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While Cowboy Bebop often tops debates about the best anime of all time, its close relative, the iconic series, warrants equal recognition. The impact of this samurai saga remains relevant today, most recently in Sony's flagship Ghost of Tsushima series.

A Deeper Homage

This latest the new sequel, the sequel to the original PlayStation 5 game, deepens its nod to samurai cinema with the return of the classic film mode. This option offers grayscale imagery, vintage film look, and old-school sound. Additional modes include Takashi Miike Mode, which enhances visual clarity and amplifies gore and grime; and Shinichirō Watanabe Mode, featuring a chill beat soundtrack influenced by the filmmaker's guidance.

For those interested about the latter, Watanabe is the visionary behind the jazz-heavy the space opera and the urban-music-inspired the Edo-era adventure, among other celebrated anime.

Fusing Past and Present

Watanabe’s 2004 show Samurai Champloo blends feudal Japan with modern music culture and current perspectives. It chronicles the improbable team of Mugen, a untamed and erratic fighter; the calm ronin, a stoic and principled wandering warrior; and the brave waitress, a determined teenager who enlists them on her quest to find “the mysterious sunflower samurai.”

While the musical backdrop is fundamentally his design, much of the series' music was inspired by renowned musician the late artist, who tragically left us in 2010 at the young age of 36. Nujabes deserves his recognition together with Watanabe when it comes to the audio the anime is renowned for and honors in Ghost of Yotei.

Artistic Blending

Much of what made Samurai Champloo shine on the Adult Swim lineup was its seamless blending of hip-hop and Japanese heritage. That combination has been a staple in hip-hop culture since the classic album in 1993, which itself originates from an whole cohort being raised on action cinema featuring the martial arts legend and the iconic actor.

For many, the programming block and the anime served as an entry point to chill beats, with artists like Nujabes, the rapper, and the electronic artist, the last one of whom went on to compose for the Netflix anime Yasuke.

Artistic Narration

Stylized and symbolic, Champloo’s opening introduces the leads through kindred animals in the visuals — the wild one moves confidently like a rooster, while the disciplined one moves with the serene, elegant posture of a carp. Although the show's main trio are the highlight of the series, its supporting cast are where the true heart of the anime resides.

There’s pickpocket Shinsuke, who has a tragic tale of survival in one chapter, and another character named Yamane, whose exchanges with the wild swordsman impact him greatly that Yamane ends up in his diaries years later. In the eleventh episode, “Gamblers and Gallantry,” Jin becomes enamored with a spouse trafficked named Shino and helps her escape from a red-light district.

A Unified Narrative

At initial view, the full season appears to tell a non-linear tale of the trio’s journey to meeting the mysterious warrior, but as the series unfolds, events from previous episodes begin to merge to form a unified story. Every experience our heroes undergo along the way has an effect on both them and the main plot.

Historical Roots

The series also draws from feudal Japanese events (the same time period as the game), filtered through Watanabe’s imaginative take. Events like the 1637 Shimabara Rebellion and settings such as the mountain outpost (which the character guards) are integrated into the story.

At the start, traditional painter Hishikawa Moronobu shows up and momentarily focuses on the female lead as his muse. After she turns him down, his work eventually falls into the hands of Vincent van Gogh, who, in Champloo’s alternate timeline, is inspired to create his iconic floral artworks.

Lasting Influence

All of these elements tie intimately into the anime's score, giving this samurai story the kind of unique character that other works have long sought to emulate. Series like the urban samurai series (featuring Wu-Tang’s RZA), Tokyo Tribe, and the Netflix original all sought to mirror its blend of style and sound, but with varying success.

Ghost of Yotei has the chance to continue from where the classic anime ended, sparking a fresh surge of impact much like the anime once did. If you’re starting the game, it’s recommended exploring Champloo, because without it, there’d be no “the special setting,” no trend of hip-hop-infused anime, and no enduring influence of Nujabes, from which the influence stems.