Review of Samurai Champloo

Warning possible Spoilers Going into this, all I knew was that it was directed by the same guy who directed Cowboy Bebop, so I was expecting to have a familiar feeling here, the only difference being the show's setting. Story (10/10) The story of Samurai Champloo is actually a very simple one, showing a trio of characters on a journey through Edo era Japan as they fulfil the wish of a young girl. Now even though the main story is really simple, it works a lot like Cowboy Bebop where each episode has their own story, some even span multiple parts. True it was a little slow to getgoing, but once it reached the first two parter which was very early on, I was pretty much hooked for the rest of the series as each episode kept surprising me in ways I wasn't expecting, just when I thought I knew what was going to happen the show would do a complete 180 and make me think "Oh sh*t I wasn't expecting that", so I'll give SC a lot of credit for surprising me a lot of times.
I also liked how the series nicely spaced out the random episodes and the episodes that concentrated on the main characters, giving us more backstory on them, plus you can slowly see overtime as the relationship between the main characters grew more and more, true they bickered all the way to the end, but you could tell they genuinely cared for each other by the end.
I really liked the subtle messages in some of the episodes too, like how trade with other countries has started to change the lifestyle of the Japanese, how corrupt shady organisations can be and the way things are changing in Japan has made the Samurai decline more and more as more conventional weapons like guns are being introduced, I always like smaller details to the plot that actually have some historical elements to them.
Now the biggest problem with Cowboy Bebop is probably the ending, here the ending was done in a very decent manner, sure it's sad seeing the characters splitting up and going their separate ways, but it fitted for me, I wasn't really expecting them to stick together forever and this seemed like the best way for the series to end.

Characters (10/10)

Despite the main focus being on 3 characters, these were 3 exceptionally amazing characters, who each got their time to shine in this series along with some interesting side characters too.
Fuu Kasumi is the main heroine of the series, she is the one who is looking for someone, who seems to be special to her and smells of sunflowers, although she isn't exactly the easiest going girl as she'll whine or shout quite a lot though for good reason and doesn't mind standing up to people despite being weaker than them. She also has a kind heart as she is willing to help people albeit whether she has been forced or not, she is a glutton too and was really funny seeing her transaction from skinny to fat in a matter of moments, much like something from Scooby Doo.
Mugen is a dude with a sword that Fuu just so happens to meet by chance, a rude, vulgar and mysterious person who only cares for himself, Mugen is a legend of a character. His mixture of martial arts and sword fighting make him a badass fighter, yet he can get a little cocky or overconfident in some fights and does get overpowered a few times, until he manages to bounce back. He was also a great source of comedic relief and his disagreements with the other characters just made him an awesome character.
Jin is the other MC alongside Fuu and Mugen, who just also happens to coincidentally meet these people too, compared to Mugen, Jin is his total opposite. He is a lot more civil, mature and fights in a more traditional way compared to Mugen and these two often but heads a lot throughout the series which builds up to the eventual fight they have, Jin is another mysterious character, but his backstory was very interesting and his monotone expressions always made him a hidden gem for comedic moments.

Art (10/10)

It's always nice to head back in time and see an anime that isn't even remotely touched by CGI and for good reason too, because this is one well done anime. It's creates the Edo period of Japan very well and really shows the difference of the continuing changes on the country from the trade by foreign countries like the USA, for example the different attire people are starting to wear, Mugen being a good example of that and the different types of food being introduced too.
The animation for the sword fights were also done incredibly well, some of the best sword fights I have seen in a long time.

Sound (9/10)

Although the visuals for both the op and ed were amazing, there was something I just couldn't entirely enjoy about the op and ed, the ed just didn't seem that interesting mainly and I did like the music for the op, it just wasn't something I would listen to often.
The soundtrack however is a different story, rap is definitely a weird musical piece to have for a Samurai series, but it worked really well and seemed perfect for when Mugen and Jin had to kick some serious ass.
It was also pretty funny seeing some of these elements in the episodes where we see random people doing beat boxing or having out of place hairdos that just made the show even funnier to watch.

Extras:

The action was done really well, it was quick, thrilling and suspenseful it always made you wonder who would come out on top as each enemy the main characters would either be stronger or more intellectual as they would use different methods of fighting, so the fights never got boring or repetitive for me which is a big plus.
The comedy was just brilliant, the constant jokes and disagreements between the main characters was just hilarious and it stuck out till the very end, it was a nice change from the amount of anime's I've seen where the characters mostly agree to doing this certain thing, however here the main characters just disagree with everything unless it's food, which made the chemistry between so much better as the respect for one another grew slowly over time.

Enjoyment (10/10)

Overall (10/10)

Overall this was an amazing Samurai anime, probably the best one I will ever see in my lifetime, because it's going to be damn hard to beat something that has brilliant characters, a well done story, amazing artstyles, a fun soundtrack and some kickass action. Samurai Champloo is a true definition of a Samurai anime.