T5W#545-Top 5 Things to Remember Before Seeing Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway: The Sorcery of Nymph Circe

Even though we’ve been getting plenty of exciting new Gundam projects these last few years including The Witch From Mercury and SEED Freedom, the one Gundam story everyone has been waiting for is Part 2 of the Gundam Hathaway Trilogy.  Originally intended for a Summer 2020 release but delayed due to the Pandemic, Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway dropped in the Summer of 2021 in Japan and on Netflix and took fans into a new struggle as the Earth Sphere crossed the UC0100 line.  It’s been five years since the first part of this new saga arrived and fans have been eagerly wanting to see where the rebellion of Hathaway Noa goes from here.  To get you caught up before we send Mobile Suits into the ocean (judging from the trailers), today’s Top 5 Wednesday will be looking at the Top 5 Things to Remember Before Seeing Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway: The Sorcery of Nymph Circe.

 

Samurai Champloo Part 5 Episodes 18-21

Mugen, Jin and Fuu might’ve finally caught a break in their search for the Sunflower Samurai in a town held hostage by religion and lies.  They have a name.  They have a destination.  Now all they have to do is get there.  But when a beautiful, blind musician named Sara joins the party, everything’s on the verge of changing once more.  Is Sara someone who’s too good to be true or is she an opponent even Mugen and Jin’s skills might not be able to overcome?

I feel a little let down that I’ve gone through so many sets of Samurai Champloo episodes and only a couple have stood out each time.  Yet here we are at the penultimate chapter and wouldn’t you know it, I really liked each of the four offerings presented.  Sure I had some gripes here and there and three out of four were so much stronger than one.  But besides my usual nitpicks (Fuu related mostly), this weeks Samurai Champloo had a lot I really liked about it and I wish the show was this consistent with the overall quality and not just relying on the animation or soundtrack to pick up some of the slack.  Anyway, got nothing but mostly good things to say here, let me ramble.
 

T5W#544-Top 5 Anime Turning 30 in 2026

While maybe not the same kind of landmark year 1995 was, 1996 was still a stellar year for Anime, especially when it came to Mecha.  We’ve obviously got a lot of brand new and returning titles in 2026 including the continuations and conclusions of Jujutsu Kaisen and Bleach respectively.  Today on Top 5 Wednesday though, we’re warping back a couple of decades to give celebratory shoutouts to the old school titles that remain fondly remembered starting points in the genre for fans such as myself (even if I found some of them much later on Toonami).  These are the Top 5 Anime Turning 30 in 2026.

Samurai Champloo Part 4 Episodes 13-17

The search for the Sunflower Samurai comes to a halt when an unexpected reunion leads Mugen to some unfinished business he thought he’d left behind long ago.  Meanwhile, wanted terrorists seek revenge for a terrible deed and the discovery of gold in a river could lead to our trio losing their heads.  Blood, betrayal, rage, redemption and maybe even a little romance are waiting for Mugen, Jin and Fuu, if a petty argument between them doesn’t threaten to end their journey first.

Samurai Champloo enters its second half this week with two 2-Part adventures and one stand alone sandwiched in between them (hence why today we’re looking at 5 episodes).  The thing about two partners is that there has to be a very good reason for them to be two parts and not just one episode being stretched painfully thin to fill run time.  Samurai Champloo has good and bad examples of this with both of these stories.  Plus the stand alone episode is easily one of the best and most hilarious so it mostly balances things in the good column but let’s break it all down shall we?
 

T5W#543-Top 5 Characters Done Dirty in Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuX

Of the many, many things Gundams latest entry does wrong, the characters suffer the most.  Honestly, if you’re not Machu, Nyaan, Suji or Chalia Bull, you’re window dressing, a name just meant to bolster a typical hugely cast Gundam series…and that’s just wrong.  Just because everyone’s not getting into the same poor man’s “fooly cooly”/cryptic nonsense doesn’t mean they don’t deserve to just stand around and be ignored or dumped on.  So, for our first Top 5 Wednesday of 2026, I’m giving some justice to some underrated new faces to the Gundam franchise with the Top 5 Characters Done Dirty in Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuX.

