In Cowboy Bebop Shinichiro Watanabe fused blues and jazz music with a western science fiction motif. The effect produced a show that was unique in every sense of the word and to this day is adored by fans everywhere. His follow up show, Samurai Champloo, attempted to do the same but this time it was with a blend of samurai action and rap/hip hop music. While the new series doesn't really capture the same fire that Bebop lit, it certainly has a charm of its own with plenty of irreverent flare to spare.

Like much of anime now-a-days, Samurai Champloo found success on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block. Other series like Fullmetal Alchemist, Inuyasha and Cowboy Bebop have soared in popularity thanks to the channel and it has really helped to bring anime to the masses. This show in particular also has the distinction of having a manga produced after it was aired, which is something that usually happens the other way around.

Samurai Champloo focuses on the adventures of three characters as they traverse Japan's countryside in search of food, money and something to do. That seems to be a mainstay in Watanabe's direction since the same could have basically been said about Bebop's characters as well. Mugen is arguably the Spike of this series, meaning he's kind of the center focal point and cause for most of the stories here. Fuu would be the girl of the group and somewhat similar to Faye and Ed, while Jin is the more quiet, retrospective type and vaguely similar to Jet.

One thing that I've noticed from watching the episodes that I have is that the show is extremely episodic and irrelevant. I guess that's all just part of the charm and drive that Watanabe was searching for, but it really comes across as a little off kilter at times. There are driving forces for many of the adventures and there may be some continuing plot lines throughout the series, but for the most part things are very stand alone. If you've been collecting the DVDs up until now then you have no doubt been frustrated with the way that the episodes are set up. Volume five ended with a cliffhanging two-parter and you had to wait until this one to see how it ended.

The Sarah arc comes to a close as Mugen finally seems to have met his match with a blade. The action in the first episode on this disc is ridiculously intense and shows what this series is capable of. The fighting and animation were so well choreographed that when you add in the music it feels like nothing else out there. I found the story to end satisfactorily but the rest of the volume is something of a let down.

With so little time left for the series I was really hoping for the show to spend more time drudging up an awesome story with a lot of action. What we get here, however, are two stand alone tales that really aren't the best that the show has to offer. The first one involves the trio stumbling upon a land of the dead or sorts as zombies surround them from 500 years ago. They lost track of time while digging for treasure and our heroes might just fall into the same fate if they aren't careful. This was one of the more slower paced episodes from the series and while the concept is interesting, the execution of it all feels…odd somehow.

The last episode on the disc features Mugen, Fuu and Jin being drafted to play a game of baseball against a group of arrogant, pushy and fat Americans. That's really all that happens in the last episode. It's a fun diversion, but considering the cost for each volume it's kind of frustrating to get this little amount of content from such a good show. I have enjoyed Samurai Champloo up to this point but the distribution plan for the DVDs just doesn't help things out very much. With only three episodes left having two borderline throw-away episodes on this release hurts a bit. If you've been holding off on buying into the show you're probably better off waiting for a box set of some sort.

Samurai Champloo is one great looking show. The series was originally broadcast back in 2004 and makes its transfer to DVD with a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen treatment. The image is about as close to flawless as you could consider an anime to get with incredible color translation and no print abnormalities. I just love the style of the show and the subtle attention to detail during the animation process. This is one of those series that comes alive thanks to the care and consideration it was given during production time. .

A decent blend of audio options helps the presentation for Samurai Champloo in a big way. The disc includes three distinctly different soundtracks to listen to; English 5.1 Japanese 2.0 and Japanese DTS 5.1. I personally gave the Japanese DTS track more play time than the other tracks and found it to be technically sound. The rear channel doesn't kick in as much as I would have liked it to, but when it does it sounds great. I didn't have any problems with dropout or distortion during my viewing. The disc also includes optional English Subtitles.

The only bonus content that is available on the sixth volume of Samurai Champloo is a handful of previews and an Art Gallery with some art for characters in this batch of episodes. This is a series that begs for something else like an audio commentary or something, but I have a gut feeling that just like Bebop, we're going to be seeing a "Remix" for this show in the future.

Samurai Champloo is an interesting beast to behold. On one hand you have some absolutely fantastic storytelling, artwork, use of music and aesthetic quality. On the other you have a poorly assembled collection of episodes on each disc, and frankly in my opinion three for $30 just doesn't cut it in this day and age. All told though, this is a great series that deserves your attention if you liked Cowboy Bebop. If you're dead set on getting the series then you're going to buy the disc regardless, but chances are you are better off waiting for a complete set of some kind to be released.

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