Samurai Champloo

Samurai Champloo is an anime television series by Manglobe that began on Fuji TV in May 2004. Shinichirō Watanabe created the original story and directed the 26 episodes of the television anime.

Fuu Kasumi, a 15-year-old teahouse waitress in Edo-era Japan, encounters a rowdy vagabond swordsman named Mugen and a disciplined ronin named Jin. The two skilled swordsmen fight each other inside the tea shop and accidentally destroy the establishment, leading to their arrest and death sentences by the local magistrate. Fuu rescues both men from execution with help from her pet flying squirrel Momo. In return for saving their lives, she extracts a promise that they will accompany her on a journey across Japan to find a mysterious samurai who smells of sunflowers.

Fuji TV broadcast the first 17 episodes between May and August 2004 before the satellite network BS Fuji aired the remaining nine episodes to complete the single 26-episode season in March 2005. Kazuto Nakazawa designed the characters and supervised the animation direction. Hip-hop producers Nujabes and Tsutchie composed the musical soundtrack alongside Force of Nature and Fat Jon. Kazuya Nakai provided the Japanese voice for Mugen, and Ginpei Sato voiced Jin. The creative team incorporated modern hip-hop music, graffiti art, and breakdancing movements into historical Edo-period settings.

Cartoon Network first broadcast the English-dubbed version in the United States in May 2005. The anime earned selection as a Jury Recommended Work in the Animation Division at the 2004 Japan Media Arts Festival. Tokyo International Anime Fair nominated the television series in 2005. Bandai released a companion action video game named Samurai Champloo: Sidetracked for the PlayStation 2 console in February 2006. Masaru Gotsubo illustrated a two-volume manga adaptation that ran in Monthly Shōnen Ace magazine from August to October 2004.