 

Samurai Champloo Part 3 Episodes 9-12

The road to the Sunflower Samurai continues to yield detours for Mugen, Jin and Fuu.  From warriors with supernatural skill to a cult of warrior monks posing as ninjas, Mugen might find he’s in for a helluva good time.  Meanwhile, a woman with a sorrowful tale attracts Jin’s attention but is it enough to sway him from his current promise?  And after traveling with two quick on the draw Samurai for so long, how does Fuu feel about her two traveling companions?

Contrary to what I might have been saying so far, I don’t hate Samurai Champloo.  I only think that some of its core elements are holding it back, mostly in regards to the main quest and the characters.  I want the show to be better and, case in point, I got most of that wish in todays set of episodes.  Two of them were centered around the true anti hero we should be following around while the failings of another were made up for by one of the most essential players in Samurai Champloo’s make up.  So yeah, this week I have more good than negative things to say, let’s get cracking.
 

Samurai Champloo Part 2 Episodes 5

Brought together by fate and misfortune, Mugen, Jin and Fuu continue their journey to find the “Samurai who smells of Sunflowers”.  But few places have any clues or details as to his existence.  What they do have are Yakuza, deadly Temptresses, beat boxing bandits and random assassins all coming after our trio.  One thing is for sure, no matter where these three go, there’s hardly a dull moment.

I get why Samurai Champloo was a major hit back in the day.  With it’s cool artstyle and action scenes blending together elements of hip hop culture and music, it’s pretty unique and it’s from the same guy who did Cowboy Bebop and pretty much everyone, even non Anime fans, love Cowboy Bebop.  For the life of me though, I’m finding it hard to see why this was a hit beyond those aspects cause if everything after Episode 1 yesterday felt undercooked, todays second outing feels like the shows already recycling plot threads and beats within episodes of each other.  That’s not to say there aren’t some stand out moments that could pay off further down the line but lets break down why Samurai Champloo, for me, isnt reaching the hype it should.
 

Samurai Champloo Part 1 Episodes 1-4

Mugen and Jin are a wandering vagabond and ronin, both highly skilled in the art of killing.  When these two cross paths, blades are set to draw.  But when a young girl named Fuu saves their lives from execution, the pair find themselves in her debt and forced into a quest: to find a Samurai who smells of Sunflowers.  They have no leads and no idea where to start.  What they do know is that everywhere they go, trouble follows. It’s sure to be an exciting adventure, if Fuu’s two bodyguards don’t try to kill each other first.

Happy New Year Everyone and welcome to the Gundam Anime Corner in 2026.  To start things off, I’ve finally decided to look at a show that’s been on the waiting list ever since I started this blog in 2014.  Released in 2004, Samurai Champloo is Shinichiro Watanabe’s directorial follow up to Cowboy Bebop.  As such, the Anime has a lot of Bebop DNA in it, mostly in the main cast, the music and the cultural mish mash between Modern and Feudal Japan.  Despite the approach, does Samurai Champloo live in the shadows of what could be argued is Watanabe’s magnum opus?  We’ll be piecing that together all month long so let’s get the party started shall we?
 

Welcome to the Gundam Anime Corner 2026

Happy New Year Dear Readers and welcome one and all, old and new, to the Gundam Anime Corner.  This is my own little corner of the internet where I’ve been sharing my thoughts on Anime, Video Games, Movies, Conventions and various other topics since 2014 (well 2015 here, I started elsewhere in 2014 so it still counts).  If you’re new here, welcome.  Pull up a chair, check out a review, Top 5 list or two and stay as long or as little as you’d like.  For you returnees and long time readers, welcome back.  2026 is shaping up to be a big year full of long awaited titles, requests from the readers and (hopefully) some new projects or two throughout the year.  For now though, I’ve got a nice little map of the next couple of months including a tease of the forthcoming Twelfth Anniversary Review coming at the end of March…that I haven’t decided yet but bare with me.