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Story - 6/10:
The first five episodes are some of the best I've ever seen. You've got the terrorism premise and the mystery behind Twelve and Nine. You're getting glimpses into the failure of the police to prevent bombings. What's odd about the bombings is that they hurt no one, no fatalities, and the reason as to why they're committed is unknown as well. Then you're getting insight into Lisa's shitty life and her importance as a character. The anime has this staggeringly unique tone and I soaked it all in. Mysterious teenage bombers, a traumatized girl, a confused police force, the media in a frenzy. ...
And then it all goes downhill so fast I've actually got whiplash. Five's entrance, or more so, the entrance of the FBI or whatever shit, marks this decline. And then after that, everything gets so sloppy. There is absolutely no resolution to the brilliant buildup of the first five episodes. We're never given the significance of the Greek-themed riddles Twelve and Nine used. We're never allowed to even wonder how Shibazaki knew so much about Greek mythology. this man's a fucking encyclopedia. We never see a deeper reason to Twelve's obsession with Lisa. After episode five, it gets lazy, it's not worth it, and the ending certainly was lackluster. I don't disagree with how the series ended. I think it was fitting. These two characters were given the tragic finale that they deserved. But the execution, oh the execution (ahah notice my pun and laugh). It left me with so many 'if only's.
If only Five and the FBI never interrupted, Twelve and Nine could've left the message they wanted to in a better way, Shibazaki could've been utilized to his absolute fullest, Lisa would've been allowed to be more useful. If only the plot focused less on American interference, and more on Japan, the country in issue. If only we were allowed to see more power to the police, a different direction in plot altogether, without Five.
I'm disappointed is all, idk, for such a good beginning, the middle and end made me sad because it feels like a genuinely wasted opportunity. There are too many coincidences in this show, too many convenient moments, it's just hard to get behind.

Art - 10/10:
I can't complain. Every scene (save one or two) was animated to perfection. There's nothing bad I can say.

Sound - 10/10:
I would give it higher if I could. I'm not exaggerating when I say I only watched episodes 8-11 so I could hear that Opening and Ending again. The first time I heard the opening, my ass had an entire spiritual awakening. I'd been missing out on this opening for five years. The OST too - holy fucking shit, it was pERFECT. Voice acting is good. Not Pyscho Pass good, but it's pretty good. The plot falls flat, sure, but the sound never does.

Character - 4/10:
There's no noticeable character development, I'm sorry. Twelve started the series as one person and ended as that same person. Same with Nine, except now he views Lisa as important. Lisa is the single most annoying person. At the end of the series I was going to give her a second chance, but then I remembered her "I wanna be a terrorist too! >:(" monologue, and her fucking cooking things, and I hate her almost as much as I hate myself for even thinking that this mosquito of a person could be redeemable in any way. There is absolutely no reason for Twelve to think taking Lisa in was the best option. She acts all sad because she's so sure she's just a hindrance, and when it comes to actually being of use to Nine, she IS a hindrance (airport incident), who would've thought.
Shibazaki is likable, though the show sets him up in such a way that it's like we're not allowed to question his credibility and endless intelligence. The other policeman, the younger one, had so much opportunity to be more fleshed out, but noPE.
Five's got no real purpose, same with the rest of them.

Enjoyment - 7/10:
It's a thriller, in the end. And it's pretty thrilling sometimes. It's got emotional moments. You'd enjoy it in one way or another.

Overall - 7/10:
It should've been a 22 ep series. This would've given the anime a chance for a better plot and more fleshed out characters. If there's a reason to watch, though, it's got to be for the music and art. There's some English dialogue though, watch out for it.

Samurai Champloo has the slick appeal of something extraordinary, something risky and new and right off the bat with the intro, it made me its bitch. The first half of the 26 episodes are solid. I give them 10 yees/10. They made me very happy, I loved it all. But from episode 15 about, there's a decrease in quality that takes the Samurai Champloo out of the show and makes it feel a lot like Gintama. The stark decrease in the presence of the overarching plot from episode 15 to episode 24, for me, took away the overall appeal of the show.

Story: 6/10
Fuu works ... at a teahouse, but then some dumbass virgin looking men come in and wreck stuff up. Mugen comes into the teahouse, and this is when you'll first experience the urge to feed the poor boy something. Jin is somewhere in the city fighting the henchmen of an asshole upperclassman. By chance, they all end up in this teahouse, they kill the dumbass virgin men and the teahouse lights on fire. Now, Fuu sets on a journey to find the "Samurai who smells of sunflowers." After rescuing Mugen and Jin from public execution, Fuu forces the two to help her find Samurai-san. And so they walk across Japan and fight sometimes. That's the premise of the plot that we are shown in the first episode, and the show stays true to this without forgetting it for the most part.

