Welcome to Anime of the week number #63. The anime is Samurai Champloo
May 20th, 2004 ~ Mar. 19th, 2005 (Spring 2004)
Fuu Kasumi is a young and clumsy waitress who spends her days peacefully working in a small tea-house. That is, until she accidentally spills a drink all over one of her customers! With a group of samurai now incessantly harassing her, Fuu desperately calls upon another samurai in the shop, Mugen, who quickly defeats them with his wild fighting technique, utilizing movements reminiscent to that of break-dancing. Unfortunately, Mugen decides to pick a fight with the unwilling ronin Jin, who wields a more precise and traditional style of sword fighting, and the latter proves to be a formidable opponent. The only problem is, they end up destroying the entire shop as well as accidentally killing the local magistrate’s son.
For their crime, the two samurai are captured and set to be executed. However, they are rescued by Fuu, who hires the duo as her bodyguards. Though she no longer has a place to return to, the former waitress wishes to find a certain samurai who smells of sunflowers and enlists the help of the now exonerated pair to do so. Despite initially disapproving of this idea, the two eventually agree to assist the girl in her quest; thus, the trio embark upon an adventure to find this mysterious warrior—that is, if Fuu can keep Mugen and Jin from killing each other.
Set in an alternate Edo Period of Japan, Samurai Champloo follows the journey of these three eccentric individuals in an epic quest full of action, comedy, and dynamic sword fighting, all set to the beat of a unique hip-hop infused soundtrack.
Samurai Champloo is a classic that you must see, even if you don’t end up taking a liking to it. The soundtrack makes this anime, and if you’re a fan of Nujabes then you definitely need to watch this.
The main plot of the story is having to find the Sunflower Samurai, but the main characters run into trouble along the way. Each episode has it’s own story built into the main plot so it keeps the story alive. There may be a couple episodes that might be like “what’s the point of watching this?” but I still loved all of it 100%.
The animations are a bit outdated, but that’s what makes it good in my opinion. Having been aired almost 15 years ago, it’s something that will always have a place in my heart. I’m sure everyone has seen this anime if you’re older, but for those who are younger I would say you need to give this one a try.
1 Season ~ 26 Episodes
Thanks for reading, See you on the next anime of the week! Also, you can ask below if you want to do one yourself 🙂
