Afro Samurai

First things first: If you are a fan of Anime movies, than this one is exactly up your alley. Hopefully, the fact that it is in English, won't disappoint you. It shouldn't, especially with Samuell L. Jackson speaking the main part(s)!

But when I say Anime, than I mean more in the vain of "Ninja Scroll" than let's say something from the Ghibli Studio. This one right here, is pretty intense and aimed at an adult audience. Even if the Blood is animated, it might be too much for some viewers.

I was lucky enough to watch this at local theater, where they showed the whole season back-to-back (5 episodes) ... only thing that was kind of a bummer, was the fact, that you did notice when an episode ended. They still edited it good together, but this might be something, that could put you off a bit. Other than that, I don't see any reason not to watch this (and it's also recently available "Sequel") ... unless you're not adult of course! ;o)

Afro Samurai started as life as manga before animation studio GONZO adapted the story into a five episode series that premiered online January 1 2007.

Like most contemporary anime, Afro Samurai is another exercise in culture jamming, straddling genres as diverse as Blaxploitation, kung-fu cinema, splatter flicks, western and, of course, Japanese animation. Samuel L. Jackson lends his talents in the voice department, and is also credited as one of the shows producers.

The plot revolves around Afro - nicknamed after his hairstyle - a perpetually silent and bloodthirsty master swordsman, whose quest involves exacting bloody revenge on the man who killed his father, and claiming the title of 'Number One'; a warrior whose powers are comparable to those of a god. Given only five episodes to work with, structure is pretty tight here, so there are no filler episodes or meandering off-sides or tangents to distract from the narrative's focus. Although the series seems to lack that 'epic' journey feel, episodes are never anti-climactic; this is a relief to the casual anime viewer who just wants to get to the carnage.

And carnage there is a-plenty. The plot of Afro Samurai is really just an after thought; it's the fight scenes that are really the star of the show here. A word to the squeamish: Afro Samurai is one of the bloodiest, goriest and most anatomically detailed anime series on the market, so if you've got stomach issues with splatter flicks, avoid this one like syphilis. If, however, high-definition animated gore-porn is your thing, Afro Samurai will not disappoint. Each fight scene is beautifully choreographed and fluidly animated to deliver some truly jaw-dropping, gut-wrenching, wince –"oh man, that's gotta hurt"-inducing scenes of unadulterated devastation on the human body. Be-heading, disemboweling and eye-stabbing are just an entrée.

The only thing wrong with Afro Samurai is that it's all over too soon. Most anime fans are used to more meat on the bones, so for many the narrative will feel underdone and the characters under-developed. This is probably a side-effect of the show's creators attempting to cross anime over to a mainstream Western audience, but, in doing so, seem to have sacrificed content for carnage. And while carnage seems to be the whole point of Afro Samurai, five episodes is still remarkably short. Although the series swiftly resolves itself in a fairly predictable way, there is an immense potential for spin-off projects (there's a movie rumor already doing the rounds in cyberspace) and the show itself is re-watchable many times over, if only to sample the audacious ultra-violence again and again. For those of you with an unquenchable blood-lust, Afro Samurai will have you screaming with delight.

In a sci-fi feudal japan world there's 2 titles for the strongest, Number 2 & Number 1. When you're #2, you're only semi-strongest, when you're #1 you're on the top of success. One day a black boy experienced the sight of his dad(the original #1) being killed by Justice(a corpse gun slinger) who gained the title of #1. Several years later that same boy now holds the #2 title. And seeks for vengeance over his father's death by reclaiming the number 1 title.

Afro Samurai is different from the other samurai anime in so many ways. Including the idea of having a black samurai instead of an Asian samurai as the main character. As well the use of hip hop for the background music. And it's one of the fewest anime to include this kind of theme.

For a mini-series, it's already considered a cult anime to many Anime fans and non-anime fans alike. The dub for it is one of a kind with THE Samual L. Jackson as the voice of Afro Samurai and everyone's favorite Ninja Ninja. The action is very intense and gory at the same time. In other words it's not an anime for those who have weak stomaches.

Besides that it does have an interesting plot to it. And feels more like watching a movie rather than watching TV episodes. It's available on DVD in both edit and uncut form(which is suppose to be longer and more violent than the TV viewing).

Everything about it is what I wanted for a anime, a actual good style (unlike boruto), great use of fighting, and not a too long story that will lose it's purpose, I only rated it a 8 though due to the fact that many things are just left out in the open, what about justice (the guy who killed afro's father) legacy and Afro's Father too? They seem like great characters and should have been shown more. I highly recommend it, and it is definitely a anime completely different from other animes, way more mature, unlike those disgusting anime shows that use girls as tools, 8/10, my favourite anime despite not watching anime as much as I used to.

Afro Samurai came out of left field from me. Totally unexpected, I saw the tile pop up somewhere and sounded cool enough for me to give it a go. And even though I'm not an anime fan, I found lots to appreciate in this mini series of blood and mayhem.

The main appeal for me was the combination of blaxploitation culture and samurai swordfighting (chambara). Samuel Jackson doing the voice-overs for both Afro Samurai (Clint Eastwood style, few words, calm and badass) and his sidekick Ninja Ninja (wisecracking non-stop banter) was another major plus. The third advantage is the simple story that takes its cue from a long line of revenge movies: this is a simple revenge story and that's why it works so well.

In a futuristic world, young kid watches his father get cut down by baddie who is after his father's Headband #1. Headband #1 allows its bearer to be like a god. The only one who can challenge him is the one who wears Headband #2. Anyone can challenge Headband #2. As one could expect, Headband #2's path is littered with corpses as everyone and their dog want their chance to challenge Headband #1. Young kid grows up and becomes Afro Samurai and walks the path of revenge against Headband #1. A colourful ensemble of baddies will stand in his way, from a neo-Buddhist cult of assassin monks, to cyborgs to teddy-bear faced guys with a grudge to common crooks. Through flashbacks we come to find out how Afro Samurai became who he is and how he obtained Headband #2. Simple yet effective.

The main appeal here is the visual aspect. Being a fan of 60's and 70's chambaras and jidai-gekis I find the swordfights a tad too hyperkinetic for my taste, but that's anime for you I guess. However everything has a smoother, more westernized approach perhaps to the rapid, eyesore that often is the genre which I took to with pleasant surprise and relief. The graphics and design tend to be great (especially Afro Samurai's) although they can settle for just good or serviceable at times. The blood geysers and slashing, taking their cue from stuff like Lone Wolf and Cub and Lady Snowblood (copious amounts of glorious arterial sprayings) will please every fan of the red stuff although it's not particularly gruesome. Good, clean, family fun.

The soundtrack is done by usual suspect RZA. I have to say that the whole combo of hip-hop/anime/exploitation works particularly well even though I'm only a fan of the latter third. If you wanna get a picture of what Afro Samurai is, think of the animated sequence in Kill Bill vol. 1.