Anime

ANIME REVIEW | SAMURAI CHAMPLOO (SPOILER FREE)

August 21, 2020

Episodes: 26

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: May 20, 2004 to Mar 19, 2005

Studio: Manglobe

Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Historical, Shounen

Fuu Kasumi is a young and clumsy waitress who spends her days peacefully working in a small teahouse. That is, until she accidentally spills a drink all over one of her customers! With a group of samurai now incessantly harassing her, Fuu desperately calls upon another samurai in the shop, Mugen, who quickly defeats them with his wild fighting technique, utilizing movements reminiscent to that of breakdancing. Unfortunately, Mugen decides to pick a fight with the unwilling ronin Jin, who wields a more precise and traditional style of swordfighting, and the latter proves to be a formidable opponent. The only problem is, they end up destroying the entire shop as well as accidentally killing the local magistrate's son.

For their crime, the two samurai are captured and set to be executed. However, they are rescued by Fuu, who hires the duo as her bodyguards. Though she no longer has a place to return to, the former waitress wishes to find a certain samurai who smells of sunflowers and enlists the help of the now exonerated pair to do so. Despite initially disapproving of this idea, the two eventually agree to assist the girl in her quest; thus, the trio embark upon an adventure to find this mysterious warrior—that is, if Fuu can keep Mugen and Jin from killing each other.

Set in an alternate Edo Period of Japan, Samurai Champloo follows the journey of these three eccentric individuals in an epic quest full of action, comedy, and dynamic sword fighting, all set to the beat of a unique hip-hop infused soundtrack. (Source: myanimelist)

This is an old but gold anime! This is actually not adapted from a manga. Instead, it's the other way around. Samurai Champloo has a found-family trope element to it, so if it’s your favourite trope, I highly recommend you watch this. Even if it isn’t, I still recommend it because it’s just that good.

The anime is about Mugen, Fuu and Jin’s journey together to find the sunflower samurai Fuu is looking for. Along the way, they face many things together which brings them closer. Even when they have a fallout, they would always bound back together.

At first, I wasn’t sure where the story is going. I was scared if the anime is ecchi (has many fan services). However, after a few episodes I grew to love the characters. I found myself itching to watch the next episode because I want more Mugen and Fuu interaction 😂 I ship them HELLA HARD. I don’t think there is another OTP that I ship as much as them. Both of them are perfect together.

Mugen is obnoxious and carefree but deep down he loves Fuu. I know he loves her as more than friends. I JUST KNOW IT YOU CAN'T CHANGE MY MIND. He cares a lot about Fuu and saves her from danger a lot of times.

Fuu is talkative, bold and independent having her parents died at such a young age. She’s exactly Mugen’s type, yet he still COULDN’T FIGURE OUT HIS FEELINGS FOR FUU WHICH IS SO FRUSTRATING. I really love Fuu as a character. I think she’s cute and funny. The most important thing is, she isn’t annoying.

Jin is the calm one. Whenever Mugen and Fuu bicker, Jin is always there to dissolve it. I love the trio so much, their dynamic, personalities, chemistry, banter and overall they’re the definition of PERFECTION.

Samurai Champloo not only has great characters and OTP, the storyline itself is well-written too. It’s enjoyable, you will laugh along with the characters and there are sad scenes as well. Personally, I enjoy the fighting scenes with hip-hop music the most. And watching Mugen’s street-dance-kind-of fighting style is entertaining.

So if you’re a hopeless romantic like me, you should watch Samurai Champloo to see Mugen and Fuu. If you love action, you can watch it too because it’s action-packed. Or if you’re sad and want to distract yourself from life, this anime is for you.

After finishing the anime, I spent days depressed because I couldn’t handle the fact that it’s over. I didn’t get to see my OTP anymore 😭 I finished it around 2am then stayed up until 5am watching Mugen and Fuu amv 🙂 Even when I listen to romantic songs, my mind automatically goes to them. You see, that’s how much I love them.