Samurai Champloo | Q's Anime Review & Commentary

A Fusion Frenzy of styles and cultures, that's a warm and comical journey of desiring closure
Samurai Champloo (26 Episodes 2 Seasons) 8.35 out of ten

There's something that's to me that's so openly nostalgic about Samuria Champloo, it's something about it's relatively conservative film grammar, emphasizing diegetic continuity, in addition to a comical spin on it - With plenty of dry gags, jump cuts and a character first priority on scriptwriting. 13 years later, Shinichiro Watanabe's Samurai Champloo, while still decently popular, I feel is one of Watanabe's most slept on works along with Sakemichi No Appollon (Kids on The Slope), being that for a 2004 T.v animation, in terms of character animation & art direction, Samurai Champloo is a production at a fine eye point, the apex of it's era - A masterpiece given the time of production and circumstances. In other regards though, Champloo is an episodic classic, set in a comically idealized version of the Edo period within Japan, where characters such as Jin & Mugen are the last generation of the declining Age of The Samurai, where they randomly stumble into a restaurant & meet Fuu, a waitress - From there on, the dysfunctional bunch set out on a seemingly aimless and coincidental journey, in Fuu's search for a Samurai who smells of sunflowers, slowly realizing that Fuu's ambitions to find him are more dangerous and involved than they actually realize...


Plot & Narrative Aspects
Everything I feel Watanabe set his sights on is always daring, experimental and different - While Japan's animation industry is so fixated on the safe money that adaptations offer, Shinichiro Watanabe on the other hand almost always opts for creating new & original stories (With the Exception of Kids on The Slope), whether it's a creative industry endeavour like Space Dandy, with a collection of some of the most prestigious talents in the business or Zankyou No Terror (Terror in Resonance) an entirely solo/auteur effort, depicting his own personal digressions about politics and the Japanese government, if anything Watanabe continues to forge his own identity as one of the most perennial and outspoken talents within Japan's animation industry today. Pick your given name, Naoko Yamada, Hayao Miyazaki, Satoshi Kon, Akiyuki Shinbo or Makoto Shinkai - Watanabe works remain synonymous amongst the few who actually have made a name for themselves within Japan, being that alongside Miyazaki, there isn't another more well known Japanese animation director to date. The funny thing though about Shinichiro Watanabe's works and career was that he was seen as an outcast to the Japanese animation industry and market at the given time.

Shinichiro Watanabe

It's another example of crying shame of how contemporary artists and works are not appreciated until it's too late. The only reason a show such as Cowboy Bebop continued on to finish, was that Adult Swim agreed to begin streaming the series in North America and still does today, along with many other Watanabe titles such as here on Samurai Champloo. If your wondering why, it's because Watanabe didn't give two shits about pleasing his sponsors and restricting the age group for people who could actually watch the series, nor did here care about the cultural norms that Japan's animation industry had established - Instead he chose to do things his way, which was radically different and often being coped out as being to quote on "westernized", though I personally just see it as including more Pop Sensibilities if you will .

"Ever since I started working as an animator, I never felt that there was too much of a distinction between animation and live action.. So I hope I can keep working to erase those borders" - Shinichiro Watanabe (Matrix DVD interviews)

If the world of commerce hates anything, it has to be change, and almost each of every single one of Watanabe's works served as a radical force to change the industry - Whether it's following Watanabe's classic dysfunctional rag tag team adventurers with Cowboy Bebop's Jazz influenced sound with Yoko Kano on board, Sakemichi's Appolon's riveting drama & classic character design by ex Madhouse designer Nobuteru Yuuki, or here on Samurai Champloo, again is no different. As with yet another trio of characters with Jin, Mugen & Fuu, sticking nice and firmly to the rule of thirds here.

