adriel.huel - 2015-04-12 21:20:39

Mugen is basically Spike with a different haircut and skin color, Jin was a pretty cool character, Fuu was kind of annoying. Great historical show that doesn't seem to take itself too seriously. What sold me was the fluid fighting choreography and the music by everyone's favorite DJ, Nujabes.

josephine52 - 2014-10-16 01:57:39

First of all, this is one of my favorite animes of all time, even if it one of my favorites i won't make any kind of favoritism of it in my review. I'll be fair and square.

Let's start with the opening of this awesome series:

Story: It's about a waitress named Fuu that works in a tea shop, then she is attacked by a group of samurai. She is saved by Mugen a rogue and Jin a ronin. Then Mugen attacks Jin and accidentally they kill the magistrate's son. and they are to be executed because of the crime they committed, but with some help from Fuu they manage to run, and they start a journey to find ''the samurai that smells of sun flowers''. 

Deserves a 8/10.

Animation: Set in the Edo period, well, can imagine the art style, it's well made and well executed in it's own unique way to get attention over other things, it not only has the old Japanese style of art, it also has some modern parts (for the time was used to be happening everything). The equality it's top notch, well, at least it was on 2003, can't blame them. 

 Deserves a 9/10.

Sound: All the artists on the sound tracks/opening/songs are this:

-Shinichiro Watanabe                                                     - DJ tsuchie 

- The duo of hip hop Force of nature                              -Shing02

-Minmi                                                                             -Nujabes 

 -Fat jon.

The well known artist Nujabes (R.I.P) the creator of the master piece of the opening song and also was a DJ. known in all japan. This man it's a legend.

 Sound deserves a 10/10.

Characters: 

This trio are the 3 principle characters of this story, in my opinion they are all 3 unique, they are different from other anime characters in their own ways each. 

Character deserves a 9/10.

Enjoyment: To make it quick i think this anime it's AWESOME, and it deserves to be popular like any other anime out there.

Enjoyment deserves a 10/10

Overall: 9/10

reinhold88 - 2014-06-29 16:10:26

Greetings Ladies and Gentlemen my name Is majorke600 and before we get into this little written review, If you desire even more detail on my opinion of this show by the end of the review you can watch the video linked below if you so choose.
 

STORY (8) - Set In the wonderful edo period of Japan Samurai Champloo begins In a regular tea shop where eventually all our main protagonists are gathered these  protagonists are Mugen, Jin and Fuu, and I'll talk about them later but after a fight that ends up with the tea shop on fire Mugen and Jin are taken under custody to be put to death, however Fuu saves the too under the strict promise to help her look for a samurai that smells of sunflowers this now leads us into our show.My overall thoughts on the story is that it doesn't try to fool you in having an important over arking story line as that only gets its time in the spot light in the final three episodes at the end of the show, the real meat of the show is the one shot episodes that occur within the show, for those who don't know samurai champloo was directed by Shinichiro Watanabe the same director of the highly acclaimed and praised Cowboy Bebop witch has similar approach to its episode layout with episodes introducing side characters that have their own story and develop the main cast champloo does this also and I think it really benefits the series.

CHARACTERS (8) - Mugen - Is the takes no shit character of the show, he is a violent and anger filled person whos seen the worst in life and that has shaped him into the man we see, Mugen by far steals the show as being the best character of the show not only cause hes voiced by the amazing Steve Blum but the cool factor of hes character plus hes development makes him one of best parts of the show. 

Jin - Is a more traditional samurai who tries to uphold the samurai morals and traditions while trying to keeping his past where he likes it: behind him, this makes him a perfect foil for Mugen as they tend to attempt to kill each other a LOT, the problems with Jin is that he seems to bland at times in order to appreciate his good development, but the dead pan snark that Kirk Thornton gives him can slightly help that. 

Fuu - On the surface Fuu's purpose seems to be is to just eat everyone's food and get kidnapped and..............yeah that's her purpose and it would be annoying but they treat Fuu fairly by giving her back story, decent development and certain amount of likability most of that comes from Kari Wahlgren's great performance.

ANIMATION (9) - Champloo was produced by studio Manglobe witch are known for their decent production values Samurai Champloo kicks that decent out of the water cause this animation looks gorgeous and even though they do skim when they can they do this by skimming the quality on lesser movement heavy scenes such scenes where only the characters are discussing things this leaves them room for fantastic animation when it comes to the fight scenes.

