Samurai Champloo

Why I don't have a thread on this already is beyond me. I just started watching it, and holy shit it's amazing. Yeah yeah, it's a little old. But deal with it. If you haven't seen it, you should.

Spoiler for Plot shamelessly copied from Wikipedia::

A young lady named Fuu is working as a waitress in a tea house when she is harassed by a band of ruffians. Another customer, Mugen, offers to take care of them in exchange for food, but ends up instigating a brawl. Jin, a stoic young ronin in samurai garb, enters the tea house in the midst of the fight. Mugen attacks Jin after he proves to be a worthy opponent and they begin fighting one another, ignoring a fire that started during the brawl. They both faint from smoke inhalation. When they awaken, they find they have been arrested for the murder of Shibui Tomonoshina, the magistrate's son who had burned to death in the fire, and are to be executed. With help from Fuu, they escape and Fuu asks them to travel with her to find "the samurai who smells of sunflowers," a mysterious man Fuu can give little description of, but who she insists she must find as she thinks he's her long lost father. They agree to join her, with Fuu making only one condition: they are not to duel one another until the journey is done.

This show takes place in Edo-era Japan, with a dash of hip-hop style thrown in. A lot of what these three go through is based on factual historical events. Also, the animation is great, the art is cool, the story is intriguing, the characters are well-developed, and the fighting is badass and well-choreographed. There really isn't anything bad to say about this show. It's creative and funny too. Also has great opening and closing tracks.

Also Mugen (the guy in red for those who don't know) is voiced by Steven Blum, the same guy who voiced Spike Speigel.

Allow me to get you started. (Couldn't be embedded, but it's the best quality stream available.)

I watched the anime and it was pretty cool, IIRC. It had 69 episodes, lol. (i think)

Samurai Champloo isn't anywhere near as good as Cowboy Bebop. The character development was poor and they weren't all that likeable to begin with.

A lot of the character development comes from the actions they take and the things they say. It comes gradually for the most part, and I think it works.

I suppose what makes characters likable is personal preference, but I find them all likable. Mugen's a badass, Jin's a quiet badass, and Fuu's a feisty babe. Obviously these are blunt and brief descriptions but they sum up everything else I could say about the trio decently enough.

I watched the anime and it was pretty cool, IIRC. It had 69 episodes, *snicker*. (i think)

26 episodes, i dl'd them a while ago in SD and recently got them in 1080p so i might watch them now.

What? o-o WTF? I vividly remember it being the magical number, 69. >_> Whatever. I haven't read/watched Cowboy Bebop before, either. I've always wanted to, but ehh idk

This is so old. I remember PLAY talking about it at least 5 years ago. It's also Americanized anime, which is fucking stupid. Watch some real shit like Vampire Hunter D.

What's wrong with a little American influence?

Its not that it has American Influence, its that it's over exposed and mainstream. Japanese people probably hate this shit.

Japanese people probably hate this shit.

Guess it's a good thing I'm not trying to be Japanese then. 

You don't get it. Look at it as an analogy. When Japanese people hear American music, it's usually shit like Britney Spears, or Nickelback. The shit that any American knows is just garbage. The same most likely goes in reverse. What I'm saying is that not even Japanese people probably like that shit. Americans like you watch it because its Japanese though, when there are so many better things to see.

Edit: I said shit a lot.

Oh. Oh well. Everyone's a critic. I get what you're saying, but I simply disagree with you. I can't speak for the Japanese anymore than you can, but I don't think holding this show up to a Japanese person would gain a "garbage" response. Like it if you like it, don't if you don't.

Y'see, I've been notified of a notion that the exact opposite of what you just said actually happens with anime. Not the worst, but the BEST anime is brought overseas because that's the only stuff that will do good and get any kind of viewer base. 90% of all media is shit anyway, so 90% of all anime is probably not that great. But we don't see most of that because the marketing department of say Funimation for example, knows that it won't sell here.

