those with kiddies... or really good memory:

I'm trying to think of this children's book I liked when I was young.

It involved a very practically-minded princess, and something about her going around in a paper bag or a burlap sack or something and looking un-princessy, and an evil dragon that she at some point bargained or bantered with or fought or something.

I think it was read to me in gradeschool.

Sound familiar?

Champloo #10

Well, the single-episode plots are slowly getting better, but I think it's time that the overall plot kick in, ne? Or is the overall plotline that thing with Jin's backstory? So far the thing with the sunflower samurai has only been advanced in one little scene in one episode... out of 10 supposedly devoted to searching for said sunflower samurai.

I get that they're frequently broke and hungry. I get that the boys like to fight anything they come across.

I'm not getting much else, really, and it's starting to irritate me.

Also, I'm used to the dark animation by now but I still don't think I like it. Also, a lot of the people seem to be unnecessarily ugly. I mean, anime tends to make people generally prettier than not, but this anime seems to make most people generally ugly, and only a few are attractive. I'd rather have some kind of middle ground. And it can't be some attempt to make characters look more ethnic than typical anime style because if that were the case this show would have you believe that 4/5 Japanese guys are ugly. Really doesn't match my experience with the Japanese-descended males I've known, gone to school with, flirted with, or been friends with. Really not at all. And it certainly doesn't resemble the half-Japanese boy I had a crush on my entire senior year of high school.

Samurai Champloo #11

Finally, an episode I really really like. An episode I can sink my teeth into.

And didn't I say I liked Jin best? This confims it.

This stellar episode just earned SC a second chance in my book. I was going to quit but now I think I might stick around a bit longer. Just to see if there's any more I might like.

It's cute how Fuu isn't quite certain whether she actually likes Jin or whether she is just upset that one of her guys might be taken away from her. And I think Mugen is a little bit sweet on Fuu, in a way that can end up being either romantic or familial. For right now it's kind of amusing how they argue like siblings.

That's the thing about this show. I like the characters well enough, and their interaction. So much wonderful potential! So far it's the plot that has been disappointing. Like, I know I could enjoy these characters a lot more if the plots were a little more interesting.

Episode 11 was very interesting to me. Finally an episode plotline I really enjoyed. And it was also interesting in how it paralleled the episode with Fuu and the pickpocket... only Jin actually succeeded where Fuu failed.