Anime Samurai Champloo [from the creator of Cowboy Bebop]

[Dagger]

I normally hate clip jobs, but episode 12 is actually pretty entertaining. Fuu's sheer cuteness, combined with some amusing new material and a bit of insight into how she feels about Mugen and Jin, make this episode well worth watching.

The fact that the ED changed gives me reason to wonder whether the series will be twenty-four episodes long (since this sort of thing usually happens about halfway through).

~Dagger~

[ckime]

While it's obvious many of you have already snagged the fan-subs :rolleyes:, but for those of you who want the full resolution 5.1 surround sound legit version, we're releasing it everywhere on 1/11/05 :D. For more information on the release check out [url]www.SamuraiChamplooDVD.com[/url].

In any case, it's great that you have all been enjoying the show and I hope you spread the word about it. It's not everyday you see a show as good as this!
BTW if you have any questions about Samurai Champloo or Geneon, just let me know.

Happy New Year!

Chad Kime
Marketing Manager
Geneon Entertainment.

[Dagger]

Welcome to OB. ^_^ It's really nice to see a rep around these parts. Do you post at AoD, too, or am I thinking of someone else?

As for the first volume, I've got it pre-ordered. I'm looking forward to seeing that shiny orange/red artbox in person, and the bandana seems pretty cool-looking (if not terribly practical). Nice job on the official site and the new trailer.

Is there any particular reason that Geneon ended up bringing over a compilation soundtrack instead of just releasing the three or four original CDs in succession? It doesn't make a huge difference to me (I'm not that big on music--I just wish the lovely enka song from episode 14 had been included in one of the Japanese OSTs). But I don't think I've ever seen an official explanation for this, and I am curious.

Also, does Champloo have any chance of getting on American TV?

~Dagger~

[ckime]

[QUOTE=Dagger IX1]Welcome to OB. ^_^ It's really nice to see a rep around these parts. Do you post at AoD, too, or am I thinking of someone else?

As for the first volume, I've got it pre-ordered. I'm looking forward to seeing that shiny orange/red artbox in person, and the bandana seems pretty cool-looking (if not terribly practical). Nice job on the official site and the new trailer.

Is there any particular reason that Geneon ended up bringing over a compilation soundtrack instead of just releasing the three or four original CDs in succession? It doesn't make a huge difference to me (I'm not that big on music--I just wish the lovely enka song from episode 14 had been included in one of the Japanese OSTs). But I don't think I've ever seen an official explanation for this, and I am curious.

Also, does Champloo have any chance of getting on American TV?

~Dagger~[/QUOTE]

Hi Dagger, yes, I also post on Anime on DVD (I assume that's AoD?). Thanks for the nice thoughts about our site & trailer!

With regards to the soundtrack, I'm not 100% sure, but I believe that the licensor wasn't able to clear all of the rights on all of the tracks and wanted us to do a compilation. Usually in those cases there's not much room to argue... ;)

As for TV, we don't have anything official yet, but there's a VERY good chance it will be on TV in the late summer or early fall. Unfortunately, we can't do it earlier than that because we won't have enough episodes dubbed before then.

Thanks for your support! I'm pretty sure you won't regret your purchase.
Best regards,
Chad.

[Dagger]

[quote name='ckime']Hi Dagger, yes, I also post on Anime on DVD (I assume that's AoD?). Thanks for the nice thoughts about our site & trailer![/quote]
Heh, I thought your name seemed familiar. I was indeed referring to Anime on DVD.

[quote]With regards to the soundtrack, I'm not 100% sure, but I believe that the licensor wasn't able to clear all of the rights on all of the tracks and wanted us to do a compilation. Usually in those cases there's not much room to argue... ;)[/quote]
Works for me.

[quote]As for TV, we don't have anything official yet, but there's a VERY good chance it will be on TV in the late summer or early fall. Unfortunately, we can't do it earlier than that because we won't have enough episodes dubbed before then.

Thanks for your support! I'm pretty sure you won't regret your purchase.
Best regards,
Chad.[/QUOTE]

That's great news. It would be a crying shame if this show never made it to TV. And even though I always get a little tetchy when people go overboard with the Bebop comparisons, I can't help wanting to say that Champloo definitely has the same kind of broad appeal.

Just one more question: will there be any pack-ins for future volumes of the show? (Speaking of which, the postcard set which came with the final Last Exile DVD was pretty amazing--one of the very few LE items I've found myself getting really excited about.)

