Samurai Champloo

Anime: Samurai Champloo

View Status: Complete

Number of Episodes: 26

Main Character: Fuu, Mugen, Jin

The Story: The first episode begins rather strangely, an execution is underway and right before the swords make contact, we see modern day Japan, then time is rewound to the Edo era. This Is where the story truly begins, in a Teahouse, where Fuu is working as a waitress. The other main characters are presented to us right after this and placed in different situations that allow them to show their skills. We are switched back and forth between Mugen and Fuu, and Jin. No, the other episodes are not like this they remain constant most of the time. Jin finishes his fight and comes to the Teahouse were Mugen is waiting for some skilled samurai to arrive. A fight between Mugen and Jin erupts because Mugen want to face someone skilled. While they are busy fighting a man burns down the Teahouse with Mugen and Jin still inside. They are consequently captured. In light of her place of employment burning down Fuu decides to find “The samurai that smells of sunflowers,” but she cannot do this alone and her flying squirrel Momo wouldn’t be of much use either. So in exchange for her helping free Mugen and Jin, they will help her find the samurai that smells of sunflowers. This is the deal. During their travels they are confronted with both Mugen’s and Jin’s past. There are also a few crazy episodes which contain no relevance to the main story but are quite amusing.

The Review: Yes I know this anime is from a while back, so I would like you to know that this is not the first time I watch this. I saw this a few years back, while I was still new to anime, or at least watching it in Japanese. Now the review.

I have yet to find an anime that was as well executed as Samurai Champloo. This anime is different to others, the drawings fit perfectly to the story, as does the music. The only negative thing I can say about Samurai Champloo is that occasionally it all gets a bit too random. Seriously, people zombies are overkill in the random department when it comes to a samurai anime. The personalities of Jin and Mugen Balance each other out so perfectly throughout the anime. Fuu keeps everyone focused on their one true goal, because until then, Mugen and Jin are not allowed to see which of them is stronger. The story is told in separate segments but with each episode it seems they come a little closer to finding the Fuu’s samurai. The fights are amazing and the exchanges between Mugen and Jin a nothing less than hilarious. Their styles although completely different sync up perfectly when fighting a common enemy. All in all this anime can be given only one rating, as it is the closest thing to perfect I have seen, and for this Higher Plane is the least I can give.

Side Note: M:“What’s going on here?” J:”Don’t you remember?”

M:”Wasn’t that a dream? All of a sudden, the place started burning, and…”

J:”No it wasn’t.” M:”Oh yeah, you were in a tub butt-naked.”

J:”That was a dream”

Lex Out

Heat Guy J

Anime: Heat Guy J

View Status: Complete

Number of Episodes: 26

Main Character: Daisuke Aurora, J

The Story: The story follows, Daisuke an officer of the Special Services Division, or Special Unit, and his partner, only referred to as ‘J’. Most of the events take place in the oceanic City-Nation of Judoh, where Daisuke and J fight to prevent crimes before they happen. This is the job of the Special Unit. The Unit although underfunded and understaffed works very well to prevent, large amounts of destruction and loss of life, although some damage seems to be inevitable. One of the more amusing bits of the show is that he must ask for a gun and bullets every time he goes on a mission that requires him to do so, but I won’t go into further details as it is best to find out. Then there is J, who always has a statement on what a ‘real man’ is or would do. The main plot although mentioned right at the beginning only actually makes a fully fledged appearance around half way through the series. This plot has to do with events surrounding Daisuke’s father’s death and event s that took place four years prior to the events in the series.

The Review: I really liked this anime. It might have been my obsession for oceanic cities, androids or just my general love for sci-fi in animes. Not mechas though… I don’t like mechas, I don’t know why either. Anyway, I don’t think it was just the above mentioned bits that made me enjoy the show as much as I did. The story was quite well thought out I found, and almost all loose ends were tied up in the end. This anime never got boring, and even when it was slightly confusing, the confusion only added to the story and excitement. This anime had everything from plasma swords to semi-supreme beings, and therefore I think it was good enough to be Higher Plane. I suppose watching this on a large screened TV did increase the viewing experience somewhat.

The Style: The best way I can think of to describe the style is smooth. These drawings were so smooth that it looks like CG images at certain points in the anime. The futuristic images were drawn with much attention to detail. The best example of this is probably the vehicle, I guess you could call it a motorcycle, that Daisuke drives, or the high level system that keeps the city running. The fight scenes were quite nice as well. The color schemes varied by location instead of mood, but for the most part the colors that were appropriate for the location fit the mood as well.

Side Note: All you need are blue tabs, and red tabs for when things get rough.

Thank you Bernd and Chris for this great gift.

Lex Out