The outlaw Mugen arrives in town, and Fuu begs him for protection, which he gives in exchange for food. Samurai Champloo opens in a town where Fuu is working as a tea waitress, ending up being molested by the son of the town's corrupt prefect. Main article: List of Samurai Champloo episodes

Reception of the series has been positive in both Japan and the West, and proved a commercial success in the West. The production was unstructured, with the scenario going through multiple revisions, and Watanabe bringing in multiple guest creators to ensure a high animation quality. The staff included character designer and animation director Kazuto Nakazawa, writers Shinji Obara and Yukihiko Tsutsumi of Office Crescendo, and multiple hip hop artists including Nujabes and FORCE OF NATURE to contribute to the music. Structured similar to a road movie, the series focused on tolerance and acceptance of minorities contrasting against its setting, with a central theme being the portrayal and acceptance of death.ĭirector Shinichirō Watanabe conceived the series in 1999, creating the characters and premise during his work on Cowboy Bebop: The Movie and The Animatrix, and beginning pre-production in 2002. Fuu saves Mugen and Jin from execution, then forces the pair to aid in her quest to find a samurai who smells of sunflowers.

The series follows the exploits of tea waitress Fuu, vagrant outlaw Mugen, and ronin Jin. The series is set in a fictionalized version of Edo period Japan, blending traditional elements with anachronistic cultural references including hip hop. A manga adaptation was serialised in Monthly Shōnen Ace during 2004, later released in North America by Tokyopop the following year. It was also licensed for English releases in the United Kingdom by MVM Films, and in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment. It was licensed for Western broadcast on Adult Swim, and for commercial release first by Geneon Entertainment and later by Funimation. It was first partially broadcast on Fuji TV, then had a complete airing on Fuji Network System.

The debut television production of studio Manglobe, the 26-episode series aired between May 2004 and March 2005.

Samurai Champloo ( Japanese: サムライチャンプルー, Hepburn: Samurai Chanpurū) is a 2004 Japanese anime television series.

Mugen samurai champloo