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Samurai Champloo Essay

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James Wilson
Historical Inquiry – ‘Samurai Champloo’
‘Samurai Champloo’ is a Japanese anime series directed by the renowned Shinichirō Watanabe, who is well-known for combining together modern and historical themes in his works. Set in the Edo Period of Japanese history, ‘Samurai Champloo’ follows the exploits of Mugen and Jin, two rogue swordsmen who are hired by Fuu, a young waitress, to find her missing father. The trio travels across the country in search of this mysterious man and learn about each other’s extraordinary pasts, all the while encountering the weird and wonderful world of the Edo Period along the way.
What makes ‘Samurai Champloo’ controversial is its extensive and purposeful use of anachronism throughout the series. Many historical fiction works are heavily criticised for this practise, which is when a person, object, idea, or custom that belongs to a different time or place in history is featured within a work. This is most common in large productions where details may be misplaced or overlooked.
The series is best known for combining Edo Period history with modern day hip-hop culture, which is prevalent …show more content…

He often makes use of a strange long sword that appears to be a combination of a sai and a katana, two traditional Japanese weapons that were used during the Edo Period. However, the sai was only used within the Okinawa island chain to the South of Japan during the Edo Period and thus was unlikely to have made its way to mainland Japan during the time that the series takes place in, which is approximately between 1650 AD and 1690 AD, or the early Edo Period. Even if the sai did indeed make it to Japan in the early Edo Period it’s unlikely that a blacksmith would have known how to combine the two weapons together. Without records of these combination swords being produced during the Edo Period, we can only assume that it’s indeed an

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