~Dagger~

[Syk3]

I don't think I've posted in this thread yet, but I've been very excited about this show from the initial sightings. Cowboy Bebop is definitely my favorite anime I've ever seen but I also [i]love[/i] historical samurai anime, and this combination is absolutely perfect in my opinion. There was no doubt that I would be picking this anime up when it would be released.

What I usually tend to do with anime is pick up some weird, cheap, but cool bootleg that condenses an average size anime (26 episodes) to 3 discs. With Samurai Champloo, though, I know that there's no way that I'd be able to wait that long for the entire thing to come out. This is going to be the first anime where I plan to actually collect it DVD by DVD, which will take some saving up on my part, lol. I'm trusting this hype and my own instinct that Samurai Champloo won't let me down, because you can't really buy the first DVD without being fully committed to buying the rest of them as well, especially with a box set. XD

So yeah, I preordered the box set last night (or rather, early this morning I think) for just under $30, though I probably should have ordered it sooner since I knew all along that I wanted to buy it, lol. The email that they sent out said that preordered items will try to ship to arrive at your house by or around the street date, and considering that it usually takes over a week for shipping, I screwed myself with that. >.o Ah well, at least I'll have it, heh. I'll post my opinions when it comes in.

[ckime]

[QUOTE=Dagger IX1]
Just one more question: will there be any pack-ins for future volumes of the show? (Speaking of which, the postcard set which came with the final Last Exile DVD was pretty amazing--one of the very few LE items I've found myself getting really excited about.)
[/QUOTE]

Right now, we're not planning any extras for the DVD's. The only product with the bonus material is the box with V1 that comes with a bandana. Still, as we go along, we might have more materials to work with and try to come up with some sort of bonus extra later in the series. Glad you enjoyed the Last Exile postcards! Murata's art is NICE.

Best regards,
Chad.

[Dagger]

[QUOTE=ckime]Right now, we're not planning any extras for the DVD's. The only product with the bonus material is the box with V1 that comes with a bandana. Still, as we go along, we might have more materials to work with and try to come up with some sort of bonus extra later in the series. Glad you enjoyed the Last Exile postcards! Murata's art is NICE.

Best regards,
Chad.[/QUOTE]

Yep, they look great. Thanks for responding. I would have liked extras, of course... but in a certain sense, knowing that I won't have to hunt for stickered DVDs is kind of a relief. ^_^;;

My copy shipped out on Friday or Saturday, so chances are I'll get it sometime this week. Not much to say about it, other than the fact that I'm really chomping at the bit. I can't even imagine how great Champloo is going to look on DVD.

Music-lovers, take note: Apparently Best Buy is selling an exclusive (?) volume 1 + OST combo. It's the box-less version of volume 1, but the price is nice and low; around $25, I think. As someone who wanted both the soundtrack and the artbox, I wouldn't have gone for this--but for fans who aren't into fancy packaging, it's definitely a steal. I find it kind of odd that these sorts of packs (there were some other Geneon v. 1 + CD deals there recently, I think, and also a full Vandread box set) randomly pop up at Best Buy every once in a while. They don't seem to be very well publicized, so people who pre-order stuff generally don't find out until after the fact.

~Dagger~

[QuincyArcher]

Just picked up my copy last night. the artbox is probably one of the best looking ones that i've seen, and the artwork on the dvd case is really cool. Theres not much for extra's on the dvd aside from trailers, but i really don't care for extras anyway. The bandana is pretty cool too.... but yellow.... i was kinda hoping it would be red to match the box.

Overall it's an excellent package and on top of that, i was able to get it for $19.99 at my local Suncoast :D

[Syk3]

[QUOTE=QuincyArcher]Just picked up my copy last night. the artbox is probably one of the best looking ones that i've seen, and the artwork on the dvd case is really cool. Theres not much for extra's on the dvd aside from trailers, but i really don't care for extras anyway. The bandana is pretty cool too.... but yellow.... i was kinda hoping it would be red to match the box.

Overall it's an excellent package and on top of that, i was able to get it for $19.99 at my local Suncoast :D[/QUOTE]Dear God.. $19.99 at [i]Suncoast?![/i] That's insane! Every time I've been there, they try to rip you off. >_<

But you're right, the artbox is incredibly cool, not to mention surprisingly high quality. It's a hard cardboard that makes my Eva box feel like crap, and it's all nice and fuzzy on the inside [wait.. my mistake, that was my senses playing tricks on me when I first touched it XD]. ^.^ And then, of course, the outside looks and feels awesome on its own. I like the DVD too, but not quite as much since there's a bunch of stuff going on that's kind of bundled on the cover.

