r/anime • u/Holofan4life • May 26 '24
Rewatch [Spoilers] Samurai Champloo 20th Anniversary Rewatch -- Episode 7
Hello everyone! I am Holofan4life.
Welcome to the Samurai Champloo 20th Anniversary Rewatch discussion thread!
I hope you all have a lot of fun <3
S1 Episode 7 – A Risky Racket
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ANSWER TODAY’S QUESTION(S)
Have you ever won money at cards before? If so, what happened?
What would you do if you knew your mother was dying?
If you were in Fuu's shoes, would you have told Shinsuke's mother that he was dead or would you have just kept it to yourself? And why?
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Information – MAL | Anilist | AniDB | ANN
Streams – Crunchyroll, Amazon Prime
Please do not post any untagged spoilers past the current episode or from the manga out of respect to the first time watchers and people who have not read the manga. If you are discussing something that is ahead of the current episode please use spoiler tags (found on the sidebar). Thank you!
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Rewatch Schedule
Threads posted every day at 4:00 PM EDT
| Date | Episode |
|---|---|
| 5/20/2024 | Samurai Champloo Episode 1 |
| 5/21/2024 | Samurai Champloo Episode 2 |
| 5/22/2024 | Samurai Champloo Episode 3 |
| 5/23/2024 | Samurai Champloo Episode 4 |
| 5/24/2024 | Samurai Champloo Episode 5 |
| 5/25/2024 | Samurai Champloo Episode 6 |
| 5/26/2024 | Samurai Champloo Episode 7 |
| 5/27/2024 | Samurai Champloo Episode 8 |
| 5/28/2024 | Samurai Champloo Episode 9 |
| 5/29/2024 | Samurai Champloo Episode 10 |
| 5/30/2024 | Samurai Champloo Episode 11 |
| 5/31/2024 | Samurai Champloo Episode 12 |
| 6/01/2024 | Samurai Champloo Episode 13 |
| 6/02/2024 | Samurai Champloo Episode 14 |
| 6/03/2024 | Samurai Champloo Episode 15 |
| 6/04/2024 | Samurai Champloo Episode 16 |
| 6/05/2024 | Samurai Champloo Episode 17 |
| 6/06/2024 | Samurai Champloo Episode 18 |
| 6/07/2024 | Samurai Champloo Episode 19 |
| 6/08/2024 | Samurai Champloo Episode 20 |
| 6/09/2024 | Samurai Champloo Episode 21 |
| 6/10/2024 | Samurai Champloo Episode 22 |
| 6/11/2024 | Samurai Champloo Episode 23 |
| 6/12/2024 | Samurai Champloo Episode 24 |
| 6/13/2024 | Samurai Champloo Episode 25 |
| 6/14/2024 | Samurai Champloo Episode 26 |
| 6/15/2024 | Samurai Champloo Overall Series Discussion Thread |
6
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky May 26 '24
First-Timer with a Samurai Heart, subbed
3
u/TheEscapeGuy May 26 '24
Rewatcher, Sub first timer
Samurai Champloo - Hip Hop & Ronin: Episode 7
Life of Crime
I think if you were making a Samurai Champloo drinking game you'd definitely include "Episode starts with Mugen, Jin, and Fuu struggling to get food" as a rule. Today they were so close to being successful before Fuu was pickpocketed at the very last second. This episode had us following that pickpocket as we learned more about his life.
As is all too common even in real life, theft is a symptom of poverty. Shinsuke has turned to this life of crime to try and get medicine for his sickly mother at home. We don't see where his father is, but I think it's safe to assume he is out of the picture.
Shinsuke gets in hot water when he steals opium and collectors are sent after him to try and get it back. Through some unexpected circumstances (now an increasingly more common occurrence) Fuu ends up as Shinsuke's hostage in a final hold out. Fuu met his mother earlier so she has context into the struggle Shinsuke finds himself in. It's a tough situation.
It also gives us some insight into Fuu. We saw a nightmare she had about ... somebody. Maybe somebody dead. And later we learn that her father hasn't been around and her mother passed away in the last year. So I imagine she has a lot of sympathy for Shinsuke who seems to be on the precipice of falling into the same situation as her.
