Customer Reviews

Samurai Champloo, Volume 3 (Episodes 9-12)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First of all, let me say even though it takes AWHILE for the situation to get back around to the 'samurai who smells of sunflowers'. The episodes ARE entertaining none the less...

1st episode...very interesting and you wonder if Mugen will make it in time to save Jin & Fuu, but the scene with Mugen and the warrior-priests after the burnt *ahem* 'magic-grass' incident is a scene that will live on in my memory. TOO damn funny.

2nd episode...this one is centered on Mugen & his fight with a street killer and I thought it was interesting what Mugen learned to do in the end..or MAYBE he had always known.

3rd episode...this one is centered on Jin [now one of my many favorites..as he falls into the category of cool & calm like Sesshoumaru of the 'Inuyasha' series & Ryuho of 'Scryed', anyway...]. This was a very serious & compelling story and you can't help but hope that Jin helps the woman trapped in the situation that's she in because of her husband...and being the closet-romantic, I was hoping Jin would 'get the girl'.

4th episode...now called the 'flashback' episode, now DON'T knock it UNTIL you've watched it. Yes, I know we've seen flashback episodes that were considered a waste of time in other animes. But this one is funny because it is centered on Fuu's diary and her thoughts on the journey thus far and the men she travels with, much to the annoyance of the two men she travels with ..who just want to know more about 'samurai who smells of sunflowers'.

Bottom line...personally, I found nothing boring about this part of the series and I liked the way the creators have the episodes flow into one another, instead of each one being stand-alones, so if you want action, drama & a little humor this DVD has it and I have to say I've enjoyed this anime so far and hope to continue to enjoy it until the end.

*side note: the parallels of Jin & Mugen to Ryuho & Kazuma [S-cry-ed] I couldn't help but notice so it will be interesting to see at the end IF Jin & Mugen's fight wind up like Ryuho & Kazuma considering these men are different but in many ways so similar.

This is an excellent series that I think all anime fans will enjoy, in addition I think this is a particularily good series for someone who has only recently developed an interest in anime because it is fairly westernized. Backed by an all hip hop soundtrack that lends the series a feeling of familiarity for americans (younger ones anyway) the characters use slang and converse in short concise manners, making the story easy to follow. This allows the series to avoid the long voice-overs that reveal key parts of the plot, something which is common in anime and may turn some younger or newer fans off. The art is beautiful and the direction of Shinichiro Watanabe is on pace with the rest of his projects, which to say the very least is excellent. Enjoy!

I really love this series but was very disappointed by the flashback episode. I felt a bit cheated by it. However, I stand by the animation and storyline. Both are strong and hope that the rest of the series, when released in the US, will continue to be great. The style of the series and the animators are what drew me to the series to begin with, Kill Bill VOl 1 and more importantly (to me) Cowboy Bebop. The music is great too.

This is the first time I have ever seen pot in an anime. I have seen alcohol and mushrooms (I understand they are legally packaged and sold in Japan), but not weed. I am not condoning this, although I almost fell out of my chair when Mugen ran through a field of the stuff and, as it caught on fire, the animation became distorted and hallucinatory. It was an unrealistic portrayal, but there it was none the less, and that was cool enough.
In the next episode, Mugen fights a man who traveled to china and learned to project his chi, or life energy. In the third of the disc, Jin falls for a prostitute debted to a brothel because of her husband's gambling. The fourth is a flashback episode covering the previous eleven episodes.
Episodes 9-12 of 26.
9. Beatbox Bandits
10. Lethal Lunacy
11. Gamblers and Gallantry
12. The Disorder Diaries

samurai champloo has been a great series, and this third dvd has kept that tradition. though the last episode was weak, as most recap episodes are, the other three episodes made up for it, and then some. around the time this came out, fans of the series were starting to buy the dvd's more due to the shortage of episodes on adult swim, as the last episode on this dvd is as far as adult swim would broadcast(they did start to broadcast more shortly after dvd six). below are my ratings for this dvd and it's episodes.


episode nine: beatbox bandits- this episode, though not very good, still has some funny scenes and some action. mugen jin and fuu are caught trying to pass through a checkpoint with counterfiet passes. the checkpoint officials find out that they did not make the forgeries, and cut a deal. mugen is sent to do one of their croked errands. will mugen stay true to his companions? watch and find out.
i rate this episode a 5/10, simply because it lacked action and plot, plus the man telling the story is looking back thirty years to when the episode occured. i don't know, maybe it's the thought of jin mugen and fuu being old, but i don't dig the old man looking that far back.

episode ten: lethal lunacy- one of my favorite, if not my all time favorite, SC episodes! this episode kicks anus in every way possible! i dont want to reveal to much of the story line, but i reccomend watching this episode! even if this dvd just had this episode and was still full price, i would still buy it!
i rate this episode a -/-, or infinite. if you really want stars, it is 10/10, though i find that underappreciating the episode to give it a finite rating

episode eleven: gamblers and gallentry- jin falls in love with a depressed woman who has been forced to work in a whore-house to pay off her husbands debt. still a good episode, but not the best. lots of great humor.
i rate this episode 7/10.

episode twelve: the disorder diaries- recap episode. jin and mugen read fuu's diary while she takes a bath. this episode has a lot of funny dialogue, but that's the only thing it has working for it.
i rate this episode 3/10

well, that's it for this review. check out my next review on volume four of samurai champloo.
i hope this review helped.
peace.

I just got finished watching this batch of episodes. I thought at first that I wouldn't get into it since it falls under the samurai genre, which I've never been a fan of but this was not.
The ordinary samurai anime it has elements that gives it an almost contemporary quality, the stories are fun and light. While sometimes it becomes serious.

The main story is about three wanders who go from. Town to town trying to make some cash they also encounter all types of people along the way though there main misson is to find a samurai that smells of sunflowers every town they go to they little by little get closer to find the mysterious swordsman. This series is superb and a worthy addition to anyone's collection.

keep 'em coming cause this is one the best anime series ever. Shinichiro Watanabe rules!

Order Samurai Champloo & Kung Faux on dvd and learn the ways of BentoBox.TV in your own 36th chamber.