SOUND (5) - The soundtrack for champloo tends to be the one element that turns off most viewers since the soundtrack consists mostly of hip hop and rap pieces witch I will agree with majority of opinion as I am not the biggest fan of those genres when it comes to music however I think it fits the tone well and if your a fan of those type of songs then you'll love this soundtrack.

OVERALL VERDICT (7)- Overall Samurai Champloo is a really well put together series and I personally gets to compared to Cowboy Bebop because to succeed Bebop is too high of a goal to measure a show by, But what we got is highly entertaining and defiantly worth a buy in my opinion.

okuphal - 2014-06-19 03:03:36

10/10 -ritoyasuo + nujabes

roosevelt65 - 2014-03-24 00:02:00

Animation:

One word. Perfect!

The style is very serieus and the battles are so fluent it's unreal. I loved everything about it. It's very rare to see such fightstyle being animated so beautiflly it's almost an artform of it's own.

Characters:

Mugen: The badass pirate who's wild, fearless, and can take down anyone that stands in his way. He's the type who just doesn't give a shit about anything. Even though he is like that, you can still see the subtle hints that he cares about fuu and jin. Which makes him even more loveble than I care to admit.

Jin: Jin is more of a silent type of pure awesomness. I just love his character, silent, mysterious, (and when he lets his hair down, and his glasses off) Just drop dead gorgeous! He is everything a samurai should be and more.

Fuu: Fuu, the female lead is more of an adorable airhead. And you can see that she puts in alot of effort just to keep up with the 2 males. Funny, adorable and cunning (the way she tricked mugen and jin to travel with her)

Sound:

Hip-hop/R&B in a samurai anime.....Perfect

I never thought that combination would work so well, until I saw this anime. Thanks to samurai champloo, I downloaded almost all of the albums of Nujabes. But not only the hip-hop/R&B music, when the anime goes to the flashback of mugen and okuru, it turns around and BAM it suprises you with beautiful traditional japanese songs that goes like a knife in your heart. The openings, endings, ost just perfect, perfect, PERFECT.

ps: Rest In Peace Seba Jun :(

Story:

The story is easy to get into. It doesn't rush and it doesn't go to slow. The extra episodes like the baseball one, was so funny I nearly wet myself. I also loved how they put dutch people in there, that speak dutch! As a dutch person myself, I felt honored that my land was even mentioned in this moving artwork. I felt like 26 episoded wasen't enough, but on the other hand, I'm glad that they didn't make anymore and milked it out.

I'm not very good at making reviews, but I hope you liked it (^-^)

schroeder.taylor - 2013-11-28 22:45:04

A story about three very diferent people that pretty much hate each other in a quest that only one of them wants to do, yeah, and it is awesome doing that.This is what happen when you combine awesome characters, awesome action scenes, awesome stories and moments that will make you laugh your ass off as well others that will make you care about these protagonist and the people they encounter in the journey. The perfect balance between old traditions and modern culture. An amazing show that you don't want to miss

tryan - 2013-09-18 05:40:54

Critic's Log: Earthdate - June, 12, 2012. Review # 8: Samurai Champloo

YO YO YO! Get your eyes ready! Keep it Steady! Because I have a review about Samurais and Hip Hop that is from the same guy that was directed Cowboy Bebop. I am white and nerdy and... You KNOW WHAT! I can't rap worth a damn, so let's pretend I never even started writing these written rap lyrics in the first place because... I think it was stupid from the beginning, so here's Samurai Champloo!

In the Edo period. A young woman named Fuu is working at a tea shop. A band of samurais harass her and she ends up being saved by a mysterious vagrant rogue named Mugen and a young ronin named Jin. Mugen and Jin end up fighting eachother because Mugen sees Jin as a worthy fighter and there was one casualty due to the havoc in the tea shop. Mugen and Jin end up being arrested and the jobless and homeless Fuu decides to save Mugen and Jin from execution and requests them to join her in finding a "samurai who smells of sunflowers". Fuu also tells them that they cannot duel eachother until after Fuu finds this Samurai.

To be technical, this anime was produced by Manglobe (a company that was formed by former Sunrise staff members) This was their first successful hit. This anime is also directed by Shinichiro Watanabe which most otakus know that he was the one behind Cowboy Bebop. this is also a tip of the hat for people that like Chanbara films (Sword-fighting samurai films), kinda how like Cowboy Bebop was a tip of the hat for people that like Science-fiction and Westerns.

