🔗 Share this article

While the classic series often tops debates about the top anime of all time, its close relative, Samurai Champloo, deserves similar acclaim. The impact of this samurai saga continues to echo today, especially in Sony's major Ghost franchise.

A Deeper Homage

This recent Ghost of Yotei, the follow-up to the 2020 PlayStation 5 exclusive, enhances its homage to Japanese period dramas with the inclusion of Kurosawa Mode. This setting offers black-and-white visuals, textured effects, and old-school sound. New options include the intense director mode, which focuses the view and intensifies blood and mud; and Shinichirō Watanabe Mode, featuring a chill beat soundtrack crafted under the creator's direction.

For those interested about the Watanabe mode, Watanabe is the creative force behind the jazz-infused the space opera and the hip-hop-driven the Edo-era adventure, among other celebrated anime.

The Blend of Eras

Watanabe’s 2004 show the groundbreaking series merges historical Japan with urban culture and modern sensibilities. It follows the improbable team of Mugen, a untamed and erratic swordsman; Jin, a calm and disciplined ronin; and the brave waitress, a brave young woman who recruits them on her mission to find “the mysterious sunflower samurai.”

While the musical backdrop is ultimately his work, much of the series' music was influenced by Japanese hip-hop producer the late artist, who passed away in 2010 at the young age of 36. Nujabes deserves his tribute alongside Watanabe when it comes to the audio the anime is renowned for and references in the new game.

Cultural Fusion

Much of what made the series stand out on the cable schedule was its smooth integration of urban music and Eastern traditions. That fusion has been a fixture in the music scene since the classic album in 1993, which itself originates from an entire generation being raised on martial arts films starring the martial arts legend and the iconic actor.

For many, Adult Swim and the anime served as an entry point to lo-fi/experimental hip-hop, with producers like the beatmaker, Shing02, and Flying Lotus, the latter of whom went on to compose for the Netflix anime the historical series.

Stylized Storytelling

Visually rich, Champloo’s opening introduces the protagonists through symbolic creatures in the scene — the wild one struts like a bird, while the disciplined one moves with the serene, elegant posture of a colorful fish. Although the show's central characters are the highlight of the series, its supporting cast are where the real soul of the anime can be found.

There’s thief the young character, who has a tragic tale of survival in episode 7, and another character named the guard, whose encounters with the wild swordsman change him profoundly that Yamane ends up in his writings years later. In the later chapter, “the episode title,” Jin becomes enamored with a wedded lady forced into sex work named Shino and aids her flight from a brothel.

A Cohesive Journey

At initial view, the 26-episode series appears to tell a fragmented story of the characters' quest to finding the elusive figure, but as Samurai Champloo develops, happenings from past chapters begin to weave together to form a single, cohesive narrative. Every experience our protagonists experience along the way has an effect on both the characters and the main plot.

Period Influences

The series also draws from historical happenings (the same time period as Yotei), filtered through Watanabe’s artistic lens. Occurrences like the feudal conflict and settings such as the mountain outpost (which the character watches over) are integrated into the story.

At the start, woodblock printer the historical figure appears and momentarily focuses on the female lead as his inspiration. After she rejects him, his work later ends up with the hands of Vincent van Gogh, who, in Champloo’s fictional history, is inspired to create his renowned still-life pieces.

Lasting Influence

All of these elements tie intimately into the anime's soundtrack, giving this warrior tale the kind of unique character that other works have long tried to capture. Titles like the urban samurai series (featuring Wu-Tang’s RZA), the hip-hop anime, and the Netflix original all attempted to recreate its fusion of music and visuals, but with varying success.

the sequel has the potential to pick up where Samurai Champloo ended, triggering a fresh surge of influence much like the anime once did. If you’re playing the game, it’s worth revisiting Champloo, because without it, there’d be no “the special setting,” no surge of hip-hop-infused anime, and no lasting legacy of Nujabes, from which the legacy comes.