Frankly, I don't know who to believe. Nor do I care. I like it, so I watch it.

If anime makes it to Adult Swim, it's pretty much garbage.

What about Cowboy Bebop and Big O? ;_;

What about Cowboy Bebop and Big O? ;_;

Seconded.

Though Big O may lend more credibility to Holk's argument since that series wasn't quite as popular in Japan but ended up being revived for a second season due to its international fanbase. Still rocks though.

You don't get it. Look at it as an analogy. When Japanese people hear American music, it's usually shit like Britney Spears, or Nickelback. The shit that any American knows is just garbage. The same most likely goes in reverse. What I'm saying is that not even Japanese people probably like that shit. Americans like you watch it because its Japanese though, when there are so many better things to see.

Edit: I said shit a lot.

But that's why the Japanese like it.
Look at all the people that get tattoos of random kanji all over themselves. They don't know what it means, but hey! It's foreign and exotic!
Just like there are a lot of people that like anime and kimonos and stuff, there are a lot of people in Japan that are getting into rap and hip-hop. They like the American undertones of it. It's exotic to them.

But all of this is really irrelevant. Who really cares what the Japanese think? If you like a show, that's your business. I don't think a lot of Japanese would be kept awake at night wondering if the US loves Brittany Spears as much as they do.

And as for the Adult Swim comment, here's a list of the top 50 voted anime in Japan in 2007 (It was the most recent I could find on a quick search) : http://darkdiamond.net/web-notes/the-top-50-anime-of-japan/

If you'll notice, a good portion of Adult Swim's anime are on there. I'm not trying to be defensive or anything, I'm just saying that just because something's popular doesn't make it bad.

I agree that popularity doesn't make something bad, but I think you're missing some of my point. Go look at the Billboard 100, and tell me that any of those songs are good. Maybe 5, 10 at the most are worth listening to once. These lists are made by the mainstream, and the mainstream opinion, as a collective, is usually garbage. Conceding that anime has more of a niche audience than Billboard, I could see a little more favor toward your opinion there. The truth is, most people are just content with the status-quo. If people have something pounded into their heads enough, they start to enjoy it.

Speaking for the record, and in generalizations, I really don't like anime. I mean, there are a few that are ok, but in all I don't understand it. To me, its like nothing original has come out of it in years. Generally, it all looks like the same people made it. It would be like South Park caught on, and suddenly every American cartoon was done with cut-out construction paper. The other reason that I dislike it is because it somehow got this "cartoons for adults" label, that is just bullshit. People have tried to tell me to watch stuff because, "the stories actually go deeper into the human condition," and then there's a scene with some guy farting all over the place and stuff.

I love comedy, and hell, you all know how I feel about dick and fart jokes. But don't try to tell me that this is supposed to be "deep" or anything. And yes, I understand that the culture is different, but that really adds nothing to the argument. I am of the same culture as a lot of people who watch anime, and I still don't get it. And honestly, I'm sure some of it is the fans. I'm sure, as with music, I could be into a lot more stuff if the fans weren't such damn wankers.

If you're still along with me on this blathering post, I guess what I'm trying to say is that not all anime is bad. Not all popular things are bad. But most of them are.

Yeah, I think I get what you're saying.

I definitely agree with a lot of the newer anime not really being that great. I am so sick of everyone talking about Bleach and Naruto. You'd think they were the only anime in existance the way some people talk. I actually kinda liked Naruto back before it got liscensed, but now I'm just sick of it. I can't even take anyone seriously if they start talking about it.

With the art style, a lot of people do seem to be playing copycat nowadays. It's like no one cares anymore. Just draw up some shiny characters and make up some highschool drama crap up and people will love it. It's sickening. There used to be some really awesome and unique looking anime too. There are some fairly good recent ones though, if you can find them. You're right about the music charts comparison. It's a lot like the state the anime industry is in. It's mostly crap, but if you're willing to wade through it all, you might find that one rare gem.