Samurai Champloo

Samurai Champloo
File:Samurai Champloo Title.png Still from the opening sequence of Samurai Champloo
Genre	Action, Adventure, Comedy
Anime
Directed by	Shinichiro Watanabe
Studio	manglobe INC.
Manga
Written by	Shinichiro Watanabe (story) Masaru Gotsubo (art)
Published by	Kadokawa Shoten

Samurai Champloo (サムライチャンプルー, Samurai Chanpurū) is a shōnen anime series consisting of twenty-six episodes. It was broadcast in Japan from September 9, 2004 through May 13, 2005 on the television network, Fuji TV. Samurai Champloo was created and directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, whose previous television show, Cowboy Bebop, earned him renown in the anime and Japanese television communities. The show was produced by the Japanese animation studio, Manglobe, Inc.

Like many other anime television series, Samurai Champloo is finite, and the final episode depicts the end of the story without allusion to a successive season.

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."

The series is a cross-genre work of media, blending the action and samurai genres with elements of non-slapstick comedy. It is also a period piece, taking place during Japan's Edo period. But, significantly, the series is interwoven with revisionist historical facts and anachronistic elements of mise-en-scene, dialogue and soundtrack. The shows most frequent anachronism is its use of hip hop culture, particularly rap-influenced music, break dancing, turntablism, hip hop slang and graffiti. The show also contains anachronistic elements from the punk subculture and modernism, but less prominently.

Main Characters

File:Champloo3.jpg

Promotional image of (from left to right) Jin, Mugen and Fuu

Main article: List of Samurai Champloo characters

Samurai Champloo tells the story of three strangers in the Tokugawa era who come together on a journey across Japan:

• Mugen: A brash vagabond from the Ryukyu Islands, Mugen is a wandering sword for hire with a wildly unconventional fighting style that resembles breakdancing and capoeira. He carries a katana on his back, that, historically, was illegal under the Tokugawa government. In Japanese, the word "mugen" means "infinite" or "endless."
• Jin: Jin is a mild-mannered ronin who carries himself in the conventionally stoic manner of a samurai of the Tokugawa era. Using his waist-strung daishō, he fights in the traditional kenjutsu style of a samurai trained in a prominent, sanctioned dojo. Jin wears glasses, an available but uncommon accessory in Edo era Japan. Spectacles -- called "Dutch glass merchandise" ("Oranda gyoku shinajina" in Japanese) at the time -- were imported from Holland early in the Tokugawa period and became more widely available as the 17th century progressed.
• Fuu: A young, feisty girl of approximately fifteen years of age, Fuu recruits Mugen and Jin to help her find a sparsely-described man she calls "the samurai who smells of sunflowers." A flying squirrel named "Momo" (meaning "peach" in Japanese and also short for "momonga," meaning "flying squirel") accompanies her along the way, inhabiting her kimono and frequently leaping out to her rescue when she encounters trouble.

Apart from this trio, the show's characters tend to appear only once or twice throughout the entirety of the series.

Plot

See also: List of Samurai Champloo episodes 1-12 and List of Samurai Champloo episodes 13-26

Samurai Champloo is largely about the journey of a girl named Fuu -- accompanied by two bodyguards/travelling companions, Mugen and Jin -- across Japan in search of a particular samurai who smells of sunflowers. Fuu meets Mugen in the tea house where she is employed as a waitress. Seeing that Fuu is confronted with a band of ruffian customers, he offers to take care of the unsavory bunch in exchange for food. But, upon agreement, Mugen instigates a wider brawl via his insolence toward his opponents. Just as the fight is escalating, Jin walks into the teahouse unaware of the unfolding situation. Mugen mistakes him for an enemy and sparks a duel between the two. However their battle doesn't last long. One of the ruffians, who was maimed by Mugen, re-enters the establishment and, in a delerious state, sets the wooden restaurant ablaze. Mugen and Jin attempt to continue their battle amid the conflagration but end up passing out from smoke inhalation.

