samurai champloo

Samurai Champloo (サムライチャンプルー, Samurai Chanpurū^?) is an anime series consisting of twenty-six episodes that began broadcasting May 20, 2004 on Fuji Television in Japan. It was directed by Shinichiro Watanabe of Cowboy Bebop fame. The show is set in a fictional version of Edo period Japan. Featuring elements of action, adventure and comedy that is blended with an anachronistic, predominantly hip-hop soundtrack. Its name comes from the Okinawan word "chanpurū" (e.g. goya champuru), which means to mix or blend. Thus, the title may be translated as "Samurai Remix" or "Samurai Mashup", keeping with the series' blended theme.

The show is unique, in that it matches modern hip-hop music with a stylized form of samurai swordplay known as chambara, much in the same way Cowboy Bebop married science fiction to blues and jazz. Champloo's score prodominantly features hip-hop beats by Japanese hip hop artists such as Nujabes, Force of Nature and Tsutchie, as well as American artist Fat Jon, among others.

The world of Samurai Champloo is often anachronistic. Characters' costume design, attitudes and editing methods reflect heavily towards the hip-hop culture. One of the protagonists, Mugen, even fights in a style that resembles a fusion of Capoeira and modern breakdancing.

Geneon Entertainment licensed the show for distribution in North America almost a year prior to the show's airing in Japan. This decision was based almost solely on the reputation of its creator, Shinichiro Watanabe. On January 20, 2004, it was made public that the broadcasting rights were acquired by Cartoon Network, and the series began airing on the Adult Swim block on May 14, 2005, in the 11:30 p.m. timeslot on Saturday nights. On Saturday, November 22, 2005, the second batch of episodes (episodes 14-26) began airing at 11:30 p.m. EST/PST, but moved to Wednesday nights at 12:30 a.m. in January 2006. The airing of the final episode was March 18, 2006. The show carries a TV-MA rating containing extreme graphic violence, sexuality, nudity, and adult language.

Characters

Main article: List of Samurai Champloo characters

Samurai Champloo revolves around the journey of three individuals: The brash, lanky vagabond Mugen, the quiet and stoic ronin Jin, and the young, insistent Fuu.

At the beginning of the story, Fuu helps Mugen and Jin escape from a vengeful local magistrate, and she persuades them, by flipping a coin, to help her in her search for a mysterious samurai who smells of sunflowers. In the progressing adventure she will have the trouble of keeping her two companions out of trouble and from attempting to kill each other.

Like Bebop, Champloo's episodes are mostly self-contained (which has garnered it some criticism in spite of its visibly high production values), and the show contains an extensive cast. Apart from the main trio, most characters only appear once or twice; rarely more than three times.

Plot

See: List of Samurai Champloo episodes 1-12 and List of Samurai Champloo episodes 13-26

Samurai Champloo contains many marks of Watanabe's distinct style, which he first realized in Cowboy Bebop. Both anime share a foremost theme: there's no running from the past. There are episodes dedicated to the characters wrapping up earlier history, history that puts their lives at risk.

In the two-parter "Misguided Miscreants" (a.k.a. "Dark Night's Road"), Mugen encounters his old gang and becomes involved in a love triangle that quickly turns into a backstabbing contest that results in much bloodshed.

In a number of episodes, Jin is pursued by students of his former dojo who wish to exact revenge for the death of their master. Jin is reluctant to kill these pursuers.

In the final three-episode arc, "Evanescent Encounter" (a.k.a. "Circle of Transmigration"), both men face their toughest battles, as reprisal for past misdeeds.

Jin is challenged by a master swordsman, named Kariya Kagetoki, who has unfinished business with Jin relating to the death of Jin's master. It is revealed to us that Kariya attempted to gain control of Jin's dojo and to train its adepts for the purpose of assassination. Jin opposes this and Jin's master is ordered to kill him. Jin manages to survive the attempt on his life, killing his master in the process.

Mugen is confronted by three brothers whom he scarred, crippled and drove insane during his days of piracy.

Fuu finally meets the Sunflower Samurai, named Kasumi Seizou, who is actually her father. We find out that the government tailed her in order to find this man, who was once the leader of a Christian rebellion. Kasumi, already terminally ill, is slain by Kariya.

Kariya then attempts to kill Fuu. Jin, who was thought to be dead, appears suddenly to finish the duel with Kariya. In order to defeat him, Jin utilisizes the last technique his master taught him: to allow oneself to be stabbed in order to create an opening in an opponent's defense.

Mugen and Jin attempt to settle their score, but fail to do so, as their swords break upon hitting one another. Both pass out.

At the very end, the three part at a fork in the road. Fuu reveals that the coin she flipped in the first episode was actually heads.

Director trademarks

Crows

Crows have become a trademark of Watanabe's. In the penultimate episode of Bebop, a single crow foreshadows the death of Julia. In Champloo, flocks of them appear numerous times either to foreshadow or signify a death.

List of scenes where crows make an appearance:

• In Episode 1, during Jin and Mugen's execution, when the executioners' blades flash. (They are not the ones to die, escaping instead and ending the lives of nearly every antagonist in the area.)
• In Episode 13, over the raided village, as Jin describes the massacre that took place there.
• In Episode 14, in Mugen's flashback, dispersing after having feasted on a human skull.
• In Episode 16, when Yukimaru's blade cleaves toward Jin, before they end up at a stalemate, as Jin refuses to take the life of his former cohort. Instead of cheating death, however, Yukimaru persistently pursues Jin, leaving Jin with no other choice. Ultimately, the crow's prediction comes true.
• In Episode 17, before Okuru is riddled with arrows by Tobata's men.
• In Episode 26, Mugen envisions a murder of carrion crows consuming his body as he nears death. When Fuu calls out to him, the crows scatter and he returns to life.

