Anger Is Its Own Justification

Review:Samurai Champloo
Updated: 11/07/04

Anime/Manga/Music/Fandom

Reviewed by: Bad Jew

Title rating: PG-13; they're samurai, think about it .

-26-episode anime episodes (2004), 17 finished as of the end of 2004
-Several volumes of manga, still running?

There aren't many people who don't like Cowboy Bebop. Maybe people who are both blind and deaf, angered at being taken away from their braille books and pushed down into a chair to watch something they can't see or hear. Or maybe solders who died in the short-lived Shays Revolt of 1817, whose ghosts wander the Northeast of America in the hopes that someone will remember what the hell Shays Revolt was. But, excepting the sight-, hearing-, and life-challenged people mentioned above, everyone likes Cowboy Bebop. (And if you don't, well, don't e-mail me to tell me that, because I just don't care.)

I expect a very easy transition of Bebop fans to Samurai Champloo. All that Samurai Champloo is is Bebop, only in the Tokugawa period of Japanese history (around 1600-1800's). There are still the same people behind it, the same style of animation, the same kind of humor, the alternation of serious and funny episodes, and the lack of eating. The only thing Champloo's missing is the crazy hacker, Ed, but given the serious lack of networked computers in 18th century Japan, I don't think that would've been easy to work in.

Anime

Right now the anime is up to episode 17; it was stopped midway through its run because its ratings were too low for the station it was on. It looks like it's moving to a cable channel and will resume in January of 2005.

The plot is about as complicated as Bebop's. There are these two guys, you see, who just happen to be badass samurai. One is named Jin. He has glasses, is quiet, and would perspire Zen if it were a bodily fluid and not a philosophy. The other is named Mugan, and he's a sort of break-dancing samurai. Okay, I know that sounds stupid, but hear me out on this--his fighting moves are mostly taken from the hip-hop dance scene, with the swift kicks and random movements. I'm just waiting for him to do the Robot. He's also more likely to block a sword swing with his crazy Japanese shoes than with his sword.

They meet at a restaurant one day, and Mugan challenges Jin to a fight for no reason other than Mugan likes to fight people. They're both surprised to find that for the first time in a very long while they've met an opponent whom they can't kill. Their fight goes on long enough for the restaurant to get burned down, and within the next 30 seconds or so they're captured for killing a local magistrate's son.

What then binds them together is Fuu, a girl who rescues them on the condition that they find "the samurai who smells like sunflowers." Fuu is the most completely useless female lead in the history of anime. Even Miaka from Fushigi Yuugi, who was captured, brainwashed, or sexually assaulted more times than I can count has more use than Fuu. Miaka at least kept the plot running, and at some points helped out, even if just by carrying some stuff for the useful characters. Fuu does none of this; Mugan and Jin are kept together more by their desire to fight than by a sense of duty toward Fuu. I think she just exists as an easy object to write stories around, such as "Oh no, Fuu's been captured by a whore house," and "Oh no, Fuu is tired, we'd better find an inn. Oh what, in the time that I was talking she was captured again?" She also has a cute animal sidekick. She disgusts me.

I'll admit that most recent shows of note have been visually striking, but Champloo really stands out. The big thing is the fighting, which occurs early and often. Fights are choreographed as well as any space battle in a sci-fi anime, with slashes and cutting happening in the blink of an eye. Now, I don't want to write the next sentence, because it will make me sound like a pretentious film major with a goatee and a beret, but I will anyway because I love all of you so very, very much. You do get insight into the characters through their fighting styles. Mugan fights without any semblance of order or plan; he moves fluidly through the air, almost dancing. Yes, the term "break-dance fighting" was used in Zoolander in addition to being used here, so I'll let you draw your own conclusions about that. Jin, however, fights in the traditional anime samurai sense: one slash magically kills a dozen people. His movements are calm and measured, much like the rest of him.

Fuu sometimes falls over. I think she has an inner ear infection.

So far the episode structure is like Bebop's, with a funny episode or two followed by a sadder episode. Unlike Bebop, there seems to be no build-up to a larger plot and there's little delving into the characters' backstories. You can see this as a good thing or a bad thing: bad, because it means that the characters lack the same depth as the ones in Bebop, or good if you just like fighting. Personally, I would love if this show was just 26 episodes of Jin and Mugan fighting. No plot, dialogue, or writers--just fighting. I'll give a more thorough review of the plot when the show finishes, but for now, don't go in expecting screenwriting brilliance.

Don't worry--it's not opium, just an ancient Japanese bubble pipe.

Manga

I'm going to use an extended metaphor here, so while you might not read the words Samurai Champloo in the next paragraph, understand that I haven't deserted and started writing about something else. Rest assured that if that were ever to happen, Lianne the editor would summon the authorities at once. (Ed note: I've got the phone off the hook and in my hand.)

Remember the movie Moulin Rouge? It was all the rage a few years ago. Its intertwining of song, dance, and visual effects wowed audiences and won a heaping pile of awards. Now imagine that someone said, "This was a great movie, so let's make a comic about it!" And so, with the best intentions and fine writers and illustrators, they put together a multi-volume work that encompassed the entirety of the movie with even a bit more thrown in for the fans. It's not that the comic would be bad, but trying to capture the music, movement, and visual effects of that kind of movie on paper is a losing battle. These things just can't be duplicated with a pen and screentone

It's the same thing with the Samurai Champloo manga--it's not that it's bad by any means, it's just that the anime is about the fluid movements of the characters set to the music, and the manga has pictures of people fighting. It's not a fair contest. Obviously, the manga is going to be brought over as companies anticipate the success of the anime, so if you want it, buy it. But read the PlanetES manga first.

Music

I have a hard time selling people on this show just by talking about it. I think the root of the issue is that I introduce it as "Cowboy Bebop in the past with hip-hop music." It's not the in the past thing that makes people burst out laughing, I think it's the idea of Japanese hip-hop. The opening credits do nothing to balm these fears as it's frightening foreign rap.

But if you get through the opening theme, you're treated to decent music. No, it's not done by Yoko Kanno, the goddess who graced us with the music from Cowboy Bebop, Escaflowne, and Macross, but it's decent. It's mostly hip-hop/electronica done by an artist named Tsutchie. I think the stuff grows on you; I've never been a huge fan of the genre, but I do smile whenever a Samurai Champloo song comes up on my playlist.

Fandom

For a new show, Samurai Champloo has a fairly large fandom. One of the best sites out there is Champloo-Online. This page has updates whenever a new episode is released, news about the Japanese production, and any other tidbits that come up. While the place is great for its links to various downloads, it does lack background information on the show. Luckily, Champloo Central makes up for that. With its full compilation of episode guides, character biographies, and production information, any possible fact you could want about Champloo is available.

If you're looking for fanart, I found Seventh Pepper to be good. I'm sure there are more fanart sites out there, but I decided to leave that interweb adventure to all of you.

There are two ways to look at this show, and one is as the offspring of Cowboy Bebop. In this case, Samurai Champloo is a decent piece, but forever doomed to lie in Bebop's shadow--much like Bach's kid, who was a descent composer but could never compare to Pa. If we forget about Bebop, then Champloo is a great anime with fight scenes the like of which I've never seen. I recommend the latter point of view, but also understand that Bebop's shadow is long and hard to escape from. It's like trying to read another review after you've already read this.

4 out of 5 stars.

Our heroes both pretend not to notice each other, in the hopes of catching the other unsuspecting bastard off guard.