Samurai Champloo

Samurai Champloo (サムライチャンプルー, Samurai Chanpurū ^?) is an anime series developed by Manglobe Studios. It featured a production team consisting of Shinichirō Watanabe (director), Kazuto Nakazawa (character designer), and Mahiro Maeda (mechanical designer). Samurai Champloo was Watanabe's second directorial effort, following the successful Cowboy Bebop. The series had 26 episodes and was broadcast in Japan on Fuji TV from May 20, 2004 until its conclusion on March 19, 2005.

The story is set in a fictional version of Japan in the Edo period, approximately between the years 1648 and 1685, taking as reference the data provided by the series itself, such as the date of death of Miyamoto Bennosuke (1645), since in the episode False melody (part 2)») it is said that he himself has been dead for a lifetime, for his part, in the episode The Artist Hishikawa Moronobu appears, who apparently is between 30 and 40 years old in said chapter, this would be between the years 1648 and 1658, in addition to the fact that in the episode Cosmic Collisions Fuu tells Shige that they have been looking for a place for five hundred years. treasure, being that in said episode he points out as a reference the change of the seat of government from Kyoto to Kamakura (1185), likewise, the reference that several years have elapsed since the Shimabara Rebellion (1638), gives us approximate references to the years in which the series is set.

The series also features many anachronisms, mostly hip-hop. The story revolves around Mugen, a reckless, debauched and wandering swordsman, Jin, a calm and stoic ronin, and Fuu, a brave young woman who asks them to accompany her on her quest across Japan to find the " samurai that smells like sunflowers".

Samurai Champloo was a critical success and was dubbed into English and licensed by Geneon Entertainment for distribution in North America. Funimation Entertainment licensed the series after Geneon ceased production of its titles. In Latin America it was distributed by Cloverway, this being the last title to be acquired by the distributor before its closure. For the English versions in the UK it was licensed by MVM Films, and in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment.

The term champloo is an Okinawan word meaning to mix (see Chanpurū).

Plot

Fuu, a 15-year-old girl, worked at a tea house until it was destroyed after a violent three-way fight between Mugen the wanderer, Jin the wandering samurai, and the bodyguards of the son of the Daikan of that town. At the end of the match, Mugen and Jin are arrested to be executed the next day. Fuu helps them escape in exchange for their help finding the 'samurai who smells of sunflowers'. Despite agreeing to the deal, Mugen and Jin are always trying to take each other down, in an almost professional rivalry. Both samurai have a blurred past. Thus, the story narrates their trips between paths and dark passages, and how they fix the troubles they get into.

Theme and style

Samurai Champloo employs a mix of historical settings from the Edo Period, with modern styles and references. The series is based on real events in Japan in that era, such as the Shimabara Rebellion ("Unholy Union", "Fleeting Encounter (Part 1)"), the Dutch exclusive at a time when the edict limits Japan's foreign relations (“The Foreigner”), Ukiyo-e paintings (“The Artist”), and versions in fiction of real-life characters from the Edo period; Sasaki Kojirō and Miyamoto Musashi ("False Melody (Part 2)").

Incorporates various elements of modernity, especially hip hop culture, such as rap (“Looking for the samurai who smells of sunflowers (part 1)”), graffiti (“The war words»), bandits with "gangsta" ("The Reunion with Mugen (Part 1)" and "The Reunion with Mugen (Part 2)"), the "bleeps" censorship replaced with "record scratch", and most of Mugen's design, including his breakdancing-influenced fighting style. The scores for Samurai Champloo are dominated by hip hop beats. Other than this, anachronisms include Adidas-like kamons and Converse logos, baseball ("Baseball Blues"), and references to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ("Collisions cosmic»).

Samurai Champloo has a similarity to Journey to the West, in that the characters head to Nagasaki, which is west of Edo, where they started from. It is also worth mentioning their similarity in both stories; Mugen (monkey), Jin (snake) and Fuu (pig). It is considered an example for the movies and series of the "chanbara" genre. Chanbara was used in the early days of Japanese cinema (when government political censorship increased) as a way of expressing social criticism. The word champloo comes from the Okinawan word "chanpurū" (such as gōyā chanpurū, the deep-fried Okinawan dish containing bitter melon). Chanpurū, alone, simply means "mix". Therefore, the title 'Samurai Champloo', can be translated as 'Samurai mix'.

Characters

Mugen (▪, Mugen^?)

Seiyū: Kazuya Nakai

He is 20 years old. He hails from the Ryukyu Islands where he had to earn a living by raiding ships until he was betrayed. He is a very self-centered character, perverted, outgoing and bad with his friends (although deep down he appreciates Jin and Fuu). He likes to pick unnecessary fights and is a fierce animal when he fights, with a unique style inspired by what looks like a mix of break-dancing and capoeira. His strength lies in his colossal strength and his unpredictable moves that throw his opponents off balance. Mugen has an intrinsic respect for honest and brave people. He never misses an opportunity to get into a good fight and show that he is the better warrior.