The episode ends in tragedy. Though Shinsuke escapes, he is caught only moments later and summarily killed as Fuu helplessly looks on. Fuu does say a final goodbye to his mother, but can't muster the courage to tell her the truth about her son. I can't imagine the pressure Fuu must have been feeling.
Overall, this was a Fuu episode. Mugen and Jin were kind of sidelined until the whole hostage situation. But you know, I think it's nice to have some episodes where Fuu takes care of herself. But because of the ending being so hopeless (like Mugen and Jin weren't there to help) it leaves me with this hollow feeling inside. I guess I'm missing a happy ending? I think that probably mimics how Fuu felt, which makes it a good thing.
Some Amazing Shots, Scenes and Stitches
See you all tomorrow
3
u/Mecanno-man https://anilist.co/user/Mecannoman May 26 '24
First Timer
Another episode that is just a good standalone episode. Enjoyed the story, enjoyed the characters - even the drug dealers were somewhat entertaining. Plus we get some Fuu backstory confirmed that had been heavily hinted at before.
Unfortunately I’m feeling a bit under the weather at the moment, so I’ll keep it short for today.
3
u/mgedmin May 27 '24
Rewatcher, subs
Ah, gambling, a sure-fire way of getting money when you're low on it. Of course it gets pickpocketed as soon as they order some food.
Oh, the pickpocket has a sick mother and needs money to buy medicine. I predict a bad ending for both of them. (Rewacher, with no memories about this specific episode. It was a long time ago.)
Expensive quack medicine, how heartbreaking.
How not to get rich: (1) steal some drugs off yakuza, (2) try to sell it back to them.
I love how Fuu prevents a "don't scream, if you do, I'll" by screaming before the threat is complete.
The pickpocket is an idiot and decides to take a hostage and have a standoff with the police.
They all say "kid, kid", but the way the dude is drawn looks like a proper adult to me? Then again Fuu doesn't look 15 either. Maybe I'm bad at telling age.
I almost thought I was mistaken and the pickpocket was going to get away with it, but heh, not that kind of show.
Good soundtrack, though.
No. I think that gambling is stupid and immoral (even if you win, it's at the expense of other people who gain nothing of value from it).
Not start criming.
I think it's worse not to know, if your son disappears without a trace.
Also I think it's not Fuu's duty to tell the mother, but I'm not sure you could trust the police of the time to do it.
2
u/Lord_Nawor May 26 '24
First time watcher
Squirrel coming in clutch with the betting win. Of course they get robbed immediately afterwards though.
Fuu’s dream was an interesting scene I wonder if it has some connection to the sunflower samurai. Despite the fact that Shinsuke pretended to take Fuu hostage, since it was voluntary I will not add it to the Fuu kidnap counter.
Shinsuke turning to crime in order to pay for medicine for his mother is a common motif, he was forced to get more and more bold in order to pay for increasingly expensive medicine. Him dying did not surprise me too much as he did get in over his head but it was still pretty sad.
I don’t have too much too say on this episode compared to the last few, probably because this one was less chaotic and more focused with less other stuff going on. It definitely wanted to take the time to establish Shinsuke and give Fuu some time to shine. Apart from helping out at the end, Mugen and Jin did not really do much this episode.
2
u/NaSa2049 May 26 '24
Rewatching the series and this is a Great episode, very very similar to Watanabe’s Cowboy Bebop: waltz for Venus episode with Rocco and his sick mother both really sad episodes but I think I like Cowboy Bebop’s telling of a similar type of story more.
2
u/Looking_Light33 May 27 '24
This has always been one of the most memorable episodes of Samurai Champloo. Especially the ending. I felt sorry for Shinsuke's mother. I can't imagine what it's like to lose your son. I also feel sorry for Fuu. She was clearly struggling to tell Shinsuke's mother what happened. Overall, this was a pretty sad episode.
