Saturday, April 09, 2005
Two swords and an amulet
I finally know what it's all about! After waking up to the sounds of my door knocking against the frame at nine, it dawned on me what Samurai Champloo was about.Two guys claiming they fight only for themselves - one seeking self-redemption after living years of being a criminal who knows only his brand of breakdance-kenjutsu, the other who is searching inner resolution after killing his sensei in defense. Both met each other, fought, were stopped by Fuu, and promised to continue the fight after the end of their journey together.
Travelling across a Japan under the Tokugawa Shogunate for all 22 episodes and having me think that they must be headed nowhere for there was no plot. Each episode seemed to stand on its on, having seemingly no connection to the central idea [which we all know, and only surely know, that Mugen and Jin are enlisted by Fuu in a heads-or-tails? bet to help her find the Sunflower-smelling Samurai]. Occasionally the producers will be kind and tell me where they have roughly landed themselves in geographically.
All of a sudden I was at episode 24 and near the end of their journey together. I still did not know how it was going to end... and then it ended, as it had to.
And now I know what it was all about. There can be only one thing that can make them travel and fight together without realising how close they were reaching their destination, which is both the near-end and the Sunflower-smelling Samurai.
The Sunflower-smelling Samurai was killed by the Shogunate and they all departed their own ways knowing their paths will cross again somehow. But not after knowing that Fuu had tricked them earlier on. She said heads and they all thereafter joined her in her uncharted journey. It was really tails. But knowing that only at the end of everything can no longer tell us, and them, about anything that has happened thus far.
Tails, not heads!
lux at 10:38 am