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In the opening sequence of Samurai Champloo, when Mugen and Jin are shown, the background is composed of pictures of roosters and aquatic animals, respectively.

Mugen has roosters for background:

enter image description here

Jin has fishes and octopus in his background picture:

enter image description here

What is the symbolism behind such background depiction?

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Ero Sɘnnin
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    I always assumed it was to do with Mugen's and Jin's personalities. Roosters being energetic and feisty as seen in cock fighting and fish/the sea being calm and patient. though i nothing to really back this up – Memor-X Mar 23 '16 at 09:30
  • Yeah, I thought just the same. But there appears all varieties of fish and even an octopus in Jin's background. That got me thinking that maybe it's not only the personality traits. – Ero Sɘnnin Mar 23 '16 at 10:02
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    Different fishes could represent knowledge and variety within his "fishy" style. That's how I see it. – Hakase Mar 23 '16 at 17:56

2 Answers2

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Roosters are a traditional symbol of Shintoism, associated with the sun goddess Amaterasu. Shinto is a philosophy indigenous to Japan, and therefore thematically related to loyalty & nationality, like Mugen.

Jin's main fish is colored like a koi, the Japanese word for "carp". Koi are obviously symbols of Japanese culture, associated with love & friendship. Aquatic life is from the ocean, the realm of the storm god Susanoo, Amaterasu's sibling & counterpart.

Check out the story of Amaterasu & Susanoo, as it has obvious parallels to Mugen & Jin's relationship. Interestingly enough, they have a third sibling, Tsukuyomi, the god of the moon, who acted as a foil, kind of like Fuu. And Tsukuyomi's falling out with Amaterasu resulted from a conflict with the goddess of food... "Her stomach is like a cosmos unto itself!"

kidfloat
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Definitely their fight styles, Mugen is more energetic and wild, Jin flows with the water like a fish, Mugen learn some flow in the series when he fights the samurai killer

Eduardo Moya
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    Welcome to [anime.se], a Q&A site about anime & manga. This might be a good start for an answer, but could you expand more, especially why a Mugen's rooster indicates "more energetic and wild"? You can always [edit] your post. Also, providing some example scenes showing their traits would improve this answer much more. Meanwhile, consider taking a quick [tour] to understand how this site works. – Aki Tanaka Feb 11 '18 at 15:26