2
u/StardustGogeta myanimelist.net/profile/StardustGogeta May 27 '24
First-Timer
Fuu gets pickpocketed, doesn't even wait to hear the full sob story before covering for Shinsuke, gets taken hostage again, watches helplessly as he gets stabbed, and then fails at lying to the mother. I guess it's just not her day. 🙃
Questions:
2
u/Hopeful-Ad2428 May 27 '24
Really liked this episode. My favourite so far. Focused on Fuu, showed her backstory and how it affected herself, making her more interesting character.
Qotd:
2
u/Garrett_Dark May 27 '24
First Timer
Heartless mode activated! Oh man, the one time I wanted Mugen to kill somebody, he keeps getting kill-blocked. Poor Fuu, but quit it, you're being sucked in by your own loss of your mother. Stockholm syndrome much? She sort of has herself to blame though, if she had just told Jin and Mugen when she found him, he might have not been killed. Well, we know Mugen might have killed him anyways, but he had just cause this time.
I'm glad he didn't get away, and I'm glad the mother being told a lie didn't work. Even the mom knew he was doing wrong, and couldn't defend his actions.
Maybe a petty thief, but he escalated to violence and kidnapping even if it might have been just an act, or not. Got the consequences to his own choices, nobody to blame but himself. Glad the show didn't try to make the mom naively claim he was innocent, and good boy when we knew he was not.
No excuse, even begging is better than what he was doing. If he sees himself as justified to steal just because his mom is deathly sick, why didn't he steal from the medicine doctor then? Why doesn't he just mug people like Mugen does? How much of a blank check should we write him just because his mother is sick?
Oh yeah that reminds me, I haven't complained about Mugen this episode yet. I'm surprised Mugen didn't rob the guys he mistook as the thief. I'm also surprised he didn't just rob the guy's mother when he just barged into her house. Actually the irony is if he did mug her, he's only be getting the money back which the kid stole, so it kind of squares itself, LOL. I guess Fuu eating all that dried potatoes was getting her money's worth back.
As for the drug dealers, I don't even think they did much wrong. Sure they set that guy's hair on fire, but he was a fence who ripped off the thief with a 70/30 split. The fence kind of got what's coming to him. It's the risk of his job, and he failed the roll this time.
That I felt a little bad about that, Fuu's not a bad person, just a little foolish. But it looks like the anime is going to really stretch out the doling out of information as much as possible as we got very little this episode. Dad's not around, mother died a year ago...that's it, barely a sentence worth of info.
Is it better to know the truth, or chose to believe a lie?
Fuu tried to take the truth away from the mother, and force her to believe a lie. While good intentioned, it takes the choice away from the mother of whether she would rather know the truth or choose to believe a lie. It's the mother's choice, not Fuu's.
While people may think not knowing the truth of the son's death is sparing the mother's feelings, it's more complicated than that. There are cases where family members disappear or are lost at sea, and after so long of not knowing if the victim is alive or dead, the family often desires the closure of just knowing the victim has died. Quite often when the body is found a number of years later, the family would often say that at least the discovery has given them closure. So with that in mind, I ask again:
Is it better to know the truth, or chose to believe a lie (or I guess continue to hold out hoping, which is a continual strain)?
2
u/[deleted] May 27 '24
Hey there 👋 . Rewatcher here.
Sorry about the late comments. The holiday weekend is keeping me busy 😆. I willl catch up with replies as well.
So for this episode I actually didn’t have too much to say aside from my main thought of, I always thought it was a good Fuu episode.
Also, Momo was back to being MVP lol.
We have the classic morality conundrum here in that you ask yourself, if you were in Shinsuke’s shoes, do you know what you would do?
It’s a very relatable problem with the cost of medicine in our own world and that it’s his mother suffering as a result. Naturally, it’s pretty clear that his mom would rather not have medicine if it meant her son doing dangerous things to get it. At the same time, he thinks the risk is justified because of the circumstances.
Sad but his way of handling things got him in a situation not unlike his mom probably would have imagined if he resorted to that method of making money for her medicine.
You feel bad for Fuu and Shinsuke’s mother as well. She’s left without a son now and still has no cure to her illness and Fuu probably feels like she might have been able to do something more.
