Samurai Champloo: Redeye Reprisal (Veritable Pandemonium) Rewatch

February 15, 2015 11:40 AM - Season 1, Episode 2

Fuu, Jin and Mugen are almost out of money, and Mugen offers to take care of a local monster for a reward. Jin is tested by a deceptively adept samurai, while Mugen is lured into danger by two different women.

Mugen, Jin and Fuu find themselves with limited funds, when they overhear people talking about a local monster who kills villagers. Some men ask another samurai if he would take care of the menace, only to find he is a samurai in title only.

Sasaki Ryujiro, a bodyguard of the prefect's son from the prior episode, survived having his arm lopped off by Mugen, and seeks revenge. Jin and Fuu get pulled in, the former as possible impediment to plans, and the latter as bait. Jin finds the cowardly samurai to be anything but, and Fuu befriends the powerful ogre, which isn't enough to save him in the end.

Sources to stream the episode: login-reqested and age-restricted, subbed and dubbed in English on YouTube; age-restricted, subbed and dubbed in English on Hulu; fansubbed, without restrictions on YouTube.

Guide to anachronisms in Episode Two.

posted by filthy light thief (5 comments total)

"Do you know why fireflies light up? It's really for the males and females to attract each other. But, they say that males sometimes end up calling each other instead."

"I'll be going now."
posted by figurant at 9:00 PM on February 15, 2015

The three translations (official sub and dub, fansub) are each different, which isn't in itself remarkable, but is really striking in one particular scene. When Jin is pulling Fuu along, after she gets drunk and passes out, Mugen says:

• Sleeping without a care in the world... I'm gonna rape you, you dumb broad. (Official fansub)
• Look at that dumb broad, she's out cold. Let's strip her and dump her. (Official dub)
• Without a care in the world... I should wake your ass up right now ... (fansub)

I don't know Japanese, so I'm interested if the official sources are trying to make Mugen more tough, or if the fansubbers are trying to tone down the unnecessarily violent language. I think it's more the former than the latter, but I have no idea, to be honest.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:04 AM on February 16, 2015

More notes from the fansub:

• At about 4 minutes, Fuu provides a plate of "The famous joushuu* grilled manjuu** [*habitual or customary; **bun with sweet bean filling]"
• ~5:30, Fuu says to Mugen, who is talking to the two local men about taking care of the ogre, "Do you think you're Momotaro* or something?" [*the child in a Japanese fairy tale who slays an ogre.]
• ~16:40, Sasaki Ryujiro tells Mugen "The hitoudake, as its name suggests, makes you suffer an entire night before sending you to the otherworld." ["hito" means one and "u" means night; "dake" means only]

And if you're wondering about those wooden planks in the cemetery, they're called "sotoba." See also: more on Japanese cemetaries.

Thoughts on this episode: I think this was more for character development than story progression: Jin is clearly a perceptive man, and the swordplay between Jin and the assassin was fun. It was nice to see that Fuu is not a damsel in distress, waiting for men to save her (when she kicked the one-armed man into the water to save the poisoned Mugen). I liked that Mugen didn't know about sunflowers but didn't ask about them earlier, and I thought he got his due with mistreating women earlier, though he came through at the end and showed concern for Fuu.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:01 AM on February 16, 2015

The apathetic assassin was my favorite. Jin hates him so much, just for the attitude..
posted by Ashenmote at 12:01 PM on February 16, 2015

For more cultural context, here are notes from a fansubber on this episode.
posted by filthy light thief at 3:47 PM on March 15, 2015