treacherous adventure of smiles, laughter, tears and blood. The core theme of the narrative is the notion that the journeys we travel in life are more often than not more enjoyable and important than the destination or goal we arrive at. The emphasis is on important, because, if our trio of a cast simply found the Sunflower Samurai without their arduous journey, none of them would have progressed as characters like they did in the original story.

This is truly a special theme because of how easily it can be extrapolated to our lives—we all have dreams, ambitions and aspirations that we one day hope to achieve and while we fantasize and drool over the thoughts of achieving them, more often than not it won’t be the end goal itself that will give us the gratification. No, it’s something much more deep and sincere than that—it’s the shaky, uncertain path that you took to get there. The work, the emotions, the doubts, the failures, the small successes, everything that made reaching the end goal seem so impossible and difficult, that is what is truly gratifying. And like the show conveys to you… sometimes the end goal itself isn’t that special after all, and what is actually valuable, and what you actually take away from that long, exhausting journey… is the journey itself.

In terms of format, Samurai Champloo is episodic, and it uses that format to its advantage. By making it very obvious that the events in each episode were self-contained tales, the show was able to drastically change its tone from suspense, action, poignancy, etc. without seeming jarring. It was able to tell tales of heartbreak, tales of redemption, tales of hilarity, all without seeming like it didn't know what it wanted to be, and in the process take you on a roller coaster of emotions that leave a lasting mark.

The soundtrack of Samurai Champloo is phenomenal. It’s the part of the audiovisual experience that has to be addressed. Some of Nujabes’ best work, with low-fi beats and subtle hip-hop influences that juxtapose brilliantly with the traditional and orthodox Edo setting of the show. The ED song of Samurai Champloo, "Shiki no Uta", is also one of my favourite ED song of all time.

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~ Roads were made for journeys; not destinations.

I hope this review was informative and helpful.

I first watched some of Samurai Champloo as a child through the dub (I do not recommend, as in go for the subs instead). Of course it was when I was in very early middle school and that wasn't a good thing, but the good side of that is that I found it "boring." Anyway, fast-forward to around 2012, I decided to try finishing Samurai Champloo. Of course, I really did finish, and I ended up feeling empty inside. Why? I felt like I lost three good friends, and gosh... it was a melancholic feeling and I still remember it from time to time.

Story: The ... plot of this series is just amazing because it is not your typical samurai anime- it just isn't. It is an anime with an actual noticeable, yet small amount of slice of life included. There are moral questions that show up all the time. A realistic-like adventure (that also has goofiness) with three colorful friends. Our topic, Samurai Champloo, follows Fuu, a 15 year old girl who lost her mother. Yes that sounds very overused, but this isn't done shallowly at all in this show, and I kid you not. It's heartbreaking when you find out what lead to her death when you think about it. Anyway, Fuu was working at her relatives' shop, when Mugen shows up. Mugen, being one who likes fighting opponents stronger than him, instantly wanted to kill Jin, another one of our trio, when he appeared at the shop. This all happened because of an egocentric father-son duo.
Champloo is an action show, with the large element of traveling through Japan, which is based on a fictionalized and real mix of the Edo era with other elements mixed in. The most central point of the story which is the goal of Fuu our heroine, is to find the "sunflower samurai," who she doesn't where to find. Mugen and Jin, being in her debt, had to promise and accompany her, and find this samurai.
Now, keep in mind, as amazing as this anime is, it's a mature rated anime as I mentioned earlier. How so? I was 18 when I watched this, and I found the element of brothels and prostitutes, included with the fact that Mugen is a womanizer, and Jin who would accompany him to red districts difficult for me to watch at times. However, it's not anything so explicit that it takes away from the show. So if you're not one comfortable with these kinds of things or you're a preteen, maybe you shouldn't pick this up. HOWEVER, that is up to you. If anything I highly recommend to watch this show years later if you're not around 18 or so. Now if this was an anime where brothels were centuries out of use, and this sort of thing was going on, I'd be saying really different things. Anyway, onto the art we go.