The animation definitely has great visuals and Watanabe-san has a good eye on how to portray these visuals when it most matters. The animation is not perfect however. There are some times when the animation does not look too great. The episode "Elegy Of Entrapment (Verse 2)" is one example. That's the only bad note I have with the animation. Here's the good stuff. The action scenes are mostly spectacular in Samurai Champloo. If the story is out of whack, the animation's zany moments sure do cover that up well. Hell, Beatbox Bandits had a scene full of trippy effects. I don't think the animation is hit and miss however because there are some episodes that have the animation looking bloody well.

The soundtrack for Samurai Champloo is done by four people, Fat Jon, Force of Nature, Nujabes, and Tsutchie, all 4 of these guys didn't do a lot of musical scores from before or since. The opening is really cool in visuals and the theme really fits the visuals. May Nujabes Rap In Peace. The soundtrack for Samurai Champloo is pretty nice and contemplates the show for the most part, The strangest thing is that it works quite nicely, The average anime viewer that has tried it may wonder "How does Hip-hop music fit in with a story about samurais with The Edo period as its setting?" Now to think of it, Cowboy Bebop was a Sci-fi anime with western elements and Jazz music as it's main focus. Bebop's soundtrack is a gem, but Champloo's use of hip-hop may not make sense but the show is meant to be more entertaining and it is what it is. If you want to compare another samurai anime, look at Afro Samurai. It's about a Samurai, it has hip-hop music, Get the picture? There are a couple songs worth listening without the show but it is not too bad.

*wiki wika*

This show may also give you the impression that this show is more appropriate Subtitled, but Champloo is rich in Japanese Culture and is mixed in with Western Slang, hell... The New York Yankees are sort of in this show, so watching this in English wouldn't hurt either because both The Subbed Version and The Dubbed Version is excellent here. Kazuya Nakai and Steve Blum both make Mugen sound badass, Ginpei Sato and Kirk Thornton both make Jin calm and collected with some slight differences on vocal tones, Ayako Kawasumi and Kari Wahlgren are great as Fuu. It all comes down to personal preference.

If there is one major problem with Samurai Champloo... It is that Mugen, Jin, and Fuu don't really develop too much even though there was some development right in the middle of the show and in the 3 part finale. Then again, The show was probably made for fun since the setting and story was already hackneyed after a while. Watanabe-san probably wanted to use the same episodic approach from Bebop. There are some interesting ideas in Samurai Champloo but it is not as thought provoking as most of the episodes from Cowboy Bebop. This is one of the flaws I see with the show and...Frankly, my reader, most people don't give a damn... because this show has some kickass action scenes, if that is all you want in an action anime. This show will not disappoint you for the most part.

*wiki wika*

Samurai Champloo used to be available by Geneon, it has been rescued by Funimation and is currently available. There is a manga adaptation of Samurai Champloo but it's not really necessary to read if you already have seen the show, only 2 volumes of the manga were made and there really wasn't a ending to it.

With that said, Samurai Champloo is a fun series that is a bit over the top in some of it's action scenes, humor, and some of the episodes. It is a blast to see it with friends. It also has a couple nods to its elder cousin Cowboy Bebop.

I give Samurai Champloo a 7.8 out of 10, It is GOOD!

Feel free to leave a comment, and if you want to start breakdancing. GO RIGHT AHEAD! Just don't kill yourself over it.

llittle - 2013-08-02 07:09:40

Let me state clearly that, as of this moment, I will encourage you to watch this anime (if you haven't already). Or, at least, that's my intention.

If you have found yourself with this title in the past couple of years, then you have surely seen or at least heard of Cowboy Bebop. Shinichiro Watanabe is the director of both of these masterpieces. Cowboy Bebop ran from 97-98 and Champloo from 04-05. He is very well known for liking to blend things of different entertainment sources that aren't usually shown together (e.g, jazz and sci-fi; hip-hop and samurai). But, we're here to review SC, not THE GREAT SHINICHIRO WATANABE.

Moving on.

I gave you this information to tell you that that is what this is. A chanbara (lit. "sword fighting"; samurai story) with a twist of modern culture: hip-hop. And it just happens that they blend perfectly; well, if Shinichiro's works "just happened" we'd have a lot more of these than shounen out there. (Muahaha, not hating, just pointing out).

