Samurai Champloo Volume 1

by Masaru Gotsubo

In world full of evil, a hardworking waitress, an arrogant mercenary and a mysterious samurai meet and find themselves wanted by the law. Together they form an uneasy alliance to search for the Sunflower Samurai and on their journey encounter ninja assassins, misleading characters and princes in disguise.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1591822823
• ISBN13: 9781591822820
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: TokyoPop
• Length: 173 Pages
• Weight: 0.38 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.0" x 7.5"
• Age Range: 14 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 9 to 12

Customer Reviews

WANTED: Glasses, Slacker, and..err...We can't classify him.

Very exciting! If you are a fan of the Anime series that airs on [Adult Swim], A fan of Edo Japan & Samurais, Or you are into a good book with a unique style of art- You are in for a real treat! Samurai Champloo Volume 1 is a wonderful grab. Confronted with three characters- Jin [pronounced gene] who is a quiet and reserved samurai, Fuu [Foo] who is a waitress in a tea house thats not the brightest or most resourceful thing on the planet, and Mugen [Moo-gen]a samurai with no certain rythem or rhyme to his fighting techniques who can be called merciless and a womanizer at times-You are thrown into a freestylin', out of wack, crazy society, better known as the Edo Japan era -Just not the one you hear about in books.. The Manga starts out the same as the anime, where Fuu rescues the two samurai from execution in order to get them to help her on her quest for the mysterious Sunflower-Scented Samurai. All though it braches out from the anime and doesn't follow it to a tee -it gives you a quicker ensight into Fuu's background aswell as the same intence action. It also still gives you the same anxious rivalry & want on both Mugen and Jin's part to beat the other in a battle! So Join this misfit gang on their journey for the Sunflower Samurai as they run into fights, trouble, danger, and...other peculiar incidences along the way. You'll enjoy this Killer sweet and satisifying Champloo spin on Edo Japan and the people in it with your soon to be favorite trio! -Winry

fight fight fight

A good anime, though not exactly what I was expecting - the quality of the episodes do vary. Some are truly excellent, and some merely watchable, with some even being boring. If it had continued the way it was going in the first seven episodes, I'd have rated it lower - but around episode 10 it picks up remarkably. The episodes have more substance and depth to them, the fights become more impressive, and it makes up for the dip in quality after the first episode which, despite some strange style choices, was still very cool. You can only have 'Lol, they're starving again' happen so much times before it gets irritating, so the fact that the series has finally gotten it out of its system is quite a blessing. So! Enough needless gloom, the series is pretty much great again. Plenty of action, and the characters - especially Mugen - are getting some quality scenes to themselves. Worth watching. If some episodes put you off, others may very well drag you back in.

Do you need a reason to kill someone?

Mugen is unrefined, rude, and lives from day to day. He is mercenary who needs no reason to kill. Jin is a disciplined samurai, a master of the sword. He is skilled yet has no reason to fight or a side to fight on. Fuu was a hardworking waitress but now she is unemployeed because of these two male strangers who, along with her, are now on the run from the law. Now she is looking for the Samurai who smells like a sunflower. Based on the hit anime, the first chapter follows the first episode but then breaks off and spins its own tales of battle, danger and even ninjas!