Art: The art of Champloo is somewhat inconsistent. At times it'll look really smooth, other times, it'll seem like an early 90's anime quality, gritty lines, pretty low quality. It ranges from great art, to below average. However, overall the art is still quite good. The animation is well-done, fight scenes are great, and movements quick and smooth. When the animators did so, some scenes are very dramatic and suspenseful, the colors being perfect for a scene. The effects used are also done very well, and they're definitely not plain; big props to good effects that aren't overkill or boring. Regardless of a few downgrades near the first episodes, the art still passes well.

Sound: Samurai Champloo's sound is one of the most noteworthy. You only have to start this anime once and you'll find multiple very memorable tracks. This mostly refers to the bgm courtesy of Nujabes, Tsutchie, Force of Nature, and many more artists. A WIDE variety of composers and singers took part in the soundtrack, and that is no joke. MINMI, who did an excellent job on two endings, Kazami for a great English ending, Midicronica for another notable ending, and there are even Japanese folk songs that have an important part in the show. The music is amazing, and sets the mood for Champloo just so well. The songs can be moving, relaxing, or ominous. The sound for this series is leveled with its story. To add, the voice acting for this series is very spot-on. Our main cast's voices match so well with our characters, you'd think that they're the same person or something of the like. All in all, superb sound for this series.

Character: Beware of some spoilers here! Here, the character descriptions get longer and longer as the farther you get, the more I talk about character relations with one another.

The three main characters, Fuu, Mugen, and Jin.
Fuu, the petite 15 year old with a monstrous appetite, who is cheery and a hard worker when she needs to be. She can be lazy, a liar, many things and isn't exactly very womanly, but she's feminine, has a good sense of justice, and is very determined to reach her goal. In truth, she is actually very considerate. Regardless of what most characters see of her, there are many deeper sides to her, and she has had a tragic past, even if that doesn't show up all the time. An adorable, seemingly upbeat girl, who is a pretty strong female lead.

Mugen is the crude, fighting-obsessed, lazy, violent, women-chasing, in your face dishonest one of the trio. He's rough, on the mean side, and seems completely selfish. Below the surface, he has some loyalty, and does care about his friends, as much as they would doubt that. Regardless of his many negative and infamous traits, he develops friendship with the other two. He grows attached to them, and cares for them, something he would never admit. There's a good amount of character growth that he went through in the series. Like Fuu, he also had a tragic past, leading to how he is who he is today. Mugen does not get along with Fuu, who he calls flat-chested, fat, and other things. Fuu finds him lazy, crude, and untrustworthy. Through time, they learn to worry about one another, and share a bond.

Jin is the silent, seemingly typical "good-looking" glasses one. He's very quiet and reserved. A very skilled samurai on Mugen's level, but they're complete opposites personality-wise. Jin has a sense of morals, and fights because he learned, and does it through prediction and sheer speed. Mugen would fight him with impulsive moves, kicks, and even some break-dancing. Jin and Mugen do NOT get along in the beginning. What's Fuu to do when her two bodyguards are total opposites? It's more than enough when they fight antagonists, only to say they're alive because they want to kill each other. Yet, these two opposites become friends. Respecting each other, believing each other, and relating to one another. Of course, they would never admit that. Jin follows the others with a tragic past as well, one that pretty much haunts him throughout most of their journey. Because of his quiet trait, the talkative Fuu can't really interact with him at first. Later on, they both get to know each other better, and so Fuu would become sad at a certain part of our story, when Jin abruptly says that he may leave the trio.
These three strangers, who have many conflicts in their travels, become the best of friends. A lot of things happen, a lot of things change. Things come up, things are overcome, and some are never gotten over. In the end, there is a very strong friendship between these three, even if they leave each other.

Enjoyment: As you can probably see, I very much enjoyed this show. I didn't expect to love it like I do today, but I do. It was a very wonderful adventure with our lovable trio, and it saddens me that we couldn't continue on it.

