Samurai Champloo

first of all, you have to understand that samurai champloo was done by Shinchiro Watanabe, creator of Cowboy Bebop.

now that it's outta of the way, u can obviously tell this show will have hip-hop fusion along with great animation. Watanabe has done it again. This time, he heads toward the samurai-era with 3 wonderful characters. Jin(the passive, quiet, stern and traditional samurai master), Mugen (the hyperactive(jumps a lot), violent, and agile criminal/samurai), and Fuu(the calculating, crafty, and often persistent girl). Fuu saves Jin and Mugen's life and as a debt, they have to help her find a "samurai who smells like sunflower". it may sound average but believe me, this show is extraordinary. the fights are animated so fluidly(Kill-Bill-animation), the story is funny a s hell, and the music is "interesting"(rap opening). There's even beat-boxing in one ep. WATCH THIS SHOW!!! YOU WILL NEVER REGRET IT

Samurai Champloo is the long-awaited next project from Cowboy Bebop director Shinichiro Watanabe. His two short films in the Animatrix compilation (Kid's Story and Detective Story) give American audiences a sneak peek at the phenomenal art style of this series, but they barely hint at the jaw-dropping action and unorthodox blend of history and music contained therein.

The similarities with Bebop end at the fact that the series has three protagonists: the vagrant swordsman Mugen, the rogue samurai Jin, and the tea-shop waitress Fuu. This unlikely and volatile trio begin a road journey through post-shogunate Japan (ca. 1780), brought together by circumstances best seen to be believed.

"Champloo" means mixed-up or stir-fry, and that's what this series is: a stylish blend of old school values and situations, meshed with more modern sensibilities, fighting styles, and visual design. Over the lush, dynamic art, a soundtrack of some of the best hip-hop from modern Japan plays. Though it's a noticeable device in the first few episodes, it doesn't take long before the music feels like second nature despite the anachronism.

Champloo is many things: a mature drama, an action series, an uproariously funny comedy and a visual feast. Watanabe-san demonstrates here that the success of Cowboy Bebop was uniquely his, and no fluke - fans of that series will not be disappointed, despite how radically different the two story lines are from one another.

As the title card of the first episode of Samurai Champloo says, "Just shut up and watch."

The story is about Jin a traditional very skilled samurai, Mugen a innovative equally skilled samurai, and Fuu a girl who worked at a tea house. When Jin and Mugen get caught and are about to be executed, Fuu saves their lives and in return she makes them promise to help her find the Samurai Who Smells Like Sunflowers. It may sound stupid but trust me its not.

The animation. The animation on this show is Bebop quality. The animation is just incredible. The fight scenes are kick ass, beautiful and often times bloody. The backgrounds are very lush and detailed. You will be amazed and how good everything looks.

Now on to the best part, the music. When I first heard about Samurai Champloo the first thing that came to mind was "Well its made by the same dude that did Cowboy Bebop so its got to be good." ,the next thing was "Well what does a Japanese man know about hip hop?". Even though I'm still wondering about the second question, it doesn't matter because all the music works great. Just like with Bebop the series wouldn't be half as good if it didn't have the great music that it does. The opening theme song to Samurai Champloo is a "rap" song. I put rap in quotation because none of the lyrics rhyme so its not a true rap song, but its still great.

Bottom line. If you are a fan of Cowboy Bebop you have to see this. In fact if your a anime fan at all you need to see this. This will go down in history as one of the greats along with Cowboy Bebop.

Let me begin by saying I am a huge Cowboy Bebop fan. Spike Spiegel is my hero, okay? So as much as I was dying to see this new work from the mind of Shinichiro Watanabe, I was apprehensive from the standpoint that I didn't want to see any subsequent work destroy any luster or afterglow that Bebop left behind in its wake. I was downright scared, I mean, how can you mix samurai action with hip-hop? I know Bebop's atmosphere of 1940's noir and 2071 spaceships didn't seem possible at first, but I was proved wrong by that. Maybe Watanabe-san had stepped too far outside the box this time.

I'll just come right out and say it: Shinichiro Watanabe can make anything he dreams up work. ANYTHING.

Samurai Champloo is one of the absolute coolest series I have ever seen. And by ever I mean live-action, animated, whatever. "Ever" ever. If you like anime, this is required watching, a new classic for the medium. If you don't like anime, watch this and you just might start to.

The story centers around two rogue samurai and the girl they're somewhat assigned to protect. Fuu, the young damsel who always seems to get in and out of distress; Jin, the serious samurai, and Mugen, the samurai who's seriously un-serious. The three travel around Edo-period Japan in search of the mysterious "Sunflower Samurai". And if I told you any more than that, I'd ruin so much of it for you. Just know this - the first episode will hook you like Tyrone Biggums to crack.

If you're a fan of anime or Cowboy Bebop or just really bad-ass shows/movies in general, you owe it to yourself to check this one out. You can pick up the DVDs or just check it out Saturday nights on Adult Swim.

Oh, and if you watch Adult Swim regularly and haven't caught Samurai Champloo yet, shame on you. You should know better.

Mugen is a fairly dim, self-taught swordsman who doesn't know how to hold back, Jin is the perfect samurai: cold, calculating, every move flawless. They could be no more different, and in fact one would gladly kill the other with the chance, but they are both reluctantly recruited by the ditsy teahouse waitress Fuu after she saves them from execution.

Samurai champloo is the story of Mugen, Jin and Fuu, as they journey across Japan trying to find "The samurai who smells of sunflowers." All the way they meet all sorts of people, get into trouble, and try to make money. As the show progresses, the mysteries of the characters pasts are slowly revealed.

Samurai champloo is an excellent series from the people who made Cowboy Bebop, the animated sequence in Kill Bill, and a few sequences in the Animatrix. The music is good, offering a wide variety of genres, the animation is excellent, and the dialog is kept to a bare minimum. Oh, and the comedy is great, too.

If you liked Cowboy Bebop, you will probably like Samurai Champloo. One's set in the future and has a lot of jazz music, the other's set long ago in Japan and has a lot of rap in the scene transitions. But the character types in both are pretty much the same, and in both the characters must come to terms with themselves. I recommend it to fans of this genre of anime.