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Samurai Champloo Doujinshi: image reviews and recommendations
(For those as ignorant of Japanese as I am; the story as told by the pictures)===23 titles reviewed as of July 2008.==
24 pages, black and white with full color cover.
X-rated, full-frontal, explicit yaoi sex.
This won't be for everyone, but...as I said above...those inclined toward this sort of thing will love it to death. It is outrageously beautiful
in classic Saimin style, the visual narrative style is dramatic and intense, and, oh, man, kitsune-Jin is simply to die for. *swoon*
I got my copy on YahooJapan Auctions, but it might turn up elsewhere, or you could just enjoy her website:
Saimin
15 pages, black and white with B/W cover.
Same website info as above.
12 pages, black and white with B/W cover.
[A thousand blessings on ryu_kk009 for the translation.]---Same website info as above.
8 pages, black and white in plain grey folded cover, issued in printed brown envelope.
(It's apparently set after the Spanish Civil War: Mugen is narrating the story of how he retired to a small house outside of the city, owned by Miss Arles (Fuu) who became his employer.
He's confused and conflicted about his affair with Jin (he's good in bed =) which affected him more deeply than he wants to admit; he's gone for five days; when he returns and finds Jin with the other man
"something was hit inside me" and he's about to slice up the interloper when Jin takes care of that detail.
They bury the corpse, and a tree/flower grows out from it, and to this day (??) he sees Miss Arles gazing at it from time to time ==many thanks to bigbigtruck for that.)==
40 pages, black and white with full color cover.
The second story is a little odder and more intense; it's one long J/M sex scene, triggered when Mugen licks blood from Jin's cut finger.
Looks like the same artist but a different inker, so the very light line is a little roughened (there are also several very explicit panels, which doesn't occur in the first story), but it's still way above the tone
of much yaoi.
--As I said, I'm very fond of this one, and hope the creative team will do more Champloo stories.
Info:
...this is something very special, and I am so glad it exists.
By NUMBERS (creators of the non-yaoi "Honno", see review on All Ages Doujinshi page), 2005-05-29. A must-have.
My honest apologies to anyone who was as misled by my ignorance as I was.
Web site: Jet Monster.
22 pages, black and white with B/W cardstock cover. The art
is simple, angular linework that gets the job done without fuss. It's sometimes working so hard to be discreet that it's
not quite clear whose hands are where (and some poses are drawn a bit awkwardly) but one can get the idea. There's lots of
kissing too, if that's something you like to look at. =)
An interesting little doujin for those who like some psychodrama with their yaoi. Two stars.
I got my copy on YahooJapan auctions (a great place for these). Contact info: AQUARIUM
Not as tense as their first one above, artwork just as fine-line and spare, overall effective.
Contact info: AQUARIUM
20 pages, black and white art with b/w cover.
Credited to "[Tsubaci-Sou] Koume Kitamura (2005)".
16 pages, black and white with plain paper covers. The first one, though, is WAY something else. "Chirinoruwo (I'll remember you)", by Tsubaci-sou: eight pages
of J&M making intense, passionate love. I use "making love" and not "having sex" here intentionally, because this is the most emotionally affecting Tsubaci piece I've seen yet, suffused with an air of desperate love and
need that is just breathtaking. The dialogue and Jin's inner monologue convey both the possessive and intimate intensity of their relationship and Jin's sense of its evanescence, how brief it must be, yet with an
effect on him that will last always("These all make me think that even after our relationship disintegrates/
the colors may never fade within me.").-- The art is wonderful and the story is a stunner. No J/M fangirl or -boy should miss it. ==One million thanks to Ryu-kk009 for the translation.==
By Tsubaci-sou (see reviews of other Tsubaci work on this page) and S [es]. (--much fine Champloo fan art at both these links.)
But the real gem of this collection is the utterly gorgeous Tsubaci-sou story, "Higan-sugimade (I'll remember too)", the sequel to "I'll remember you" in Hakka. Higan-sugimade means "Beyond the other shore",
and ryu_kk009 explains that "We celebrate o-higan to commemorate the loved ones that passed away.
In that sense, Higan refers to a certain period of the year saved for the dead. In a broader sense, Higan refers to
the 'other shore' where we join the ancestors once we leave this world." ===In a parallel to the earlier story,
Mugen's inner monologue runs behind and during the plot. It's a hot and humid night soon after their escape
from Mukuro's pirates; the puff of Jin's pipe is keeping injured Mugen awake (isn't it remarkable how that has gotten attached to Jin's character in fan art, when he never used or even carried it in the series?)--he muses that living as they do, either one could die without
ever having a chance to bid the other farewell. Mugen teases (flirting) that if it's too hot for Jin to sleep he could cool off by undressing; Jin chides him that he should take his injuries more seriously--"not that you'd ever listen to me--"--adding with a haunted gaze that Mugen did nearly die.