Shinji Obara

While Samuria Champloo does have an overarching plot, it's a vague one, being that part of the journey is actually more about finding out about each character and their past, rather than literal linear progression of plot events itself. You see, Samurai Champloo is also a story about coincidence, and the journey that comes with it. In this respect, being that while Watanabe's characters are certainly charismatic and depicted in a definitive manner, we actually don't much about them, as many details are omitted very deliberately, though on the visual level, we already know that there's more to them than meets the eye - & this is how the story begins to unfold, an episodic comedy and tale of coincidence, the story of a journey, of both the beginning, middle & end.

In that respect, I also take issue with it somewhat vaguely dry sense of story telling, as the writing department helmed by Chief Writer Shinji Obara keeps it objective with very minimal non diegetic or expository dialogue almost at all , and I find myself thinking that perhaps too much is omitted, as I find while climatic in it's own way, Samurai Champloo ends in a relatively whimsical fashion - For that reason, a lot of people prefer Bebop's charismatically fatalistic and bittersweet ending. Though I digress, since despite being somewhat off putting, I found myself identifying with it as well - It's that same feeling when you're with someone with so long, to what feels like an eternity, only for them to part ways, but somehow, you feel at peace and are quiet at heart, as that struggle and journey is already over. In that sense Samurai Champloo feels timely, and ephemeral despite also feeling warm and familiar due to the character first priority in script writing, as like all series directed by Watanabe, the dialogue is always charismatic of who the characters are.  I feel that sense of peace in the story what is all it's really about, emphasizing the story of friendship & when you have to part ways, but at heart, being able to actually accept it, and be at peace with it.

It's also something of a soap opera of sorts throughout the land of the samurai, being that Champloo is much more of a episodic tale then anything else. With a Vagabond like Mugen, and a Ronin like Jin, and a ditz like Fuu aimlessly stringing them on for the ride, they string together clues about the Sunflower Samurai along their Journeys and random encounters throughout the entirety of Japan, living nomadically chaotic lives of being comically broke and living on the edge of poverty, and does just about anything to fill their stomachs or pay for lodging. Samurai Champloo is a Fusion Frenzy of a not so historically accurate depiction of the Edo period, being that with comedy comes experimentation, and with a director like Watanabe, it isn't surprising to see such an odd salad of different cultures & countercultures spliced into the mix - As alot of what's included is anachronistic to what's historically accurate within the given period within Japan.

Being that hip hop elements and North american street culture are also mixed in - With Mugen's break dancing moves implemented in his fighting style, or the of tagging graffiti in the Japanese streets, Silly Rapping Samurai or even a hysterical (Albeit an entirely racist) depiction of American Baseball. It's a wonderfully absurd and comical addition that makes Champloo feel warm & wholesome, in addition to it's routine sword fights and action scenes. It speaks to how characters such as Jin & Mugen are outcasts that have to try to forge their own identity and place within their changing world, as the age of the samurai draws to a close. Being that it's a story about freedom & seeing things from a different perspective and how people can coexist and benefit from each others company and opinions, while not necessarily agreeing with each other - As it's something were privy to, while following along Jin, Fuu & Mugen's whimsically nomadic journey throughout Japan. In the end though, like Cowboy Bebop it's a story about Wanting Closure, about Wanting to know, it's about that particular desire & curiosity one has to learn more about someone or something, & in Watanabe's Originals such as Cowboy Bebop, it's usually something important. As it does a service to putting one's inner demons to rest, & living in the present while the journey still lasts - In the end, it really is just a story about going on a journey to find closure, as it's evident in every individual character arc, random episode, or on the entire whole of the Samurai Champloo story.


Character Analysis - Relation to plot

Like Cowboy Bebop and other works by Watanabe , his stories usually comprise of a group of three or four characters that have dysfunctional and chaotic relationships. In that sense, stories like Sakemichi No Appollon, Space Dandy and Zankyou No Terror live by the rule of thirds regarding it's character trio's, as this is especially true of Samurai Champloo.

