View source for Samurai Champloo

{{multiple issues|refimprove=January 2009|original research=January 2009}}
{{Infobox animanga/Header
| name            = Samurai Champloo
| image           = [[File:champloo3.jpg|200px]]
| caption         = Promotional image of (from left to right) Jin, Mugen and Fuu
| ja_kanji        = サムライチャンプルー
| ja_romaji       = Samurai Chanpurū
| genre           = <!--Discuss in talk page before adding or removing genres, however, keep in mind [[WP:MOS-AM#Content]]. Thank you.-->[[Chanbara]], [[Comedy-drama]]<!--Discuss in talk page before adding or removing genres, however, keep in mind [[WP:MOS-AM#Content]]. Thank you.-->
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Video
| type            = tv series
| director        = [[Shinichirō Watanabe]]
| producer        = 
| writer          = 
| music           = 
| studio          = [[Manglobe]]
| licensor        = {{flagicon|Australia}}{{flagicon|New Zealand}} [[Madman Entertainment]]<br>
{{flagicon|Canada}}{{flagicon|United States}} [[Geneon Entertainment]]<br>{{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[MVM Films]]
| network         = [[Animax]], [[Fuji TV]]
| network_en      = {{flagicon|United States}} [[Cartoon Network]] ([[Adult Swim]])
| first           = May 16, 2004
| last            = March 19, 2005
| episodes        = 26
| episode_list    = List of Samurai Champloo episodes
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Print
| type            = manga
| author          = [[Shinichirō Watanabe]]
| illustrator     = Masaru Gotsubo
| publisher       = [[Kadokawa Shoten]]
| publisher_en    = {{flagicon|Australia}} {{flagicon|New Zealand}} [[Madman Entertainment]]<br />{{flagicon|Canada}} {{flagicon|United States}} [[Bandai Entertainment]]  <br>{{flagicon|Singapore}} [[Chuang Yi]]
| demographic     = ''[[Shōnen manga|Shōnen]]''
| magazine        = [[Shōnen Ace]]
| first           = August 2, 2004
| last            = October 29, 2004
| volumes         = 2
| volume_list     = 
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Game
| developer       = 
| publisher       = [[NewGin]]
| genre           = [[Pachinko]]
| ratings         = 
| platforms       = Arcade
| released        = August 2008
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Footer}}
{{Italic title}}
{{nihongo|'''Samurai Champloo'''|サムライチャンプルー|Samurai Chanpurū}} is a Japanese [[Anime|animated]] [[Television program|television series]] consisting of twenty-six episodes. It was broadcast in Japan from May 20, 2004, through March 19, 2005, on the television network, [[Fuji TV]]. ''Samurai Champloo'' was created and directed by [[Shinichirō Watanabe]], whose previous work, ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'', earned him renown in the anime and Japanese television communities.<ref>[http://www.animeuknews.net/press/31/samurai-champloo-box-set-release-details Anime UK News :: Press :: Samurai Champloo Box Set release details<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The show was produced by studio [[Manglobe]].  

The series is a [[cross-genre]] work of media, blending the [[Action (fiction)|action]] and [[Samurai cinema|samurai]] genres with elements of [[slapstick]] comedy. It is also a [[period piece]], taking place during Japan's [[Edo period]]. The series is interwoven with [[Historical revisionism|revisionist historical]] facts and [[Anachronism|anachronistic]] elements of [[mise-en-scene]], dialogue and soundtrack. The series' most frequent anachronism is its use of elements of [[hip hop culture]], particularly [[hip hop music]] and the music it has influenced, [[break dancing]], [[turntablism]], [[Hip hop culture#Language|hip hop slang]], and [[graffiti]]. The show also contains anachronistic elements from the [[punk subculture]] and [[modernism]], but less prominently.  It is one of the first anime TV shows based on [[hip-hop music|hip-hop]] (''[[Afro Samurai]]'' is the other, having been released in 2007).

== Plot ==
A young lady named Fuu is working as a waitress in a tea house when she is harassed by a band of ruffians. Another customer, Mugen, offers to take care of them in exchange for food, but ends up instigating a brawl. Jin, a stoic young [[ronin]] in [[samurai]] garb, enters the tea house in the midst of the fight. Mugen attacks Jin after he proves to be a worthy opponent and they begin fighting one another, ignoring a fire that started during the brawl. They both faint from [[smoke inhalation]]. When they awaken, they find they have been arrested for the murder of [[List of Samurai Champloo characters#Shibui Tomonoshina|Shibui Tomonoshina]], the magistrate's son who had burned to death in the fire, and are to be executed. With help from Fuu, they escape and Fuu asks them to travel with her to find "the samurai who smells of sunflowers," a mysterious man Fuu can give little description of, but who she insists she must find as she thinks he's her long lost father. They agree to join her, with Fuu making only one condition: they are not to duel one another until the journey is done.