Mugen puts an arm around him ("aw--don't look like that!"), they kiss, and progress into lovemaking with all the tenderness-plus-burning intensity we've come to expect from Tsubaci. In the background, Mugen recalls a legend Kohza told him, of a flower whose fragrance carried as far as ten li, and how on
hot humid nights the fragrance of such a flower can be absorbed into the skin to stay forever. He sympathizes with her; he knows this fantasy of the flower was a wish she clung to in the hell of her real life; and he knows he has a wish as well, that the intangible and precious thing
that exists between him and Jin could last like that fragrance, absorbed into their skin, and could carry even beyond the "other shore" of death.
--No one else in Champloo doujinshi is doing writing anywhere near this subtle and beautiful, and Kitamura-san is a treasure beyond price.
28 pages, black and white with full-color cover.
By, as noted, the peerless "[Tsubaci-Sou] Koume Kitamura" Not dated.
46 pages, black and white with gloss full-color cover.
By Marita Yuzo/AM7:30 (Jet Jesso), who also did the non-yaoi "Beyond My Grasp"; see review on All Ages Doujinshi page.
56 pages, black and white with gloss full-color cover.
Website: [S]es [Yenki Biral/Enki Bilal/Biraru]
16 pages, black and white with two-color cardstock cover.
The plot is straightforward. Jin and Fuu are eating in a restaurant; through the door they see Mugen race by, without his sword, gripping
something in his teeth, and pursued by a gang of yelling, armed men. Jin is understandably concerned and sets out in search.
We see Mugen captured, surrounded, sitting on the floor with tied hands. One of the thugs draws a knife and cuts open Mugen's shirt, and for the next four pages he's subjected to the most
horrifyingly detailed and graphic gang rape/sexual assault I've ever seen in fan art. (I don't shock all that easily, but this did it.) --
Jin arrives, piles up thug corpses in two fast bloody panels, gives stunned and battered Mugen back his jacket, kisses him, and
carries him back to the restaurant--where Fuu and Momo have passed the time eating and both are comically bloated to Marshmallow Man size.
To be fair, I must say the art is very handsome, good character renderings (even Momo-san!), finely shaded, detailed and
expressive. (There's more very fine art on the website, though no more SC stuff that I could find.)
One star, for the high-quality artwork.
Again, I got this one on YahooJapan auctions: contact info: Omega 2-D
36 pages, black and white with full-color cardstock cover. By Duo Brand (Akatsuki Haruka + Watanabe Nobuyoshi) & Senkentoshi, who I believe have more Champloo doujinshi available as well.
There's some nice Champloo art at their web page.
24 pages, black and white with full-color cover.
Another M&J yaoi, but this one has an odd subtle vibe which is hard to share in words. A moonlit night; Mugen enters the barn where Jin is sleeping;
makes a suggestion which he refuses at sword-edge. They talk, come to some sort of conclusion, and proceed, but there's something distant and sad
in Jin's manner...
The art is extremely fine-line and delicate, and the overall effect is oddly haunting. Worth finding.
Credited to Dennounitronix and Ayaco Imai.
Website: Akiba "Akatsuki".
"Koushaku"
More Akiba circle; more strange, tense cat-and-mouse between Jin and Mugen that ends with Mugen between Jin's knees.
(...even though Jin is a year older and an inch taller than Mugen, so far it seems no one will let him be the seme except Saimin and Duo Brand. One wonders...)
"Yumeutsutsu"
More Akiba circle; and, yes, more still, stark, tense sex and silence between Jin and Mugen. Something went on between them that Jin won't talk about, but he's thinking about it..
Summary by
More from our friend Anoyoroshi (Rei Itidou), who also brought us the charming Jyuu. This one is a little heavier and darker, but still has Mugen in hot pursuit of Jin. There's some oral sex,
some kissing, and a subtly hot sequence brought on by Jin and Mugen eating dumplings off the same skewer (little does Jin realize Mugen has poisoned three of them...). (Also a Jin/Yuki vignette; I'm glad to see this pairing starting
to catch on with doujinshi artists.)
