Sea Slugs! Anime Blog

One rainy night, the gang checks into an inn and meets the beautiful Goze (blind female playing the shamisen), Sara. Her song is haunting and sad, and Jin remarks that it is because the blind can see things others do not. Everyone gets chummy when two thugs try to harass Sara but are beat down by Mugen. Sara doesn’t want charity, but Mugen remarks that beating up thugs is just his pickup line (Mugen is such a playah). Sara mentions that she is traveling south to Hyuga and would like to travel with them, and will even pick up the tab for lodging. We are then treated to a nice montage with Sara performing in several cities while Jin and Mugen act as bouncers. There is also a lot of imagery with recurring themes of mothers carrying their child, Buddhism, pinwheels, and sight. Fuu is reminded of sunflowers when she sees the pinwheel, and Jin and Fuu both notice Sara’s sweet Kishibojin (鬼子母神) keychain, which turns out to be very important. Mugen rudely asks if Sara has a dead son, and Sara says that the child is still alive and that there is no father. In a rare display of emotion, Sara is clearly unhappy as she describes how blind people are not considered qualified parents. That night, Mugen tries to scare Sara in the hot bath, but she senses him. She tells him that all people have a unique presence and that she can detect this. Sara mentions that she has been walking down a dark path for a long time, but does not want sympathy because people can get used to anything. Mugen doesn’t buy this, however, and points out that a happy person would not sing the songs she sings. The last humorous bit comes as Fuu discovers the two bathing together and orders Mugen to leave. When Sara asks what Mugen looks like, Fuu says that he is as ugly as a gorilla T_T. So much for being a wingman…

Before they go to sleep, Sara asks Fuu if there has ever been a time when Fuu wished that the destination would never come, so that the journey could continue forever, and the question really resonates with Fuu. During their last night together, everyone goes to a festival and Sara asks Jin and Mugen to pick a mask that a young boy would like. Mugen and Sara pick out a small drum and talk a little bit about being sad. Mugen says he does not remember the happiness of having parents, and Sara feels they are similar because they have both been without happiness for such a long time. A mysterious figure wearing an ugly grandma/hag mask is lurking at the festival and later reminds Sara of what she must do to live. Sara asks Fuu to let one of her companions travel with her, and Fuu chooses to let Jin go, hoping that he will refuse. Jin agrees to leave with Sara (to Fuu’s tremendous dismay), but later finds that she is actually an extremely skilled and strong assassin. She knows that Jin murdered Mariya Enshirou, and can easily dodge Jin’s strikes; it’s almost as if she can see his movements before they happen. Sara mentions that she did not want to do this job, but was sent by someone that even Jin and Mugen cannot match up with. She then proceeds to roxxor Jin’s soxxors.

As Sara and Jin continue to battle on the bridge, it is clear that Sara is the stronger fighter. Jin, however, smartly realizes that no character has yet to die from a fall in the last 20 episodes (it’s true!), and so slices the bridge, allowing him to escape in the river. As Mugen and Fuu prepare to leave the next day, they hear a commotion from the villagers. Apparently the suspension bridge has collapsed, and in the wreckage they find Sara but no Jin (although Mugen does find Jin’s glasses). When Sara awakes, she asks Fuu if Fuu will continue journeying to Nagasaki. Sara seems sad when Fuu says yes, which hints that there are forces that do not wish for Fuu to reach the Sunflower Samurai. When Mugen returns from searching, he brings back the shamisen and walking stick, and wonders aloud about Sara’s “business tools”. Sara responds by challenging Mugen to a fight at the river, and Mugen accepts. During the one-sided fight, Sara says that the child’s life is at stake, and that is why she has to lay the smackdown on Mugen. She also says she can sense the sadness and hatred swirling around Mugen as if he’d never been loved… just like her. While Mugen barely fends off Sara, Fuu hears the sounds of combat and rushes to the scene. Right before Sara finishes off Mugen, Fuu flops on top of him and Sara backs off. We then see Jin in the cabin of an odd hermit. The hermit teaches Jin to catch fish that can understand their situation by the water that surrounds them. Because they can sense danger when you oppose the water flow, the trick is let your body go with the flow and then strike in an instant. Unfortunately, the hermit does not actually succeed in catching the fish, and comes away empty handed… As Jin leaves, the hermit jokes that his name is Miyamoto Musashi, but it’s unclear whether or not he is serious. The hermit says to just call him “Johnny” and Jin returns to Mugen and Fuu.

The scene then changes to Sara journeying through a village in the late afternoon. There are pinwheels spinning and children laughing, but as Sara passes a small hut, the masked man from before reminds her of her duty. If she wants the child to live, she will finish the job by tomorrow. Suddenly, one of the pinwheels stops, and Sara comes to a startling and enraging realization. However, she does not voice her discovery, and instead agrees to finish her task. Back at the camp, Jin returns and Mugen reveals that Jin knew about Sara all along (which is why Jin agreed to go with Sara). Mugen acts like he will just wait for the assasins to return, but in the middle of the night he tries to sneak out to challenge Sara. Jin tells Mugen that Sara can see ahead by an instant and gives Mugen the advice he received from Johnny. At first Mugen doesn’t get it at all, but later in the climactic duel, he tries to implement the tactic. Although it isn’t successful, at the last moment Sara pulls back her strike, and Mugen’s attack slices through her. Before she dies, Sara reveals to Mugen that she just realized today that the child was already dead a long time ago. Sara was merely being used by Kogyou (the government). Her last words are “Please live… Mugen”.

OK, so I realize that that probably took forever to read, and let me assure you that it took forever to type up. However, the reason for the blow by blow summary is that these two episodes make up the strongest arc thus far, as Samurai Champloo delivered style along with an incredibly deep story. There was even a mysterious plot development! It goes without saying that I really enjoyed these episodes, but there were a lot of layers below the surface that need to be examined. The first sign that this would not be your standard silly wooden-boombox episode was the amulet that Sara carried. Although Kishibojin is a Buddhist deity that protects children and mothers, there is more to it. Before Kishibojin turned good, she was a female demon that would commit atrocities to feed her many children. Because of this, Kishibojin also symbolizes mothers whose love for their children goes too far; her selfish actions placed the welfare of her own children above that of others. Then there are all the metaphors involving sight and feeling. Sara is like the fish that can understand their situation through the surroudings. But is she also like the pinwheel? I didn’t completely understand the pinwheel imagery, but it seemed to me as if the pinwheel was also a symbol of Sara’s state. She moved in the wind, and yet never got anywhere (although at the very end, when the pinwheel stops moving, the wind tears it out of the ground and sends it flying in the air). Then there is the significance of Jin losing his glasses in the bridge incident. It isn’t until he loses them (Fuu mentions that they are just for style but this is never confirmed) that he receives the advice from the hermit. Maybe I am just reading too far into it. Anyway, I also liked the imagery of Jin and the inchworm at the hermit’s cabin. Viewers may have noticed that the animation crew seems to have changed between episode 20 and episode 21. The new crew’s style is much more realistic (some say “ugly”), and it was a bit jarring to have the art change halfway in an engrossing story.

On a completely separate note, if you know the name of the type of drum Sara purchases, please let me know! All I can think of is that it’s the one used in Karate Kid, and this description fills me with deep shame and regret T_T. Finally, those of you who don’t mind spoilers may be interested to know just who is behind the attacks…

If you assembled the clues like I did, this won’t be much of a spoiler. Exhibit A is the marking on the weapon that Sara uses, while Exhibit B would be the numerous pinwheels shown in the arc. Can there be any doubt about who the true villains are???