=== Setting and style ===
''Samurai Champloo'' employs a [[Anachronism|blend]] of historical [[Edo period]] backdrops with modern styles and references.  The show relies on factual events of Edo-era Japan, such as the [[Shimabara Rebellion]] ("Unholy Union;" "Evanescent Encounter, Part I"), [[Sakoku|Dutch exclusivity]] in an era where edict restricted Japanese foreign relations ("Stranger Searching"), [[Ukiyo-e]] paintings ("Artistic Anarchy"), and fictionalized versions of real-life Edo personalities [[List of Samurai Champloo characters#Mariya Enshirou|Mariya Enshirou]] and [[Miyamoto Musashi]] ("Elegy of Entrapment, Verse 2").

Incorporated within this are signature elements of modernity, especially hip hop culture, such as [[rapping]]  ("Lullabies of the Lost, Verse 1"), bandits behaving like "gangstas" (both parts of "Misguided Miscreants"), [[censorship]] bleeps replaced with record scratching, and much of Mugen's character design.  ''Samurai Champloo''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s [[musical score]] predominantly features hip hop music produced by [[Tsutchie]], [[Nujabes]], [[Fat Jon]], and [[FORCE OF NATURE]]. [[Shing02]] and [[MINMI]] are also featured in the opening and ending themes, respectively.

== Characters ==
{{Main|List of Samurai Champloo characters}}

''Samurai Champloo'' tells the story of three strangers in the [[Tokugawa era]] (also known as the [[Edo Period]]) who come together on a journey across Japan.

*'''[[List of Samurai Champloo characters#Mugen|Mugen]]''': A brash, nineteen-year-old [[Vagabond (person)|vagabond]] from the [[Ryukyu|Ryukyu Islands]], Mugen is a wanderer with a wildly unconventional fighting style. He wears metal-soled [[Geta (footwear)|geta]] and wears an exotic sword on his back. In Japanese, the word "Mugen" means "infinite" (literally, "without limit" or "limitless").<ref>Oscar Ratti and Adele Westbrook, Secrets of the Samurai: A survey of the Martial Arts of Feudal Japan (Castle Books, 1999) p. 83</ref>
*'''[[List of Samurai Champloo characters#Jin|Jin]]''': Jin is a reserved, twenty-year-old [[Rōnin|ronin]] who carries himself in the conventionally stoic manner of a samurai of the Tokugawa era. Using his waist-strung daishō, he fights in the traditional [[kenjutsu]] style of a samurai trained in a prominent, sanctioned [[dojo]]. Jin wears glasses, an available but uncommon accessory in Edo era Japan. Spectacles—called "Dutch glass merchandise" ("''Oranda gyoku shinajina''" in Japanese) at the time—were imported from Holland early in the Tokugawa period and became more widely available as the 17th century progressed. In Japanese the word "Jin" means "benevolence" or "compassion."
*'''[[List of Samurai Champloo characters#Fuu|Fuu]]''': A feisty young girl of fifteen years of age, Fuu recruits Mugen and Jin to help her find a sparsely-described man she calls "the samurai who smells of [[sunflower]]s." A [[flying squirrel]] named "Momo" (meaning "peach" in Japanese and also short for "''momonga''," meaning "flying squirrel") accompanies her, inhabiting her [[kimono]] and frequently leaping out to her rescue.

Apart from this trio, other characters tend to appear only once or twice throughout the series.

== Production ==
''Samurai Champloo'' is considered to be an example of the popular ''[[chanbara]]'' film and television genre—the trademarks are a setting in the Edo period, a focus on samurai or other swordsman characters, and lots of thrilling, dramatic fights.<ref>Silver, Alain, "The Samurai Film", The Overlook Press, New York, 1977, pg. 37. 0-87951-175-3</ref> ''Chanbara'' was used in the early days of Japanese cinema (when government political censorship ran high) as a way of expressing veiled social critiques.{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}}

The word ''champloo'' comes from the [[Okinawan language|Okinawan]] word "''[[chanpurū]]''" (as in ''gōyā chanpurū'', the Okinawan stir-fry dish containing [[bitter melon]]). Chanpurū, alone, simply means "to mix" or "to hash."

== Media ==
{{Main|List of Samurai Champloo episodes}}
''Samurai Champloo'' premiered in Japan on May 20, 2004 on [[Fuji Television]], and concluded on March 19, 2005, spanning a total of 26 episodes. It was also aired in Japan on [[Animax]].
Viewing Time: 5-14-2005 to 3-9-2006 U.S. Broadcast- [adult swim]

=== Anime ===
[[Geneon Entertainment|Geneon]], licensed the show for distribution in North America almost a year prior to the show's airing in Japan. An English [[Dub (filmmaking)|dub]] of the series premiered in the United States on the [[Adult Swim]] anime block on May 14, 2005. The version aired was edited and had foul language replaced with sound effects, in addition to cutting out blood and nudity. The final first run of the episodes concluded on March 18, 2006. ''Samurai Champloo'' debuted in Canada on December 24, 2006, on the digital station [[Razer]]. The series has also aired in the United Kingdom, [[Latin America]], Australia, New Zealand, Poland, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and Germany. [[Funimation Entertainment|Funimation]] has recently announced to distribute ''Samurai Champloo'' for [[Geneon Entertainment|Geneon]] since they have ceased in-house distribution of their titles in 2007. Geneon, in association with Funimation, re-released the entire 26-episode anime series in a box set in June 2009 and on [[Blu-ray]] in November 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-12-31/funimation-entertainment-to-distribute-samurai-champloo|publisher=Anime News Network|date=2008-12-31|title= Funimation Entertainment to Distribute Samurai Champloo}}</ref>

