Fuu

Fuu (フウ, Tanagers) is the tritagonist and leading lady of Samurai Champloo. Following a series of circumstances, she tricks Mugen and Jin into accompanying her into her journey in finding the "Sunflower Samurai". She likes meddling into the business of other people, which is also the reason why she was able to get Jin and Mugen to come with her. Her full name is Fuu Kasami (Kasami Fuu 香澄 フウ).

Her totem in the opening credits are leaves and a flying squirrel, which is also her pet, Momo.

Appearance
Fuu has brown hair in a the style of a ponytail with her bangs parted so a small portion hangs down to the right, and a larger portion hangs toward the left side. She wears a deep pink kimono with a pattern of flowers and carries a matching tantō. Attached to the tanto are three netsuke : a skull (a Christian pendant from her father), a pair of dice and a dog. Her kimono hides her surprisingly curvacious figure.

Personality
Her relationship with Mugen and Jin is apparently sororal. She is a surprisingly big eater (in stranger searching, she entered an eating contest and was one of the last two remaining and thus, shocking all the spectators), has a bright and trusting personality, and is strongly prone to accidents, getting lost, and trouble although she is quite practical. She often puts on a front of being more worldly and experienced than she actually is so as not to appear completely idiotic in front of her bodyguards. Series creator Shinichirō Watanabe has hinted she may have feelings for Mugan.

Background
In Fuu's childhood before the beginning of the series, her father left her and her mother for an (initially) unknown reason. Without her father around to support them, Fuu and her mother led a difficult life until her mother died of illness. After a not-so-successful stint as a teahouse waitress/dancer she saves Mugen and Jin from execution and recruits them as her bodyguards to help her on a quest. She is searching for the "Samurai who smells of Sunflowers", but never explains what a sunflower smells like or what the man looks like. Mugen and Jin are often reminded of their life-debt to her when they wish to fight each other, much to their chagrin.