57-2 - Samurai Champloo - Episodes 17-18

Lullabies of the Lost wraps up. Then Mugen learns to rap. The show contains multitudes. Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover "Lullabies of the Lost (Verse 2)" and "War of the Words,” Episodes 17 and 18 of Samurai Champloo. "Lullabies of the Lost (Verse 2)" picks up the three separated threads: Fuu's involvement with the traveller reaches its climax, Jin deals with his past again, and Mugen questions what it means to be alive. The episode's closing sequence, set to a rare one-time-use piece from the Nujabes score, is one of the more quietly beautiful moments in the series. Then "War of the Words" is the show doing a comedy episode in a way that’s oddly moving: Mugen admits that he can’t read, and a local teacher drags him off, declaring that a man without words isn’t a man at all. At the same time, Jin and Fuu end up in the middle of a contest between two graffiti artists, both of whom are also struggling to communicate. We discuss what the Lullabies two-parter ultimately delivers on and where "War of the Words" fits in the show's catalogue of confident nonsense. **** Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you. From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball. **** See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.