OK, there's no explicit visual detail in this one, but the main story contains some of the hottest moments on this page. Goes to show you what an artist can do with subtlety, good direction, and high-quality
storytelling skills. Potch does more with Mugen just untying Jin's hair than most of the others I've reviewed can accomplish with full-frontal exposure. Rough, passionate, high-intensity
J&M lemon that you will keep going back to. Also in this one: a funny, short tale in which Fuu and Mugen realize they've both been daydreaming about Jin, and argue about it; a one-page "pin-up" of Jin, Mugen,
and Mugen's sumo beetle =), and a sweet one-page vignette of Mugen dozing off against Jin's back while Jin is polishing his sword, and Jin not minding very much. A wide range of material in this one
simple-looking little doujin. Well worth looking for.
(Wish I knew what its real title is; its credits are "presented by Potch at Show Saikawa, 2004.9". and inside "2004.9.26".)
12 pages, black and white with B/W on buff cover. Odd, funny little number with two stories: one a J/M sexual vignette with Jin playing seme to Mugen's uke (hooray! another one!),
and using the hilt of Mugen's sword in, um, ahem, the manner for which its shape would suggest it's best suited (and that sounds a lot nastier and cruder than it is; it's very funny).
In the other, J&M are both kitsune who find something unusual in the woods... There's also a one-page Mugen vignette which marks the only appearance, as far as I know, of the cast & crew of One Piece--
Sanji, Zoro and Luffy-- in any Champloo doujinshi; but relax, they aren't doing anything smutty (I suspect it's a pirate joke =).
By Toughgrip.
24 pages, black and white with one-color cover.
By Murakumo; see also "B*Blue" below.
78 pages, black and white with gloss full-color covers.
By Anoyoroshi (Rei Itidou), 2005-03-21.
This one's unusual for being set in the present and in modern dress. J&M are apparently roommates but not lovers, and Mugen
would like to change that, despite getting a very solid rebuff (a hardcover book to the head!). Mugen lets Jin catch him jacking off, Jin tries to leave, Mugen grabs his arm, and things go as they usually go in these things.
Nothing exceptional here, but the art is quite nice, and the modern setting gets it points for originality.
Done by Murakumo for Super Comic City 14, 2005-05-03.
This huge doujin (it even beats Saimin's anthology "S-Log/Remix" for size) is the work of a collective dubbed
"Team Sakuragicho Blues" for the occasion, including Marimari, Murakumo, Garasuya Honpo and "Shibayama Champloos";
we already have a good deal of their individual work on these two pages.
. There are (I think) nine stories and a number of very nice one-page pinups, including Yatsuha
(yum!) and one of M&J dressed up in full Lolita regalia that you just have to see to believe (no points for guessing which of
them carries that look off best!). The stories range from completely innocent (Jin carries Fuu across a river on his back while
she quietly blisses out =) to low-key hurt-comfort, to a wide range of intimate combinations, including Mugen and Shouryuu (who forces Mugen to kiss him at knifepoint)
and Moronobu paying Mugen and Jin to pose for some hot ukiyo-e smut (Mugen delightedly shows Fuu the handful of gold ryu they were paid afterward,
while Jin looks as if he'd like to hide under a rock for the next week).
The wildest thing here, though, has Jin back working at the kabayaki (eel) stand, with Mugen
as his only customer. The carving knife is missing, so he does what Shino told him not to do, and slices an eel with his sword. Mugen points out, as Shino did, that that's bad luck;
a vindictive eel (with an annoyed cartoon face) spits water at Jin, and suddenly we're in a totally bizarre erotic nightmare involving Jin, a writhing nest of eels ripping off his clothes,
and not only the weirdest sexual assault but the first example of tentacle-rape porn in Champloo doujinshi to my knowledge (not counting Tsukiru's website). It really is a nightmare,
in fact, from which he wakes in an aghast (well, mostly...) sweat, and you can't blame him.--Hands down, the damnedest thing in the stack to date.
--Go to All Ages Doujinshi.
--Three stars, but definitely not for all ages.
(absolutely the most beautiful fan art of Jin you will see anywhere)
R-rated, one panel of explicit detail (yaoi sex, bondage)
Yet another different theme from the versatile and imaginative Saimin: a formal bondage vignette with dominatrix-geisha-seme Jin and uke Mugen. In chains, yet. =)
An anticipatory-looking Mugen arrives at a door; he's not pleased to find that what's waiting for him inside is Jin, in formal kimono and drop-dead-sexy high-heeled sandals. The room also contains a
decorative round bed and wrist shackles attached to the wall with long chains. They sit on the bed, Jin smokes his long kiseru pipe, they apparently discuss what's about to happen. Then we see
naked (right down to the hipbones, so presumably totally) Mugen in the shackles, looking not too displeased; Jin licks him, straddles him, produces a jar of lubricant, and apparently--
the detail is extremely delicate and sparse, but that one panel is pretty plain--rides him to satisfaction. Then kisses him with a hand across his throat, and sits back looking strange and severe.
