Review of Samurai Champloo

This is my favorite anime so I thought I might as well write a review for it. I consider this a perfect anime, not only because it nails all the technical stuff right, like art and sound, but also because it is able to present a simple premise in a compelling way with compelling characters. Mugen, Jin, and Fu are all great and memorable characters as is their quest to find the samurai who smells of sunflowers. I'm pretty partial to stuff set in the Edo period so take that bias into consideration, but I think it does a good job of blending Japanese andAmerican culture in a way that doesn't feel intrusive. You're in the Edo period, you know you're in the Edo period, but for the hip-hop stuff feels natural and non-intrusive. Easy ways to screw that up, but they didn't do that. So good on them. Being able to combine story and action seamlessly, while at the same time remaining grounded is a hard thing to do. This anime is great and should be on everyone's must watch list.