Editing Samurai Champloo (section)

=== Concept and development ===
The concept for ''Samurai Champloo'' was created by Watanabe in 1999, then known for his work on ''Cowboy Bebop''. He wanted to create a series antithetical to the largely calm and mature atmosphere of ''Cowboy Bebop'', wanting a complete change due to fatigue after working on one project for such a long period.<ref name="NewtypeJuly2005"/>{{sfn|Roman|2007|p=43-47}} The success of ''Cowboy Bebop'' meant he was permitted to develop whatever he wanted for his next project.<ref name="NujabesRetro"/> As with his other projects, he drew inspiration from music, then matched a narrative to it.<ref name="EKinterview"/> His approach was combining two of his favorite things, classic samurai adventure films and series and hip hop music, into a single work.<ref name="WatanabeMP3"/> He created the concept for ''Samurai Champloo'' during this period, but work on it was delayed due to his work on ''[[Cowboy Bebop: The Movie]]'' and his segments of ''[[The Animatrix]]'' at [[Studio 4°C]].{{sfn|Roman|2007|p=43-47}}{{sfn|Roman|2007|p=66-69}} Kobayashi had invited Wanatabe to work on an original project at Manglobe when it was founded in February 2002, and Watanabe sent the ''Samurai Champloo'' pitch in May of that year.{{sfn|Roman|2007|p=66-69}} The pitch included the central concepts for the series, and draft designs for the lead characters.{{sfn|Roman|2007|p=66-69}}{{sfn|Roman|2007|p=2-3}} Watanabe invited Nakazawa on board as he was a fan of his work and wanted the opportunity to work with him. Obara, known more for his work on live-action movies and television dramas, was brought in through a mutual friend at Office Crescendo.{{sfn|Roman|2007|p=43-47}}

The eventual unstructured production style was unheard of in anime, and at the outset Obara created a series structure. The three-episode finale was not planned ahead, emerging naturally as part of the design approach.{{sfn|Roman|2007|p=43-47}} As the project evolved, Watanabe pushed for this structured approach to be discarded aside from the lead characters and premise, and Obara agreed to the new approach. The lack of a structure meant that the series narrative was constructed piece by piece, with few plot details being decided in advance.{{sfn|Roman|2007|p=66-69}} The fates of the three characters were also undecided during this stage. Watanabe originally planned for all three to survive, but at one point the team considered Jin and Mugen dying respectively in the final two episodes.{{sfn|Roman|2007|p=43-47}} Even the identity of the sunflower samurai was unknown to Watanabe during the early stages.<ref name="SpookInfo"/> Due to this approach, pre-production on the series lasted a year.{{sfn|Roman|2007|p=66-69}} Watanabe had a great deal of creative control and input, including on music selection and editing.<ref name="BRinterview"/>

The first episode took a long time to polish, being completed around the beginning of 2004, but it and subsequent episodes had an animation quality higher than other series of the time. This was attributed to the working environment of Manglobe allowing for easy communication between staff members, and Watanabe's passion for the project prompting famous staff from other notable anime projects to come on board. The non-standard style of production left some members of staff including Sasaki skeptical that the series would be finished. For the sound mixing, Watanabe wanted the same approach and quality as ''Cowboy Bebop: The Movie'', bringing in sound engineer Masashi Yabuhara who had worked with [[Yoko Kanno]] on the sound design of ''Cowboy Bebop''.{{sfn|Roman|2007|p=66-69}} The fight scenes were choreographed to appear more realistic than other period dramas, which featured a clashing of swords which in reality would chip them.{{sfn|Roman|2007|p=43-47}} Unique [[Bumper (broadcasting)#Japan|eyecatch]] artwork was created for each episode based on its themes and content. Woodblock prints portraying the characters, designed by former [[shojo manga]] creator Tsubaki Anna, were shown at various points through the series. Nakazawa created the illustration use for sponsor announcements.{{sfn|Roman|2007|p=100-101}}