Overall, Samurai Champloo gets a high 9 for me. I hope you enjoyed this review and thank you for reading!

I had been wanting to watch this anime for a while and I really don't know why I didn't dwell on watching it earlier. This anime, is amazing. Think I'm going overboard? No. I'm not, because there wasn't a single thing that bothered me about it. You know how sometimes, you watch certain anime's nowadays and you're just like...''well why didn't they just....?'' or you even soon doubt how something doesn't really go right? In Samurai Champloo, I didn't have that ''off'' feeling. It went smoothly, and I enjoyed it all the way until the end.

The characters, were awesome as well. Mugen, your rough but ... free spirited type. Jin, the always serious but has a compassionate side. And Fuu, the clumsy but yet spicy female. Although one may consider these to be ''cliche'' what was different was that they all had a past that was hidden until throughout the anime. I loved being able to go onto every other episode and unleash fragments of their past. Not to mention, their personalities coming together was always fun to watch. I was entertained within every episode, which is rare for me because I'm sorta picky when it comes to giving anime's a full 10.

THE SOUNDTRACKS MY GOODNESS, I HAVE FALLEN IN LOVE. Every soundtrack was absolutely, BEAUTIFUL. Now when I say beautiful, I don't mean...orchestral beautiful. But to incorporate hip-hop with Samurai sword fights and beautiful voices such as Minm's is genius. I loved hearing every soundtrack in the background and the amazing opening and endings! Usually I only end up like either the opening or the ending, so if you're like me to be able to enjoy both is sorta rare.

Overall, I recommend this to just about anyone! It's a fun anime, and I wish I never finished as quick as I did...but it was just that good that I couldn't help myself to finish it! Thanks so much Hosoda Mamoru. (:
-senpai

-GODAMNIT ITS BORING-
[review by a non fanboy] [contains early game of thrones spoilers]
Samurai Champloo, the alleged little brother of the classic anime Cowboy Bebop. Both works rely heavily on music, are episodic and have a very similar feel to them but, if you ask me, Champloo is just Shinichiro Watanabe's bastard and not the good - Jon Snow type but the Tommen Baratheon overly-calm-and-boring type.
I generally really like episodic shows; (1)they aren't addictive so you can do things between episodes besides biological functions, (2)the characters' personalitites are well-explored so you get to see many dimensions of their personality, (3)the interactions between the protagonists can be ... lovingly repetitive without getting annoying and (4)the anime may span many many episodes, i like that. Well, Champloo only (over)does the first of these.

1-It's not addictive sure, but for me it was one of the few anime that i felt the need to drop (but i couldn't i'm a completionist); the story was so basic and advanced like a very slow snail. After getting to know the characters and what their adventure was about in the first few episodes, essentially nothing happened until the last 3 episodes or so, except very few episodes that gave some background story about the protagonists or had an interesting supporting character. I get that the show is supposed to be calm and chill but this got to the point of being a total bore.

2-The characters personalitites are extremely basic (check their entries they're tiny) to the point that they can be fully described with 2 words. Mugen - Impulsive, Irritable || Jin - Reverse Mugen || Fuu - Hungry, Determined (in that order). Also i have to add that they are all very stubborn. About their past, we learn very basic things, where-what-why leave. People from their past come for 1 episode and dissapear again.

3-Well just as the characters themselves, the interactions between them are also very one dimensional and annoyingly repetitive. Typical Interaction: Mugen does something, Fuu reacts to Mugen's action, Jin gives zero fucks.

4-Well i do like my anime bigger but this wasn't the case for Samurai Champloo thank god, I would've killed myself if this crap was even 1 episode longer. In this case actually, i think it would have been preferable if this series was shorter, since all those pointless filler episodes would have gone down the drain and the interesting stuff would have remained, making the watching experience actually bearable.

Overall an anime with great animation, sound and potential but terrible execution. Tons of filler, unexplored plotlines and a very weak and basic narrative. One of the most boring anime i've seen, only comparable to Gantz and some hentai. I don't recommend watching it but hearing the OST is a good option.