Though this time it's our main heroine Fuu who plays the straight man, usually trying to keep a handle on the relatively sword happy companions she has - Mugen, a Vagabond like character from the Ryuku islands, who openly prefers to hack away to solve problems and pick fights, often letting his impulsively violent nature get the best of him. As he's simple minded and crude in his vulgar attitude, often making all sorts of unnecessary trouble in his pursuit of money, food and women as he has no tact or sense of restraint whatsoever - Though he's a daringly entertaining character to watch as he has some of the best one liners I've seen in a while, being a very reminiscent character to Spike Spiegel in Bebop.


Jin on the other hand is the polar opposite, as he's conservative and methodical, and far more well versed in his manners & knowledge. Often being more introverted and solitary character, being stoic often opting not to express his emotions, as he's placid and monotone when he speaks. He does however has a strong sense of self, duty & personal honor, as well as his own idea of what a samurai should be like. Though he's just as narrow-minded as Mugen when it comes to a challenge regarding the sword - And women of course.. as we see throughout the series, he makes his intentions clear as a more subtle, closet pervert, which makes for some pretty hilarious laughs.

"Did you see them?" - Jin
"See what?" - Mugen

While very different, Mugen & Jin are similar in the respect that both of them grew up as outcasts, as Mugen in particular has a pretty violent and tumultuous past of his own, while Jin on the other hand has a past that is equally damning, as he finds himself wholly understood and shunned by the those who actually know his name.

Fuu herself is openly optimistic and is an idealist, though she spends a lot of her time nagging and complaining about her bodyguards Jin & Mugen. In that respect she's energetic, as well as being a quite loud and spirited character. Though she really does serve as the glue between themselves as a group, as she's usually a good listener and open to solutions. Though in her own way, while amicable & upbeat, she is biased and somewhat conceited when it comes to her charm as a woman, always opting to be jealous of either Jin or Mugen when they pick up girls, when she herself wouldn't even date them anyways (Women...) and while she extensively goes out of her way to say how useless and troublesome they are, without saying so herself, you can tell that she does, because in her heart she secretly appreciates them and view them as her close friends that she can rely on in a pinch.



I don't know what it really is, or why Mugen & Jin still choose to follower her througout the entirety of the series, but my guess is, however whimsical this may be, it's probably because they probably find her upbeat and hopeful nature curios & interesting. Even more so that of her quest to find the Sunflower Samurai, as Fuu like both them, is not so easy to confide in others, much less to Jin or Mugen about her past, as she's usually entirely discrete and defensive about the entire affair and keeps the details entirely on lock. In the end though, Jin's story is about finding friendship, where Mugen's story (& I'm guessing here) is probably about his personal redemption & Fuu's story is more or less about finding closure & her own revenge of sorts - & they go on these journeys together as a dysfunctional trio of friends.

Asides from our main characters here, there are also plenty other characters that are rotated in throughout the story thanks to the episodic nature of the series, as I personally love characters within episode 11, or characters such as Sara in episode 20-21, episode 15 & 8 , and of course the Last Boss in the final 3 episodes of the series. Though if I had any complaints, it'd be the lack of reoccurring characters, while we don't necessarily need extra lead characters, I'd be really nice if we had other characters that we're plot essential, and possibly had some relationship with the main cast to make things more interesting.  Because for the most part while entertaining and suitable, there's this undeniable sense of randomness in the episodic nature of things, where you kind of wish there'd be other characters and relationships that would get developed over the course of the series, as opposed to one or two episode stint character arcs that Samurai Champloo comprises entirely of.  For example I would have loved if other character's "Love interests" were expanded upon.


Though I digress, because it's not entirely a bad thing, being that I absolutely love episodic series with a strong travelling theme like Mushishi, and the sort of cultural and spiritual adventures we may go on throughout Japan, as it really plays hand in hand with the journeying sense of the word and story.

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Article Contents

1. Plot, Narrative Aspects & Character Analysis 
2. Production Aspects [Cinematography | Animation | Art Direction] 
3. Voice Actor Choreography & SFX
4. Original Soundtrack 
5. Addendum
6. Extra Resources - Character Sheet Models & Other Pre Production Materials