My issue with the story lies in the episodes 15-24, which focus on more menial things that truly have no relevance. Episode 15 focusses on Mugen and Jin, who've found people illegally forging money beneath a whorehouse. There's also an entire episode that involves baseball and mocking American interference in Japan, and to me, this was the show's lowest point. I couldn't make it through the episode (episode 23, I implore you not to watch it). Episode 22: the three are stuck, labouring, in a mine where they're dealing with people over 500 years old, but they don't know that, and oh no they know now and woops they escaped wow how cool. It was ridiculous.

And the two episodes about Mugen's past coming back to him were dealt with so poorly. Samurai Champloo has been embracing sword-fighting during the Edo era and when, suddenly, bombs and guns make such a prominent appearance for these few episodes, it feels odd. The girl from Mugen's past was turned into such a weak character and it made me mad, you know? This girl's grown up with an abusive brother, on an island full of criminals, and she turns out to be an absolute pussy? They couldn't give her the slightest remnant of a backbone? She looks badass, she dresses badass, why can't she *be* badass?

Art: 9/10
I adored the art, and it's what kept me watching in the latter half of the show. I think that Mugen allowed the animators to really, really experiment, and Jin allowed them to master conventional sword-fighting. I'm ride or die for Rurouni Kenshin, but the thing about that show is that sword fights aren't animated in the lovely, gruesome detail that Samurai Champloo's fights are. The thick lines of the art, the noses, the INTRO SEQUENCE HOLY SHIT. My one issue is that some backgrounds are incessently 90's anime type bright, and they contrast so greatly with the show's sleek, simple tone.

Sound: 10/10
With short, sweet, hip-hop soundtracks and that DJ sound effect - I loved this show's sound to no extent. I haven't watched Cowboy Bebop, but again, I'll bring up Rurouni Kenshin's example, since it has my favorite soundtrack in any show to date. RK's soundtrack is grandiose and captures the depth behind every draw of the sword, every glance of the eye. In contrast, Samurai Champloo's soundtrack is charmingly minimalistic, you can feel its power on the occasions that it shows up. The sound and art go very well together, so well done.

Character 7/10: (MILD SPOILERS AHEAD)
1. Fuu: Her determination to find Sunflower Samurai starts off annoying, and ends a little less annoying. I don't know, I just feel so unsatisfied with her character. It felt like her entire character revolved around finding the samurai. At the start, she's so clearly the only driving force to keep the three together. And I think this is the show's truest shortfall: Jin and Mugen have no real motive whatsoever to be with Fuu apart from the half-assed coin toss they did at the beginning. Would you bet your life on a fucking coin toss? I don't think so. She's a 15-year-old girl, but she acts 11. She has a dagger on her that she draws ONCE throughout the entire show (and that one time, she didn't even make the effort to hit). Bruh I feel like the show has something against girls under 18 having actual strength and not relying on older men to protect them. Fuu was a wasted opportunity, wasn't developed in the slightest, and if she did grow from episodes 1 to 26, it would have made that ending feel so much more worth it.

2. Mugen: the most brilliantly done character. What we know of his past is that he used to live on an island full of criminals, used to be a pirate, used to be in jail, and this boy knows how to handle a sword. He's crude, a pervert, has no manners, and is despicable in every way possible. He's unlikeable, but he's so terribly down-to-earth, dedicated, driven, smart - even if he's the antithesis of what is means to be a functioning human being, he's a wonderful character to follow around and understand. We see glimpses of humanity from him, from his interest in Sara to the change in his face when he's told to protect Fuu explicitly, at the end of the show. He learns how to read in an episode. Near the beginning of the show, we see him training in the smartest and most bullshit ways to defeat a swordsman he's not sure he can best. None of the other characters work in any remote way to better themselves, in skill, throughout the course of the show except for this one.

