Samurai Champloo: vol. 1

Reviewed By:  Carla Land

DVD Geneon

Review based on first disk (episodes 1-4)

What it’s (basically) all about: Two samurai of very different disciplines (Mugen and Jin) are about to be beheaded for causing a ruckus in a bar. Momentarily setting aside their differences, and with the help of a barmaid (Fuu), they escape. After promising to help Fuu locate a samurai who smells of sunflowers, they begin a very tumultuous partnership. The search for the samurai who smells of sunflowers leads them into dangerous situations, but it seems more likely that they will kill each other long before they find him.

Nitty Gritty: This show has an interesting concept- it’s historically based (ancient Japanese costumes and samurai) and very modern (it has a hip-hop soundtrack.) For the most part, the music sounds pretty clean (not a lot of four letter words used) and it adds an interesting edge to an otherwise by-the-books anime concept.

As far as the show goes, it could be a lot gorier than it is. As it is, limbs are sliced off, people are killed, and some blood is seen. The violence is tame compared to some other anime, but it is a key element of the show.

Sexual situations are not uncommon. In the first episode one of the “soon to be dispatched bad guys” has his hand down a woman’s shirt within the first three minutes. Mugen gets intimately involved with a woman in episode two, and in episodes three and four a great deal of the story involves a brothel.

Language is about what you’d expect in this kind of show- a bunch of “sh*ts” and “ass” and “tit” appear in both the subbed and dubbed versions. The F-bomb is dropped once or twice. The use isn’t rampant, but it’s there.

The extras aren’t spectacular, but there are some cool previews (Appleseed, Gungrave, and Saiyuki: Reload) that are in tone with the show. Also included are the DVD credits, “Battle Cry” promos (kind of a music video) and a couple teaser trailers for the show. Nothing that will send out any more alarms than the show itself, in other words.

Survey says: Teens are gonna love this one, but they’re better off finding it in your adult collections. The language and sexual content are too strong for YA sections, even though it’s nothing worse than your average PG-13 fare at the cinema.

Personal Ad:  I liked this one. I’m not usually a big fan of the samurai thing, but this one had the feel of Trigun and Cowboy Bebop.  Definitely not for the youth collections of America, though. It just crosses that line.