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Feb 4, 2022
Going into this series, I knew that it was worked on by the same people as Cowboy Bebop. I am very familiar with Bebop and really enjoyed it, keeping this in mind may shed some light on my relationship to Samurai Champloo.
Some light spoilers present. Read with caution.
Towards the beginning of watching this show, I couldn't help but draw similarities between the two. Both include characters that share similarities in some ways (Mugen being similar to Spike, Jin closest to Jet, and Fuu most similar to Faye) and follow a procedural episode format, for the most part. This means that any conflict introduced in
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an episode is usually solved by the end of the episode. This is the opposite of a cohesive story being present. However, throughout Samurai Champloo the characters are continuously on a journey to find the "man who smells of sunflowers". In Cowboy Bebop, there is less of a "main plot" and this procedural structure is even more embraced until towards the end. I can keep nit-picking on similarities but truly I couldn't help but notice them for a while of watching. Cowboy Bebop is Sci-fi with Jazz / Noir Music while Samurai Champloo is feudal / Edo Japan with Hip hop.
The similarities ARE there, however, as I kept on watching I less-so followed this mindset and started to view Samurai Champloo for what it is. It formed its own identity and became less about some of the things that reminded me of another show that the creators worked on. That should not be the mindset going in, and if it is I recommend either rewatching or just pretending that Bebop doesn't exist for a little bit.
You can still prefer one over the other, but it should not be for a reason as simple as "I prefer jazz to hip hop" or "feudal Japan to space". This being said, I invite you to form separate opinions on the two. They are two different works of art.
As for my feelings towards Samurai Champloo... its wonderful.
I personally believe the series' own "magnum opus" occurred during the ending of episode 11. If you watch you'll see what I mean, and I am by no means the only one who felt this way.
Thanks for reading.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jan 24, 2022
This review CONTAINS MOSTLY SPOILERS. Read with caution.
This will be a rant basically, but I will make sure to explain my reasoning for the aspects that I hated.
I collect anime VHS. I found this as a box set, seems to be pretty rare and I was happy to own it! I did minimal research onto what the show was about, the box art made it seem pretty self explanatory and I watched an official trailer for the show which made it seem interesting... I was not prepared for what this show actually was.
The synopsis written for this anime is a little bit over
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exaugurated in some ways, but that doesn't excuse what this anime IS about. Techno is a stalker with no redeeming qualities and gets his hopes set on a girl named Hitomi. He claims ownership over her immediately to which she refuses. BUT, he insists and uses gadgets and experiments to get his way no matter what she says.
There are many aspects about the "relationship" that forcefully develops between these two that aren't ever good. He is nothing but awful to her and to everyone else in this show. It was very uncomfortable to watch as the show TRIES to frame Techno as sympathetic and attempts to get you to side with him. But, his actions are inexcusable and NEVER change. It doesn't help that despite all of the characters in the show hating what he does, he ALWAYS gets his way.
It gets to the point with Hitomi, who Techno has named "Daisy" since he thinks he owns her, starts to fear a life without him there. She constantly hates what he does, yet she's now so used to it that she fears being alone. If you do a quick Google search on "Why don't some people leave bad relationships" the first thing it says is "fear of being alone"... that is the title of the show. Don't Leave Me Alone Daisy is not about a relationship that starts terribly but through learning different things that occurred in Techno's past blossoms into a mutual understanding and a more healthy relationship... it is about an unhealthy, abusive, and manipulative relationship that the creators try to get you to root for.
The beginning premise could have been done well, but they write no redeeming qualities for Techno and it ends with nothing changed besides Daisy's mind somehow. Its really unsettling and hard to watch at some point. I was baffled that it ended that way. Since they gave Techno no redeeming qualities at all, it just does not work AT ALL. Take this situation for example... if someone is bullying others that's not good at all. However, the bully is only acting out because they are self conscious or something. The takeaway from that is NOT "Oh man I'm so sorry. You can keep bullying me". If you see what I'm trying to say here....
The fact that it ends (SPOILERS) with Techno getting his way despite having no character development or growth. It is mind blowing and results in a show with almost no redeeming qualities.
With all of that being said, are there ANY good things about this show? Yeah, sure! The music is all pretty good! I'm a sucker for this era that the anime came out in and the art style is something I do enjoy. And ONE character is memorable and fun, even if he's just played off as a punching bag, that being "X".
So would I recommend Don't Leave Me Alone Daisy? No, I would not genuinely recommend this to anyone at all. The best thing it has going for it is just the fact that its so bad and if you want a good "hate watch" it may do the trick. As long as you're not there for the "its so bad that its funny" type of entertainment you get from low budget horror movies or something like that. Here, you get the "its appalling that this exists and that they want me to root for this horrible character".
Thank you for reading this. I HAD to talk about it and I had A LOT to say.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Sep 18, 2021
The Fire Emblem OVAs consist of 2 episodes each around 25 minutes in length going over the story of Marth (who was referred to as 'Mars' in this series) as he is motivated to lead a group of warriors to fight for his homeland.
This series, being only 2 episodes in length, obviously ends abruptly. Its also very clear that the second episode was not really meant to be the finale. They hint at "more adventures ahead" but as we can all see now, no more adventures were released. This fact makes it hard to really give the series as a whole a proper review,
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but alas there are some points to mention.
I did have fun watching this, I'd imagine someone who was not a fan of the video game series being kind of bored for the most part. However, as a quick hour of my time I enjoyed seeing some references to the games and seeing what creative approaches they took with what little source material they had at the time into making a well explored world with fun characters.
So, is this a good OVA series? Sure. Its not stupendous and, too be honest, I would only realistically recommend this to someone who is a fan of the video game series or someone who just wants a very quick anime to watch. Not bad, just feel like there was a missed opportunity with the length. I feel like this series could have been really good if they even just gave it another 10 or so episodes to give the characters more room to grow, more time to expand the world, and give the audience more of a chance to get further invested. This could have been really good, but unfortunately its just left at being alright.
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed my review : )
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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