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Genre mix makes for
hip samurai tale

The creative mind who gave the world the adventures of bounty hunters in space set to a jazz soundtrack is mixing genres once again.

'Samurai Champloo' On DVD: Vols. 1 and 2, with four episodes each, available now from Geneon Entertainment; Vol. 3 scheduled for release May 31. On TV: New episodes air 8:30 p.m. Saturdays and 12:30 a.m. Sundays as part of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim lineup; reruns air 9:30 p.m. Thursdays and 12:30 a.m. Fridays.

This time, director Shinichiro Watanabe, who's known most for his work on "Cowboy Bebop" and "Macross Plus," is presenting a tale of wandering swordsmen, traveling through the Japanese countryside in the samurai era and generally kicking butt wherever they go.

All of this isn't set to the usual backdrop of orchestral and traditional Japanese instrumental arrangements, but to a beboppin' hip-hop beat.

No, "Samurai Champloo" isn't your parents' samurai epic. Consider it more of a high-energy reimagining of the samurai epic for the MTV generation.

The "Champloo" in the show's name is derived from the Okinawan term "champuru," which is commonly used to refer to cuisine that mixes and mingles various influences to create a tasty dish.

Indeed, the entire production mixes elements of traditional and pop culture at will -- so much so, in fact, that the first episode opens with the disclaimer: "This work of fiction is not an accurate historical portrayal. LIKE WE CARE. Now shut up and enjoy the show."

HEADING UP the long list of anachronisms in the show is Mugen, a vagrant swordsman whose tousled hair and witty banter will remind more than a few viewers of one of the main characters of "Cowboy Bebop," Spike Spiegel. His fighting style is more street than samurai, resembling a breakdancer wielding a sword with his flowing moves. By his own admission, he doesn't know the meaning of the word "restraint," always looking to make an extra buck, grab an extra morsel of food or bed an attractive woman.

It's while he's searching for some water that he shows up at a teahouse where a group of men led by the son of the town's corrupt magistrate is harassing patrons and workers, including teenage waitress Fuu. In exchange for 100 dumplings, he slices and dices several henchmen and breaks four of the magistrate's son's fingers to send most of the others running.

But when Mugen crosses paths at the teahouse with the ronin (masterless samurai) Jin, a man who does know the meaning of the word "restraint," it's only natural that flying sparks are soon to follow.

Jin, after all, is everything that Mugen isn't: He dresses in a more traditional wardrobe than the disheveled Mugen, fights with a style more calculated and conservative in movement, and compares fighting to playing shogi, or Japanese chess. "In both shogi and swordplay, the key is to think ahead," he says in one episode. "Battles are decided by thinking beyond your opponent."

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CARTOON NETWORK "Samurai Champloo" infuses the traditional samurai epic with a hip-hop sensibility. Clockwise from upper left are teenage waitress Fuuronin (masterless samurai) Jin and wandering vagrant Mugen.

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Sparks literally fly when they meet. Jin views Mugen as an undisciplined thug, while Mugen sees Jin as being incurably stuck-up and irritating. By the time their battle is over, the teahouse is a smoldering pile of embers (courtesy of one of the thugs that Mugen was fighting who lingered at the scene), the magistrate is out for their heads because his son died in the fire, and Fuu is out of a job.

Not that Fuu particularly minds this inconvenience. She's convinced that the two men are the perfect people to help her search for a samurai who smells like sunflowers. Who this guy is, what he did for her that had such an impact on her memories, and even how she can tell what a sunflower smells like when they have no detectable smell quickly become some of the central mysteries of the story.

And so, in exchange for her help in escaping from the magistrate (and a coin flip in Fuu's favor) and joined together by fate, the group sets off in search of the sunflower samurai, having their share of adventures along the way.

Many of the elements that made "Cowboy Bebop" a success in America are present in "Samurai Champloo." Like the "Bebop" crew, much of the comedy in "Champloo" stems from how its trio of heroes is perpetually broke, hungry and bickering among themselves.

Both shows have a cute mascot character -- "Bebop" with the tailless Welsh corgi Ein, "Champloo" with Fuu's pet flying squirrel, Momo. Even "Champloo's" English voice-acting cast is on par with "Bebop's" in terms of quality.

But the modern-day, hip-hop attitude is what makes "Samurai Champloo" so much fun to watch.

The opening credits depict the main characters in the traditional Japanese ukiyo-e painting style as the rap/hip-hop-heavy song "Battlecry" plays in the background.

Scene transitions -- often in the first episode, less so in subsequent episodes -- skip back and forth between the old and new scenes, accompanied by the sound of record scratching. (The sound is also used to censor expletives in the dubbed version airing on Adult Swim; kudos to the people involved in making that decision.)

Sword battles gain an added sense of energy and flow with the contemporary soundtrack backing it, as well.

Yet for all its contemporary influences, the series relies on much more traditional themes to drive the story forward: honor, duty and loyalty. Sure, Mugen and Jin always grouse about how Fuu is dragging them all over the place, and they'd love to split within a second's notice and settle their duel. But they always end up putting aside their differences and coming to her aid when she gets in trouble.

So will Fuu ever find her sunflower samurai? With the series not even halfway through its 26-episode run in America, the answer to that won't be known for a while. One thing's certain, though: It's going to be one heck of a ride.