The essential episodes of Samurai Champloo

Watch these 10 in order and you've got Samurai Champloo — each pick states its reason.

1. 01

   S01E01 · Pilot · May 20, 2004 · 25m

   Tempestuous Temperaments8.4

   Fuu, a waitress who is being intimidated by the village prefect's son and his guard, begs 19-year-old vagabond Mugen for help. Across town, skilled 20-year-old rōnin Jin kills the prefect's bodyguards as they prepare to kill a peasant. Jin enters the restaurant, where Mugen mistakes him for the prefect's elite bodyguards and, seeking a worthy adversary, engages him in combat. One of the prefect's son's guards sets the restaurant on fire and it burns to the ground. The local authorities capture both Mugen and Jin, who were knocked unconscious by coal gas, and sentence them to death. After escaping their execution with some help from Fuu, she asks them to join her on a quest to find a mysterious man who smells of sunflowers.

2. 02

   S01E10 · Top rated · July 29, 2004 · 25m

   Lethal Lunacy9.4

   Mugen faces the lethal challenge of a Shaolin-trained swordsman and proves equal to the test, while Jin gets stuck doing all the housework. Can Mugen defeat this trained swordsman or will he suffer from his mistakes?

3. 03

   S01E11 · Top rated · August 5, 2004 · 25m

   Gamblers and Gallantry9.2

   Jin comes to the rescue of a lady in distress. He falls in love and tries to rescue this woman from the hard life she has come to face. Will he save her and himself? In the meantime, Mugen trains a rhinoceros beetle for a bug-fighting tournament in which he expects to win money.

4. 04

   S01E14 · Season 1 peak · September 2, 2004 · 25m

   Misguided Miscreants (Part 2)9.5

   When Mugen finds out what the pirate was planning to do, he gets his revenge.

5. 05

   S01E17 · Top rated · September 23, 2004 · 25m

   Lullabies of the Lost (Part 2)9.2

   Jin ends a life he hoped to spare.

6. 06

   S01E20 · Top rated · February 5, 2005 · 25m

   Elegy of Entrapment (Part 1)9.5

   Fuu, Mugen, and Jin meet up with a blind girl who is a traveling musician. Because of her blindness, she is able to sense the emotions of the group. Is this girl more than just a musician?

7. 07

   S01E21 · Top rated · February 12, 2005 · 25m

   Elegy of Entrapment (Part 2)9.5

   Jin learns the Way of Water, a woman's sorrow comes to an end, and Mugen both gives and receives an assassin's last gift.

8. 08

   S01E24 · Top rated · March 5, 2005 · 25m

   Evanescent Encounter (Part 1)9.2

   Fuu, Mugen, and Jin have finally arrived in Nagasaki to find Ikitsuki Island in search of the Sunflower Samurai. There seems to be one small problem that might keep them from getting there though: a group of assassins are following closely behind.

9. 09

   S01E25 · Top rated · March 12, 2005 · 25m

   Evanescent Encounter (Part 2)9.5

   As Jin duels Kagetoki Kariya, the most powerful man in the shogunate, Mugen has to contend with three brothers who want his head.

10. 10

    S01E26 · Series finale · March 19, 2005 · 25m

    Evanescent Encounter (Part 3)9.2

    As Fuu finally confronts the Sunflower Samurai, Mugen and Jin face their ultimate tests. While Mugen must face the remaining brothers, Jin continues his battle with Kagetoki Kariya. And there's the small matter of their own duel.