3. Jin: silent and pretty damn practical, Jin's got looks and also glasses that have no function at all. He's Mugen's parallel: respectful, kept to himself, sensible, studious. We know nothing of this past, save the fact that he killed his master and that he lost his parents at a young age. Because of the mystery of his past, of his thoughts and interests, he seems to be a deeper character to us than he probably really is. Episode 11, we seem him fall in love with a prostitute. He uses Mugen and Fuu's hard-earned money to visit her several times, and finally, he sets her free. A few times throughout the show, he fights against previous students of his late master, and the first time, he says he's made peace with his past, but as he's continued to be haunted by it, he deals with it in the most mature way possible. You'd think this would make him boring, but with Fuu fucking things up and Mugen fucking things up (but better), Jin's the perfect balance to it all, and I'm so glad he's here.

Enjoyment: 10/10
I can't say I didn't binge the ever-living shit out of Samurai Champloo. I watched the entire thing in a day, 9AM to 2AM, y'all. Even though I said it was like Gintama, it didn't have the satisfying endings that Gintama had, and I think that's a good thing. It reminds us that Samurai Champloo has a plot, and Fuu reminds us of it sometimes too, and the show's trying a little bit of everything, which is respectable. I highly recommend this show. Don't watch with your mom or something.

Bunguo Stray Dogs was something I've been avoiding for the past four months since I saw the summary, and it was, quite frankly, such a big mistake. From then I watched so many horrible anime, I actually lost all will to live. So I thought, "nothing can be as bad as Death Note's live action," and gave Bunguo Stray Dogs a go.

Ive never become so quickly attached to something in my entire life wtf im watching the bunguo stray dogs animatics on youtube now too i dont -

Story: 7/10
The tone of the show is done wonderfully: rustic city full of danger, depth of ... character in even a fucking trash can. The story delves into struggles between the Mafia and private agencies, the government and the police. All with the addition of people with gifts that grant them super powers, too. It's a little like mha, except there is no academia whatsoever. The worldbuilding is wonderful only limited to the actual setting, and not how the world works in Bunguo Stray Dogs. We never get insight into who and how people get gifts, we don't understand how you get better at your gift, how you unlock a certain ability. A good example of handling special abilities will unanimously be hunterxhunter's Nen system. I'm not asking any author to go into as much detail and complexity as the Nen system, but Nen gave us a perfect explanation for everything and therefore if you understood its rules, you can that much more clarity while watching the show. It's more engaging. The story in season 2 is definately more thought out than in season one, but season one focusses more on developing its characters I think. The story starts off a little boring (the first 2 to 3 episodes), and picks up at a good enough pace that you'll still be engaged. ALSO, the god damn repeating flashbacks of Atsushi's orphanage trauma is extremelyyyyyy irritating. The fourth/fifth flashback drove the point home my dudes, why am I still seeing this same flashback once every episode. And the incest types scenes with Naomi and her brother, dear lord save me ;-;

Art: 8/10
The art defines the mood sooooo well, I love the more brownish bronze colours that they use throughout the show. Every character is drawn to match their personalities, and exaggerations of facial expressions during comic scenes along with special effects are done really well. The reason I'm giving the art style an 8, and not a 10, is because there are some scenes (like fight scenes and such) where you can tell its a little lazy. Apart from that, the art doesn't take away from the viewing experience.

Sound: 7/10
The opening for both season one and two are so good to listen to; I don't think I've ever skipped an opening. The ending songs are sad (so the memes stay true), and that's all there really is to it. My main issue with the sound is the music they play throughout season one. Often it was offputting and didn't seem to fit at all, but there are a few good songs in the soundtrack. Again, I can't begin to describe all the things season two does right that season one did wrong. The show *does* redeem itself.

Character: 10/10
The show's strongpoint. Every character is so significantly different from another, it's impossible to group any one together with another (Except for Kenji and the other farm boy from the Guild oop - ). Dazai's character is quite obviously the most well thought out, as there's like 4 episodes dedicated to his past in season 2. You'd think 4 episodes away from our main cast of characters would be awful, but they were my favourites in the entire series. ANd this is coming from someone who cries like a two year old when the mains don't come on screen for a few minutes. Dazai saves Atsushi in an eccentric way, but we never understand why he's eccentric entirely. We see glimpses into his past but never the whole thing and I think, that, of all charcters to look into in such great detail, Dazai was a really good choice. Atsushi takes after Dazai in taking in Kyouka, whom I love with my black dead cold heart. Kunakida deserves so much more than what he has, and Akutagawa is so obviously Atsushi's parallel. I dont know I just love them all :3

Enjoyment: 9/10
it's a pretty easy show to get into, and im too tired to write any more. you should definately give it a shot :)