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!
