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While the classic series often leads conversations about the top anime in history, its close relative, the iconic series, deserves similar recognition. The influence of this samurai saga still resonates today, most recently in Sony's flagship Ghost of Tsushima franchise.

Enhanced Tributes

This recent Ghost of Yotei, the sequel to the 2020 PlayStation 5 game, deepens its nod to Japanese period dramas with the addition of Kurosawa Mode. This option offers monochrome graphics, textured effects, and retro audio effects. Additional modes include the intense director mode, which sharpens the camera and intensifies blood and mud; and the anime-inspired mode, featuring a lo-fi hip-hop score crafted under the filmmaker's guidance.

For those intrigued about the Watanabe mode, Watanabe is the mastermind who created the jazz-soaked Cowboy Bebop and the hip-hop-driven Samurai Champloo, among other celebrated anime.

The Blend of Eras

Watanabe’s 2004 series Samurai Champloo merges historical Japan with hip-hop culture and modern sensibilities. It follows the unlikely trio of the wild swordsman, a reckless and spontaneous fighter; Jin, a reserved and formal ronin; and Fuu, a courageous teenager who hires them on her mission to find “the mysterious sunflower samurai.”

While the audio landscape is fundamentally his design, much of the series' music was shaped by renowned musician Nujabes, who died in 2010 at the age of 36. Nujabes deserves his flowers next to Watanabe when it comes to the audio the anime is renowned for and pays homage to in the new game.

Artistic Blending

Much of what made Samurai Champloo shine on the cable schedule was its smooth integration of urban music and Asian culture. That fusion has been a mainstay in the music scene since the classic album in 1993, which itself was inspired by an entire generation maturing on action cinema with Bruce Lee and the iconic actor.

For many, the programming block and the anime served as an gateway to underground music, with musicians like Nujabes, Shing02, and the electronic artist, the latter of whom went on to score the Netflix anime Yasuke.

Stylized Storytelling

Artistic and meaningful, Champloo’s intro sequence introduces the main characters through kindred animals in the scene — Mugen struts like a rooster, while the disciplined one moves with the composed, fluid style of a carp. Although Champloo’s protagonists are the star of the series, its secondary characters are where the true heart of the anime lies.

There’s thief the young character, who has a tragic tale of endurance in one chapter, and another character named Yamane, whose interactions with Mugen impact him greatly that he ends up in his writings years later. In the eleventh episode, “Gamblers and Gallantry,” Jin falls in love with a spouse forced into sex work named Shino and aids her flight from a red-light district.

A Cohesive Journey

At first glance, the 26-episode series appears to tell a fragmented story of the trio’s journey to meeting the elusive figure, but as the series unfolds, events from previous episodes begin to interconnect to form a single, cohesive narrative. Every experience our main characters experience along the way has an influence on both them and the main plot.

Period Influences

The series also draws from feudal Japanese events (the same setting as Yotei), seen through Watanabe’s creative revisions. Occurrences like the feudal conflict and places such as the security station (which Yamane guards) are integrated into the story.

Early on, ukiyo-e artist Hishikawa Moronobu is featured and momentarily focuses on the female lead as his inspiration. After she declines his offer, his work eventually falls into the hands of Vincent van Gogh, who, in the series' alternate timeline, is influenced to create his famous sunflower paintings.

Lasting Influence

All of these elements tie closely into Champloo’s soundtrack, giving this warrior tale the kind of distinct identity that other works have long sought to emulate. Titles like Afro Samurai (featuring the renowned producer), the hip-hop anime, and Yasuke all tried to capture its fusion of music and visuals, but with mixed results.

Ghost of Yotei has the chance to pick up where the classic anime concluded, triggering a new wave of inspiration much like the anime once did. If you’re starting the game, it’s worth revisiting the series, because without it, there’d be no “the special setting,” no trend of hip-hop-infused anime, and no enduring influence of the producer, from which the inspiration stems.