Samurai Champloo: Series Review

I just finished the 26-episode series Samurai Champloo and, to my surprise, found it much to my liking. The series was directed by Shinichiro Watanabe of Cowboy Bebop fame (that anime is on my list but I have yet to watch it). The premise is a little bit of a screwy one: it is a "cross-genre" mix that employs a blend of Japan in the early Edo period (with a revisionist historical bent) with use of anachronistic elements of hip-hop, punk sub-culture, and modernism.

Sounds strange, I know. But the series was done with such style that I ended up quite liking it, despite the fact that the show was a bit uneven and, quite frankly, WEIRD at times.

ART, COLOR & DESIGN

I absolutely loved the action sequences in this anime -- superior to those of Rurouni Kenshin (the anime series, not the OVA) in the way the frames cleaved to the swordsplay without cutaway screens. The fights were deadly, fast, and bloody. Slash, slash, dead body + blood spraying. Instead of having people stand around talking about their special moves, these guys made quick work of their victims. Their motions were fluid and animated beautifully.

Colorwise, I was pleased. The colors in the show were not too bright, not too dull, and also quite varied. Impressive use of contrast. The episode featuring graffiti in particular employed color to good use.

As for character design, I have to admit at first I found it odd and jarring. The designs of Jin and Fuu adhere to traditional archetypes: cold, steely samurai and (yes, sigh) ditzy, cute anime girl (though Fuu was less annoying than most anime girls). But the design of the 3rd main character, Mugen, is clearly taken from street sub-culture, from the way he looks & talks to the way he fights. It was so weird. But the way the show unfolded, the design just seemed to FIT.

In short, the show had STYLE. Action sequences, character designs, animation... meshing with the irrelevant dialogue and hip-hop music. It all meshed together, and it was fun to watch!

PLOT & CHARACTERS

This anime was not a plot-driven one. In fact, its basic plot is, well, basic -- Fuu recruits Jin and Mugen to help her find the Samurai Who Smells of Sunflowers. That's it. Most of the episodes don't advance the plot at all. It's not one of those I-must-find-out-what-happens shows.

Which I appreciated. The episodes ended up being random, mostly unconnected, and, as such, had great range and variety. The show sampled a whole host of topics, with tidbits lifted from Japanese (and Western!) culture: beetle fights, ukiyo-e paintings, zombies!, baseball, graffiti, marijuana, the blind assassin, Musashi Miyamoto, Tale of the Genji... Sometimes the show got really weird (as in the zombies and baseball episodes), but ... I appreciated the breadth of things touched upon.

I guess I would call Samurai Champloo a character-driven show, although I wish the characters' backstories and pasts had been more fully fleshed out. The contrast between the wild, unruly Mugen and the aristocratic, traditional Jin was great, and unfolded in the way they dressed, talked, and fought. That was done really well, and really formed the heart of the show. But I wanted to know more about them. Fuu was boring, as most anime girls are, but I wanted to know more about her too. The director seemed more interested in developing the characters as a trio, in relation to one another.

OVERALL

Overall, I really liked the show. It was a novel and interesting concept that was executed well. There were some really fantastic episodes in there. Episodes of note: "Gamblers and Gallantry" (Ep. 11, where Jin falls in love with and rescues a whore-to-be), "Bogus Booty" (Ep. 15, where Jin and Mugen go to the counterfeiting brothel), "War of the Words" (Ep. 18 - the graffiti episode), "Elegy of Entrapment" (Eps. 20-21, with the kickass female blind assassin who kicks both Jin's and Mugen's asses), and of course the last 3 episodes ("Evanescent Encounter").

And again, as I said before, the show just had such kickass style that it made up for a simplistic plot and slightly underdeveloped characters. And, of course, the animation was really good. Samurai Champloo didn't have the epic, addictive quality of Rurouni Kenshin, but it was just ... really fun.

I can't really say which (Kenshin or Champloo) I like better, though. I think it would depend on my mood. :)