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REVIEW: Samurai Champloo Complete Series Blu-Ray




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bluesheep02



Joined: 27 Mar 2006
Posts: 78
Location: Tokyo, Japan
PostPosted: Thu Jul 18, 2019 11:09 am Reply with quote
You gave the music an A-? The legendary Nujabes was given an A-? I really can’t with the reviews on this site anymore...
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MarshalBanana



Joined: 31 Aug 2014
Posts: 5286
PostPosted: Thu Jul 18, 2019 1:34 pm Reply with quote
bluesheep02 wrote:
You gave the music an A-? The legendary Nujabes was given an A-? I really can’t with the reviews on this site anymore...
I wish it was an F to just too see how you would have reacted to that, if this is what a A- does to you.

I thought the washed-out colours were rather nice, it suited the old Edo period.
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Zalis116
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Joined: 31 Mar 2005
Posts: 6863
Location: Kazune City
PostPosted: Thu Jul 18, 2019 1:35 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Outside of some stock production stills and promos, there aren't any substantial extras to speak of on this set, but that's to be expected for series that are getting on in years.
Age isn't necessarily the issue when it comes to extras. A lot of titles, particularly the more prominent ones, released during the so-called "bubble years" of the early/mid-00s did have a fair amount of extras produced. It's just that many of those extras haven't made their way to recent re-releases, due to rights issues and/or cost-cutting. Case in point: the Geneon singles for Samurai Champloo had printed inserts with interviews/comments from chief writer Shinji Obara, musicians Fat Jon, Forces of Nature, and Tsutchie, scenario writer Dai Sato, art director Takeshi Waki, Character Designer / Chief Animator Kazuto Nakazawa, and director Shinichiro Watanabe himself.

I can understand Funimation wanting to avoid printing costs, and space is at more of a premium in modern releases. But if they had the proper rights and materials, interviews like those could've been included as still images in the Extras section of the Blu-Rays.

Re: Fuu's "damsel in distress" tendencies -- come to think of it, a fair number of Cowboy Bebop episodes did take on the pattern of "Faye's run off and gotten herself mixed up in some crazy trouble again, better go bail her out." Of course, Faye was a bit more active and capable of dealing with most of her predicaments.
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Greed1914



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4404
PostPosted: Thu Jul 18, 2019 3:33 pm Reply with quote
Zalis116 wrote:
Quote:
Outside of some stock production stills and promos, there aren't any substantial extras to speak of on this set, but that's to be expected for series that are getting on in years.
Age isn't necessarily the issue when it comes to extras. A lot of titles, particularly the more prominent ones, released during the so-called "bubble years" of the early/mid-00s did have a fair amount of extras produced. It's just that many of those extras haven't made their way to recent re-releases, due to rights issues and/or cost-cutting. Case in point: the Geneon singles for Samurai Champloo had printed inserts with interviews/comments from chief writer Shinji Obara, musicians Fat Jon, Forces of Nature, and Tsutchie, scenario writer Dai Sato, art director Takeshi Waki, Character Designer / Chief Animator Kazuto Nakazawa, and director Shinichiro Watanabe himself.

I can understand Funimation wanting to avoid printing costs, and space is at more of a premium in modern releases. But if they had the proper rights and materials, interviews like those could've been included as still images in the Extras section of the Blu-Rays.


True. AoA's blu-ray re-release for Read or Die didn't have any commentary tracks, even though the Geneon DVDs had one per disc. I'm fairly certain those would have been the property of New Generation.

The cost cutting is definitely another factor. I've noticed that the more recent re-releases tend to be blu-ray only, even if it was a combo pack before, which makes sense if the primary selling point is cost. Plus, there is more reason to buy early if the initial release comes with more content. If memory serves, when ADV did its thin packs back in the day, that $30 price meant you got the show and nothing else.
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Top Gun



Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 4558
PostPosted: Thu Jul 18, 2019 4:08 pm Reply with quote
Zalis116 wrote:

Re: Fuu's "damsel in distress" tendencies -- come to think of it, a fair number of Cowboy Bebop episodes did take on the pattern of "Faye's run off and gotten herself mixed up in some crazy trouble again, better go bail her out." Of course, Faye was a bit more active and capable of dealing with most of her predicaments.

