SAMURAI CHAMPLOO
Ninja Scroll, now with more bebop
Review by: M.H. "I want a 'fro" Torringjan
Length: 26 episodes
Genre: Action, comedy
Watched: Entire series, subbed
I found it somewhat odd, considering how much attention I pay to anime news and new releases, that it took me so long to find out about the newest project by Watanabe Shinichiro. Craig and I worship the ground that Cowboy Bebop walks on, so one would think that we'd be right on top of this one. Although it took us a while to find out about it, and even longer to get ahold of it, I've taken the chance to educate myself. I now feel thoroughly enriched, having done so.
Plot summary: In Edo Japan, the era of samurai, battles rage between local warlords and wandering samurai (a dime a dozen in ancient Japan, apparently). Mugen and Jin, two of those wandering samurai, are brought together when they lose a bet to a young girl, Fuu, who helped to save their life, and now must travel across the countryside with her in search of a man who she can only describe as "a samurai who smells like sunflowers." This all, of course, assumes that they don't kill each other first.
Artwork: The art style in this is well-done, with scenic backgrounds, very colorful images, and extremely original character designs. Although it may take a while to get used to some of the character designs, they fit the characters well and are very distinct when they need to be. The action sequences are also extremely well-done, with great pacing and badass moves (to use the technical term).
Music: After the jazzy feel that Yoko Kanno gave Cowboy Bebop, one would expect a similarly mood-jarring soundtrack for this series. One would be right. The composer for this series chose to go with a hip-hop theme for the series, which fits very well with the attitude that the series has (what would you expect in a series with an episode just about a graffiti contest?). The soundtrack also has a nice mix of mood tracks that go very well in their scenes. The opening theme is a track that takes some getting used to, but once you've found the beat, it's actually pretty catchy. The end track is a smoother track than the opening, and sounds very nice. Overall, the soundtrack isn't nearly as extensive as Cowboy Bebop's was (it probably could only fill two, maybe three CD's), and most of it is too repetitive to stand on its own. Each track sounds good for the first minute, but then they keep doing the same thing, and it starts to get old.
Characters: Shinichiro likes gathering a bunch of miscreants together and watching the sparks fly, judging by his two major works, Champloo being one of them. Mugen is a wandering samurai with a quick temper, few moral inhibitions, and a very sharp sword. Pushing him in the wrong way usually isn't that difficult, and requires very little effort. His main concern is being allowed to act how he wants without interference, and anybody who can't give him that will probably feel pain. Jin is a quiet, enigmatic samurai who usually thinks faster than he draws his sword, but when he does draw it, his target generally ends in more pieces than it started. He has a more developed sense of honor than Mugen, since he came out of a school instead of teaching himself. Fuu is a young girl whose main concern is finding the samurai who smells like sunflowers, and she needs the other two to achieve that goal. She works the hardest to achieve the goals that the group needs, like earning money or getting food, and she also is the most in touch with her emotional side of the three (which still isn't saying much). Her sense of justice is more based on the emotional aspects of the situation than the pragmatic view, like Jin.
Plot: This series has already drawn many comparisons to Cowboy Bebop, and these comparisons aren't completely unfounded. The disjointed style of story-telling that Watanabe seems to have trademarked (four filler episodes for every two plot development episodes) is still present in this series, however there is a difference in that there is more time spent developing the characters' pasts, giving them a more thorough backstory, and also involving all of them in the main plot (as opposed to one Spike-character getting all the attention). This made the characters and the story much more interesting and was much better than in Bebop. The fillers were just as good in this series, as well, with a nice blend of humor and drama that keeps you interested, even if the plot isn't being developed.
CHICKS!! There's only one chick that's around on a regular basis, and unlike the goddess of Bebop, she leaves much to be desired. Fuu is a trusting young girl who seems to be rather high-maintenance, as well as being unable to let on her true feelings. She does, however, have a decent cuteness rating, with a curvy figure (that she could stand to show off more often if it was in any other setting than Edo Japan). She's highly likely to blackmail or nag you much of the time that you're with her, but if you can get her to care for you, you might be able to get her to stop that. Otherwise, she falls well short of Faye.
Overall: This series must have been made in response to the fans of Cowboy Bebop who begged for more Bebop (me included). The styles are extremely similar, and if you just change the setting slightly, it magically becomes another 26 episodes of our favorite bounty hunters. With swords. This series can and should be every bit as big as Cowboy Bebop, considering the similarity. The only thing that would keep it from that level of popularity would be the originality factor. Since this series is so similar to the Bebop, many people may just see it as an attempt to cash in (or, it could just be that they don't like samurai stuff). I, however, see it as an attempt to better the previous attempts, which worked pretty well. In the end, this is at least as good as, if not better than, Cowboy Bebop.
In a nutshell:
+ Nice sounding soundtrack
+ Great artwork
+ Fun filler episodes
+ More developed characters
+/- Almost exacly the same as Bebop
- Not as extensive soundtrack
Final grade: 9.5/10
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