Samurai Champloo

[PurpleHaze]

Series: Samurai Champloo
Release Date: 2004
Genre: Post-Modern Japan, Samurai, Action, Drama, Comedy
Number of Episodes: 26
Overview: This is a story about two Samurai in a Half Fictional Half Non-Fictional Japan who meet in a (what appears to be) japanese resturant. They fight with a boy whos father happens to be high up in the government because of a girl who was getting attacked by the boy. So after there battle someone burns the resturant down and the boy gets killed, framing the two samurai and leaving them captured by the boys father. They are tortured and shoved in a cell. Then the girl whos life they saved makes an offer to get them out on one condition. Find a samurai. And that is how it begins.

Personal Opinion: My personal opinion is this is by far one of the greatest anime out there. It has a bit of rap in the beggining theme song but it doesnt heavly rely on rap to set the beat as some might think (if they have seen the commercial). It is my understanding that the same people who created the anime section for Kill Bill created this and if that is true or not does not matter because you can tell they look alike even without knowing. If you watch the first chapter it has a bunch of little bits that will make you giggle and a couple things to make you just flat out laugh. It really sets the mood and I havent seen this much action since Trigun and R. Kenshin. I think that its not only meaningless violence it also makes mention to feudal japan and Prefects (not perfects). It also has a sad side story to the chapters i have seen and known of them are repeat stories. Some of the language is a bit strong and they do make mention to the fact that the lead female character is a bit flat chested. Also there is mention to drugs and sex but if you can stand that (which it doesnt seem to be a uncomfortable thing) you will enjoy this.

Overall if you want to watch something new to the anime scene and be amazed by the combat and stories. You will love Samurai Champloo. I highly recomend it to just about anyone on this forum and any samurai fan.


This series is similar to: Kill Bill (anime chapters)
If you liked Kenshin then you will love this, The attention to style and samurai techniques is remarkable and the acrobatics are simply astounding.

View & Buy at Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/Samurai-Champloo-Eps-1-26/dp/B000F6SBAU/sr=1-2/qid=1170330758/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/102-4096279-6577743?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

[EmpressStephanie]

Written by MegaDeus

Personal Opinion:
One of trhe best Samurai shows of all-time. The music is great and the characters are great. The plot seems to come and go where they get into differ problems. The show has its punchlines. The fight scenes are samurais and the hip-hop music in the background. Overall, if you love samurai's and Watanbee's other works then you will like this one.

[Sp1k3]

well, I am going to write another becasue I saw it again.

Personal Opnion:

Samurai Champloo produced by Shinchiro Wantanbee is another great show produced by Wantanbeee. Samurai Champloos fuse with samurai action and music is just utterly amazing. The animation is great no erros or anything. The fight scenes aren't really long like most other animes, its just a slice here and a slice there and its done. The comedy lines in this show are great. The cahracters are classics brought back, Mugen the red samurai, trash mouth dirt fighter shows no mercy and battles to get his way on the other hand you have the blue samrai Jin a quiet, but deadly samurai fighting sometimes for righteuousness.

If you wanted more Champloo, they are making another season might be even better.

[Realfolkblues]

Samurai Champloo Reveiw

This anime is a very beautiful anime, packed with good style and great action. Champloo wont get a perfect score becuase of the plot. Samurai that smells like sunflowers? I felt that was kind of weak. The 2 samurais, mugen and jin, in my opinion are like 2 sides of spike segal from cowboy bebop.

Final Reveiw: B

[SSJ2]

Personal Opinion:

Utterly overrated. Yes, it has nice style and the music is fantastic, but not a great deal actually happens. It suffers from the same problems as Bebop, with disjointed episodes, but aggrandised even farther. "The Sunflower Samurai" is only really mentioned in about 3 episodes. The series has very little consistancy because of it.

It's like Cowboy Bebop with swords, except missing Bebop's awesome finish. Style over substance here. The fight scenes can be great too, but there is nothing to link it. Also, when there isn't action going on, the whole thing seems to move very slowly. There are better samurai anime about.

