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Samurai Champloo


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First off, we don't want any whiny, angsty, clean cut, happy-go-lucky or annoyingly loud pint sized samurai here, you need to be sharp, witty and hip, not to mention exceeding good with a katana too.

Thats how different Samurai Champloo is from the current and indeed previous crop of samurai anime shows out there. Everything from the scratchy art style through to the hip DJ screeching of scene transitions and an inspired directorial style that most directors wouldn't even entertain, Samurai Champloo marks the newest wave of anime cool.

I was going to post a review, but I figured that this was A7's review turf, so i'll leave those duties up to him! :)

Edited by wakobi
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Yes, this series kicks ass. Very stylish. I had heard of the name quite a while ago, but I never really looked into it. Then while I was surfing around the net I saw it was directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, the very same dood who did Cowboy Bebop, still my favorite anime of all time :p So I d/led it right away and, sure enough, I loved it :D

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it looks very stylistic but is it just me or do other people think the fight scenes are just sparks of light hidden in shadows? oh well. it was also interesting that some of the uniqueness of ep1 wasnt seen in ep2 (i.e. going back to the previous day and mistakenly going to the future, the scratching to go from scene to scene, etc).

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Although I agree this is a great series. I had not heard anything about it and downloaded it on a whim but it is great. I do have a couple of nitpicks about it though. Nothing terrible that takes away from the story. But I do recomend it. However lets not get to far ahead of ourselves. Kenshin is the best IMHO. Although I have not yet see Naruto. I have never been disappointed by Kenshin. I have even laid out the cold hard cash to get the first two box sets, and I will gladly plunk down for the third soon.

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To be honest kenshin seems too cooky cutter "I'm a badass who turns DUMBASS once a girl comes by" type. I hear the OVA is awesome and crap but as for the series..........geez its so annoying. A awesome intro and outro but kenshin always gets terribly stupid around women...and THIS guy was a feared assasin? Geez all you need is a brothel and he's done. Panic attack.

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Just letting you guys know, ep. 2 doesn't contain the dynamic scene transitions (i.e. the scratching and whatnot) that ep.1 had.

It's still good though.

edit: I'm not too sure as to this board's rule on linking to licensed anime downloads, but yeah, Samurai Champloo is licensed by Geneon (it was prelicensed awhile back).

Edited by soulDistortion
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edit: I'm not too sure as to this board's rule on linking to licensed anime downloads, but yeah, Samurai Champloo is licensed by Geneon (it was prelicensed awhile back).

Completely my bad. Totally forgot that Geneon had the license for it, so i'll take the link down, sorry guys dont wanna get Shawn or Graham in trouble.

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My only recomendation is to watch the kyoto arc of the series and see how much Kenshin ownz. Also Trust and Betrayal is VERY good but i am not much of a fan Reflections. samurai champloo is very good though

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  • 5 weeks later...
I was going to post a review, but I figured that this was A7's review turf, so i'll leave those duties up to him! :)

You can review it if you want. Here's my take on it.

champloo.jpg16up.gif

Samurai Champloo ( サムライチャンプルー )

Manglobe/Fuji TV/Victor Entertainment, 2004

Geneon Entertainment, 2005

Directed by Shinichiro Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop)

Rated 16-Up for violence and gore, slight nudity, suggestive sexual situations and strong language.

Mugen is a wandering swordsman with an unorthodox fighting style somewhat similar to capoeira. Jin is a ronin (masterless samurai) who prefers the traditional approach. One day, the two cross paths at a tea house and are arrested for murder and arson. With the aid of a ditzy waitress named Fuu, Mugen and Jin escape from the authorities right before they get executed. But before they even up the score with each other, they're conned by Fuu embark on a journey to search for a samurai with the scent of sunflowers.

Story: A

Think Cowboy Bebop set in Feudal Japan. That's what Samurai Champloo is - a completely fresh and off-beat concept with loads of action and laughs, plus a host of likable characters.

Animation: A+

Since it's by the same director of Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo boasts a similar animation style - fast-paced action, outstanding artwork and smooth animation. Character designs by Kazuto Nakazawa (El Hazard, Ashita no Nadja) and weapon designs by Mahiro Maeda (Last Exile, The Animatrix: The Second Renaissance Parts 1-2).

Soundtrack: A-

While Cowboy Bebop got anime fans hooked on jazz, Samurai Champloo aims to pump hip-hop and funk into an otaku's music collection.

Sub vs. Dub

Samurai Champloo features Kazuya Nakai (Zoro in One Piece, Iruga in Ragnarok: The Animation) as Mugen, Ginpei Sato as Jin, and Ayako Kawasumi (Mahoromatic, Aoi in Ai Yori Aoshi) as Fuu.

English dub review coming in 2005.

DVD Extras

Under construction.

The Bottom Line

Looks like the Rurouni Kenshin OAV has some stiff competition in the form of Samurai Champloo. Now let's see how GONZO's Samurai 7 fares.

