Samurai Champloo: Volume 3 (ep.9-12)

First of all, let me say even though it takes AWHILE for the situation to get back around to the 'samurai who smells of sunflowers'. The episodes ARE entertaining none the less...

1st episode...very interesting and you wonder if Mugen will make it in time to save Jin & Fuu, but the scene with Mugen and the warrior-priests after the burnt *ahem* 'magic-grass' incident is a scene that will live on in my memory. TOO damn funny.

2nd episode...this one is centered on Mugen & his fight with a street killer and I thought it was interesting what Mugen learned to do in the end..or MAYBE he had always known.

3rd episode...this one is centered on Jin [now one of my many favorites..as he falls into the category of cool & calm like Sesshoumaru of the 'Inuyasha' series & Ryuho of 'Scryed', anyway...]. This was a very serious & compelling story and you can't help but hope that Jin helps the woman trapped in the situation that's she in because of her husband...and being the closet-romantic, I was hoping Jin would 'get the girl'.

4th episode...now called the 'flashback' episode, now DON'T knock it UNTIL you've watched it. Yes, I know we've seen flashback episodes that were considered a waste of time in other animes. But this one is funny because it is centered on Fuu's diary and her thoughts on the journey thus far and the men she travels with, much to the annoyance of the two men she travels with ..who just want to know more about 'samurai who smells of sunflowers'.

Bottom line...personally, I found nothing boring about this part of the series and I liked the way the creators have the episodes flow into one another, instead of each one being stand-alones, so if you want action, drama & a little humor this DVD has it and I have to say I've enjoyed this anime so far and hope to continue to enjoy it until the end.

*side note: the parallels of Jin & Mugen to Ryuho & Kazuma [S-cry-ed] I couldn't help but notice so it will be interesting to see at the end IF Jin & Mugen's fight wind up like Ryuho & Kazuma considering these men are different but in many ways so similar.

This is an excellent series that I think all anime fans will enjoy, in addition I think this is a particularily good series for someone who has only recently developed an interest in anime because it is fairly westernized. Backed by an all hip hop soundtrack that lends the series a feeling of familiarity for americans (younger ones anyway) the characters use slang and converse in short concise manners, making the story easy to follow. This allows the series to avoid the long voice-overs that reveal key parts of the plot, something which is common in anime and may turn some younger or newer fans off. The art is beautiful and the direction of Shinichiro Watanabe is on pace with the rest of his projects, which to say the very least is excellent. Enjoy!

I really love this series but was very disappointed by the flashback episode. I felt a bit cheated by it. However, I stand by the animation and storyline. Both are strong and hope that the rest of the series, when released in the US, will continue to be great. The style of the series and the animators are what drew me to the series to begin with, Kill Bill VOl 1 and more importantly (to me) Cowboy Bebop. The music is great too.