Samurai Champloo

Overview

Samurai Champloo originally started out as an anime series produced by Manglobe and directed by Shinichiro Watanbe. It's a series that set in the Edo period (Tokugawa) and has a hip-hop element. It is licensed by Funimation.

Plot

Samurai Champloo revolves around three individuals, Mugen (a vagabond samurai), Fuu (a ex-waitress), and Jin (a ronin) who travel in Japan looking for Fuu's samurai, a man who smell like sunflowers. Along the way, they encounter remnants of their past. It's a series whose plot is not linear but character driven.

Characters

Main Cast

Fuu Kasumi	Fuu Kasumi is a former waitress and a 15 year old girl. She has a pet flying squirrel named Momo who lives in in her kimono. After she saves Mugen and Jin from being executed, she has them help her out on a quest to find the samurai who smell like sunflowers.
Mugen	Mugen is a 19 year old vagabond samurai from the Ryukyu islands. His fighting style is very unpredictable, and his name means infinite.
Jin	Jin is a 20 year old ronin who is very traditional and reserved. His fighting style is kenjutsu which is the opposite of Mugen's fighting style.

Anime

The anime originally premiered on Japan's Fuji TV on May 20, 2004. It ended on March 19, 2005 with a total of 26 episodes. After being licensed by Geneon Entertainment for a while in North America, Funimation teamed up with Geneon Entertainment and distributed the series as a DVD in June 2009 and as a Blu-Ray in November 2009. It aired on Adult Swim on May 15, 2005 and ended on March 18, 2006. The show was edited for blood and nudity, and profanity was replaced with hip hop sound effects.

Samurai Champloo is also available on Funimation's website.

Other Countries

• United Kingdom -
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• Germany -

Manga

The manga came after the anime series, and it ran in Shonen Ace on August 2004. It was licensed by Tokyopop for North America. There are only 2 volumes published.

Game

Released in Japan as Samurai Champloo and was released on February 23, 2006 it was released nationally on April 12, 2006. It has an original story based on the anime series Samurai Champloo though Bandai has stated it has no direct relation to the events depicted in the show.

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