As a final note though, episode 23 is incredibly funny.

Rating: 5/10

Reccomendations: Samurai X O.V.A's, Samurai 7

[EmpressStephanie]

Personal Opinion


A lot of people have been comparing this anime to Cowboy Bebop as far as style and format. While I do agree that it has a Cowboy bebop feel to it... I think this series is a lot better. I strongly disliked Cowboy Bebop. I didn't watch this anime for the Samurai action sequences so I couldn't be disappointed by them. Even so... I loved the action sequences. I liked the mix of "old school" samurai style in Jin and the street fighting- break dancing-capoeira style that Mugen had. I didn't particularly enjoy the music but I can see how it would appeal to a lot of people. What I really loved about this anime was all the historical references. I also enjoyed how they melded today's counter-culture with Tokugawa era Japan. Usually I hate anime that doesn't have one continuous flowing plot line that is addressed is almost every episode, but for some reason it didn't bother me in Samurai Champloo. I suppose it's because I really loved the characters and how they interact with each other. I found myself laughing really hard while watching. I definitely give it an A+ as far as comedy is concerned. I suppose another reason is that most of the episodes don't really stand alone but rather stand together in arcs. It's not like you can watch them out of order and still understand what's happening. I was really impressed with this anime... I definitely think it was a balance between art, style, and content that made it great. I liked the ending but not the very end... I thought that was a bit senseless.

I think I'm the only girl who's reviewed this so far so I'll go ahead and say it... Mugen and Jin are #u@%*&$ hot. Especially at the end... Jin... with his hair down... with his shirt torn... omg... ::nose bleed::

Also See: Rurouni Kenshin, Samurai X OVAs, Cowboy Bebop, Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, Kazemakase Tsukikage Ran

[last12exile]

Hmmm
My review:
Samurai CHamploo mixes hip-hop and a traditional feudal Japan setting. Fuu, the young girl is annoying sometimes. But otherwise the animation is slick, i like the looking theme because they sorta just wander around which is pretty cool. And the comedy is pretty funny too but not amazing. 8.5/10

Ps: Action scenes are awesome 8O

[blackcrow]

Crow's Review of Samurai Champloo:

The thing about anime is sometimes I feel I've seen the same things over and over again, and that's what champloo feels like, sorta. I'll admit wantanabe you did perfect with bebop and this show has it's great ups of not too bad music, interesting character designs and animation. However champloo doesn't match bebop's greatness, and for one thing I hope the plot of champloo goes somewhere because the plot doesn't really show much creativiety, samurai who smells of sunflowers, ok. But I guess the comedy and the stories so far are keeping me watching every week. Not a bad comeboack from this great director but not a classic.
FINAL SCORE: 8.3/10 GOOD.

[ANBU!]

Personal Opinion

Is Samurai Champloo overrated? Probably. But that's ok. There are so many anime out there that one that portrays itself in a different style with a very clearcut approach is definitely appreciated. Samurai Champloo is well executed with a hip hop flavor known from the guy who brought us Cowboy Bebop. In the beginning we have a lot of cool hip hip transitions that really separates Samurai Champloo from more "traditional" animes. Towards the end however we see this series kind of buckle down and as it does the hip hop flavor get's lost in the storyline's conclusion.

The Good:
The thing that striked me about this anime was that it was very solid, had linear timelines, and was consistent. Unique style to the anime.

The Bad:
Could be a bit dry for more of those hardcore anime fans. The last episodes appear tired and worn with no real high point except the last battle.

