Samurai Champloo

A hip-hop walk through the Edo period with two bodyguards and one greedy misfit. Each episode has something to it, is unique, and I liked every one of them. I wasn't bored at all. I was entertained most of the time. And even though it had a horribly obnoxious opening theme for me (that’s never happened to me :-D) – well, then again, the ending theme makes up for it, and the other songs that come on aren't wasted either – I give it full marks. Sure, just barely, but it was a romp and it made my hair stand on end :-) (2009.05.03)

I can rarely say an anime has got it all, but Samurai Champloo is certainly one of that rare breed. The critic Madsbender used a simile in his review that I was going to use as well - that is, that this is a sort of anime variation on The Name of the Rose - simply because everyone can find their own thing in it. As the name of the anime itself suggests - chanpurū is the name of an Okinawan dish characterized by the variety of ingredients used - this is a stylish ride across time, genres, moods, and (pop) cultures, based on well-written characters, sound animation and a story framework whose ending gets a well-resolved pay-off. Although most of the episodes have self-contained plotlines, each of them has its own place in the season, and the audience never knows what direction it will take with the next episode. The diversity and originality of the show are also reflected in the now-iconic soundtrack, which features collaborations with some big names in Japanese hip-hop, and has made many Western anime fans aware of the legendary Nujabes. As much as Watanabe is feted mostly for Cowboy Bebop (which I also cannot deny the qualities of), for me, it is Samurai Champloo that remains unsurpassed among his work and has a firm place in my top ten anime list, and since so much has been written about it, like Cowboy Bebop, I have no choice but to end my review with a challenge: Just watch it! (2020.03.29)