Review: Samurai Champloo (2004)

I won't lie, I came into this anime expecting something on par with Cowboy Bebop in terms of quality. These two series were associated as they had the same director.

However, Samurai Champloo was definitely a step below Cowboy Bebop. It was a fun anime, but I think there were two things that prevented me from enjoying it as much as Cowboy Bebop.

First, Samurai Champloo was set in an alternate Edo period. As somebody who is not well-versed in historical Japanese settings, I think that I probably missed a lot of the anachronisms and quirky things that would've stood out from a typical Edo-period story.

Second, Samurai Champloo was a relatively tame story in that it still erred on the side of moral caution. Our main characters did have questionable characters, but ultimately, it ended up being a happy, feel-good story. I didn't find myself interested in the characters because they were predictable and not particularly fleshed out.

So the reasons that I didn't enjoy Samurai Champloo was that I didn't think the writing was as compelling, and also because I wasn't from a background that could fully enjoy the stylistic aspects of this show.

Spoilers.

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