What the...
S. DAVIS | Los Angeles | 06/08/2006
(3 out of 5 stars)
"The first thirteen episodes were sublime. A few of those that follow never really reach the excellence and craftmanship of the beginning of this series, and most of those 'few' are on this DVD. Episodes 21-23 are found here, and the last two seem soooo out of place it may have been best to leave them off (particularly the surreal and nonsensical mushroom/zombie/meteor episode).
The first thirteen episodes command 5 stars. These weird-arse episodes (#22 and partially #23) are almost the so-called 'jump the shark' moments, but at least the baseball one is still fun to watch. Episodes 22-23 are so far removed from the rest of the series that, as long as you're aware of this simple fact, you should watch them anyway. Then make up your own mind."
Weakest volume of the series
I-Heng | Philadelphia, PA USA | 02/23/2006
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Let me start by clarifying that I own all seven volumes of the Samurai Champloo series, my favorite anime series. Volume 6 is unfortunately the weakest of the bunch.
Episode 21 is the second part of the 2-part story Elegy of Entrapment. While the story is great, the artwork for some reason was subpar. The characters are not drawn as well as the earlier episodes, and look decidedly odd at times.
Episode 22 is probably most people's least favorite episode, and the story is weird, to put it mildly. Without giving any spoilers away, I think I appreciated the story more after viewing it as a commentary of Japan as the nation that brought upon itself the destruction and horrors of the Second World War. The episode certainly loses much in the Western context.
Episode 23 has a great concept, but the story got sloppy and just seem half-baked.
Every anime series will have several weaker episodes, it's unfortunate that the dvd-release just happened to include 2 weak episodes on a 3-episode disc that cost as much as the other discs, while bad artwork plagues the third episode. It's still decent, but when you compare it to all the other volumes in this great series, volume six falls short of my expectations."