Story

So this is the (mainly) chanbara section. SC follows the story of three people that met by chance. (Haha, I've always wanted to say that). Mugen, Jin and Fuu.

In the first episode, we see Fuu working as a waitress in a restaurant. Mugen, who is a vagrant swordsman that grew up in the Ryukyu Islands (modern-day Okinawa; used to be a scary place), gets in trouble with the son of a government official in Fuu's restaurant. At the same time, Jin (a vagrant, yes, ronin) defies a group of samurai that threatened the life of an old man under the orders of a government official (yes, Mugen's adversary's father). And this is when the shit starts to hit the fan. I'd like to go on, but I'm trying to avoid telling the whooole episode here. Anyway, a lot goes on (watch it. Just do it) and Fuu gets Mugen and Jin to help her in a journey: to find a samurai that smells like sunflowers.

The story goes on about the adventures of an unbalanced and chaotic trio looking for a samurai that smells of sunflowers throughout Edo era Japan. And, as a chanbara, you will not miss many a fight between samurai, ninja, assassins, bandits, or zombies (yes zombies... maybe? It's for you to find out).

Animation and Sound

The production values for this anime are very good because, like I said, Shinichiro Watanabe was the director. Animation production was by Manglobe, with Kazuko Nakazawa (the anime sequence in Kill Bill Vol. 1, and the Moondrive part in Genius Party Beyond) as its character designer and its chief animator. From which I can say, it's very artsy and interesting. Characters and objects also tend to have a bold black outlining like in some western animations.

As for sound, Shinichiro Watanabe was known for having one of the greatest Japanese musicians of the moment recording for Cowboy Bebop's soundtrack, Yoko Kanno. For his return to directing, he was not going to call a measly musician to record a few beats and bleeps. Nope, he called Nujabes for the OST. He was the inspiration for having a chanbara story blended with hip-hop. He gathered Japanese rapper Tsutchie, Japanese ambient hip-hop group Force of Nature, and American hip-hop producer Fat Jon. Being the great team they were, they assembled the first, Samurai Champloo Record: Masta, that was released on June 23, 2004. The album features 18 instrumental tracks and one mid-tempo ballad sung by R&B songstress Kazami. Samurai Champloo Record: Departure was released on the same date, containing 17 tracks, with two being vocal pieces performed by rap artist Shing02 and R&B singer Minmi. The album was produced by Japanese DJ/producer Nujabes and American MC/producer Fat Jon.

Great records and they're recommended by me for those who like hip-hop, jazz or chilled ambient music.

Character

So its got a good story, great animation and sound/music, but what else is there that an anime needs? Many things. Many. But one of them is character, and its not lacking in that department either.

I'll be short and precise.

The three of the characters have their own presence, not only that, they can survive fine by themselves. They are presented to us as very different and unlikely to be found together, much less traveling together. Not that they'd have something against, there just isn't any reward either. We just see three people that, somehow, travel together and get along with each other without actually doing it.

Then, we have character backdrop. Oh yes, we all need to know what happened to them in their early days or to know what made them make some decisions and how they have affected their present. Not only that, but we have character growth. We see how they grow closer together and how they move based on the experience that past decisions have left.

Conclusion, it includes all the steps of the birth, life and death of a character done right.

Enjoyment

Hahaha. A samurai story with hip-hop, awesome fights, awesome cinematography, awesome characters, awesome side-stories, and awesome development and conclusion?

Needless to say, one of the most underrated anime out there and a perfectly re-watchable masterpiece.

myrl25 - 2013-07-31 17:25:47

Without a doubt one of my favorite anime of all time. I think the characters work off of each other superbly, the blend of hip-hop and edo samurai is perfect. The story is also strong without having many filler hot spring type episodes. The art was awesome as well. I was truly saddened when it ended, its not often when we are blessed with such a great work of art.

