Samurai Champloo-
Volume 4
(MVM Region 2 PAL DVD)
(2005)
review by Blackgloves

The jerky, episodic nature of most of the previous episodes of "Samurai Champloo" was quoted, in our previous review, as the main fault of this otherwise welcome new series from the director of "Cowboy Bebop" and the anime designer on "Kill Bill Vol 1" -- a fault which is corrected by the latest batch of episodes on Volume 4, which features only one stand-alone episode on the disc! The sheer inventive 'sprawl' of animation styles and the constant, quirky genre-mixing -- which has been the series' most noteworthy characteristic thus-far -- has, inevitably, been toned down somewhat to make room for a more flowing style of narrative storytelling, especially on the first two episodes here -- but the end effect has been to produce a much better-rounded series with more depth and consistency than has previously been the case.

The first two-part story to feature on this disc immediately offers us a glimpse into the past of one of wide-eyed Tea House Hostess, Fuu's, two Samurai bodyguards, Jin and Mugen: they both met during a battle which wreaked her place-of-employment, and have agreed to defer duelling each-other to the death until after they have accompanied Fuu on her journey to Nagasaki in-search of 'the Samurai who smells of Sunflowers' -- a task they agree to as 'payment' for the damage caused to the Tea House. Since all three have been forced together by circumstance, their relationship is prone constantly to squabbles and bust-ups of one sort or another; but a series of strange and dangerous adventures have brought them, inch-by-inch, to the verge of something approximating friendship!

Of Fuu's two impromptu bodyguards, Mugen is probably the most fiery and unpredictable; while the bespectacled, wiry Jin hides his thoughts behind an impenetrably taciturn exterior of enforced calmness -- the womanising and reckless Mugen has always been the one to court trouble with his casual disregard for both his own and his companion's good health! On this volume, at last, we get to see a little of Mugen's past when an old colleague makes an unwelcome return to his life. The trio's journey finally brings them to the coast; and the welcome sight of the sea sends Fuu running onto the sands. Unfortunately, someone else is also present on the beach: the pirate captain Mukuro and his band of fearsome men! It is soon revealed that Mugen was once a part of this group himself. Mukuro specialises in looting merchant ships, callously blowing them (and their crews) apart with grenades once his men have stolen their cargo! It is obvious to both Jin and Fuu that there is history between Mukuro and Mugen -- and also Mukuro's young girlfriend, Kuzo!

Disinclined to let the three protagonists go unmolested, Mukuro offers Mugen a challenge: the two must race on horseback towards the edge of a cliff! The first of them to draw on the reigns, loses. If Mukuro loses, he will let Mugen and his friends go free; if Mugen loses, he must join Mukuro's men on their next raid. Through a technicality, Mukuro wins the bet and Mugen finds himself embroiled in a raid on a Shogunate transport ship which harbours 60,000 Yen in cold coins onboard! Jin and Fuu can only look-on as the raid is prepared; but, naturally, there is more-than-meets-the-eye to the whole enterprise, and Mugen finds himself in even more danger than usual.

This first episode on the disc proceeds in a much more leisurely fashion than previous instalments; carefully building-up the story and delineating the past relationship between Mugen and Mukuro before the final twist at the end leaves Mukero staring death in the face. The second episode continues the story-line, and the amazing inventiveness and daring of the series comes to the fore here -- though not by its usual a-historical genre-bending techniques (completely absent from these two episodes, which take a much more serious approach). Instead, Mugen's near-death experience fills the entire fifteen minutes of the episode's first half and provides a dreamlike narrative that fills in even more details of Mugen's past-dealings with Mukuro and Kuzo in a colourful, poetic manner. A clever series of twists ensue which sees the real villain of the story eventually revealed as being someone no-one would ever consider, while Fuu shows herself to have acquired feelings of more depth than she might like to admit to in relation to her two travelling companions.

After two heavyweight episodes, the show now returns to its more familiar irreverent tone -- for one episode, at least! After a traditional song at the top of the credits -- which reminds us of the path Mugen, Jin and Fuu's journey has taken thus far and culminates in an invocation to enjoy the rest of the current episode! -- the story sees the trio entering the Kamigata area where they leave Fuu on a hillside while Mugen and Jin go off to enjoy the pleasures of the City's Red Light District! While Mugen lucks out in getting the only decent looking courtesan in the brothel, he's soon regretting his choice: the prostitute is really a Shogun Secret Service Officer who is undercover at the brothel --  run by the descendants of a secret order of forgers! The money that Mugen and Jin use to pay for their night out was discovered by them hidden in a stream -- they don't realise that it belongs to the forgers, and their night soon turns into another wild escapade. And perhaps Mugen has met his match in the wily Secret Service Agent, who uses the lure of sex to keep control of the single-minded Samurai. This is another stand-alone episode, returning to the 'larger-than-life' vein of the episodes from previous volumes, and full of slapstick and over-the-top action.

Finally, Volume Four ends with the first part of another extended story. This time the trio fall out again and go their separate ways; however, they've chosen to do so in a dangerous forest having been previously informed -- by a group of human-beatbox-rapping travelling storytellers -- about the 'Ghost of Yoshitsume'. As they make their way separately through the dark, forbidding forest, Jin, Mugen and Fuu each become involved in apparently distinct adventures: Jin meets an old foe from his younger days; Mugen is attacked by a lone archer; and Fuu encounters a strong-looking man who saves her from drowning and who just might be the decent bodyguard she has been wanting to accompany her on the rest of her journey -- needless to say, things will undoubtedly turn out to be a great deal more complicated!

"Samurai Champloo" continues to look as great as any television anime ever could: attractive character designs and artistic use of cell paintings that mimic various painterly styles and which incorporate creative 3D animation continue to bring this series to life, while the quirky use of Rap and ambient music on the soundtrack gives it that extra kick. Now that some more substantial stories are also being developed the show is really starting to take-off and is well worth checking out.