Jin (🙂, Jin^?)

Seiyū: Ginpei Sato

He is 20 years old. He is a very reserved and disciplined samurai. After an incident with the head of the city, he arrives at the tea house where Fuu works and confronts Mugen. During his journey, he is persecuted by former students from his dōjō who accuse him of murdering his teacher. He has a more traditional style, but this is not a weakness, as his abilities are amazing. He possesses the ability to perform movements with pinpoint accuracy at an invisible speed. He doesn't fight for anyone but himself but appreciates kindness and honor. Jin considers swordsmanship an art that he bases his studies on, so he doesn't shy away from crossing swords against anyone as a test.

Fuu (Русский, Fū^?)

Seiyū: Ayako Kawasumi

He is 15 years old. An ordinary girl, who will make these two enemies have to ally to fulfill her promise. After the death of her mother, she dedicated herself to working in the tea house, until it was destroyed. It is when she decides to take on the task of looking for the samurai who smells like sunflowers . She does not have any remarkable physical abilities, except perhaps the ability to unleash a relentless gluttony that defies her size and slenderness, however she has a kind heart, with a great sense of duty and also often has witticisms that help the group of the least expected way.

Momo-san

It is a rodent that sometimes helps in an unexpected way in the luck of Fuu, Jin and Mugen, usually it remains hidden in Fuu's clothes

Content of the work

Manga

The manga was published in Shōnen Ace magazine from August 2004 to October of the same year. The manga contains a total of 10 chapters, compiled into 2 Tankōbon. In the United States it was published by Bandai Entertainment and distributed by TOKYOPOP between November 2005 and March 2006.

Anime

Samurai Champloo debuted in Japan from May 20, 2004 to March 25, 2005, to be conceived as a 26-episode series. It was broadcast on open television by Fuji Television and on satellite television by the Animax channel no only in Japan but in various regions of the Asian continent.

Probably due to the popularity of Shinchiro Watanabe, Geneon Entertainment licensed his work for North America just shortly after finishing in the eastern country; it was later announced that the series would be broadcast on the Cartoon Network television channel in its Adult nocturnal block Swim, in which the series aired from May 14, 2005 from 11:30 p.m., one episode each Saturday until episode 13; On November 22 of the same year, the second batch of episodes initially premiered every Saturday at the same time, but was later moved to Wednesdays sharp at 12:30 in early 2006 until ending with the last episode on November 18. March 2006. Currently the series is broadcast every Saturday night at 1:30 in the morning in the aforementioned block.

On December 24, 2006, the Razer Channel (now MTV2) premiered Samurai Champloo for Canada. The series was also released in Australia (by SBS), but only 13 episodes were broadcast.

In Latin America, it premiered on September 18, 2006 on the Toonami block, a year after it was rumored to premiere on Adult Swim before the channel announced that adult anime series would not correspond to that block. It was broadcast three consecutive times before going off the air. On May 9, 2009, it premiered on the Adult Swim block of I.Sat. The Spanish dubbing for Latin America was provided by Larsa and Optimedia Productions, produced by Cloverway, for the general Hispanic-American audience.

In Spain, the free-to-air TV channel Cuatro premiered the series on February 10, 2006 within the Cuatrosfera program, in an early morning schedule. A year later, Samurai Champloo was also dubbed into Catalan to be broadcast by the public regional television of Catalonia, K3. In that same year the series premiered in the Galician autonomous region CRTVG with a Galician dubbing that was broadcast on the two channels of the public channel. The series has also gone through the pay channels Buzz, AXN (within its Zona Animax space) and Animax.

Video game

On February 23, 2006, the Bandai company released what would be the first and only Samurai Champloo game to date; Samurai Champloo: Sidetracked (サムライチャンプル: 横道, Samuraichanpurū: Sidetracked^?) for the PlayStation 2 console. Not long after it was released in the United States, specifically on April 11 of the same year it was released in Japan.

Soundtrack

There are four soundtrack albums for the series. Their titles are "Masta", "Playlist", "Departure" and "Impression". Bands participating in them include Nujabes, Force of Nature, Tsuchie and Fat Jon. Shing02, a Japanese hip hop artist sings during the series' opening theme song along with Nujabes ("BattleCry") and MINMI, who sings the theme song "Shiki no uta" for the ending.

Some of the songs are not on the official albums. Such is the case of Asazaki Ikue's Obokuri Eeumi from her album & # 34;Utabautayun & # 34;, and & # 34;San Francisco & # 34; by Midicronica for their album "#501" (ending theme for episode 26).