Champloo needed direction and better pacing. The first episode was pretty badass, and established the supposed goal. After a few episodes, i just watched to see what happened next, not so much expecting any time of progression or continuity. Around the last six or so episodes, i was expecting to feel like the series was beginning to wrap up, which it didn't. There was the nonsensical baseball episode, then the final two episodes which thankfully were kickass. i especially like Mugen's line at the end... "what was this all about?" Dude, two fucking grown men followed a teeniebopper girl around Japan for to find a samurai that smells like a flower that has no smell. Yeah.
Regarding SAC, it gets rather heavy with social and political issues at times, but it's overall a kickass series. i severly wish SciFi would take a stab at a similar series because it just begs to be done in live action with a decent budget.
Questions for those who've seen SSS: Does it feature tachikomas or uchikomas?