Samurai Champloo Recommended

Publisher
Geneon / MVM
Director
Shinichiro Watanabe
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
26 episodes / 25 minutes
Year
2004

Samurai Champloo Volume 6

By otaku_kei
14th Aug 06

The penultimate volume of Samurai Champloo arrives and once again I rushed to find out the conclusion to the previous volumes cliffhanger. There are only a few series a month that demand instant attention, GITS: SAC, FMA, R.O.D. The TV and Samurai Champloo, so straight into the DVD player with this one. As Fuu, Mugen & Jin edge closer to Nagasaki and their goal of finally tracking down the samurai who smells of sunflowers, why are forces now ranging against them to halt this trio in their tracks? But lets not forget that this show also delivers the laughs as well as death-defying combat!

With only three episodes on this latest volume Champloo seeks to build the excitement towards the upcoming finale. But efforts in that regard are mixed. Firstly we have the conclusion to the Volume 5's cliffhanger, before we get some of the episodic stories that blend the comedy and action to a greater extent. The concluding part of the two-parter demonstrates once again all the best parts of Samurai Champloo. The animation is crisp and fluid, the action scenes are some of the best around, the characters all get their own story arcs to develop. These multi episode stories have regularly turned out to be some of the best episodes of the entire series. But with the following episodes on this volume the standards do slip.

The episodic nature of Samurai Champloo is one of the main strengths and weaknesses to the show. True, it does allow the casual viewer to dip into this show without being swamped by continuity issues, but it has also left this show without any real aims as the plot meanders around the eventual goal of finding the samurai who smells of sunflowers. That is quite evident with this latest volume where we get a ghost story, and an episode where our trio get caught up with taking part in a baseball match with some visiting americans. These episodes are entertaining enough, but provide no real gain to the series as a whole. Much in the same way that Cowboy Bebop only had about a half dozen episodes that developed any sort of plot arc, the same goes for Samurai Champloo. But it just so happened that Bebop's incidental episodes were more inventive and fun for the most part.

So with only one volume left to go Samurai Champloo remains one of the better shows on offer at the moment. This latest volume does slip below the generally superb quality of this series but still remains highly entertaining, as it delivers more of the same action and fun that we have come to expect from this show. With only three episodes left to go it will be interesting to see whether Samurai Champloo will go out with a bang, or a whimper?

R2 DVD Notes

Features: English Language 5.1; Japanaese Language 5.1; Japanese Language 2.0; English Language Subtitles; Concept Art; MVM Trailers

Release information: OUT NOW

Notes: Once again another release in this series that benefits from MVM and Madman Entertainmenst grtest DVD authoring. The A/V quality is superb, and really shows off this show at its best. Once again it is the extras that are the only real let down.

-- otaku_kei 14th Aug 06

Samurai Champloo Images