Review of Samurai Champloo

Just like Cowboy Bebop, Watanabe once again leaves us an anime that has almost no story and intense amounts of filler episodes. The action sequences are phenomenal, but I cared next to nothing about any characters in this show. Bebop is almost all style and little substance, and so is Champloo. I wish Watanabe would care more about his stories, instead of focusing on useless filler content that neither increases character development or pushes the tale forward. Almost every character in this show is static, and virtually none of them are memorable (there is no Radical Edward) Watanabe’s attempts at backstory fail because they still giveyou little insight, or just cliche insight into the characters. The animation is top notch, very fluid, and just like Bebop there is a fair bit of witty banter, but this can’t entirely save a series. Regardless, it was a fun ride, and it’s certainly a very watchable anime.

I seem to be one of the few people that loves short anime programs, considering the love for shows like One Piece, Naruto and Bleach all which have countless episodes of nonsensical filler that I simply don’t enjoy. If you’re going to make an anime with only 26 episodes, a large amount of them shouldn’t be filler. Virtually none of Berserk is filler. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has 64 episodes and I honestly wouldn’t consider any of them filler.