To be fair, Faye was a grown woman and professional bounty hunter who had to fight to get by for her entire adult life. Fuu was a teenage girl who worked in a restaurant until everything got upended around her.
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NJ_



Joined: 31 Oct 2009
Posts: 2992
Location: Wallington, NJ
PostPosted: Thu Jul 18, 2019 5:43 pm Reply with quote
Zalis116 wrote:
Age isn't necessarily the issue when it comes to extras. A lot of titles, particularly the more prominent ones, released during the so-called "bubble years" of the early/mid-00s did have a fair amount of extras produced. It's just that many of those extras haven't made their way to recent re-releases, due to rights issues and/or cost-cutting. Case in point: the Geneon singles for Samurai Champloo had printed inserts with interviews/comments from chief writer Shinji Obara, musicians Fat Jon, Forces of Nature, and Tsutchie, scenario writer Dai Sato, art director Takeshi Waki, Character Designer / Chief Animator Kazuto Nakazawa, and director Shinichiro Watanabe himself.


Those same interviews were included in the 2009 thinpak set on the reverse side of each case as seen here.
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Punch Drunk Marc



Joined: 04 Oct 2013
Posts: 1741
PostPosted: Thu Jul 18, 2019 6:40 pm Reply with quote
bluesheep02 wrote:
You gave the music an A-? The legendary Nujabes was given an A-? I really can’t with the reviews on this site anymore...


A- isn't that bad. I own all the Soundtracks for the series, and while the music is stellar for the most part not all of them are bangers. You also have to think of where they are placed in the show at times too.
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Lyrai



Joined: 04 Sep 2005
Posts: 173
Location: Potatoes (Idaho)
PostPosted: Thu Jul 18, 2019 8:20 pm Reply with quote
When this aired on Adult Swim, they kept the theming going by using a record scratch as the bleep noise for Shit and other swears that needed to be bleeped. It was a cute touch.
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Brent Allison



Joined: 01 Jan 2011
Posts: 2444
Location: Athens-Clarke County, GA, USA
PostPosted: Thu Jul 18, 2019 10:02 pm Reply with quote
I'm currently reading an academic article on how Watanabe is trying to explore the theme of community through postmodern aesthetics that often have trouble making that concept work in the first place. The article includes an exploration of Samurai Champloo If anyone is interested:

Bridges, W. (2018). The past tense and the future perfect: The postmodern play of Watanabe Shin'ichirou and the possibility of the coming community. The Journal of Popular Culture, 51(3), 776-801.

You can probably find it via an academic database (Academic Search Complete, JSTOR) in your local library for free.
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Lann



Joined: 12 Dec 2006
Posts: 267
PostPosted: Sat Jul 20, 2019 3:29 am Reply with quote
Sorry but NO. The reviewer of this just simply has no decent taste in what makes a class and amazingly timeless masterpiece.

Samuari Champloo is the quintessential of perfection. Good original story, doesn't follow a story or setting which you've already seen countless times in other anime properties, It has amazing animation, a brilliant soundtrack which is still highly regarded as being contemporary even 15ish years later. There is a great overarching story with equally as great stand alone episodes, each character compliments each others in their flaws and good points, its highly re-watchable, creates some unforgettable moody atmospheric moments, and lastly it doesn't take itself too seriously, but it also isn't hugely reliant on comedy either. Its a perfect mixed bag of complimenting treats.

In short: its the best anime ever. Period.
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AsuraTheDestructor



Joined: 24 Dec 2013
Posts: 466
PostPosted: Sat Jul 20, 2019 11:27 am Reply with quote
^ Umm, The Meiji era has been done many times in anime...


And don't be a fanboy. I like the series too, but people can have different opinions.
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BadNewsBlues



Joined: 21 Sep 2014
Posts: 5873
PostPosted: Mon Jul 22, 2019 10:57 am Reply with quote
Lann wrote:
Sorry but NO. The reviewer of this just simply has no decent taste in what makes a class and amazingly timeless masterpiece.

Samuari Champloo is the quintessential of perfection. Good original story, doesn't follow a story or setting which you've already seen countless times in other anime properties, It has amazing animation, a brilliant soundtrack which is still highly regarded as being contemporary even 15ish years later. There is a great overarching story with equally as great stand alone episodes, each character compliments each others in their flaws and good points, its highly re-watchable, creates some unforgettable moody atmospheric moments, and lastly it doesn't take itself too seriously, but it also isn't hugely reliant on comedy either. Its a perfect mixed bag of complimenting treats.

In short: its the best anime ever. Period.


Kinda hard to take this rebuttal seriously when you have Mugen as your avatar.
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