Beatboxing Samurai and Street-Smart Ronin:
"Just hold your horses, mister Manji! Are you over-confident? Or have you forgotten what century this is?" –Hayakurin (1)
"Samurai Champloo" and "Blade of the Immortal" are, in their own rights, both highly imaginative samurai stories.
They center around the lives of young, wandering swordsmen who have agreed to help a lady find revenge or redemption.
They are both set during the Tokugawa era of Japan, against the conventional backdrop of a jidai-geki (period piece).
Despite this, the two stories are unrepentantly anachronistic. Everything from modern slang to time-warped artifacts
finds their way into the narratives. When the sword-swinging Manji of "Blade of the Immortal" encounters a prostitute,
she greets him the way a modern hooker might: "Good heavens! You seem bored, big boy." (3) When a pre-Admiral Perry fleet
lands on the shores of Japan in "Samurai Champloo", the Americans onboard challenge the Japanese to a game of baseball. (4)
These two incidents are far too blatant to be historical typos. Instead, they’re part of a complicated message about human
understanding of history. They shake up the usual chronological order of events to show how similar the past and the
present really are.
There are essentially two elements in any anachronism: the painstakingly crafted historical setting it takes place
in, and the nagging details that contradict it. In "Blade of the Immortal", Manga-ka Hiroaki Samura goes to great lengths
to establish historical accuracy. He keeps his story firmly founded in the real world, leaving out the magical ninja and
dripping demons that have popularized other samurai manga. Furthermore, he establishes the presence of both Western
religions and weapons within the first few panels of his story, but otherwise leaves them on the fringe of his narrative.
While a few anonymous background characters go on religious pilgrimages (the equivalent of tourism, at the time), several
chapters of the manga deal with the massive restrictions the Tokugawa government placed on travel. While not historically
perfect, "Blade of the Immortal" can stand up to a good first glance so long as its characters remain silent. The moment
one of them opens his mouth and utters a phrase like "Argh...busted", the anachronism is unveiled. (5)
For all their traditional accoutrements, Samura’s characters speak with an unsettling blend of modern and
traditional phrases. When sensei Asano lectures his wayward pupil, Anotsu, he tells him "Anotsu…you are the son of a cloth
merchant. Your confusion regarding these concepts may be understandable for a commoner." (6) However, when that same Anotsu
speaks with the story’s heroine, Rin, he tells her "You know…you’re some piece of work, girl."(7) This duality between the
traditional and the hyper-modern can also be seen during Rin’s duel with the swordsman Kuroi Sabato. As a consummate
haikai poet, Sabato is impressed when Rin reads him one of her own haiku. She responds "You are too kind, sir. I can only
aspire to the spirit of ancient Heian." While the wording of their pre-duel exchange may be traditional, the circumstances
of the exchange supply it with anachronism. Firstly, the name "Kuroi Sabato" is a literal translation of "Black Sabbath."
Secondly, beneath his flowing robes, Sabato has the head of a woman stitched onto either shoulder. This kind of
Frankensteinian surgery would be effectively impossible for Tokugawa-era medicine. By juxtaposing a traditional exchange
of poems with references to heavy metal, Samura jolts the reader into comparing the two. When it first appeared, haikai
poetry was rejected by the mainstream in much the same way as heavy metal was. Although the two art forms may be as
different as the time periods they belong to, there is a thread of consistency that holds the anachronism together.
In "Samurai Champloo", the threads of consistency are often literal. "Samurai Champloo" clothes the majority of
its characters in kimonos or other period-dress, but it also includes a massive wardrobe of anachronism. In episode one,
the son of the local lord sports bleach-blonde hair, earrings, and an impressive array of rings.(9) This use of jewelry as
"bling", material symbols of power and wealth, is certainly a modern concept. Moreover, it is usually unique to the
young and wealthy (like the lord’s son.) In sharp contrast with this, the more traditional Jin (one of the heroes of
the series) wears a stylish blue kimono with square patterns on its back. However, as a concession to anachronism,
he wears square-rimmed glasses. These, combined with his serious personality and his dedication to work, make him
seem like a severely stylized modern student. In fact, the anime even takes steps towards supporting that impression.
Jin is later revealed to have been a student in one of Japan’s most prestigious dojos, before he was forced to kill
his master and flee.
