Feelings after Ep. 26

At first I had that standard sadness to see it end. But then I realized why it was all good. Both Mugen and Jin found other companions along the way. Fuu didn't have any plans, but on the other hand, she's still very young. So after all is said and done, them splitting up actually feels like a relief! With their mission done, their lives can finally settle into something sweeter... not to mention the hope or freedom they gained.

I love it! A happy ending more meaningful than defeating the bad guys, and more realistic than saving the world.

Wow an new thread? Anyways, yeah I liked the ending, much better than th usual, although I still feel the show is rather weak and pretty overrated.

After episode 26 verdict:

In my opinion, the series had all the strengths and weaknesses of it's director. Like Cowboy Bebop before it, Samurai Champloo has great characters, great setup, solid animation, and great music, but it has immense trouble following through with its story. The result is a lot of goofy, rambling filler that, more often than not, takes away from the series' credibility and focus. In the end, you get about maybe a quarter of the episodes being good, and among those, only the first and last three are spectacular.

The feeling after episode 26 for me was, wow, this series, like Bebop, could have been unbelievably awesome if they had stuck to the main story and kept things largely serious. Because, quite frankly, this series' conclusion is possibly one of the best in anime, but the build up to it could have been better and dealt with more in-depth in the amount of episodes they had. If nothing else, the series could have been condensed.

As a result, this is another bittersweet experience for me with recent anime. However, with time, undoubtably, this series will improve in my mind as anime seems to be getting less and less quality these days, and this was a series I could tell they put an extra amount of effort into than the standard stuff.

I think a movie like Bebop's 'Knocking of Heaven's Door' would be nice to see, and it might be able to make up for the series' shortcomings.

Yup to you both!

Nagasaki...

1. Actually, I was hoping for some heavily-armored samurai opponents, some sword-versus-gun action... some showcasing of exotic Western military hardware, you know?

2. If the characters spend twenty-odd episodes trying to reach Nagasaki, they should spend some more time there, taking in the atmosphere and getting into some kind of minor scuffle before the final showdown. There should be a surreal feeling when a long trip finally concludes--where was it?

3. It could've made a great nexus for the consequences of all the trio's actions.

The Dutch traders could have made another appearance... the ninja-girl, the abused wife, the Ainu... the people that the trio passed, the organizations their hijinks smashed... some could've come back near the end to either help or haunt the trio. Then there wouldn't have been a filler-factor!

Champloo had so many great moments, but since so many of them had so little overall importance... I hardly remember most of them.



It's a shame when there's a great show with just one movement, just one cast of characters--in Champloo's case, the trio making it to Nagasaki. I think the perfect plot allows for some characters to come and go, and for new objectives to arise, without feeling arbitrary.

I watched Paranoia Agent before Champloo and I enjoyed how the plot completely shifted direction at episode five, then again at episode twelve, and still connected everything together! So dense! Paranoia Agent's writer, Satoshi Kon, wisely kept it down at thirteen episodes.



Anyway I think we can all agree that Champloo has a quality of animation surpassing even Bebop, maybe... even FLCL...?

The ride was fun and classily done. I'm very glad I watched it.

At least the ending made sense. I just wish they would make some movies though. I'd love to see if Jin goes back for the woman he fell in love with, if Mugen ever crosses paths with any of the new enemies he made, and what Fu does now. I can just see her getting harrassed on the path she took, and having either Mugen or Jin having to escort her to where ever it is she is going..after all, she was pretty good at attracting trouble

quote:

Originally posted by Shady Dark Lady I'd love to see if Jin goes back for the woman he fell in love with, if Mugen ever crosses paths with any of the new enemies he made, and what Fu does now.

There's also that one government spy that fell in love with Mugen and said that she'll come back and marry him on day (that was one of my favorite episodes).

That's the cool thing with Champloo, they left a lot of things like that hanging so there could be the possibility of them being tied up later on in the future.
Peace.

Maybe they will do a movie, like they did with Bebop..I'm hoping anyway! I would love to see more of the agent that fell in love with Mugen. Just to see them fight again would be worth it. But could you imagine poor Fu? If she ever meets a guy, you know Jin and Mugen would probably play over protective big brothers and beat the living daylights out of him, if he ever hurt her.

quote:

Originally posted by Shady Dark Lady I would love to see more of the agent that fell in love with Mugen.

Yeah, that was one of my favorite episodes and I liked the ending with her leaving saying that she fell in love with Mugen and that one day, she will marry him. With all the good loose ends that Champloo left with that could be used for other possibilities, that was my favorite.

quote:

Originally posted by Shady Dark Lady If she ever meets a guy, you know Jin and Mugen would probably play over protective big brothers and beat the living daylights out of him, if he ever hurt her.

That's quite interesting, and it could be a subplot for a possible movie for Champloo as well. Um, I'm gettin' an idea...
Peace.

Hrmm....

I saw the entire series in Japanese. =D It was pretty funny, since the filler episodes were all pretty good. But I hated the little hints of Fuu liking both of them at the same time. Must be a little girl's crush, since she's only fifteen or sixteen. lol. But I like the idea of Fuu and Jin together. =D Oh well.

My judgement after Episode 26:

It ended too soon. =_=' The whole sunflower samurai was a bit of a disappointment...

Later days,
Rev