Review of Samurai Champloo 2

Introduction

You may be wondering by this point just what Champloo is. I certainly wasn`t ready to accept that it referred to a hair care product, so after extensive research a.k.a. Googling, I found a couple of Samurai Champloo FAQs that pointed me in the right direction. Apparently Champloo, or `champuru` is an Okinawan word that means mixed up. Depending on what you read, this can refer to the mixing of food, or culture, or an improvisational style. Given the blending of a Samurai filled story set 300 or so years ago, with modern hip-hop music and sensibilities, it becomes apparent that the name is most apt. Shinichiro Watanabe is associated with another such mix of ideas and style, the phenomenal Cowboy Bebop, and applying the same ethos of improvisation to Samurai Champloo has resulted in another much anticipated series.

Former waitress Fuu wants to find a nameless Samurai who smells of sunflowers. To that end she has recruited a couple of itinerant warriors, the wild and undisciplined Mugen, and the more refined and precise Jin. The two fighters` first encounter resulted in them trying to kill each other, and it`s only because Fuu saved them from an execution that they reluctantly put aside their rivalry long enough to help her. This second volume from MVM contains episodes 5 to 8, and sees our three heroes suffering from a lack of money.

Ep 5 Artistic Anarchy
Secret policeman Manzou Sakami is investigating the disappearances of young girls, and his attention is drawn to Fuu as a potential victim. Understandable, as she is currently being approached by artist Moronobu Hishikawa as a potential model. Meanwhile Mugen and Jin are busy trying to get together enough money for boat fare. They don`t notice when Fuu gets caught up in a people smuggling ring.

Ep 6. Stranger Searching
Mugen, Jin and Fuu have reached Edo in the pursuit of their quest. Broke again, they enter an all you can eat contest for some quick money, putting up their valuables as the entry fee. Although Fuu has the bottomless stomach of a teenager, a pesky fly causes her to lose in the finals to a mysterious tall redheaded stranger. Jin has to face the ignominy of being parted from his weapons, but gets a chance to regain their belongings when it turns out the stranger needs a tour guide to Edo. Meanwhile the Edo police are hunting an illegal European, who happens to be tall with red hair.

Ep 7. A Risky Racket
A lucky win at a game of chance means a full stomach for a change, until a pickpocket strikes. Mugen and Jin are insistent on recovering their winnings, but the pickpocket has been busy in the interim and has lifted something far more lucrative, and lethal. Fuu`s eagerness to catch the thief falters when she learns that he is supporting an ailing mother.

Ep 8. The Art Of Altercation
The weather`s hot and money is still scarce. This time it`s Jin`s glasses that feed them when they find a pawnshop. It`s a bit of luck, as an egotistic Samurai named Nagamitsu is hunting a warrior who wears glasses. He also takes a shine to young Fuu. Meanwhile Mugen and Jin are taken by the charms of Budou Kiba, a woman with healthy appetites for both men and wine.

Video

Samurai Champloo gets a 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer from MVM. The image is clear and sharp throughout, and the immaculate transfer does the splendid world design and distinctive characters full justice. This is an action packed show, and the swordplay is brilliantly realised, with both of the main characters having their own individual styles. The world design is worthy of appreciation, with the environments enhanced by some lush and vibrant backgrounds. There is also a change of style for episode 5`s prologue, with the impressionist style of Van Gogh and Gaugin setting up a punch line for later on. The hip-hop style editing that livened up the first episode makes a welcome return in some of the episodes on this disc.

Audio

You get a choice of a DD 2.0 and DTS Japanese, as well as a DD 5.1 English dub. Listening to the Dolby Japanese track, I found it to be a straightforward stereo track, with a fair bit of separation, and putting the music across well. I spot-checked the English track, and found that the soundstage opened up well with the surround track, although the show remains predominantly front-focussed. It`s an excellent English dub, with the actors suiting their characters perfectly. Dubbing has certainly come a long way since the early years of anime. You can watch the show with the signs translated, a translated English subtitle track, or no captions at all.

Features

Light on features once more, Samurai Champloo: Volume 2 boasts a jacket picture, a creditless closing sequence, and trailers for Paranoia Agent and Texhnolyze. The misspelling of `Englsih` on the setup menu is repeated once again.

Conclusion

What a difference a volume makes. The stories on the first disc set about establishing the characters and the world they lived in. There was plenty of swordplay and the carnage wrought by Mugen and Jin oft-times drenched the screen in animated blood. Fuu is self-assured and quirky, Mugen the ill-spoken wild man, and Jin fastidious and elegant, and the world they inhabit is hard, yet tinged with anachronisms. The first four episodes went a long way in establishing Mugen and Jin as serious bad-asses, but to continue in that vein could have driven Samurai Champloo into a premature rut. Instead Volume 2 cuts down mightily on the body count (although not the action), and the majority of episodes are played for laughs. If anything, the second volume of Samurai Champloo is even more entertaining than the first, and hilarious for much of its run time.

The first episode on this disc is perhaps the most contemporary in style, with Fuu falling foul of the mediaeval porn industry. She`s asked to model for an artist who paints risqué images that get sold in an adult bookstore. But that is just a front for a slave trading business. The business is under investigation by the police, and headed by an officer with a rather odd approach to police work. He also narrates the episode. The second episode takes the trio to Edo, where the prospect of free food and money persuades them to enter an eating competition. It`s also a competition that is commentated on by the city`s premier gossip, with input from a spiritual pundit. There`s also a message about bigotry in this episode, with the stranger leaving his native Holland when he learns that the act of love between men is tolerated in Japan unlike in his homeland, but finds that he is discriminated against because he isn`t Japanese. A Risky Racket is the more serious episode on this disc, a return to a more sombre note as Fuu finds much to relate to in a pickpocket who steals to help his mother. But it is the final episode that is the funniest, with a flamboyant show-off searching for Jin so that he can increase his own notoriety. Among his sycophantic followers is a man with a mirror who ensures that he never leaves the spotlight, as well as a human beatbox to provide the beats that he can rap (badly) to.

While all the hilarity occurs, the overarching story of the sunflower scented Samurai is being built on, with our heroes pointed towards Nagasaki, and there is additional background to the characters that is filled in. The stories may have a historical setting, but the characters are distinctly contemporary in style and outlook. The strength of the show lies in its distinctive characterisations, deft touches of comedy and some razor sharp dialogue. The episodes on this disc are lighter on the blood and limb loss, but the action is just as stunning as before, and the extra comedy makes these episodes even more enjoyable if anything. Samurai Champloo is certainly turning out to be a special show.