The episodes use six pieces of theme music. "Battlecry", performed by [[Nujabes]] and [[Shing02]], is the opening theme for all twenty six episodes. "{{nihongo|四季ノ唄|Shiki no Uta|Song of Four Seasons}}" by [[Minmi]] is the primary ending theme, except for four episodes. Episode 12 uses Minmi's  "Who's Theme" as its ending, episode 17 uses "You" by Kazami, 23 uses "Fly" by [[Azuma Riki]], and the final episode uses the song "San Francisco" by [[Midicronica]].

=== Manga ===
{{Expand section|date=January 2009}}
A ''Samurai Champloo'' [[manga]] debuted in ''[[Shōnen Ace]]'' on August 2004. [[Tokyopop]] licensed the manga in an English-language release in North America and [[Madman Entertainment]] licensed it for an English release in Australia and New Zealand. It is also licensed for a Portuguese-language and Spanish-language release in [[Brazil]] and [[Spain]] by Panini. There are only 2 volumes in this series.

=== Soundtracks ===
Music used in the series was released across four CD [[soundtrack]]s by [[Victor Entertainment]]. The first, ''Samurai Champloo Music Record: Masta'', was released on June 23, 2004. Produced by [[Shinichirō Watanabe]]'s longtime friend DJ [[Shakka Zombie|Tsutchie]] and the Japanese [[hip-hop]] duo Force of Nature,<ref name="Roman Album">''ROMAN ALBUM: Samurai Champloo''. Mangaglobe/Shimoigusa Champloos, Dark Horse Comics Inc., p. 50-54</ref>{{Verify source|date=January 2009}} the album features 18 instrumental tracks and one mid-tempo ballad sung by [[Contemporary R&B|R&B]] songstress Kazami. ''[[Samurai Champloo Music Record: Departure]]'' was released on the same date, containing 17 tracks, with two being vocal pieces performed by [[hip hop music|rap]] artist [[Shing02]] and [[Contemporary R&B|R&B]] singer [[Minmi]]. The album was produced by the late Japanese DJ/producer [[Nujabes]] and American MC/producer [[Fat Jon]].<ref name="Roman Album" />

Two additional soundtracks followed on September 22, 2004. ''Samurai Champloo Music Record: Playlist'' contained an additional 18 tracks, all created by Tsutchie, with only one being a vocal piece: a remix of the first album's song "Fly," now performed by [[Azuma Riki]] of the hip hop group ''Small Circle of Friends''<ref name="Roman Album" /> The final album, ''[[Samurai Champloo Music Record: Impression]]'', features 23 tracks from Force of Nature, Nujabes, and Fat Jon. Rap artists Suiken and S-word, members of Tokyo rap group [[Nitro Microphone Underground]], provide guest vocals and Minmi performs the final song on the album.<ref name="Roman Album" />

A separate soundtrack, ''Samurai Champloo Music Record: Katana'', was released in 2004 by [[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Geneon Entertainment]] only in North America. It bares most of the same tracks as the Departure album, additionally having the same number of tracks.

=== Video game ===
[[Grasshopper Manufacture]] developed a [[video game]] for the [[PlayStation 2]] entitled ''[[Samurai Champloo: Sidetracked]]''; however, the manufacturer has stated that the game has no relation to the show. It was released on April 11, 2006, in the United States and received mixed reviews.<ref>[http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/929857.asp GameRanking.com]</ref> The game is notable for giving Mugen's distinctive sword a name, "Typhoon Swell"; it was never called by this name in the anime or manga series.

== References ==
<references />

== External links ==
{{Portal|Anime and manga}}
*[http://www.samuraichamploo.com/ Official ''Samurai Champloo'' web site] {{ja icon}}
*[http://www.fujitv.co.jp/b_hp/samurai/index.html# Official Fuji TV ''Samurai Champloo'' web site] {{ja icon}}
*[http://funimation.com/samuraichamploo/ Samurai Champloo || Anime Website from FUNimation]
*[http://www.madman.com.au/samuraichamploo/index2.html Official Madman Entertainment ''Samurai Champloo'' web site]
*{{imdb title|0423731}}

{{Samurai Champloo}}
{{Shinichiro Watanabe}}

<!--Discuss in talk page before adding or removing genre-related categories, however, keep in mind [[WP:MOS-AM#Content]]. Thank you.-->

[[Category:2004 television series debuts]]
[[Category:2005 television series endings]]
[[Category:Anime of 2004]]
[[Category:Anime with original screenplays]]
[[Category:Chanbara anime and manga]]
[[Category:Comedy-drama anime and manga]]
[[Category:Funimation Entertainment]]
[[Category:Geneon]]
[[Category:Samurai anime]]
[[Category:Shōnen manga]]
[[Category:Tokyopop titles]]
[[Category:Bandai Entertainment manga titles]]

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