I agree that there's not very much in terms of extras on the DVD itself, but I love the bandana and was wearing it for hours yesterday. XD I'm such a dork. Anyway, onto the content..

..wow. Just.. omg. lol I knew from the trailer and commerical that the animation would be amazing, but you just have to see it while watching the anime to grasp how amazing it really is. It's just so smooth and high quality, definitely taking anime to another level, which I think Bebop did on its own with detail.

And speaking of Bebop, I really find myself comapring both of the series, because of the director and everthing, and I seem to find a lot of similarities. Like the main characters.. Mugen and Spike. Well, for one they have the same voice actor, so that kind of gives it that mindset right off the bat, haha. But when you look deeper, you can tell that they both are rather.. erm, stubborn. o.o They live for themselves, follow orders from no one, and are proficient in what they do. Both are also rather untraditional in their field; perhaps moreso Mugen, who's sword fighting style is in sharp contrast to Jin's, but Spike also does a good job of just doing whatever the hell he feels like without being restrained by the norm. I've also noticed that neither one seems to care if a bad guy threatens to kill someone else, lol. Such badasses. :p

I'll post more about my thoughts on the series later on, but for now, I'll leave you with this..

Samurai Champloo = close favorite with Bebop. :O We'll see in the coming episodes.

[Dagger]

[quote name='Syk3]Dear God.. $19.99 at [i]Suncoast?![/i'] That's insane! Every time I've been there, they try to rip you off. >_<[/quote]
Yeah, Suncoast's general prices are awful. But they tend to discount certain anime DVDs on the week that they're released, so you can find good deals there if you stop in at the right time.

I wholeheartedly agree with all of the positive comments about the artbox. The pictures posted at various online stores just don't do justice to the cool artwork and that beautiful shade of red. The embossed logos and motifs are pretty neat--I've heard that Geneon did this kind of thing with a couple of recent boxes (i.e. Tsukihime's), but until now I hadn't seen it for myself.

[quote]And speaking of Bebop, I really find myself comapring both of the series, because of the director and everthing, and I seem to find a lot of similarities. Like the main characters.. Mugen and Spike...[/quote]
Mugen is usually the one who gets compared to Spike, probably in part because he does look sort of like a rougher, scrawnier version of him. What struck me is that Jin & Mugen are what you would get if you split Spike into two separate people and distributed his personality traits accordingly. They're opposite ends of the same spectrum, basically. Jin, for example, has Spike's Zen-like attitude and his ability to totally internalize strong emotions.

Of course, both of them end up doing things Spike would never do, and the differing atmospheres of the shows (Champloo's carefree grittiness and irreverence vs. Bebop's smooth coolness) make it hard to draw exact analogies. But it's interesting to discuss, I'll give you that.

On a similar note, wait until you reach some of the really serious episodes (such as 13 & 14, a two-parter that focuses on Mugen). Particularly in the later episodes, there are moments of elegance and genuine beauty that bring to mind similarly elegant and arresting scenes from Bebop. For instance, [spoiler]Mugen's dying dream[/spoiler] is the kind of thing that makes you just sit back and stare at the screen, enthralled. What's impressive is that these scenes don't really use the same visual devices as those in Bebop. Watanabe achieved the same effect, but by innovating, not by duplicating his earlier work.

[quote]I'll post more about my thoughts on the series later on, but for now, I'll leave you with this..

Samurai Champloo = close favorite with Bebop. :O We'll see in the coming episodes.[/QUOTE]
And you haven't even gotten to the good parts yet! :)

As someone who feels very attached to the Japanese-language cast, I was quite pleased with Champloo's dub. The three main characters' VAs deliver exceptionally strong and consistent performances. Some of the incidental and supporting characters sound kind of weak, but most are great.

I was most impressed by Kirk Thornton's portrayal of Jin, especially since I had been hoping Crispin Freeman would get the role. He embodies the character even better than Ginpei Sato--and sounds dead sexy, too. ;)

~Dagger~

[Syk3]

[quote name='Dagger IX1']Mugen is usually the one who gets compared to Spike, probably in part because he does look sort of like a rougher, scrawnier version of him. What struck me is that Jin & Mugen are what you would get if you split Spike into two separate people and distributed his personality traits accordingly. They're opposite ends of the same spectrum, basically. Jin, for example, has Spike's Zen-like attitude and his ability to totally internalize strong emotions.[/quote]I suppose that I can sort of see that. Afterall, Mugen is much crazier than Spike ever was, and enjoys to go around and pick fights a lot of the time. Like Spike, Jin is rather calm, but I still say that there are more comparisons to draw with Mugen, heh.

