Tuesday, February 21, 2006

I’m a huge fan of Samurai Champloo and an even bigger fan of Cowboy Bebop. Now welcome to yet another one of my whinge sessions on what is wrong with this world. I just got Volume 6 and I was totally stoked about it, until I started into the first episode of the DVD. Hello what was the go with that, the animation suddenly changed, although they were only subtle changes, it was like a totally new animator came on the scene, the characters were totally different, but than in the next episode everything was back to normal again, I just can’t understand what the hell went wrong there. Even though that is really only a small factor I was still really po’ed by the whole situation.

Anyway onto what I really have to say, I’m probably going to offend when I say this but it’s the way I feel, besides I’m pretty sure no one really reads my profile. Watanabe seems to be selling out as his works advance. Seriously look at Cowboy Bebop the series, everything about that series was original statements against what is wrong with society.
Cowboy Funk, was a statement against commercialism, by using explosive teddy bears, stating that all of our problems stem from the social upbringing of children. While Brain Scratch, expressed how we may think we live our lives according to religion, but realistically were controlled by television, so much so that we can’t really distinguish reality from an illusion. Another episode that really stuck with me was Pierrot Le Fou, I think this had the greatest statement of society with the fact the science sees it necessary to create, whether it is needed or not. They create the perfect killing machine, their own Frankenstein’s monster for no apparent reason. Although deem him useless when he reverts to a childlike phycology, which realistically is an advantage because in today’s court system, people who commit crimes but don’t understand the consequences of their actions are given licensee.

While Watanabe does express some statements against society, such as he specifically created Lullabies of the Lost to show the cultural loss of the Ainu and Unholy Union, where he again uses religion to fuel violence and express how we are so easily mislead, when a god is involved. He doesn’t express the same qualities he fought for in Cowboy Bebop, and seems to be more concerned with creating something that will attract just about anyone, and retelling certain parts of Japanese history.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that he seems to have followed the lead created in Cowboy Bebop the Movie, although not quite as subtle. In Cowboy Bebop it was obvious that the movie centred around Spike, as was said in the interviews in the Extras, to make Spike more sexy and appealing to the audience, by showing a deeper side of him. I know lots were cheering over that, but it really seemed to under mind the terrorism and social statements that were being made in the movie. I think he does the same in Samurai Champloo.
While in Cowboy Bebop its obvious right from the start that Spike’s life is run by Julia. Watanabe creates these independent characters of Mugen and Jin, who fair enough are still run parts of their lives according to their access to brothels, but seem independent enough, not to really need love and than he throws all that away with Gamblers and Gallantry. Jin starts off telling the women how to kill herself properly, and ends up falling in love with her. Although he doesn’t even fight for her until the last final point, which is the absolute opposite to Spike. He starts off strong and independent, and ends up relying on Fuu and Mugen to help him save her. Aggh it just gets worse, Mugen goes throughout the whole serious not afraid of anything, except death. As in Misguided Miscreants, he challenges death and wins, Watanabe goes out of his way to deliberately create a character that is unstoppable (an absolute perfect Mad Pierrot), and than throws a mushroom cloud over it in Elegy of Entrapment, when Sara announces that Mugen only wants to be loved. Oh My God, I thought I was going to puke, how could they do that. I mean seriously that is something that you expect from most show but to do that with Mugen just seems wrong in every damn way possible.

He seems to further this disgrace by putting the love triangle between the main characters. When Fuu admits she wants to stay with one of them, although it isn’t really
made clear at the present. This seems to take focus off the other matters of the series and lead more suspense as to who ends up with who rather than the overall outcome of their journey.

All these factors seem to draw away from the originality of hip-hop feudal Japan that the show is about. That said, I still really enjoy the show, and would like to know what you think to.

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