A splash of water revives the duo, at which time they discover that they've been arrested and are to be executed for the arsonous murder of a magistrate's son who was in the teahouse. They manage to escape execution, though, via their quick-wittedness, physical skill and help from Fuu, who detonates two grenades at the execution site, diverting the captors' attention.

After the resultant mêlée and escape from the scene, Fuu recruits Jin and Mugen to her quest for the sunflower samurai. Since they are indebted to her for the assistance in escaping execution, they agree to join her and abide by her one condition: they may not settle their duel until after the journey is over.

Their quest takes the three on a generally southward trajectory through the largest Japanese island, Honshū. Travelling along what appears to be the Pacific coast of the isle, they arrive by ferry in the Tokugawa capital, Edo. Exploring the city at the beckoning of a mysterious red-headed stranger named Jouji, they venture through the city's bustling streets, dropping in on the Yoshiwara district and viewing a onnagata-starring kabuki performance.

Throughout the journey the trio are often broke and starving. They are also forced to face many elements of their pasts. In the two-part "Misguided Miscreants" (a.k.a. "Dark Night's Road"), Mugen encounters his old pirate gang and becomes involved in a looting scheme with his old partner Mukuro. The situation quickly turns into a backstabbing contest resulting in much bloodshed. It is revealed that Jin killed his master, Mariya Enshirou, and in a number of episodes ("The Art of Altercation"; "Lullabies of the Lost") he is pursued by students of his former dojo who wish to exact revenge. Jin is reluctant to kill these pursuers.

In the final three-episode arc, "Evanescent Encounter" (a.k.a. "Circle of Transmigration"), all three must confront their unresolved pasts. Fuu finally meets and confronts the Sunflower Samurai. Jin is challenged by a master swordsman, named Kariya Kagetoki, who is revealed as the primary antagonist of the series, although he has remained behind the scenes until this story arc. It is revealed that Kariya attempted to gain control of Jin's dojo and train its adepts for the purposes of assassination. Mariya Enshirou was ordered to kill Jin because of his opposition to the plan, and in the ensuing fight Jin killed his master in self-defense and was forced to flee the dojo. It also turns out that Kariya had the group tracked so that he could find and kill the Sunflower Samurai, Kasumi Seizou, as punishment for his role in the Shimabara Rebellion. In the course of the story, Mugen is also forced to confront three brothers seeking revenge because Mugen crippled one of them during his days of piracy.

Setting and Style

Samurai Champloo employs a unique blend of historical Edo period backdrops with modern styles and references. The show relies on factual events of Edo-era Japan, such as the Shimabara Rebellion ("Unholy Union;" "Evanescent Encounter, Part I"), Dutch exclusivity in an era where edict restricted Japanese foreign relations ("Stranger Searching"), Ukiyo-e paintings ("Artistic Anarchy"), and fictionalized versions of real-life Edo personalities Mariya Enshirou and Miyamoto Musashi ("Elegy of Entrapment, Verse 2").

Incorporated within this are signature elements of modernity, especially hip hop culture, such as rapping ("Lullabies of the Lost, Verse 1"), graffiti ("War of the Words"), and much of Mugen's character design, including a fighting style influenced by breakdancing. Champloo's musical score predominantly features hip hop beats. Certain anachronistic references are not based upon hip-hop, however, such as baseball ("Baseball Blues"), the United States and references to the atomic bombing of Nagasaki (“Cosmic Collisions").

See also: List of Samurai Champloo episodes 1-12 and List of Samurai Champloo episodes 13-26

Soundtrack

There are four full-length Samurai Champloo soundtracks, as well as two singles. The names of the full-length albums are "Masta", "Playlist", "Departure", and "Impression". Featured heavily in the soundtracks are Nujabes, Force of Nature, Tsutchie, and Fat Jon, among others. Also performing over Nujabes' beats are Japanese hip hop artists Shing02, who performs the vocals on the opening theme "BattleCry," and Minmi, who performs the ending theme "Shiki no Uta" (“Song of Four Seasons”). In May 2007, Fat Jon's Ample Soul label released a limited edition 3LP vinyl edition of the soundtrack: "Samurai Champloo: The Way of the Samurai."