Did they do this to pay some sort of debt? Is Jin a prisoner, or indentured to a brothel? I can't say. Hot, but very odd and subtle stuff, with Saimin's trademark gorgeous art.
PG-rated.
The second-shortest of the Saimins is a strange, moody little thing, part flashback, part sex scene, with a thoughtful, troubled vibe.
Jin contemplates the lack of peace in his life--"I want to kill. I want to be killed. That's why I said this to him..." --while Mugen chides him for being so distracted during sex.
What he actually said to Mugen (we see in flashback) was “Yaritai”, roughly 'let's do it', which in different characters can either be read as a challenge to fight
or an invitation to sex; Mugen chose the latter, and Jin goes with it while abstractedly wondering just what they're doing and why.
"Anything that was left behind as I set out on this journey had never been my concern to begin with. I only have my swords, after all. And yet, why am I this anxious?
It is as if. . . this weight (of Mugen, I believe) is the only thing that prevents me from flying apart.--That's it."
Mugen coaxes him to relax, but Jin is still wondering "How did we get here? Why. . .?" in the fade-to-black.
---No explicit detail, but Saimin never tires of drawing Jin with his knees folded over Mugen's
shoulders, which is why I put it here and not in All Ages...
X-rated.
This is now the shortest of the Saimins, at a mere eight intense and enigmatic pages. We're in somewhere hot and dusty-looking, Spain or Mexico; Mugen is a bullfighter (wearing tank top, jeans and boots but his sword still on his back),
Fuu a local girl he quarrels with (in long dress and parasol) and Jin is a farmer-ranchworker type (long-sleeved white shirt, hat) who seemingly falls for him on sight. There's some kissing and quick, dramatic sex. Mugen can't forget about him,
and eventually leaves the bed he's sharing with an anonymous girl to find him, only to walk in on him being taken from behind by another man. While Mugen stands there stunned, Jin suddenly reaches for his katana and runs the man through.
Mugen, staring wildly, draws his sword...all we see at the ending is Fuu standing in a field of sunflowers....
===Typical Saimin-style weirdness, bloody and erotic but still haunting and dreamlike. Reprinted in her 2006 volume "Kaleidoscope/Syndrome".
R- to X-rated. Boysex; explicit detail in 1 of 2 stories
I really like this one =). The art team of Akatsuki and Cathexis has a delicate, emotionally sensitive style
that makes for very expressive faces and eyes, and allows fine, subtle storytelling even with quite explicit storylines. In the first story, Jin pretends to be asleep while Mugen jacks off,
but gives himself away by dropping one of his swords; there's an argument presumably about eavesdropping and the degree of Jin's interest, in which Jin defends himself but remains quietly curious.
Jin recalls a brief encounter with an anonymous blond samurai; he's wistful and dissatisfied; alone afterward, clearly thinking about the earlier incident with Mugen, he takes matters into his
own hands and is found by Mugen, who gets what's going on, and joins him for a happy resolution and the sweetest J/M kiss yet seen in doujinshi.
Website: Cathexis.
Website: Akatsuki/Akatoki.
X-rated.
X-rated (oral sex, noncon)
Moving this listing here from the "All Ages" section as it's been made clear to me that my review there is based on a severely edited advance copy. The version I have is only 12 pages long and is "all ages" safe,
but the complete version contains explicit material (nudity, oral sex, use of force).
PG-13 to R-rated, I'd say: yaoi sex but no explicit details.
PG-13 to R-rated, I'd say: yaoi sex but no explicit details.
More emotionally-conflicted, sexual rough-and-tumble from Aquarium. They've had a battle with some rough-looking guys, and now Mugen can't sleep, and goes to sit outside;
Jin follows him; there's some conversation, a kiss, a scuffle, quick sex, confused feelings all around, and some concerned gentleness in the ending that finishes it off on a quiet note.
X-rated (explicit yaoi sex, bondage)
R- to X-rated, manual rape, rough yaoi sex.
Credited to "[Tsubaci-Sou] Koume Kitamura (2005)".
PG to R-rated.
Two stories, of which one far outshines the other. The second story, "I'm your fire at your desire" by S [es]--Yenki Biral--is a simple J/M vignette in which they go to a festival, talk, kiss, have
(very subtle) sex, and watch the fireworks together. It's not well drawn but it's quiet and sweet.
PG to R-rated.