Overall Score:
[B-]

[Yuki-Sama]

My opion
I think it has the best fighting style that i have seen ever. They have good illistrations, and their style of rap and anime really fits my taste.
But....
i have seen every episode so far, and it is kinda off set, i don't understand the plot as much as i do other shows.
But i love it :D
so i give this show a 9/10

[kunti]

first off, there's no RAP influence, rap and hip hop are different, just like jazz and blues. samurai champloo is hip hop influenced, theres no RAPPING involved, the beginning themesong is a hip hop song about samurai, with MC's, the show is awesome, but don't expect it to be too hip hop based, pretty much its just a samurai show done with immense style, like cowboy bebop was done with blues,

the fight scenes are awesome and beautiful, the story line is episodic but it still makes it awesome, the dub version is just as good as cowboy bebops, and the music was integerated very well

highly recommended
8.5/10

[HitoKiri101]

This is one of the better Samurai type animes out there. its all fun and games until then end and then u see both Mugen and Jins true powers. It is directed by the same guy who directed both Escaflowne and Cowboy Bebop, so u know its gonna have some good fight scenes in it. :)

[aShltKa]

Excellent anime, however, i would recomend watching it subbed as the subbed version includes things such as brief history behind some of the actions and such, it allows you to pick up on some the humor overlooked in the english version. Plus there are a lot of funny lines that were changed in the english version, i think they were a little to foward, not sure.

Anyways the animation is great, good plot/character develpement and a very unique OST

[Maskero]

i love this anime its one of the greatest yet with a little hip hop style not to much to make it kinda of a ghetto anime awesome great action and its funny but it knows when to be serious and when to funny i give it a 8.9/10

[Thousand Eyes]

Personal Opinion: A fun series that doesn't fail to deliver on so many levels. It captures the crazy action sequences that you would get or expect from a samurai anime. At the same time, it adds Hip Hop into the mix and makes it all the more stylish. The storyline is pretty simple, just follow Fuu who is searching for the samurai that smells like sunflower. I can see how many of the episodes seemed like separate ones, instead of continuations...but, that's what makes it even better. In this aspect, you can't get bored, because there are sub-plots involved that can further show the uniqueness of Jin and Mugen's fighting abilities, as well as their opponent's. Although, I know that this may not appeal to others, it did for me. Anyway, overall, I was glad at the way Samurai Champloo was executed. It had everything I wanted in an anime -- samurai, Hip Hop, action, comedy and sometimes atmosphere.

Rating: 8.5/10

[Geroid04]

I own the first six volumes to the series. after seing two episodes on adult swim it became one of my favorites and i had to have it. the fighting is great animation is nice and chracters are cool too. The story is kinda dumb tho it sounds kinda gay to be on a journey to find a samurai that smells of sunflowers lol. overall its a great anime

[Yami no Kaitou]

Ugh. This was probably the most disappointing anime I've ever seen.
The first ep looked really promising, with interesting characters, humor, funky music, and lots of action, but with each episode it turned me off more and more. The lack of plot and character development really killed it for me, I guess, no matter how cool the action scenes were.
The only thing that saved this series for me was its random show of coolness portrayed in music and funky art styles, as well as the couple amusing eps sprinkled here and there in the series.

If you like action and don't mind missing a plot, this anime may be the one for you.
But if you're like me and like good plots and character development, stay clear of this series.

My rating:
Characters: 5/10 (fun characters, but no development)
Plot: 3/10 (what plot?)
Music: 8/10 (the music is the best thing going for it)
Animation: 7/10 (interesting style, but the characters were so ugly)
Action: 8/10 (the fight between Mugen and Jin in the first ep was one of the best fighting scenes I've ever seen. Very fluid.)

OVERALL: 4/10

[Top10Movies]

Here is my opinion: I heard that Samurai Champloo was from the same creator of Cowboy Bebop. But Cowboy is a masterpiece and Samurai is just another series. What I am trying to say it there are no comparison between those two. The fighting sceens like everyone had said they are one of the best ever.

About the series:
The First Half (around 1-14): I think the series would be much better if they took out the first half of the series. There are a few episodes that are really good, but overall they really slow down and degraded the whole series. I would give it C-.

The rest of the series: I really enjoy the last half of the series. Everything became more serious and it like they finally unleashed the story. I was really glad I watched the last half or I would of miss out on a great anime. I would give it B+.