Some of the songs from the show are not available on the official soundtracks. Some examples of these are the songs "Obokuri-Eemui" ("Obtain Bearing") by Ikue Asazaki from her album "Utabautayun" (played during Mugen's underwater scene in episode 14) and "San Francisco" by Midicronica from their album "#501" (the ending song in episode 26). The most famous of these is the song played during the brothel escape scene in episode 11, which uses a sample from the Jose Feliciano song "Affirmation."

Broadcast

Japan

Samurai Champloo premiered in Japan on May 20, 2004 on Fuji Television, and commenced broadcasting on March 19, 2005, spanning a total of 26 episodes. It was also aired in Japan on the communications satellite television network Animax, where it has been regularly broadcast.

North America

Geneon Entertainment licensed the show for distribution in North America almost a year prior to the show's airing in Japan. On January 20, 2004, it was made public that the broadcasting rights were acquired by Cartoon Network, and the series began airing on the Adult Swim block on May 14, 2005, in the 11:30 p.m. time slot on Saturday nights. On Saturday, November 22, 2005, the second batch of episodes (episodes 14-26) began airing at 11:30 p.m. EST/PST, but moved to Wednesday nights at 12:30 a.m. in January 2006. Late-night airtimes are generally used in the US to restrict children's access to complex or controversial subject matter. The final episode aired on March 18, 2006. Samurai Champloo also made its debut in Canada on December 24th, 2006 on the Canadian digital station, Razer.

When the show is aired on Adult Swim, some foul language is censored. However, the censoring is achieved mostly by the use of sound effects (such as record scratching, a common sound in hip-hop music) that help the censoring blend into the show.

Latin America

In September 2006 the series was aired for the first time in Latin American countries.

Australia

SBS began airing the series on March 23rd, 2006 but only screened 13 episodes

Adaptations

Manga

Samurai Champloo has been adapted into an original manga. It debuted in Shonen Ace on August 2004. TOKYOPOP licensed the manga in North America. Madman Entertainment licensed, released the manga in Australia and New Zealand and Panini licensed it on Brazil.

TOKYOPOP descriptions:

• Volume 1: “In a world full of evil, a hardworking waitress, an arrogant mercenary and a mysterious samurai meet. Through a series of misunderstandings, Fuu, Mugen and Jin find themselves running from officials and wanted by the law. Together they form an uneasy alliance to search for the enigmatic Sunflower Samurai. Along the way they come across misleading characters, ninjas, assassins and a prince in disguise. Their journey proves to be nothing less than a roller coaster ride of battles, danger, desperation and companionship.”

• Volume 2: “When rumors of a mysterious figure with a vendetta against samurais start to spread, Mugen and Jin volunteer to take care of the killer before the body count rises any further. But after a grueling, explosive battle, they discover that the samurai killer is on a mission of his own--to collect the swords of a thousand defeated warriors! Could this vicious swordsman be the link to the elusive Sunflower Samurai?"

Video game

Bandai developed a Samurai Champloo video game for the PlayStation 2 entitled Samurai Champloo: Sidetracked; however, the manufacturer has stated that the game has no relation to the show. It was released on April 11th, 2006 in the United States and received mixed reviews.

See also

• Chambara
• The Edo Period of Japan in which the historically accurate parts of the series takes place.

External links

Official sites

• Samurai Champloo Official Web Site Template:Ja icon
• Geneon Samurai Champloo Web Site
• Madman Samurai Champloo Official Web Site
• Fuji TV Samurai Champloo Official Web Site

Unofficial sites

• TOKYOPOP Manga
• Chuang Yi Publishing: Singaporean English Manga Licensee
• Samurai Champloo at IMDb
• Samurai Champloo at TV.com
• Samurai Champloo Anime Gallery
• Samurai Champloo Fansite