Skip to main content

Samurai Champloo: Why Is It So Good?


   In the year 2005, the anime community had one of their gems; Samurai Champloo come out. Its well written and set in an extremely lively version of old school (Edo) japan. Its storyline is simple, two extremely skilled yet very different swordsmen Mugen and Jin have fate bring them across a young outspoken lady Fuu who helps them out of a tough spot and insist on them accompany her to find the very vaguely named “samurai who smells of sunflowers”. This serves as the catalyst that carries us on a well voiced, animated, and extremely stylistic adventure across japan towards the course of its 20 plus episode run. Here are some of the reasons I think Samurai Champloo is so enjoyable


  1. TONE AND SETTING:

One of the reasons it works so well is that even with its fictional story, its grounded in reality without being overly dramatic or serious. Most films, shows and games based off old eras like this usually take themselves super serious and in the process turn out being bland but, Samurai Champloo is so engaging, vibrant and fun to watch. This shouldn’t make you think this show lacks great dramatic moments because it truly doesn’t and trust me, when they come on, they are so well executed and are great to see. 


  2. TEAM DYNAMIC:

The characters are so likeable and all have their  quirks. On paper, the three travelers shouldn’t work together but their relationship is so fun to watch and I think sometimes it makes the viewers feel like we’re out there travelling with them. This adds an extra layer of enjoyment to the series because you love how dumb Mugen can be, how extremely calm Jin and how Fuu calls them incompetent even though she wouldn’t last a week without their guidance and protection. 


  3. STYLISTIC CHOICES:

This is such a massive thing this anime does and does brilliantly. Each episode has different eye catchers and they all have this swagger to it. The blend of hip hop with edo japan is so good but more on that later. The scene transitions, character movement, use of colors, and the extremely well choreographed fights are a joy to watch and help solidify this anime as a classic.


  4. MUSIC:

The music is something that elevates Samurai Champloo from great to greater heights and when you find out that director of the series Shinichiro Watanabe (who also directed cowboy bebop) wanted to incorporate hip hop to his new series as he felt samurai and rappers were similar in the sense that samurai “..decided their fate with one sword” and rappers “opened the way to their future with one microphone”. His ideology clearly held weight because we see the series being a great blend of hip hop and edo japan. His idea was brought to fruition due to contributions from the late great producer and lo-fi beats pioneer Nujabes, fat jon, FORCE OF NATURE and many more all made great contributions to the general sound of the series with Nujabes producing the super chill opening theme “battle cry” with rap performance from japanese rapper Shing02.


  5. GREAT THEMES:

Even with such a simple premise, Samurai Champloo manages to dwell on so many great themes such as not focusing on past mistakes, destiny, love, friendship, family and even religion. It isn’t afraid to make bold statements from fear of ruining its overall calm and relaxing aesthetic. 

The name “Champloo” can be translated to mixed up and it perfectly summarizes the entire adventure as its a great mix of different things that keep moving as the story progresses. Overall, Samurai Champloo is the perfect blend of everything a good story needs and it isn’t in any way a stretch to call the one season series a perfect anime.

Written By

Comments

  1. Anonymous31 August 2022 at 01:49

    This was a nice read honestly, you took the words right out of my mouth. This show is so authentic and downright amazing.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

The Popular Posts

Mowgli:Legend Of The Jungle

Written By
  Mowgli legend of the jungle is an adaptation of the book "The Jungle Book" by Rudyard Kipling which inspired the creation of the Disney classic of the same name.  That said Disney classic got the live action treatment sometimes last year and it got praised for it faithfully stating true to the Disney classic and for its incredibly photorealistic CGI.  Mowgli tells the story of the jungle book again but this time, it isn't based on the Disney film but rather the original source material by Rudyard Kipling.  Disney's the jungle book wasn't a straight up faithful adaptation but it managed to stick to major plot points of the book and this film tries to flesh out those plot points by giving all the characters a realistic backstory that doesn't make characters beside the Man Cub feel like they're only there for plot convenience.  I haven't read book by Rudyard Kipling but I know this film is a more faithful adaptation than the Disney film.   Dire...
Post a Comment
Read more

First Listen: Lil Yachty - Let's Start Here.

Written By
 woah. brother broccoli starts 2023 with something totally unexpected: a psychedelic rock album. lil yachty said in an interview (with someone i don't remember) that he just wants to be taken seriously, as a musician. it's a little sad when someone puts their all into a craft, sometimes even create a groundbreaking sound, but still get termed the bare minimum or worse, "mumble rapper." while this album is beautiful, it's not as stellar as other projects in the same genre. but music is more than that. it's also the process, emotions, message, etc. brother broccoli took a risk to make what he wants/feels and he succeeded. that's what makes this album a beauty asides the wonky ai art and trying-hard-to-stay-in-the-flow lyricism . the features ate. the producers brought their a-game. the engineers blessed the record. since poland, it's clear that yachty decided to broaden his scope and make not just music he loves, but quality. i definitely respect his art...
Post a Comment
Read more

STRANGER THINGS 2

Written By
   A lot of movies and shows are set in the past these days but in my own opinion, none of them really do it like STRANGER THINGS. If you remove the acting,the amazing plot,and chemistry, what you're left with is these show that has a very '80s feel because of the overall sound from the show and visuals.      Season 2 is a blast and it simply perfected the formula season 1 set which is, simple plot,great characters,good chemistry and amazing(classic)music. My face everytime Dustin jokes       The Season starts a year after and all our characters are basically trying to settle on after the ending of the first season. Mike's still trying to communicate with Eleven, Will is bullied in school, he's called "zombie boy", Lucas is well still Lucas and Dustin has teeth now,"Prrrr"(you'll get the joke soon enough)       I'll try not to be very spoiler-y so let's start up!!!. •MAX AND BILLY     The dick The new...
Post a Comment
Read more

KOE NO KATACHI: A REVIEW?

Written By
  Koe no Katachi (A Silent Voice) is a 2016 Japanese [obviously] animated film written by Reiko Yoshida and directed by Naoko Yamada. The film is based on the manga of the same name, written by the great Yoshitoki Ōima. I just want to talk  type about this beautiful anime; don't think of this as some sort of review. P.S.: Little spoilers here and there. It starts off with Ishida - who'd later be the main male character - trying to commit suicide. And may I say... the musical build-up to the point where he is to jump off the bridge... SUBARASHI! It's utterly gorgeous [for the lack of a befitting word]. It's not over done with sad sounds or large synths. It's almost inaudible, gentle; it's the kind of music that would play in the head of a sad or depressed person. And it is explained in detail - his dilemma.  The movie's title makes sense because of Nishimiya. She's deaf. In middle school, she's a victim of bullying from her classmates in form of ignor...
2 comments
Read more