[font=Verdana][size=2][quote][i][/size][/font]And you haven't even gotten to the good parts yet! :)[/i][/quote]Yeah, from what I've seen, I think I can expect many good things from this series, and I can predict that it'll be hard to choose between this and Bebop at the end of the day.

I thought the voice acting in general was pretty good, but from someone who typically watches anime in his own language, it would have to be pretty bad for me to find the acting horrible. Other than that, I can live.

And for those of you interested in future release dates, they listed them on the back of the chapter selection sheet in the first DVD.

Volume.02 March 29, 2005
Volume.03 May 31, 2005
Volume.04 July, 2005
Volume.05 September, 2005
Volume.06 November, 2005
Volume.07 January, 2005 [I think they meant 2006 XD]

I just preordered the second DVD a few minutes ago. :p Hopefully I'll get some more time tomorrow to post about the series.

[Dagger]

According to an announcement made at the Adult Swim forums, Samurai Champloo (along with Paranoia Agent) will be airing on AS this summer.

I could not [i]possibly[/i] be more thrilled about this news. I was sort of worried that Champloo would end up on TechTV rather than AS, but this has laid my fears to rest. I'll be shocked if the series doesn't become a major hit--and now AS has a show they can promote as being "from the creators of Cowboy Bebop" without incredibly misrepresenting things, as they did in countless Wolf's Rain commercials. ^_^;;

~Dagger~

[Syk3]

That's great news. ^_^ ..for promoting the anime, I mean, since I'll be doing my best to keep up with the DVD releases and I don't watch AS very often as it is. As for Paranoia Agent, I've been hearing good things, so maybe I'll make an exception and take a look, heh. :p It's also exciting that American broadcasting in general is really starting to catch on and air a series shortly after the DVDs are released, which are in turn being created at a faster rate after first premiering in Japan. I know a lot of "elitist" people may not be excited about this news that anime is becoming more and more popular, but I'm all for it. And obviously a lot more people tune into AS than TechTV, so this makes it all the better.

I find it strange that I haven't realized this before.. but at this point in time, my two favorite animes are Cowboy Bebop and Rurouni Kenshin. Samurai Champloo is something of a mix between these two, so I suppose that me being so excited even after just the first DVD is rather justified. XD In fact, I've gone through the episodes about three times so far, and plan to watch it at least a couple more times over the weekend, haha. I'll probably end up writing character biographies and episode summaries for fun.. because I'm just weird like that.

At this point in time, however, I am willing to admit that some of the things that Champloo has shown so far have been done better in a few other animes. The sword fights in particular, while very cool, don't quite reach to the standard that Kenshin has, but even Kenshin didn't show an amazing fight in the first few episodes, so I'm content with waiting. Even so, it's an interesting thing to take note of and look out for.

They also haven't put too much of an emphasis on the hip-hop quite yet, in my opinion. The show is very modern and has the feel somewhat, to be sure, but the background music really hasn't stood out to the extent that nearly every Bebop episode was able to do. Again, though, I'm willing to hold off on saying anything definite before I watch some more of the series.

But for every negative thing I find about Champloo, there are about five positive aspects. The animation, the dialogue, the few side-stories I've seen, the modern touch to history.. all top-notch, in my opinion. The characters are all amazingly likable in their own ways, and I'm eager to learn each of their backgrounds (like in the first episode when Mugen was said, [spoiler]"I don't give a rat's *** about your common sense.. because I come from Ryukyu, pal."[/spoiler]).

[Dagger]

[quote name='Syk3']At this point in time, however, I am willing to admit that some of the things that Champloo has shown so far have been done better in a few other animes. The sword fights in particular, while very cool, don't quite reach to the standard that Kenshin has, but even Kenshin didn't show an amazing fight in the first few episodes, so I'm content with waiting. Even so, it's an interesting thing to take note of and look out for.[/quote]
Depends on your definition of a good fight, I guess. ;)

I was always underwhelmed by the battles in Kenshin--way too much talking, limited animation, etc. The ones that really stood out for me were Kenshin's first showdown with Saitoh (even though I don't care for the rest of the series, I desperately want to own the DVD that has this episode) and the final fight between Kenshin and Shishio.