English/inglês

Samurai champloo is something incredible, they are episodic stories while they follow a journey to find the "samurai that smells like sunflower", during the journey they develop the relationship between the 3 main characters, two samurai and a girl. His last 3 eps are perfect, and he couldn't have a better ending. Well, many think that if it wasn't an anime with episodic stories it would be better, I think quite the opposite, these episodic stories develop the characters of the story very well, I can't deny that there are 1 or 2 episodes that have nothing to do with anything, but ... even so incredible episodes, for example the baseball episode, it’s just incredible that episode, I couldn’t stop laughing at that comedy. In addition to all that I said, samurai champloo has simply sensational fights, the movement of the characters, frames and with a fluid animation and always with an incredible ost in the background, several times with a lo-fi hip hop, not only ost, the anime is literally samurai and hip hop, like the way mugen fights using various break movements.
Well, I will try not to go too far to talk about the characters; mugen is by far the best character in the work, always very charismatic, an incredible design and always going to fight without wanting to know anything, he really kills his opponents without mercy, in a totally cool way several times using break movements, moreover, he has a hell of an incredible story, he never called people too much, he was always alone, but throughout history he changes and gets affection from his fellow travelers. Talking about jin, I also like his design, but he is the typical samurai who seems to be a very cold character, but deep down he is a fucking character, with several episodes to develop him. Fuu no longer have much to talk about her, she has nothing about her character, but I mention something together with her and the other two main characters, friendship, don't think wrong, it's not like an anime that solves everything in basis of friendship, but that according to the story create an incredible bond of friendship between the three and sends a message about friendship that is incredible. Anyway, I could have written more about samurai champloo, but I'm too lazy.

Portuguese/português

Samurai champloo é algo incrível, são histórias episódicas enquanto seguem uma jornada para encontrar o "samurai que cheira a girassol", durante a jornada desenvolvem o relacionamento entre os 3 personagens principais, dois samurais e uma garota. Seus últimos 3 eps são perfeitos, além de que não poderia ter um final melhor. Bom, muitos acham que se não fosse um anime com histórias episódicas seria melhor, acho totalmente o contrário, essas historinhas episódicas desenvolvem muito bem os personagens da história, não posso negar que tem 1 ou 2 episódios que não tem nada a ver com nada, mas mesmo assim episódios incríveis, por exemplo o episódio do beisebol, é simplesmente incrível aquele episódio, não conseguia parar de rir com aquela comédia. Além de tudo isso que falei, samurai champloo tem lutas simplesmente sensacionais, a movimentação dos personagens, enquadramentos e com uma animação fluída e sempre com uma ost incrível de fundo, várias vezes com um lo-fi hip hop, não só a ost, o anime é literalmente samurais e hip hop, como por exemplo o jeito que o mugen luta usando vários movimentos de break.
Bom, vou tentar não me alongar muito pra falar sobre os personagens; o mugen é de longe o melhor personagem da obra, sempre muito carismático, um design incrível e sempre indo pra briga sem querer saber de nada, realmente sai matando seus oponentes sem dó alguma, de um jeito totalmente descolado várias vezes usando movimentos de break, além disso ele tem uma puta de uma história incrível, também nunca ligou muito pras pessoas, sempre foi sozinho, mas ao decorrer da história ele muda e vai pegando afeto aos seus companheiros de viagem. Falando sobre o jin também gosto do seu design, mas é o típico samurai caladão que parece um personagem bem frio, mas que no fundo mesmo é um personagem do caralho, com vários episódios para desenvolver ele. A fuu já não tenho muito pra falar sobre ela, não tem nada d+ na personagem, mas cito algo em conjunto com ela e os outros dois personagens principais, a amizade, não pense errado, não é como se fosse um anime que resolve tudo na base da amizade, e sim que conforme a história criam um laço incrível de amizade entre os três e passa uma mensagem sobre amizade que é incrível. Enfim, poderia ter escrito mais sobre samurai champloo, mas tô com preguiça.