More information: There are a few things I have to point out. I watched the first half in imported DVDs. The Eng sub was a little off. I watched the rest in original DVDs. THe Eng sub was clear and easy to understand.

[Sillymaxx]

Nice work on the anime. I can tell it has it's own signiture there. But what? I cant put my finger on it. It's for sure unique. My cousin actually got me to take a look.

Grade: at best a 'B'

Not enough to reall look into. I'd put it in the middle of my "got to see list"

[jubei_massages_goku]

My review of Samurai Champloo:

Just watch Ninja Scroll.

[Caska The Stampede]

What an anime! It's inevitable that people will compare this to the almighty Cowboy Bebop, and although it will never be recognised as good as it, I personally believe this anime holds its own in different ways to Bebop.

The music score is just as impressive but in a totally different genre to CB (Jazz replaced with comical hiphop), the comic relief is arguably better(Mugen's impression of Jin's fishing lecture) and where Bebop was charming, Champloo is informative, interlinking with true events of the past, although in most cases it is twisted to add morerelevance to the storyline.

Much has been said of the 'poor' ending of Champloo, it is clear that Watanabe didn't want any of the main character to die as Spike did in Bebop, and I think it was perfect. The general tone of Champloo is much more light hearted than that of Bebop, ok many people are killed throughout the series, but come on, they're looking for a samurai who smells of sunflowers! To achieve as an emotinoal an ending as Bebop would have required one of the main three to die, and then we'd all be saying that hes just used the same formula as he has for bebop.

To an extent he did in the similar episodic nature of the series, however I think this is a huge plus, as it introduces strangers to the anime genre much more easily, especially with its broad range of comedy, funky music and eye pleasing style. Another thing is that it is not a 'sl;eazy' anime, even when one of the main characters is imprisoned in a brothel for a double episode (i think), there is no real adult over the top indecent scenes, it just oozes style.

I'm not saying EVERYONE should love this anime, as no single thing should warrant being loved by everyone, but it is a well scripted and 'directed' anime which a hell of alot of thought has gone into.

FINALLY my overall rating for this anime would be 9.5/10

ps First post, dont kill me

[DirtyNick]

I generally liked this series but I have to agree with a lot of the cynics, especially Yami. There is no character development and it sucks. There was too much time spent on stupid bs most notably, the baseball & zombie eps. & also, ya got three people on a long journey eating, sleeping, traveling for months together and yet they only get to know something about eachother until that one campfire in the final stretch???

I didn't think twice about the Samurai who smelled like sunflowers thing, becuz I was taught, that in literature, the true meaning of a quest was always self-knowledge & that the stated reason is often trivial. Of course this is an anime series, and not a piece of literature, so i got screwed over.

7/10

[Link of the Pwnage]

The Story:
(Written by Geneon, taken from the back of the first dvd box)
Mugen's a buck wild warrior - violent, thoughtless, and womanizing. Jin is a vagrant ronin - mysterious, traditional, well-mannered, and very strong as well. These two fiercely independant warriors can't be any more different from one another, yet their paths cross when Fuu, a ditzy waitress, saves them from being executed after a violent swordfight. Fuu convinces the two vagrant young men to help her find a mysterious samurai "who smells of sunflowers." And their journey begins. This is a story about love, friendship, and courage... NOT!


Review

Animation: The animation is very well done, including the blood and gore effects(there is plenty of it). The show really shines in the animation department, and the quality stays the same.

Sound: The VO (both dub and Sub) in my opinion are pretty good. There is a lot of cursing though, which at times i found humorous and at others i felt it unnecessary. The hip-hop infusion really adds a lot to the series.

Story: The Story does not seem so complex, but it just makes it easier to get into, and it gets better as it goes along.

Overall: This is a very good show with good music, animation, action, and comedy. Definatly worth watching.

Rating: 9/10

Other Recommendations: Very unique series, but the Samurai X OVAs, Samurai 7, Rurouni Kenshin, Cowboy Bebop.