The Biral story, "The Silent Escape", opens with a long shot of an elegant brothel; Mugen arrives, pays the fee, and is shown to a room in which Jin is kneeling on a futon, dressed in a gorgeous maple-leaf kimono with his kiseru pipe.
Mugen goes to him; Jin looks emotionless and distant; there's low-key, non-explicit sex (only one detail panel) and a mysterious flashback showing the two of them in their more familiar clothing and Mugen holding a sword, bloodied up to his elbows.
(So, is this happening in the future, or in an alternate reality, or--? Maybe we can get a translation...). It's tender and quiet, like much of Biral-san's work. [--though the characters she uses actually say "Biraru", I've used her own romaji spelling here.]
By Tsubaci-sou (Koume Kitamura--see reviews of other work on this page) and S [es]. (--much fine Champloo fan art at both these links.)
R to X rated.
At last, this most elusive of the Tsubacis joins the collection. Two stories: the first, intense J&M sex with strange flashbacks; the second: Mugen gives Jin a sponge bath.
Honestly. There's some quarrelling, but fundamentally, it's just five pages of Mugen thoughtfully washing Jin's back, simple and lovely as that. (Guess: Jin seems to be ill-tempered and miserable in the heat,
and Mugen says here, let's do this. And Jin resists but gives in. ) And the art as always is whisper-fine, emotive and utterly beautiful.
R to X rated.
This is the kind of thing that makes me question the wisdom of reading doujinshi for the pictures, because I'm sure the story here is entirely eluding me, and I regret it.
Begins with Mugen recollecting his past--the island, Kohza, his meeting with Fuu and Jin; then the trio are walking, there's a quarrel, Fuu breaks the two up as usual;
and then there's an extended sequence of Jin/Mugen sex, in which Mugen is plainly unwilling, but never tries to leave (though it seems to take place over several days)
and Jin is just as plainly in control but seems restrained and thoughtful, or is he? It's outside my understanding, but I really like it. Excellent art.
--There is beautiful Champloo fan art at that link, don't miss it.
R to X rated.
Continuation of [S]es' previous SC work. I can't say much for the art, but there's
something about it that'll stay with you--it has some very tender moments, and a haunting quality of stillness and silence.
As the trio travels, Jin suddenly collapses; Mugen produces some hidden cash, they get an inn room, and it's discovered that a recent wound has become infected, leaving Jin feverish and ill.
Mugen, saying it's his fault (he gave Jin the wound, perhaps?) takes it on himself to perform the most primal kind of medicine, sucking old blood and pus from the wound and cleaning it with sake.
Mugen confesses his longing to heal Jin and even his love for him in a remarkable inner monologue, and there's an extended J/M sex vignette, with simple, stylized art and an odd, quiet intensity.
Dated 2005-08-12.
XX-rated hardcore: not for anyone under 18 or anyone at all who's disturbed by sexual violence.
I would love to see this artist draw something I could bear to look at.
(A Detailed Record of a Careless Person: Mugen and Jin's Casual Time)
Hard R to X rated, some explicit detail; several flavors of yaoi sex.
PG-13 to R-rated; yaoi sex but much more implied than shown (like, 2 panels of sexual detail).
Web site: http://www.tiara.cc/dnnx/d
X-rated.
PG to R-rated, I guess; only one explicit panel.
PG-rated, actually.
...I'm not sure why I keep buying these. Must be the covers.
PG to R-rated lime.
I'm always entertained by Anoyoroshi's big-eyed manga-art style and very glamorous version of Jin. =)
PG to R-rated lime.
PG-rated.
[title approximate via BabelFish]
PG-rated.
Quiet, dark little vignette. Jin has been roughly used by a cluster of faceless samurai (literally drawn with only shadows for faces, though their hairstyles show a wide age range),
he's seen on the floor with a gag in his mouth, being handled by a number at once, and taken from behind. Now he seems quiet and withdrawn; Mugen approaches him familiarly, kisses him, looks surprised by
his distance, then is openly startled at the sight of his bruises. Jin has an "it's nothing" look; Mugen grabs him, apparently demanding an answer; Jin brushes off his hand, seems to be in none-of-your-business
mode. But Mugen takes his shoulders and leans his head on Jin's chest, seeming more distressed and baffled than anything else.--what makes this one different is Jin's icy self-possession and dismissal of Mugen's
rather touching concern, a departure from so many of these in which Jin is an anguished but passive object of abuse; his attitude here unnervingly suggests intentional masochism instead.
Clean, simple art underlines the starkness of the storyline; an interesting piece.
hard R to X-rated (several very explicit panels)
X-rated, with several explicit panels.
X-rated, with several explicit panels.
--Go back to Champloo Doujinshi Main Page..
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