Besides Mushishi, this is anime is GOOD!!!
When I first saw it on the net, I dont really care... but then, I gave it a try and it was awesome!

The story was interesting. Mugen, Fuu and Jin was awesome. Unlike any samurai battles, like Bleach (no offense), this anime has a different fighting style and you can see them swinging their sword as fast as a bullet!!! Mugen also uses some hip-hop kicks and evades attacks, attacks with a sword. Jin shows Bushido with his katana.

The art was also good. Stylish yet fascinating. The best of all is the OST!!!
The opening "Battlecry" is just nice!!! ... Try the ending theme too.... (Shiki no Uta by MINMI) and (Who's Theme by MINMI) and the others... Well, great sondtracks and melodies has been used too.

This anime might be the best...but there are more anime out there, right?

Story: 8, Samurai Champloo's story is incredibly basic, almost cliche but with an edge. Two samurai and a girl bump into each other and end up travelling a journey in search of a man whom the girl is looking for. I've simplified it into one sentence, there's not much to say to the plot other than that. Very simple, which isn't a bad thing. Each episode (with a few exceptions) entails its own unique mini-plot. One after another the mini-stories reveal new clues to the main story while at the same time building background behind each of the three main characters.

Art: 8, Just go ... watch 10 seconds of an episode and you'll see if you like the artwork or not. Initially I didn't, 6months later I picked up Samurai Champloo again and it grew on me. I don't have to write about the artwork to get a reader to decide if he/she likes it or not. I'm sounding like some prissy priss

Sound: 10, Amazing sound, probably one of my favorite anime sound-wise. Voice acting is spot-on with the character portrayal. The OST is very high quality, not much else to say; trying to justify how good the sound is is like trying to describe how good the art is. It's severely subjective.

Character: 10, 3 main characters, the complex between the trio is synonymous of Naruto's Team 7 "Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura".
Jin: Calm, collected, quiet, the pure definition of the textbook samurai. Jin represents order and logic, calmness and composure. A gentleman in the least. He is the mystery man, the James Bond of samurai.
Mugen: Where Jin is yin, Mugen is yang. Mugen is essentially Jin's dichotomous counter-part. If you have ever studied Freud, Mugen would be the Id. Acting out on instinct, Mugen never fails to entertain.
Fuu: Surprisingly, there is no love-interest between the three in competition with Fuu. Fuu sets the stage as the mediator between Jin and Mugen, she is the balance between the two extremes; thus she represents the ego.

Enjoyment: 9, VERY funny, the comedy is never dry in Samurai Champloo, nor is the action. This is pretty subjective and I can't really relate it to any other anime. What I found very well done was the connection between the samurai era and today's age. Hip-hop culture serves as the connection through music, graffiti, free-style rapping. I'm not much of a hip-hop fan but I can't stop but laugh when I see a samurai in the 1800s trying to rap with a guy beat-boxing in the background.

Overall: 9, Samurai Champloo is well worth the watch, I'd say the anime lacks in story depth and consistency but that's not saying much as it excels in every other area. Go watch it!

Story:
Two samurai Jin and Mugen were sent to prison and where saved by a restaurant waitress Fuu on the condition that they'll help her look for the "Samurai who Smeills like Sunflowers" and so begins their great (or not so great XD) adventure. In my opinion, the series is just a buch of stand alone episodes about the trio getting into all sorts of mishaps. But it's not that bad. in fact, it's great! XD
one thing that's bugging me about the series is that it's like a history show gone wrong as there are events that could NOT have happened!


Art:
If you've seen ... Cowboy Bebop, then you'll porbably be familiar with the art work. The characters looks skinny or lean. There's also a few characters who might look a bit alike with Cowboy Bebop charas. Mugen for one looks like Spike from Bebop but with a rowdy attitude. The animation is great, the characters have a fluid movement, especially when they fight.