[phossil]

Personal Opinnion:

From the same director of Cowboy Bebop Shinichiro Watanabe, Samurai Champloo is a great anime taken place in feudal Japan. Mugen seems a little bit like Spike Spiegel in his attitud and sometimes expressions. They both have an unique and special fighting style (Jet-kundo alike refered as Champuru in the anime from the directors). Jin is a very quiet and well trained samurai and Fuu a little girl (15 years old) who is searching a samurai who smells like sunflowers.

I specially liked a lot the serie (26 eps. in total) because its animation (very quite different from other styles), the characters drawnings and the plot of the anime i think we will in the near future watch a movie from the serie.

:wink:

-------
http://fariaae.cjb.net

[MidnightR]

This has Shinchiro Wantanbee written all over it. Its very similar to Cowboy Bebop in many ways, so if you liked that your very likely to enjoy this. These reviews are correct in that the story isnt that strong, but I dont feel thats whats important, that isnt what this anime is about. Its about character interaction, and their journey, not their destination. It was quite obvious to me the destination wasnt important, shown by the fact the sun flower samurai is only seen for about 5minutes.

The fight scenes were really great, I especially liked Mugans "make it up as I go along" kind of style, his shoes were ace! The way the music is blended so integrally to the story is also done so very well, as in Bebop.

Its not the same as Bebop, and it was good for different reasons. It gets a little slow in the middle but gets better towards the end.

Id give this 9/10, any anime fan should really see this. Though be warned its quite a slow moving anime, with no real plot to it. Try to take each episode one at a time, since they arent really linked all that much.

[Crumpy]

I don't know what it is about this anime but its just so unique and good, wacky fighting styles to old fashion samurai's, Its by far the best anime I've watched so far I'm lost for words really :P But I've watched it 2 times now and I'm still not bored of it ^^

Another series I really recommend if you enjoy samurai anime is Shigurui, the series is really interesting and historical plus the fights are really worth seeing :)

[trueaisuru001]

really recommend this show, made by the director of cowboy bebop. watanabe i believe. Mugen, Jin, and Fuu are a funny combination. It prlly top 5 on my list with cowboy beop.

[BasilBacillus]

Aside from FLCL, this one is my VERY FAVORITE. You could consider me a Mugen fan girl :3
I watched the entire series in subtitles. Firstly, the animation is completely unique. I love the proportions of the characters. Secondly, the entire story line is just.. Awesome. There are the perfect ammount of ups and downs, its like a dark comedy at times.

[Lady_Hatake]

I agree that this series has a distinct Cowboy Bebop feel to it, but honestly, I didn't like it nearly as much.

Let me explain. The sword fighting and the art was great, there's no doubt about that. It is unique, and the music is as well. However, I found the story to be dry and uninteresting. It was all I could do to watch episode after episode. It wasn't terrible, but there was nothing that particularly caught my interest. Not the story, and especially not the characters.

Which brings me to my next point. The biggest problem I have with it is the fact that there is virtually no character development. I didn't feel any sort of connection with them at all. Why should I give a damn what happens to them if I have no clue what they've been through and who they really are as people? In Cowboy Bebop, they give you background on all of the characters in the main story, and they give you a distinct feel for who they are. That is something Samarai Shamploo is severely lacking in. If we hadn't known everything we know about Spike, would we have cared nearly as much about what happened to him in the end? I don't think so.

If you're looking for an anime with deep plotlines and characters, this is not the anime for you. It's all right to watch once if all you're looking for is some action, because that's all it can be expected to deliver. Overall, it's mediocre at best. 5/10

[Black-Ice]

I don't know what it is about this anime but its just so unique and good, wacky fighting styles to old fashion samurai's, Its by far the best anime I've watched so far I'm lost for words really :P But I've watched it 2 times now and I'm still not bored of it ^^

Another series I really recommend if you enjoy samurai anime is Shigurui, the series is really interesting and historical plus the fights are really worth seeing :)

nice pic i love clannad srry

[Black-Ice]

i like samurai champloo i only saw bits and peices tho