Because of his past (and perhaps symbolized by the non-traditional elements in his mostly traditional costume),
Jin is at odds with his Tokugawa-era society. So, in fact, are his traveling companions: Mugen and Fuu. Fuu is secretly
the daughter of a Kakure Kirishitan (hidden Christian. At the time, Christianity was strictly forbidden), and Mugen is a
criminal from Okinawa. Together, the three of them are essentially emblematic of timeless teenage rebellion. Their
clothing and their pasts and their behaviors all help to set them apart from society. More specifically, Mugen and
Fuu both embrace trends that are popular among Japanese teenagers today. Fuu, with her pink kimono, cute squirrel
companion (momo-san), and pink-lacquered tanto (which is complete with hanging charms that could be found on a cell
phone)(10) identifies strongly with kawaii culture. Simply put, she surrounds herself with cute things and acts like
a spoiled child from time to time.
Mugen, on the other hand, identifies with both the long history of rhythmic Okinawan music (echoed today by bands
like Rinken Band, Ne Nes, Shokichi Kina’s Champloos, and Okinawa Folk Mura) and with more recent hip-hop. He also
identifies strongly with some of the anti-establishment, "street" themes found in the music. When the rival brothers
Tatsunojin and Katsunosuke decide to "tag" Edo castle with anachronistic spray-paint, Mugen beats them to it. When the
local lord’s son menaces Fuu’s restaurant, Mugen offers to dispatch him for fifty dumplings. Furthermore, for the
majority of the series, Mugen’s moods alternate between tough and angry. This establishes him as something like a
modern punk: a category which also encompasses most of the swordsmen from "Blade of the Immortal". Shido Hishiyasu
(literally "Sid Vicious"), Johnny Gyobutsu (Johnny Rotten), Gichi (who, like Jin, wears glasses), Hanada (originally
modeled after John Lennon, but drawn as "just another otaku dude" (11)) and his companions all strut and posture,
wearing traditional outfits and speaking in slang-saturated speech-bubbles. Together, they make the streets of ancient
Edo into a highly dramatized (but still analogous) version of modern Tokyo.
Essentially, this is the goal of the anachronism in both works. It disrupts the normal flow of history, jumbling it
all together and forcing the audience to look at it as a coherent whole. This makes the past both immediate and
ancient: a time just like this one, only older. When Anotsu says "Go too far...in anything...and it will echo down
the generations," (12) he is speaking only half-literally. "Blade of the Immortal" and "Samurai Champloo" are both full
of things echoing down the generations. However, these echoes travel both backward and forward. Ancient ideas
like bushido are preserved in the time-capsule of the story, while modern ideas are transported back in time.
Tom Savini and Tobe Hooper may be portrayed as zombies (13), but they ultimately work to dig up an ancient samurai
treasure. Likewise, Mugen and Manji may be ancient samurai, but through their anachronistic dress, speech, and
actions, they become as timeless (like their names) and forge a powerful bond between the past and the present.
1. Blade of the Immortal volume 8. Hiroaki Samura. Trans. Dana Lewis & Torren Smith. Dark Horse Comics.
Conventional History, Remixed and Redefined
Richard V Kelly III
"Ooh! Samurai chambara!" George (2)
2. Samurai Champloo, episodes 6. Directed by Shinichiro Watanabe. Written by Shinji Obara. distributed by Manglobe.
3. Blade of the Immortal volume 3. Hiroaki Samura. Trans. Dana Lewis & Torren Smith. Dark Horse Comics.
4. Samurai Champloo, episodes 23. Directed by Shinichiro Watanabe. Written by Shinji Obara. distributed by Manglobe.
5. Blade of the Immortal volume 7. Hiroaki Samura. Trans. Dana Lewis & Torren Smith. Dark Horse Comics
6. Blade of the Immortal volume 1. Hiroaki Samura. Trans. Dana Lewis & Torren Smith. Dark Horse Comics
7. Blade of the Immortal volume 13. Hiroaki Samura. Trans. Dana Lewis & Torren Smith. Dark Horse Comics
8. Blade of the Immortal volume 1. Hiroaki Samura. Trans. Dana Lewis & Torren Smith. Dark Horse Comics
9. Samurai Champloo, episode 1. Directed by Shinichiro Watanabe. Written by Shinji Obara. distributed by Manglobe.
10. http://www.spookhouse.net/angelynx/comics/anachronisms
11. Blade of the Immortal” volume 9. Hiroaki Samura. Trans. Dana Lewis & Torren Smith. Dark Horse Comics
12. Blade of the Immortal” volume 13. Hiroaki Samura. Trans. Dana Lewis & Torren Smith. Dark Horse Comics
13. http://www.spookhouse.net/angelynx/comics/anachronisms-episode-22.html
--Go back to Amalgam Archives page.