Customer Reviews

Samurai Champloo, Vol. 1 (v. 1)

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

 

 

(This review does not apply to the second volume of the Samurai Champloo manga. It was posted there by Amazon.com against my will. That manga, had I been able to rate it, would have surely gotten a 1 for going so far away from the original story and then ending quite suddenly with no promise to the future.)

The manga starts out almost identically as the anime. Fuu is still searching for her Sunflower Samurai, and Mugen and Jin are still at each others throats. Beyond that, though, the manga goes in an entirely different direction. Instead of getting captured in the first manga by the feudal lords, and instead of doing a great deal of traveling and battling, most of what happens is slapstick comedy that takes place in cities and villages, and we never quite know the progress of the heroes because they rarely mention where they are at. It gets confusing at times.

What makes this manga good, though, is that it reveals a lot about Fuu earlier than the anime did. All we know for perhaps half the series is that Fuu is searching for the Sunflower Samurai. The manga reveals a little of her history in the final chapter of this manga and why she's actually searching for this mysterious samurai. Plus, all of the separate chapters besides the first are entirely new. We can't have seen them in the anime, and they aren't jarring because the anime seems to jump ahead a lot, not to mention those "dimension" episodes, and these stories could easily be placed inside of those moments.

I'm still waiting for a major enemy to reveal him/herself, as the heroes have yet to get into a serious confrontation, with the exception of Mugen and Jin's constant, chapter-ending feuding. All the chapters deal with the ways the characters go about getting money to eat and drink. I like to laugh, but that's not why I like Champloo.

Still, it's difficult not to recommend this. Any fan of manga could pick this book up and find something inside worth reading, without any advance knowledge of the Samurai Champloo world. And if you are a fan of Champloo and want a new spin, pick this up. It follows the story in the anime but not in the same way.

Very exciting! If you are a fan of the Anime series that airs on [Adult Swim], A fan of Edo Japan & Samurais, Or you are into a good book with a unique style of art- You are in for a real treat!

Samurai Champloo Volume 1 is a wonderful grab. Confronted with three characters- Jin [pronounced gene] who is a quiet and reserved samurai, Fuu [Foo] who is a waitress in a tea house thats not the brightest or most resourceful thing on the planet, and Mugen [Moo-gen]a samurai with no certain rythem or rhyme to his fighting techniques who can be called merciless and a womanizer at times-You are thrown into a freestylin', out of wack, crazy society, better known as the Edo Japan era -Just not the one you hear about in books..

The Manga starts out the same as the anime, where Fuu rescues the two samurai from execution in order to get them to help her on her quest for the mysterious Sunflower-Scented Samurai. All though it braches out from the anime and doesn't follow it to a tee -it gives you a quicker ensight into Fuu's background aswell as the same intence action. It also still gives you the same anxious rivalry & want on both Mugen and Jin's part to beat the other in a battle!

So Join this misfit gang on their journey for the Sunflower Samurai as they run into fights, trouble, danger, and...other peculiar incidences along the way. You'll enjoy this Killer sweet and satisifying Champloo spin on Edo Japan and the people in it with your soon to be favorite trio!

-Winry

This is a review for the 1st volume of the Samurai Champloo manga. It's starts out quite similar to the anime, but branches off from there.

The stories are okay; they may seem too silly and outrageous. The complaint I have is the art. The art looks like it had been done either lazily or in a hurry. Most of the time the artist didn't care to use a straight edge to draw buildings, giving it a sloppy look.

Also, the anime could incorporate music during the amazing fight scenes. The manga can just have numerous samurai getting their heads lopped off or getting cut in half.

If you're a Champloo fan, you might want to pick it up, but if you don't you're not missing much. I'd stick with the anime.

A good anime, though not exactly what I was expecting - the quality of the episodes do vary. Some are truly excellent, and some merely watchable, with some even being boring.

If it had continued the way it was going in the first seven episodes, I'd have rated it lower - but around episode 10 it picks up remarkably. The episodes have more substance and depth to them, the fights become more impressive, and it makes up for the dip in quality after the first episode which, despite some strange style choices, was still very cool.

You can only have 'Lol, they're starving again' happen so much times before it gets irritating, so the fact that the series has finally gotten it out of its system is quite a blessing.

So! Enough needless gloom, the series is pretty much great again. Plenty of action, and the characters - especially Mugen - are getting some quality scenes to themselves.

Worth watching. If some episodes put you off, others may very well drag you back in.

Mugen is unrefined, rude, and lives from day to day. He is mercenary who needs no reason to kill.
Jin is a disciplined samurai, a master of the sword. He is skilled yet has no reason to fight or a side to fight on.
Fuu was a hardworking waitress but now she is unemployeed because of these two male strangers who, along with her, are now on the run from the law. Now she is looking for the Samurai who smells like a sunflower. Based on the hit anime, the first chapter follows the first episode but then breaks off and spins its own tales of battle, danger and even ninjas!

The Samurai Champloo manga is ok. All the senseless killing turned me off, however. Mugen is a violent person who devours a hapless frog alive in the first three panels. Then Mugen slaughters a large number of people just because "they are stronger." Is that a reason to kill someone? There is nothing likeable about this guy, until the last few pages of the manga.

Fuu and Jin are more compelling characters. Jin is a handsome, old-fashioned samurai who is very skilled, but seeks a reason to fight. Fuu's quest is a simple but intriguing mystery: she seeks a samurai who smells of sunflowers.

I will keep reading this manga, but the story and characters are average.

A good anime, though not exactly what I was expecting - the quality of the episodes do vary. Some are truly excellent, and some merely watchable, with some even being boring.

If it had continued the way it was going in the first seven episodes, I'd have rated it lower - but around episode 10 it picks up remarkably. The episodes have more substance and depth to them, the fights become more impressive, and it makes up for the dip in quality after the first episode which, despite some strange style choices, was still very cool.

You can only have 'Lol, they're starving again' happen so much times before it gets irritating, so the fact that the series has finally gotten it out of its system is quite a blessing.

So! Enough needless gloom, the series is pretty much great again. Plenty of action, and the characters - especially Mugen - are getting some quality scenes to themselves.

Worth watching. If some episodes put you off, others may very well drag you back in.