As far as samurai-style swordfights go, I guess I'd say that I value the fluidity of the animation--and, to a lesser extent, sheer visual style--above everything else. The Rurouni Kenshin OVAs are pretty much the pinnacle of this, in my opinion, although the final few episodes of Peacemaker Kurogane are practically OVA-quality. I would rank the Kenshin/Saitoh and Kenshin/Shishio fights just below the best of Peacemaker, but for me Samurai Champloo and Samurai 7 have a much better ratio of episodes: good fights than Peacemaker or Kenshin TV. Of course, this is all a moot point, as the Kenshin OVAs basically wipe the floor with everything else. :p

Whoops, I forgot what I was originally going to say...

Oh, yeah. Target finally decided to ship me the "best of" OST. It's mostly forgettable, as expected--or rather, it makes great background music, but it's not the kind of thing that you can listen to without multitasking. My main complaint is that some of the tracks are unnecessarily long; there's no real need to loop the same beats endlessly. However, I do think this is worth getting, if only for the three full-length vocal tracks: the OP, the ED and a song that was either a variant ED or played sometime during the show--I can't remember which. The latter is just fabulous, but I also enjoyed hearing the second verse of the OP.

EDIT: Regarding your last point... the episodes that deal with Mugen's background are awesomeness incarnate. :D

~Dagger~

[Syk3]

Aha.. I've been waiting for you to post. XD It just goes to show how much I like to talk about Samurai Champloo, haha.

I didn't really mind most of the talking during the Kenshin fights. When they needed to just get to the fight, they did so, and pretty well, in my opinion; otherwise, it pushed along the story, and especially with something like Legend of Kyoto, this was interesting stuff. But it comes down to preferences, really. The two fights that you mentioned were the ones that stood out particularly strong in my mind as well, and to a lesser extent, Kenshin/Soujirou and Kenshin/Aoshi fights. I probably value intensity and emotion in fights the highest (especially when it gets to be a personal matter), and enjoy watching samurai fights where they're really giving it everything that they've got and more.

Fluidity and style really helps in Champloo, but I think that they were constructed well enough in Kenshin as well. Make no mistake, though, if Samurai Champloo were to have an intense fight like one of those mentioned from Kenshin, I have no doubt that I'd probably end up prefering the one in Champloo. :p I can't say anything about Peacemaker, since I've only seen a few episodes, but Samurai X was certainly excellent in terms of samurai swordfights. The seriousness and emotion of it all pretty much had me enjoying it more than most of the series, and that's saying a lot. One of the reasons I like Kenshin so much, though, is because its sheer length allowed them to cover so many bases; if it had just been 26 episodes, I probably wouldn't have liked it quite to the extent that I do.

I probably won't be buying the OST. I don't normally do so with anime series as it is, and even if I did, I'd probably go for Bebop first. And if it's like you decribed, it might not really be worth it anyway.

[Dagger]

After a rather long hiatus, the so-called "second season" has finally kicked off, starting with the deliciously random and outlandish episode 18.

A quick summary (no spoilers for any other parts of the series): [spoiler]Jin displays remarkable patience in dealing with a gang of young rascals, Fuu is flattered by the unwanted attention of the aforementioned punks (only to be shown up by irresistible cuteness of her furry companion Momo-chan), another hilariously gay male character makes a brief if memorably bizarre cameo, wildly over-the-top graffiti battles are animated with a tongue-in-cheek touch and all the dynamic fluidity of your usual Champloo swordfights...[/spoiler]

Of course, the biggest highlight was obviously [spoiler]Mugen learning to read hiragana and later inventing the "mugen" (infinity) symbol.[/spoiler] Extremely funny stuff.

All in all, this was easily among Champloo's best comedy-oriented episodes, right up there with episode 17 and the one featuring the [spoiler]gay Dutchman.[/spoiler] Watanabe has transformed the interjection of silly anachronisms into a fine art.

[quote name='Syk3']I probably won't be buying the OST. I don't normally do so with anime series as it is, and even if I did, I'd probably go for Bebop first. And if it's like you decribed, it might not really be worth it anyway.[/quote]
Seeing episode 18 has reminded me of how good the music actually is, at least during the series. The main problem with the American OST is that it simply doesn't contain most of the real standout tracks one hears during certain episodes of the show. For example, there were some very interesting background vocals during the climactic tagging scene in this episode. And it's just an absolute tragedy that the enka song from episode 14 didn't make it onto any of Champloo's OSTs, R1 or Japanese.