Sound:
The series STRONGEST POINT for me. Hip-hop tunes on a samurai anime, now there's something you don't see everyday. a mix of new and old...well it doesn't really go well with the samurai theme BUT it matches the characters wacky antics as well as the fights. Heck even the Opening Theme is a Rap song...a good one at that! XD


Character:
Well, the characters are pretty much unique. Mugen is a samurai who breakdances as he fights. no, his fighting style IS break dancing. Not Copoera, break dancing with sword slashes. now how cool is that. Jin specializes in the traditional samurai arts and Fuu is not much of a fighter but comes from a samurai family.

Personality-wise, Mugen is loud, short-tempered, and dresses way different from a usual Japanese of that era. His style is hip-hop.

Jin, is quiet, wears glasses, and is pretty much your everyday samurai ala Kenshin Himura.

Fuu is a former waitress who was born from a samurai clan.

THese are the first impression you'll get from them, but as the series progresses you'll get to see different sides of the characters.

Overall:

A not so typical samurai anime that's sure to head you hyped up and your head babging to the hip-hop beat.

This is a shōnen anime series consisting of twenty-six episodes. Samurai Champloo was created and directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, whose previous television show, Cowboy Bebop, earned him renown in the anime and Japanese television. Champloo comes from the word Chanpuru which means mix or mashup so the title means Samurai Remix. The series in Watanabe's normal preference, is a cross-genre work of media, blending the action and samurai genres with elements of non-slapstick comedy. It is also a period piece, taking place during Japan's Edo period. The series is interwoven with revisionist historical facts and anachronistic elements of mise-en-scene, dialogue and soundtrack. The shows most ... frequent anachronism is its use of elements of hip hop culture, particularly rap and the music it has influenced, break dancing, turntablism, hip hop slang, and graffiti. The show also contains anachronistic elements from the punk subculture and modernism, but less prominently.

Samurai champloo is a rare anime. Anime infused with hip hop. It was a awesome mix. This anime banged. It's flipping great. The music and sound is perfect. The beautiful soundtracks on this anime give the most wonderful experience whilst watching samurais fulfill their duties.

Action 8/10: The action is good stuff. It's lightning quick. You see the swing the sword and the next second bang someone just got cut the hell up and there you go, people getting murdered in quick intervals. The swordplay is unique. You won't come across everyday anime where people swing there swords in a fast brutal fashion with murderous intent. ... The action is very fast paced. The action sometimes gory other times not really but that's not a bother at all.

Story 8/10: It's generic but somewhat emotional. The story is about a girl who meets a character name mugen who is the gangster, thuggish type of samurai who saves her from getting her fingers cut off. Jin who seems like a respectable fighter battles with mugen and both are arrested. The girl named Fuu helps them escape from their execution and then they make a deal that both samurais will accompany her to find her father. During the way many battles and situations occur. Great character development and relationship building occurs throughout the anime. As it progresses the emotions, personalities and what drives each individual character becomes more clear and vivid. The story is enticing. So simple yet so addictive. You'll love it

Overall 8/10: Samurai champloo is a masterpiece samurai anime. It's a classic I've watched a couple of times. One thing that makes it stand out from other sword animes is the music. The music bangs. It's really unique.

I read some opinions about the anime series Samurai Champloo, and saw that a lot of people had already given their thoughts. So I’m writing this review because It can be a reflection to help me understand my feelings about the show.

I can say, that the thing I enjoy about Samurai Champloo is that it is fashionable and the music fits very well. Watanabe, the director has selected hip-hop music well enough to be appreciated even by those who are not fans of this kind of music. I also enjoy how the show combines Edo period of Japan, with hip-hop and punk culture, an interesting ... combination. The animation is of good quality with bright colors and detailed backgrounds, the fight scenes are pretty interesting.