Eyes

Closeup shots of eyes have long been a trademark of Watanabe.

• In Episode 1, immediately before Shibui's men swing their swords to execute them we see closeups of Mugen and Jin looking up.
• In Episode 1, we see a closeup of Mugen's eyes when he and Fuu first make eye contact.
• Mugen's drowning sequence in the episode, "Misguided Miscreants, Part 2", mirrors Spike's fall from the church tower in the Cowboy Bebop episode "Ballad of Fallen Angels". Both feature interwoven flashbacks in sepia tone, complete with closeups of the character's eyes.
• The two-part episode, "Lullabies of the Lost", opens with a closeup of Mugen's eye, a flaming man reflected in it, who falls off of a cliff. The episode then goes into flashback, and climaxes with the same shot of the flaming man.
• In Episode 26, when a dying Mugen is revived, the scene segues to a closeup of his eye, with Fuu reflected in it.
• Closeups of the eyes are frequently used when characters with dark pasts undergo flashbacks, like Oniwakamaru, Okuru and Mugen himself.

Influences and cultural references

• The recurring character Manzo the Saw, who both appears in and narrates several episodes, is a parody of the titular character from the Hanzo the Razor movies.
• The show features cameos by other protagonists of the chambara genre, such as Mito Kōmon in "Evanescent Encounter, Part 1", Ogami Daigoro from Lone Wolf and Cub in "Elegy of Entrapment, Part 1" and "Evanescent Encounter, Part 1", and Lone Wolf and Cub themselves in "Cosmic Collisions".
• Characters named "Sabini" and "Upa" are featured in the zombie-filled episode, "Cosmic Collisions." It's very likely that they are references Tom Savini, most famous for his special effects work and appearances both in George Romero's classic zombie films, and Tobe Hooper, the director of the original Texas ChainSaw Massacre.
• In "Evanescent Encounter, Parts 2 & 3", Mugen bears scars from being slashed across the face by Denkibou's claws. Coupled with his new hairstyle after emerging from the sea, he bears a strong physical resemblance to Bruce Lee's character in Enter the Dragon.
• The art style, character design and motives in the episode "Redeye Reprisal" suggest homage to Ninja Scroll. In the episode, Mugen is poisoned while enjoying the attentions of a seductive female, and has to battle a deformed hulk of a man wielding a double-bladed bisento in order to retrieve the antidote. In Ninja Scroll, the protagonist, Jubei, is poisoned after nearly succumbing to the charms of a seductive female; one of his foremost objectives is acquiring the antidote. A deformed hulk of a man wielding a double-bladed bisento proves to be a formidable enemy.
• In Episode 13 (Misguided Miscreants (Part 1)); Mugen's old pirating partner Mukuro has two ship mates named Ken and Ryu, a homage to the popular Street Fighter series. Ironically enough, the names Ryu and Ken together may be a hidden reference to the word Ryukan, which is there's and Mugen's ethnicity.
• Watanabe has stated that the movies Zatoichi, Dirty Harry and Enter the Dragon were influences on his work. ^{citation needed]}

Trivia

• Mugen and Spike of Cowboy Bebop share a strikingly similar physical appearance, including a similar, if not identical, hairstyle. Their respective fighting styles also favor high kicks. They also share very stubborn attitudes and pasts which they regret, although Spike is much more calm, intelligent, and less anti-authoritarian than Mugen. This similarity is strengthened in the English dub of both shows, as both characters are voiced by the same voice actor, Steven Jay Blum.
• A man bearing Jin's likeness makes an extremely short, non-speaking cameo in an early episode of The Boondocks entitled "Guess Hoe's Coming to Dinner." The creator of The Boondocks, Aaron McGruder, has stated that he is a fan of Samurai Champloo.

Manga

Samurai Champloo Volume 1

TOKYOPOP description: “In a world full of evil, a hardworking waitress, an arrogant mercenary and a mysterious samurai meet. Through a series of misunderstandings, Fuu, Mugen and Jin find themselves running from officials and wanted by the law. Together they form an uneasy alliance to search for the enigmatic Sunflower Samurai. Along the way they come across misleading characters, ninjas, assassins and a prince in disguise. Their journey proves to be nothing less than a roller coaster ride of battles, danger, desperation and companionship.”

Samurai Champloo Volume 2

TOKYOPOP description: “When rumors of a mysterious figure with a vendetta against samurais start to spread, Mugen and Jin volunteer to take care of the killer before the body count rises any further. But after a grueling, explosive battle, they discover that the samurai killer is on a mission of his own--to collect the swords of a thousand defeated warriors! Could this vicious swordsman be the link to the elusive Sunflower Samurai?”

See also

• Samurai Champloo media information
• Cowboy Bebop

External links

Official sites

• Samurai Champloo Official Web Site (Japanese)
• Geneon Samurai Champloo Web Site
• Madman Samurai Champloo Official Web Site
• Fuji TV Samurai Champloo Official Web Site

Unofficial sites

• Amalgam: A Samurai Champloo Fansite
• Too Many Champloo...
• TOKYOPOP Manga
• Chuang Yi Publishing: Singaporean English Manga Licensee
• Samurai Champloo at the Internet Movie Database
• Samurai Champloo at TV.com