None of this can be blamed on Geneon, but it still kind of sucks. -_-

Eighteen episodes in, I [i]still[/i] have no freaking clue where the show will head next or how it's going to end. At the risk of sounding like a complete idiot, I will venture to guess that the assassin from episode 2 may eventually make some kind of comeback. He's the only supporting character I can think of who a) could potentially pose some kind of threat, b) hasn't died and c) was never given any closure. As far as I can remember, virtually all of the other important side characters have obviously departed the story for good.

EDIT: Oh, wait, I forgot about [spoiler]the lady from episode 17. She, too,[/spoiler] has a decent chance of returning.

I also think the climax and the episodes preceding it will have to go in one of two directions, by either focusing heavily on Jin, or pushing him even more into the background and making Mugen the main character. Whether it's just due to his personality and unassuming nature, or the fact that Mugen (in contrast) deliberately seeks out and instigates trouble, Jin has a tendency to fade from view. There are episodes which emphasize his role, but even then Mugen often ends up stealing the spotlight. Episode 11 is probably the only real exception to this.

Finally, I doubt [spoiler]Mugen and Jin's rivalry[/spoiler] is going to play a significant part in the ending. Especially in the wake of the [spoiler]separation[/spoiler] mini-arc, that element of the series has all but vanished. On the other hand, it'd be pretty cool if they did [spoiler]become real enemies,[/spoiler] ...

~Dagger~

[jean_san]

Just saw Samurai Champloo last night. I was just wondering if anybody else got to see it and what were their thoughts on it?

I personally enjoyed every second of it. Especially the scene between Mugen and Jin squaring off against each other. The music gave me a little case of nostalgia for Cowboy Bebop ("Rush" anyone?). :D

[dog dancing1]

yes i wacthed it last night too on swim my thoughts on it is,
that i loved it, it was cool :D and i liked when the were fightin and when he was breaken that guys fingers that was cool, so overall i liked it alot but its to bad that it took the place of full metal but i think i like champloo better :D

[jean_san]

Yes, Samurai Champloo is taking the place of Full Metal on Saturdays but think of the benefits. Now, Monday through Wednesday, Full Metal will air at 1 AM. :animesmil

[Pumpkin]

[SIZE=1]Interesting that the creator of Samurai Champloo made Cowboy Bebop since the time era's are so different from one another. This one is in the feudal era and Cowboy Bebop was futuristic. It's hard to imagine them from the same creator. Anyways, I saw what I think was the first episode on AS on accident, atleast I think it was the first episode, where [SPOILER] the two men were going to be executed and escaped. And the girl threw fireworks to scare everyone off. [/SPOILER] The animation and fighting scenes are pretty amazing. I have to admit, this seems a whole lot like Cowboy bebop in its fighting style, and I'm sorry to all the Kenshin fans, but I hated Kenshin. It's all action with no plot to me, the fighting style isn't even all that impressive. This guy clearly beats the Batosai by far. Also, has anyone noticed but the guy who [SPOILER]kept snapping back that guy's fingers[/SPOILER] looks a lot like Spike from CB? His attitude is the same as well. If only they were to meet eachother, hah now that would be a sight. Hope to see more and looking to see if I can get my hands on the subbed version of this anime. It looks awesome. [/SIZE]

[jean_san]

In terms of personality, I do agree Spike and Mugen act similar in certain respects but I think Mugen is more brash and ill-tempered compared to Spike. Spike tends to maintain his cool unless it comes to Vicious.

The voice acting is another element that I think Mugen and Spike share. It's funny because the English voice actors are two different people but somehow, these two different characters sound vaguely similar. :animestun

[Loving_Senpai]

Yo, I caught the first episode last night on adult swim and that cartoon is gansta!!!! I love the style that creator is using with his animes. The way it switched between scenes is like anything I've seen before. The mix of modern day music with anime it tooo cool. Kinda like with some kung fu movies like the Black Mask, where they played underground hip hop. I think it's gonna do just as well as Cowboy Bebop. Hey may be even a movie with be out like Cowboy Bebop.

[jean_san]

Hehe, the integration of Hip Hop music was all too classic. When Jin cursed out the governor and they substituted the curse word with a DJ cut, I was laughing so hard... :D

[Dagger]

[quote name='jean_san']Hehe, the integration of Hip Hop music was all too classic. When Jin cursed out the emperor and they substituted the curse word with a DJ cut, I was laughing so hard... :D[/quote]
Well, that dude definitely wasn't the emperor, haha. But I completely agree--the editing there was rather inspired. That one line of Jin's and the truncated ED aside, I'm pretty sure the episode ran completely unaltered. Which bodes well.

~Dagger~