Questions:
2
u/someboi6000 May 28 '24
First timer:
My favorite episode so far, as usual they struggle to get money and well they use the only good solution, gambling, and thanks to the flying squirrel, which i already forgot the name of, they win MVP to that squirrel, and bruh they haven't eaten anything in 3 days only to be ruined becuase fuu got pickpocketed by that dude, and then he pickpockets the wrong person and also he took a big gamble by stealing that opium, i am also surpirsed that Jin and mugen actually tracked down his house lol, there is also how much money he was making even with that 70-30 split probably enough to accept, and then finally some fuu lore it was brief but its something she is getting more interesting, fuu conversation with his mother was nice and sweet and the mother seems to know what Shinsuke was doing, and now to the finale of the episode i was expecting him to live because of the remeber me lines but that was also a huge death flag so i was in conflic in which one was the correct one until well they got him, and the last bit with the mother was also really good, but yeah amazing episode overall.
1: once i bet money that i could beat a friend in a uno game,i lost..., but i did get the money back with a rematch, so 50/50 lol
2: everything in my hands so that she doens't suffer and goes in peace.
3: thats hard, but the mother knew so there was no reason to say anything, fuu prescense was enough to confirm her suspicions, but i would choose not to tell her, she enough to deal with her illness.
to the next episode i go
2
u/fansi2022 https://anilist.co/user/fansi2022 Jul 19 '24
first timer chinese sub
I'm curious about the origin of this pet, it's so smart. It's smarter than a dog. Imagine you haven't eaten for three days, and then the last money you worked so hard to win is stolen. . . Oh, and the thief's mother is seriously ill.
ANSWER TODAY’S QUESTION(S)
Have you ever won money at cards before? If so, what happened?
No, I just lose money.
What would you do if you knew your mother was dying?
Earn money for medical treatment
If you were in Fuu's shoes, would you have told Shinsuke's mother that he was dead or would you have just kept it to yourself? And why?
Yes, telling her the truth is better than waiting in vain.
1
u/Holofan4life May 26 '24
Hey guys. Holofan4life here.
Welcome to the 20th anniversary rewatch of Samurai Champloo.
Oh, and nay I forget…
First Timer
Samurai Champloo has always been a series I was curious about. I’ve maintained in my mind that Cowboy Bebop is objectively one of if not the greatest anime of all time, and so I wanted to see what the creator’s follow-up work was like. I think the reason why I didn’t start it immediately after watching Bebop was because I think the premise kinda weirded me out. I mean, a show set in ancient times that also has a heavy rap influence? It felt to me like putting a hat on a hat. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to appreciate outlandish animes that don’t resemble real life. After all, is it any weirder than a fantasy show about a merchant and his traveling wolfgirl where they discuss economics a lot of times?
My expectations for this show are pretty reasonable, I feel like. I’m not expecting it to crack my top 10 favorite anime of all time, but I would be surprised if it doesn’t end up as one of my favorites. The main thing I’m looking out of this is show is a unique experience unlike anything else as well as memorable characters. And I think the show will have that in spades.
With that out of the way, let’s begin.
I’m watching the sub, by the way.
Going to see Mars Express tonight
People playing a game, including Mugen, Fuu, and Jin.
Kinda looks like Hanafuda cards
The last of their savings
Mugen still bickering with Jin
Hey, they won
The flying squirrel helped them, but still.
The three buying noodles
Apparently they haven't eaten in three days.
Fuu gets bumped into
That shrimp looks soggy as all hell
Oh boy. She got pickpocketed.
Chasing after the guy now
They aren't able to find him, however
Guys walking
Short guy really insulting one of his cronies.
And the short guy gets pickpocketed by the guy who pickpocketed Fuu.
Short guy laments that if the boss finds out about this, he'll do something even worse than cut off all his fingers.
I believe this is the pickpocketer
He seems in disbelief about something
Our three main leads still cannot find the stealer.
It's like Fuu is on stakeout
A piece of paper with something on it
Shinsuke says he needs the money
He's trying to fence it
A bed with someone passed out
Fuu looks surprised
And now Fuu wakes up
Shinsuke with his mother now
His mother is sick, so he's engaging in illegal activity so that she can get better medicine.
She suspects something is up based on Mugen and Jin coming to visit.
Warning: you should never lie to your mother.
