Samurai Champloo 13-14
This two-parter about Mugen's past coming back to haunt him shows just how important storyboarders are to a story's execution. Episode 13, storyboarded by Kazuyoshi Katayama (Big O), was pretty standard and somewhat dull, with bland framing and flat direction. The shots seemed chosen almost at random, with little eye for either thematic meaning or visual beauty. It wasn't terrible, but I wasn't engaged with the story and wasn't invested in Mugen or the other characters at all. Episode 14, on the other hand, storyboarded by Shinichiro Watanabe himself as well as Shukou Murase (Ergo Proxy), was striking and compelling, perhaps the best episode of the show to date. From the rain at the start of the episode, there was suddenly a strong mood which had been entirely absent in the preceding episode. The lighting and coloring were varied and creative and there was consistent attention paid to meaninfully and attractive framing of the characters. A highlight is the extended insert song sequence, which uses unconventional and surreal visual storytelling closely tied with the music to paint a portrait of Mugen's past and psyche. There was fabulous editing in that sequence, as it cut back and forth from Mugen in the water to fleeting snatches of memory. The ending scene, up to the very ending shot, was intensely powerful without needing to go overboard. Episode 14 ended up selling me on Mugen's character more than the show had ever done before.
