Nov 15, 2012
The anime was created by Manglobe and directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, the man who directed Cowboy Bebop, another critically acclaimed series. Watanabe is known for his style of mixing different concepts together which he did brilliantly in Samurai Champloo, blending together elements of hip-hop, a Edo Japan setting and a lot of modern day references, true historical events and characters.
The story features 3 main characters. Fuu, a girl who is on a quest to find "the samurai that smells of sunflowers". Mugen, one of the samurai Fuu saved, a carefree vagabond and anti-hero with a break dance/capoeira fighting style, who doesn't really care about anything
...
other than fighting. And Jin, a ronin with a conventional samurai behavior and a traditionalfighting style who has a dark past that haunts him. The three meet in Fuu's hometown where the samurai duo helps her in a stress situation with the local samurai band,but soon finds themselves ready for execution for killing the magistrate's son. Fuu then steps in and returns the favor and the three take off to a journey to find "the samurai that smells of sunflowers" that Fuu is desperately searching for.
The animation in the anime is great, and i really enjoyed it. It looks like a mix of graffiti art and old school manga which is done by implying thick lines and a bit strange color scheme. Intense battle scenes start at the very beginning and don't stop till the story ends. The way Mugen moves and fights is really refreshing in the genre, and I enjoyed watching his fight, but don't think that the Jin battles are boring, fans of kenjutsu will love him as he is one bad ass sword fighter.
Characters are fun and very easy to attach too. There is the girl, the bad boy, and the stoic bushido all tied together in one hell of a ride. Main char development is something I point out as the flaw of the show, as i have the feeling it could have been done better and in more detail. Every episode has some side characters which are always refreshing and you don't get that feeling that the developers are just recycling old ideas, or getting fed up of doing the series, which i sometimes get when watching a show.
The music theme is somewhat not standard for an anime series, as it is hip hop themed, and despite not being a fan of the genre I found it refreshing and interesting. It also went along with the whole gangstarish feeling they gave to some characters and settings. Moments of a more traditional approach with a Japanese sound flow perfectly and really give a deeper feeling to the scene. It is one of the shows that I can say the music deserves to be praised as its best part, which gets even more weight when I say that all the other aspects are top quality as well.
This is a great show and the feeling it leaves after you have watched it is that the time was certainly not a waste of time. It has its moments of serious and the comic part which go well with one another and keep you entertained for a 26 episode period. Samurai and hip hop lovers as well as action lovers will highly enjoy Samurai Champloo, but others should pick it up as well because of its interesting and original story, the humorous elements which are hilarious, fighting scenes you will like even if you are not an action fan, and truly a great overall watching experience. I would recommend it to any true anime lover, just don't expect the nacama, friend power shonen part as this is not a generic shonen, and if you are still in a phase that you HIGHLY ENJOY Bleach, Naruto and such titles you should not watch this and ruin the joy you would have if you watched it at the right time(I still watch shonen and find it fun but I do not HIGHLY ENJOY them, there is a difference).
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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