I first tried watching Samurai Champloo in college and I remember not liking it very much then. At that time I thought it had too much blood and violence, which just goes to show how squeamish I used to be. Randomly, what got me over my squeamishness was this strangely grotesque dream involving several Harry Potter characters. Not going to go into too much details there…

Anyways, my Champloo watching attempt #1 involved me skipping from episode 1 or 2 straight to the last episode because again, I thought this series was just going to end up being very repetitive (and again, too violent for my general tastes back then). I started on my Champloo attempt #2 recently and of course, completely reversed my opinion. I’m in the middle of indulging in massive adoration of this series right now. Just goes to show that there usually are very good reasons why popular shows are popular.

Samurai Champloo is really reminding me a lot of Cowboy Bebop right now in terms of edginess. The animation is really fluid (great action scenes) and a lot of fun to watch. The plot in each episode moves along at a nice flowing pace, putting the characters in contact with many different people and different scenarios. Also, Mugen and Jin as male leads aren’t archetypes of perfection or goodness… they have very human flaws, very different personalities and motivations – although they also have uber awesome fighting skills, of course, and have up to now generally ended up helping some good people and kicking some bad people ass. Which really reminds me a lot of Spike. But other little touches in Champloo – like the stills with different variations of the show’s title and random images in the middle of each episodes – again puts me in mind of Bebop, and I love it 8)

The story so far is both sharp and also very witty. I really enjoyed how episode 5 worked in Van Gogh and a sketchy ukiyo-e artist in the most non-pretentious way imaginable. Which when I stop to think about it, is really quite an amazing feat. Episode 6 was another really memorable episode for me because of how many chuckles it got out from me. (“Eat!! Don’t you dare stop eating!!!”) The animation/character expressions were seriously amazing. The story again though – having Fuu, Mugen and Jin meet up with a huge European gay man who came to Japan thinking it’d be heaven on earth because he read a Japanese book on male love? FTW. Themes like this make this series keep its edge. In fact, most of the characters introduced so far are involved in their own struggles of trying to fit into society, trying to establish themselves in the world. For this reason I believe this series will keep its relevance and speak to viewers for a long time to come.

I haven’t even gotten to the music yet. I’ve had many friends rave to me about Champloo’s music, including one co-worker who’s not really an anime person at all – but has for some reason picked up Champloo at some point and really loved it. The beat heavy hip-hop/lounge sounds fits the series so well. I’m also head over heels in love with the first ED – Minmi’s Shiki no Uta. I adore the lyrics as well :D

I’ll be traveling on my Thanksgiving break soon. I was hoping to get some walling in before I go, but now I’ll likely be marathoning through Champloo until I leave. I only wished I didn’t spoil the ending for myself during my Champoo watching attempt #1.

Just going  to close out with this interesting wiki tidbit: The word, champloo, comes from the Okinawan word “chanpurū” (as in gōyā chanpurū, the Okinawan stir-fry dish containing bitter melon). Chanpurū, alone, simply means “to mix” or “to hash.” Therefore, the title, Samurai Champloo, may be translated to “Samurai Remix” or “Samurai Mashup.”

Also at the top of the wiki entry it pointed out that the director for Samurai Champloo, Shinichirō Watanabe, also directed Cowboy Bebop. Doh, no wonder! :D

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