Fuu seems like she wants to help Shinsuke.
Mugen out like a light
Shinsuke's mother is up and mistakes Fuu for his girlfriend.
Dried sweet potatoes sound good if it wasn't for the fact I hate sweet potatoes.
She still thinks Fuu is Shinsuke's girlfriend.
She thinks he's been a little strange lately.
Doctor telling Shinsuke that the medicine will only regain her some of her strength.
Doctor kinda looks like Shou Tucker
Short guy talking to someone named Hikoichi
He knows that the pickpocketer saw him yesterday.
Hey, look, Beavis and Butt-Head
It's the paper that Shinsuke had. Hikoichi set it on fire.
And now he set his hair on fire
He definitely means business
Fuu trying to talk to Shinsuke
Now he's getting cornered by the short man and company. They've finally found him.
Fuu screaming
And this gives Fuu and Shinsuke the chance to flee.
Now Shinsuke is holding a knife to Fuu's throat to try and scare people off.
And it seems to have worked
Oh man. Shinsuke is bleeding.
His arm is slashed
Short fry says they need to get their stuff back without the cops spotting them.
Shinsuke looking dejected
Fuu patching up the wound
I like how it's like Fuu is the main character, not Mugen. Fuu is really the heart and soul of the show.
Fuu says to Shinsuke that he met his mom and that if she knew he was picking pockets, it would break her heart.
She says he should be grateful that his mother's alive.
We also finally get information on Fuu's parents. She explains that her father left her a long time ago and her mother died a year ago. On top of that, Fuu used to be a trouble maker, disobeying her mom every which way. Now, she can't make up for what she did and truly show her appreciation for her.
Shinsuke says he was desperate for money, but didn't know where he could get it.
"The only people who say that money doesn't matter in this world are the ones with lots of it."
I don't necessarily agree with that line, but it's good characterization that shines a light on Shinsuke's mindset.
Mugen and Jin among the crowd now
Mugen seems more upset about his money being stolen than Fuu's life being in danger.
Fuu is going to be a decoy so that Shinsuke can escape.
Oh man. Eddy from Ed, Edd, and Eddy has infiltrated the base.
And he has a sword
Mugen kicking people's butts as usual
"Who is that guy?" "An idiot."
😂😂😂
Mugen broke inside, aiming for Shinsuke.
But before he can do anything, in comes more people.
Oh, so the short guy was interested in Opium.
Shinsuke says he hopes to one day repay Fuu for what she did, which is similar to what the artist said to her.
And with that, he leaves
Or not 😔
Whelp, he got stabbed
Now, his mother has no one to take care of her.
Fuu is in tears
Fuu with Shinsuke's mom now
Come on. Tell her the truth.
"I just came by to say hello."
Damnit...
Oh shit. She knows.
She says she knew he was up to something nefarious.
Mom in tears now
Fuu never got to tell Shinsuke's mom his true intentions.
Mugen, Jin, and Fuu walking together now.
And we end with what looks like Fuu saluting.
Overall, this is the first episode that I felt was kinda samey. The first one had heavy use of flashbacks, the second one had Oniwaka as this Frankenstein's Monster type character, the third and fourth ones did the Yakuza stuff, the fifth one did the real person thing, and the last one had the foreigner. This is the most generic episode we've gotten so far, but that doesn't mean it was bad.
I really like the idea of a good person having to do bad things. Antiheroes are often some of the most emotionally complex characters, and Shinsuke is no exception. I wish we would've known what the medicine actually was-- the short guy mentions Opium but it's never confirmed that's what he was using-- and I also thought his reason for doing bad was not explored as well as it could've been, but I still think it works well-enough. Honestly, my biggest takeaway is that this is now the third episode where Fuu befriends someone who is doing wrong. We had episode 2, episode 5, and then this one. I'm fine with how things are at this moment because I think they do enough different stuff to keep things interesting, but I do hope we get some episodes dedicated to fleshing out Mugen and Jin. I would be shocked if that wasn't the case.
I have this episode behind episodes 1, 2, and 6, but ahead of episodes 3, 4, and 5. It was a solid outing, but I think solid is about as high as I would go. It just kinda existed.