Links

Official Samurai Champloo Homepage (Japanese)

Fuji TV's Official Samurai Champloo Homepage (Japanese)

Geneon Entertainment's Official Samurai Champloo Homepage (Coming Soon)

Reference

Anime News Network

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Mugen is a wandering swordsman with an unorthodox fighting style somewhat similar to capoeira

Just a correction there , many people over the net have mistaken Mugens style for capoeira when it´s actually closer to Break Dancing , you wouldn´t be seeing those kind of moves if he was trying to pull off some capoeria stuff (he hardly does any kicking or dancing)

Doh , I forgot to`post my comments.

What can I say , this anime has everything going for it , from the director to the art and music , it certainly holds a lot of potential. So far it has shown a lot of signs that th plot will get more complex.

Edited by Aegis!
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LOVE this series. The only thing to really stir me since Bebop was GITS:SAC, but this is, so far, even better than that (sorry Tachikomas :().

Now all I need are some quality articulated figures of Mugen, Jin and Fuu (with her flying squirrel of course) and I'll be good to go. B))

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so this anime is officially released here in the states or are you guys watching the fansubs or boots?

It just started recently in Japan and is only up to episode 6 so far. I'm guessing that, like me, everyone here has been watching the fansubs. I don't think any boots are available yet.

Anyone know if eps 5 and 6 are subbed yet? I keep finding raw versions...

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one of the best samurai series i've seen in a long time...very few animes come a long that can really be more cool than cowboy bebop....i'm actually surprised there hasn't been a thread about it earlier

BTW...it also has an awsome soundtrack i'm listening to it right now :p

Edited by Dat Pinche Haro!
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so this anime is officially released here in the states or are you guys watching the fansubs or boots?

It just started recently in Japan and is only up to episode 6 so far. I'm guessing that, like me, everyone here has been watching the fansubs. I don't think any boots are available yet.

Anyone know if eps 5 and 6 are subbed yet? I keep finding raw versions...

well then I can't wait till this sucker comes out in the states!! I hope it'll be here when I finish up gungrave. :p:D:lol:

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so this anime is officially released here in the states or are you guys watching the fansubs or boots?

It just started recently in Japan and is only up to episode 6 so far. I'm guessing that, like me, everyone here has been watching the fansubs. I don't think any boots are available yet.

Anyone know if eps 5 and 6 are subbed yet? I keep finding raw versions...

well then I can't wait till this sucker comes out in the states!! I hope it'll be here when I finish up gungrave. :p:D:lol:

How long does a series typically take to hit the US market after it debuts in Japan? A year? I'll already have the inevitable 3-disc "Perfect Collection" complete series HK boot by the time it gets released on DVD here. And then I'll buy those, too. B))

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so this anime is officially released here in the states or are you guys watching the fansubs or boots?

It just started recently in Japan and is only up to episode 6 so far. I'm guessing that, like me, everyone here has been watching the fansubs. I don't think any boots are available yet.

Anyone know if eps 5 and 6 are subbed yet? I keep finding raw versions...

well then I can't wait till this sucker comes out in the states!! I hope it'll be here when I finish up gungrave. :p:D:lol:

How long does a series typically take to hit the US market after it debuts in Japan? A year? I'll already have the inevitable 3-disc "Perfect Collection" complete series HK boot by the time it gets released on DVD here. And then I'll buy those, too. B))

true dat! I'm a patient guy, so I don't mind waiting. I still haven't seen Macross Zero yet because I want to buy it when it comes out here in the states! If it ever does come out. If not then I'll wait for some sort of boxset bootleg. :p:D:lol:

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Wow. I guess this is one anime I'll be keeping up with. Any ETA on the Region 1 DVD? How many episodes have been released so far? :blink:

I haven't read any info on a region 1 release yet. As for the episodes, 6 have been released so far. I don't think 5 and 6 have been fansubbed yet though.

One thing that I think is interesting is if you do an Ebay search for "Samurai Champloo" it doesn't bring up anything. And it seems like there's ALWAYS bootlegs for new anime on ebay. Weird. :blink:

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I second that, thanks for this thread hightlighting this anime, trying to download it now to check it out, and its AWESOME.

I hope someone posts when its available to buy on DVD!

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I just watched episodes 5 and 6 last night and they are my favorites so far. I thought episode 5 had a really well developed plot, and 6 was just flat out fun craziness (an eating contest) that still dangled on a thin thread of the main plot (finding the Sunflower Samuarai). I honestly haven't been this satisfied with an anime series since Cowboy Bebop. If this one keeps getting more interesting and exploring/developing the individual characters to an even greater extent, I think it may even surpass Bebop. I think it's the relatively free-form style to the show that I find so appealingl. It can follow the main plot or it can deviate and have fun, just like Bebop.

I hope the next episode(s) come out soon, and I'm surprised that a dozen toy companies aren't already jumping all over this license.

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lol, it was hilarious at the end of episode 6. "Some day, this country will definitely open up its ass hole" :lol:

"Who would want to open up their a-hole for you?"

That Dutch guy was hilarious, especially his Japanese. :D

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lol, it was hilarious at the end of episode 6.  "Some day, this country will definitely open up its ass hole"  :lol:

"Who would want to open up their a-hole for you?"

That Dutch guy was hilarious, especially his Japanese. :D

I think that was a little bit too literal. Its more like he wanted to say that Japan will one day unclench its a-hole, as he was using the term for anal retentiveness. And then the second guy added the literal inuendo of why someone would actualy open their a-hole for him.

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