Samurai Champloo largely relies on a blend of historical Edo period backdrops combined with modern day styles and references that are largely anachronistic. The show pays homage to historically factual elements of Edo-era Japan, such as the Shimabara Rebellion ("Unholy Union;" "Evanescent Encounter, Part I"), Dutch exclusivity in an era where edict restricted Japanese foreign relations ("Stranger Searching"), Ukiyo-e paintings ("Artistic Anarchy"), and fictionalized versions of real-life Edo personalities Mariya Enshirou and Miyamoto Musashi ("Elegy of Entrapment, Verse 2").

Incorporated within this are anachronistic elements largely reflective of hip hop culture, such as rapping ("Lullabies of the Lost, Verse 1"), graffiti ("War of the Words"), and much of Mugen's character design, including a fighting style influenced by breakdancing. Champloo's musical score predominantly features hip hop beats. Certain anachronistic references are not based upon hip-hop, however, such as baseball ("Baseball Blues") and references to the atomic bombing of Nagasaki (“Cosmic Collisions").

See also: List of Samurai Champloo episodes 1-12 and List of Samurai Champloo episodes 13-26

[edit] Influences and cultural references

• The recurring character Manzo the Saw, who both appears in and narrates several episodes, is a parody of the titular character from the Hanzo the Razor movies.^{[citation needed]}
• Samurai Champloo is an example of the popular chambara film and television genre--the trademarks are a setting in the Edo Period, a focus on samurai or other swordsman characters, and lots and lots of thrilling, dramatic fights. Chambara was used in the early days of Japanese cinema (when government political censorship ran high) as a way of expressing veiled social critiques, and it is possible to read Champloo as a satire of contemporary Japanese society. The show features cameos by other protagonists of the genre, such as Mito Kōmon in "Evanescent Encounter, Part 1", Ogami Daigoro from Lone Wolf and Cub in "Elegy of Entrapment, Part 1" and "Evanescent Encounter, Part 1", and Lone Wolf and Cub themselves in "Cosmic Collisions".^{[citation needed]}
• In episode 5 (Artistic Anarchy), Mugen is heard to mutter "damn, doing it with a squid" while looking at a book of ukiyo-e art. This is probably a reference to a Katsuhika Hokusai piece entitled Kinoe no Komatsu (The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife).^{[citation needed]}
• In episode 13 (Misguided Miscreants, Part 1), Mugen's old pirating partner Mukuro has two ship mates named Ken and Ryu. The names Ryu and Ken together may be a hidden reference to the word Ryukan, which is their and Mugen's ethnicity, though it may also be a joke by the animators and script writers on the hit fighting game Street Fighter which has Ryu and Ken as the main characters. In Japanese, Ryu means either "dragon" or "style", and Ken means "sword."^{[citation needed]}
• In episode 14 (Misguided Miscreants, Part 2), Jin's sword-against-gun battle with Mukuro is reminiscent of Sanjuro and Unosuke during the climactic final battle in Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo. It is also analogus to Spike and Vicious' sword and gun fights in Cowboy Bebop.^{[citation needed]}
• A character named "Sabini" is featured in the zombie-filled episode 22 (“Cosmic Collisions”), a possible reference to actor Tom Savini, most famous for his appearances in George Romero's classic zombie films.^{[citation needed]}
• Watanabe has stated that the movies Zatoichi and Enter the Dragon influenced his work. Mugen using his scabbard as a walking stick as well as his inverted grip of the sword at the end of episode 14 may be a reference to similar practices used in Zatoichi. Also, in episode 25 (Evanescent Encounter, Part 2) Mugen's face is scarred after being slashed by Denkibou's claws, bearing a strong resemblance to a similar Bruce Lee scar in Enter the Dragon.^[1]