Overall the story is episodic, but there is an overall plot that becomes more significant near the end. However, the show is mostly focused on the characters. Fuu, Mugen and Jin are the three main characters in the series – they may appear to be rather stereotypical at first glance; however that changes as you watch the series develop which is an equally subtle and interesting move. The course of their life in pairs, while they search for a samurai smelling sunflowers, illustrates the development and improvement of their relationships. The relationship between Fuu and Jin, Mugen and Jin, and Fuu and Mugen is interesting.

The relationship between the trio as they travel together becomes more meaningful and purposeful. The gradual transformation of their relationship is hopeful and satisfactory – the show leaves its spectators with a good view on life.

Before I started Samurai Champloo, I had no idea it would become one of my favorite animes. I really did not realize what a treat I was in for. I read about how it utilized hip hop into the soundtrack, but I didn't realize how great it would be incorporated. One of the greatest things about the anime is the soundtrack. The story always kept me interested, always striving to watch the next episode. I think the length was perfect and I am happy to know that as far as now, there isn't any plan to make any more. ... The characters build up very nicely and you come to love Jin, but my love for Mugen was there from the beginning. Overall, i'd say it was one of the greatest viewing experiences i've had and I will definitely watch it again sometime soon. Don't hesitate, if you have a heart and/or a brain you'll realize this is definitely worth looking into.

There sure are a few reviews for this series... well I enjoyed Samurai Champloo. Honestly. I really did. What kept it in the air was definitely its characters, they were truly classic. Mugen (meaning infinite) and Jin (virtue) can easily be compared to what people from the Kalymnos Greek island describe as the two forms of manliness.
Mugen runs along the course of what would be described as a 'stud' or stallion. A man who has no care for the consequences of his actions, eats excessive amounts of meat (as to prove his masculinity), an individual in all rights, and is simply wild and unkempt.
Jin ... is the personification of this other manliness, simply put by inhabitants of Kalymnos as a family man. He is conscientious and thoughtful yet strong, a man who would sacrifice for those he values.
Fuu, I don't know any other way to put it, is the woman (Strange though it sounds as she is only around fifteen). She brings in a much needed feminine quality to the wandering trio, keeps them in line and reminds them of mental things like sentimentality. Simply said, she is the glue. She is the reason they're on the journey, the reason they stick together, and the reason they'll part.

I'm not a fan of rap or hip-hop, fortunately Samurai Champloo doesn't force the fact that it has hip-hop elements down your throat. It has just the right balance of subtlety and attitude to be good no matter what your taste in music is, and I have to admit the hip-hop culture references were a big part of the comedy for me.

If the characters kept Samurai Champloo in the air, it was the animation that got it off the ground. The pointedly cartoonish characters were drawn in a refreshing and clear manner with solid lines and not a hint of simplicity, right from the tiny cherry blossoms on Fuu's knife to the insane expressions.

The story (and I don't want to say unfortunately) is functional insofar as it allows the three characters to go on a journey, however it does allow the series to cover a vast array of Japans colorful Edo period. Including references to Van Gough, the dutch, foreign policy, christianity, and the Tokugawa governments ban on all daisho (samurai weapons).

To say this is a masterpiece is an overstatement, but to say it was a great way of using an old modus operandi for a new story is honesty.

What's not to like?

Champloo means mash-up or re-mix in Japanese, an this is exactly what this show is. It re-mixes the classic ronin samurai story with modern pop references, and a strong hip-hop vibe, and does it brilliantly. It's got action, it's got drama, it's got comedy, strong character development, great music, and solid direction. People I know who claim to abhor anime, still fall in love with this series.

It balances a very thin line of being a serious story with out taking itself too seriously. But like all the best stories in the world, this one shines because ... the characters are well developed, and the story flows through them organically instead of being forced to march forward around them. In addition to the characters, the stories, being a mash-up if you will, uses the Edo period to comment on modern society, from the sex trade, to art, to literature, to religion, and even atomic warfare. And it does so without being preachy, or condescending to the viewer. Instead of just being Important Themes that jump out at you, they work through each episode in a much more subtle fashion, something missing from a lot of anime.