raynor.lilla - 2013-06-10 06:44:31

The anime I saw glances of on Adult Swim as a child. Of course that wasn't a good thing, but the good side of that is that I found it "boring." Fast-forward to a few years ago, I decided to pick up the sub. I ended up finishing Samurai Champloo, and I ended up feeling empty inside. Why? I felt like I lost three good friends.The story of this series is just amazing. It's not your typical samurai variety show, it just isn't. It's a mature-rating anime, with an actual noticeable, yet small amount of slice of life included. There are moral questions that show up all the time. A realistic-like adventure with three colorful friends.Samurai Champloo follows Fuu, a 15 year old girl, who lost her mother. She was working at her relatives' shop, when Mugen shows up. Mugen, being one who likes fighting opponents stronger than him, instantly wanted to kill Jin, another one of our tro, when he appeared at the shop. This all happened because of a conceited father-son duo, who were minor antagonists, who aren't seen again. SC is an action show, with the big element of traveling through feudal Japan. The goal of Fuu, one of the main protagonists, is to find the "Sunflower Samurai," who she doesn't know the location of. Mugen and Jin, being in her debt, had to promise to accompany her, and find this samurai.Now, keep in mind, as amazing as this anime is, it's very mature. How so? I was 18 when I watched this, and I found the element of brothels and prostitutes, included with the fact that Mugen is a womanizer, and Jin who would accompany him to red districts difficult for me to watch at times. However, it's not anything so explicit that it takes away from the show. So if you're young, maybe you shouldn't pick this up, but that's up to you.The art of SC is sort of inconsistent. At times it'll look really smooth, other times, old-looking. It ranges from great art, to below average. However, overall, the art is still good. The animation is well-done, fight scenes are great, and movements quick and smooth. When the animators did so, some scenes are very dramatic and suspenseful, the colors being perfect for a scene. The effects used are also done well. Regardless of a few downgrades near the first episodes, the art is still very good.Samurai Champloo's sound is one of the most noteworthy. You only have to start this anime once and you'll find many very memorable tracks, mostly referring to the bgm, courtesy of Nujabes, Tsutchie, and Force of Nature, and many more artists. A WIDE variety of composers and singers took part in the soundtrack, and that is no joke. MINMI, who did an excellent job on two endings, Kazami for a great English ending, Midicronica for another notable ending, and there are even Japanese folk songs that have an important part in the show. The music is amazing, and sets the mood for SC just so well. The songs can be moving, relaxing, or ominous. The sound for this series is leveled with its story.(Beware of spoilers!) The three main characters of SC: Fuu, Mugen, and Jin. Fuu, the petite 15 year old with a monstrous appetite, who is cheery and a hard worker when she needs to be. She can be lazy, a liar, many things. She's isn't exactly very womanly, but she's feminine, has a good sense of justice, determined, and actually very considerate. Regardless of what most characters see of her, there are many deeper sides to her, and she has had a tragic past, even if that doesn't show up all the time. An adorable, seemingly upbeat girl. A strong female lead.Mugen is the crude, fighting-obsessed, lazy, violent, women-chasing, dishonest one of the trio. He's rough, on the mean side, and seems completely selfish. Below the surface, he has some loyalty, and does care about his friends, as much as they would doubt that. Regardless of his many negative and infamous traits, he develops friendship with the other two. He grows attached to them, and cares for them, something he would never admit. There's a good amount of character growth that he went through in the series. Like Fuu, he also had a tragic past, leading to how he is who he is today. Mugen does not get along with Fuu, who he calls flat-chested, fat, and other things. Fuu finds him lazy, crude, and untrustworthy. Through time, they learn to worry about one another, and share a bond.Jin is the silent, good-looking glasses one. He's very quiet and reserved. A very skilled samurai on Mugen's level- but complete opposites. Jin has a sense of morals, and fights because he learned, and does it through prediction and sheer speed. Mugen would fight him with impulsive moves, kicks, and even some break-dancing. Jin and Mugen do NOT get along in the beginning. What's Fuu to do when her two bodyguards are total opposites? It's more than enough when they fight antagonists, only to say they're alive because they want to kill each other. Yet, these two opposites become friends. Respecting each other, believing each other, and relating to one another. Of course, they would never admit that. Jin follows the others with a tragic past, one that pretty much haunts him throughout most of their journey. Because of his quiet trait, the talkative Fuu can't really interact with him at first. Later on, they both get to know each other better, and so Fuu would become sad at a certain part, when Jin abruptly says that he may leave the trio.These three strangers, who have many conflicts in their travels, become the best of friends. A lot of things happen, a lot of things change. Things come up, things are overcome, and some are never gotten over. In the end, there is a beautiful friendship between these three.As you can probably see, I very much enjoyed this show. I didn't expect to love it like I do today, but I do. It was a very wonderful adventure with our lovable trio, and it saddens me that we couldn't continue on it.Overall, Samurai Champloo gets a high 9 for me. I hope you enjoyed this review!