Review of Samurai Champloo

its kind of unfortunate for samurai champloo that its known as "the one that came after cowboy bebop", because its nowhere as good as cowboy bebop. cowboy bebop is a fucking masterpiece, and samurai champloo is just.. really good. thus, its a little unfair to compare it so: and my review will sound quite critical because im imagining cowboy bebop in the back of my head. samurai champloo is, at its finest moments, incredibly exciting and suspenseful. gosh, the way the tension is controlled in each scene is so good. the fights feel like they have real stakes; although you know that the protagonists willwin in the end, it doesn't feel that way when you're watching the show.

the story is meh, but it pays off quite well in the last three episodes. each episode is, individually, immensely fun, but the way the plot ties each episode together...? its a bit repetitive, and progressing the story is slow and predictable. BUT the three part episode at the end (which ties off the plot) is fucking GREAT and makes me so glad i kept watching til the end.

the art is wonderful. its gorgeous, stylised, dynamic, fun.... the fight scenes, the emotional scenes, the regular ass talking head shots - everything looks great. its not really the art style that makes the visuals so good, its the animation. its not smooth, but its so energetic and electric! damn the fights looked good

a big part of my criticism is that fuu is fucking annoying. shes ... so useless... and for what..? like, some "useless" characters are just smart in their own ways and they have their own talents! but fuu is just... anime girl plot device. also, why is she 15? there's no reason for such a character to be a child. shes constantly saying things about how she wants attention from the adult characters and it just makes me uncomfortable. just age her up: it wouldn't have been that hard!

however, mugen and jin are hilarious together and they carry the series so shrug. mugen is a little annoying and one-note at times, but you kinda forgive him given his backstory n all.

the music is... carefully considered, lets say. a lot of thought was put into the music of the show, and you can tell, but its overrated imo. the background music for the fight/chase scenes is great - the tracks work well with the dynamic choreography - but its not as artistic as people say. its not that iconic, either, and listening to it without the context of the show is a mediocre experience.

overall: its really good as a stand alone show. its funny and suspenseful and very gripping to watch. unfortunately, none of it really measure up to cowboy bebop - the setting, the music, the characters: they all fall just a little short, so it leaves a desire for more when you watch samurai champloo.

ps, i watched samurai champloo (and am writing this review) whilst dreadfully ill, so perhaps some of my negative feelings are symptoms of feeling like shit for the past week, hahah.