I dare you not to like it. There really is nothing else like it anywhere, (except for maybe cowboy bebop which was made by the same people). This is a unique anime experience, in fact it's just a unique story experience in any storytelling medium and is definitely worth checking out.

A lot of people compare Samurai Champloo with Cowboy Bebop and with good reasoning; they were both directed by the same person and all have similarities with each other. Samurai Champloo takes the key ideas of Cowboy Bebop and takes that jazzy space feel and turns it into old school hip hop with samurai. Even with both of these shows sharing key ideas, Samurai Champloo uses its characters, setting, and art to break away from being seen as a rehash and more like a new take on the episodic action genre in an entirely new world.

Story: The story follows three characters, Mugen, Jin, and Fuu ... as they travel across Japan searching for the samurai that smells like sunflowers. The story follows an episodic type of narrative that gives a different scenario each episode, making the protagonists gain another step towards their goal. I felt that each episode offered something new, introducing a small story each episode that kept you interested from beginning to end. Some of these stories were so well done I found myself revisiting some past episodes. The setting is done nicely and makes it feel like a realistic world. The only problem I have with the story is that I wish there was more focus on the main plot as well as the episodes. Only fractions of the main plot are revealed in the episodes and you feel that the episodic plots are stronger than the main plot.

Art: The art style in the anime is very stylish, mixing both classical Japanese art with the graffiti of modern times. The animation is smooth during the action and the backgrounds are beautifully.

Sound: The soundtrack is just like the art. Classical Japanese music mixed with the old school hip hop. Even with the two being completely unrelated they fit together perfectly. The opening and ending themes are both enjoyable to listen and I found myself listening to the tracks multiple times. The sound effects in the anime was a bit basic but it fit the sword fighting and the environment.

Character: The three main characters all act completely different.Mugen is wild and crude,Jin, a is calm and well mannered, and Fuu acts cute but also ugly at sometimes. All three of these characters together are likable and interesting to discover who they really are. I did find Fuu more like a damsel since is the one that always gets captured throughout the show. I actually liked the other characters more than the main characters. The supporting characters in each episode are all very funny and the episode villains make good opponents to the main characters. I just felt that the main characters didn't have enough development as the show progressed and they never changed who they are.

Enjoyment: Overall this show was enjoyable from beginning to start. The action is awesome, the humor is hysterical, and the drama kept you interested the entire time. What made it so enjoyable was the mixture of the hip hop to the sword fighting giving you an awesome mix of sound and action.
I was entertained the entire series.

Verdict: All and all if you like action based series with a great soundtrack and are into episodic adventures, you should give Samurai Champloo a try. The only problems I had with it was that the main story wasn't focused on as much and the characters do not really develop throughout the series.

Story: 8
Art: 9
Sound: 9
Character: 9
Enjoyment: 10
Overall: 9

(This was my first review so if you have any suggestions on how to become a better reviewer or any positive feedback, thank you.)

Just like Cowboy Bebop, Watanabe once again leaves us an anime that has almost no story and intense amounts of filler episodes. The action sequences are phenomenal, but I cared next to nothing about any characters in this show.

Bebop is almost all style and little substance, and so is Champloo. I wish Watanabe would care more about his stories, instead of focusing on useless filler content that neither increases character development or pushes the tale forward.

Almost every character in this show is static, and virtually none of them are memorable (there is no Radical Edward)

Watanabe’s attempts at backstory fail because they still give ... you little insight, or just cliche insight into the characters. The animation is top notch, very fluid, and just like Bebop there is a fair bit of witty banter, but this can’t entirely save a series. Regardless, it was a fun ride, and it’s certainly a very watchable anime.

I seem to be one of the few people that loves short anime programs, considering the love for shows like One Piece, Naruto and Bleach all which have countless episodes of nonsensical filler that I simply don’t enjoy. If you’re going to make an anime with only 26 episodes, a large amount of them shouldn’t be filler. Virtually none of Berserk is filler. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has 64 episodes and I honestly wouldn’t consider any of them filler.