Review of Samurai Champloo

TL;DR: This show is a roller coaster from start to finish, but like a roller coaster it has its ups and downs; constantly undulating from useless and boring filler, to some of the most action packed, fun, and dramatic scenes in anime that kept me glued to the screen in complete excitement. I will preface this review by noting that I had only seen one Shinchiro Watanabe directed series before watching this, Cowboy Bebop, and even though these shows are polar opposites in their settings, the direction of both shows is uncannily similar. Both shows have an excitingnarrative as a whole and utilize animation as an effortlessly flexible art form. They both however have the same problems, some of which include wobbly pacing and a one-dimensional main cast. This show however did a much more splendid job of getting me invested and interested in the main cast, and at the end of the show I was very much won over by each member of the main cast's trio.

This show is somewhat boring to look at sometimes, as the hundreds of buildings and muted-green forests eventually become a blur, but at its peak this show is stunningly beautiful. Utilizing elements like graffiti and street art, this show truly makes a late 1500s Japan feel fresh and relatable. The show's soundtrack is simply incredible, and having heard this complement prior to watching I was happy to finally hear it and was won over instantly.

This show is enjoyable as a whole, but I did find myself abandoning it for weeks on end during enormous bouts of either filler or sub-par episode plots that seemed to last forever. The dialogue is rather edgy, but even still the show does make a point to put its money where its mouth is and show real conflict and real stakes that don't feel completely artificial.

This show proves that a strong vision of what a show wants to be, in this case an episodic and epic narrative, is incredibly important overall. This show, even with all its shortcomings, is one that I will truly never forget and deserves to be remembered not by its lackluster filler, but by how much fun one effortlessly has while enjoying this show.