Afro Samurai

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.

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).

Afro Samurai will stay in my collection as a pure guilty pleasure, a black samurai saga that has more than a touch of being made just right for die-hard fans of blood-drenched anime (or, for that matter, members of the Wu-Tang Clan, for which RZA did the music, and is an asset via groovy beats and is an occasional deterrent with rap going on during a big battle). At the same time it's also got a little tongue pressed into cheek, as the usual clichés in a revenge saga get just the right touches of harsh comedy (the side character Samuel L. Jackson mostly voices, Ninja Ninja as the fool of the series, gives some of it, and some of it just comes through the wild ways that the other samurais send out their forms of slaughter to Afro) and rapid stylization, with not just one specific style, though it is mostly indebted to recent ultra-violent anime. Through first-time director Kizaki and the writers who are also working mostly as their first efforts, experiment with its "ghetto" influence with it looking as much like an exploitation flick from the 70s as much as a sword-revenge story (many of those out for Afro's head could be compared to those out for Grier or Williamson's heads in the classic films).

But it's also science fiction to a degree, or at least futuristic in scope, mixing feudal Japan with crafty cyborgs and robots and other technology thrown in (including a robot clone of Afro who mimics his moves but not his subconscious). It's not anything exactly masterpiece-like, and after a few episodes it does come close to being a little tiresome in seeing Afro, who has little-to-no personality and just a straightforward bad motherf***er attitude, on his quest to achieve something higher than his simple 2-level. But it's downright exhilarating, as far as today's anime can get, in seeing the extremely bloody swordplay and other violent bits that come quick but with a lasting after effect, and in seeing how the conventions inherent in the supporting characters, be they in flashbacks to Afro's training or in the present as the ones out for Afro's head on a stick. It might actually be too based on the action for some, and it is a little light on story as it goes along past the flashback episode. Yet with people like Jackson and Perlman as the voices behind the figures, and in such a distinctive blend of the usual and unusual in the genre, it's worth a look for fans, and maybe even as a curiosity to those who dug Chapter 3 in Kill Bill 1.

alright, so i've real a lot of negative reviews of this show on here. Well kids, i'm going to defend this show, because there's a lot too it you guys are missing out on.

Afro Samurai is the new anime produced by and starring Mr. Samuel L. Jackson, as well as high end voice talent like Phil LaMarr of Samurai Jack fame, and Ron Perlman, the man who is and will always be Hellboy.

Like the great works of Shinichiro Watanabe, this work employs heavily the influence of western culture, specifically black western culture, which i suppose makes sense considering our stoic protagonist. now when i say black western culture, i'm not just talking about hip-hop music, i'm talking about Blaxploitation as well.

for those of you who don't know, Blaxploitation was a sub-genre of the 70's Exploitation films that dominated the drive-in scene during that period of American cinema history. the most famous and accessible Blaxploitation films these days are probably the Dolemite series of films, the Shaft series, or the classic Sweet Sweetback's Badass Song. these films were, for the most part terrible, but they influenced a generation of post-civil rights urban youth struggling to find an identity into action. they were stylish, fun, and gave an overall message of standing up for yourself and being proud of who you are, despite their inherent sexism, these films were the Noir flicks of their day, gritty and edgy and bleeding style. theaters in the 70's that would carry Exploitation and Blaxploitation films also carried many Kung Fu and Samurai films, so when 70's funk culture evolved into hip hop culture, it wasn't so shocking that the children who idolized Sweet Sweetback, also pulled influence from Yojimbo and Zoatichi, in fact, one of those children of influence even did the score for Afro Samurai - The RZA of The Wu Tang Clan, a seminal rap group that not only incorporated samurai and kung fu films into their lyrics, but into the music itself as well.

Okay, History lesson over, the reason i wanted to make you read all that is so that you have a better idea of where Afro Samurai is coming from, it is, for all intents and purposes, the coming together of cultures that are not, and have never been so far apart as you may think. a lot of people are also calling Afro-Samurai a child of the spaghetti western genre, which i suppose is true, but it must also be understood that the spaghetti western was heavily influenced by samurai films before them. Sergio Leone probably wouldn't even have a career if it wasn't for Akira Kurosowa's films.

Now, onto the show itself. Afro Samurai is incredibly simple, but i say that in the most endearing way possible. being convoluted is not a prerequisite of having substance or being artistic. Samurai Jack, a long running and long praised show has proved this time and again. great stories like the Hellboy series of comics or the popular Battlestar Galactica show, are great because they manage to turn schlocky cheese into high art, by giving it a modern overhaul. Afro Samurai takes it one step further, to the point where the schlock IS the art. Anime is very much like our version of the Exploitation genre of yesteryear, it's very underground, but still holds popularity and knowledge in the mainstream, it's filled with shitty crap, but the good stuff is worth watching, and it has it's own very unique style that has influenced generations of artists who've been exposed to it.

the story of Afro Samurai is very very basic, it's a revenge story because it needn't be anything more than a revenge story. it's intent isn't to change your life or make you weep for it's tragic hero, it's intent is to make your eyes melt and your heart pump, and maybe throw in a laugh or two. there's a saying: You Don't watch Kill Bill the same way you watch Shindler's List. that applies.

shows like Afro Samurai and the vampire miniseries Hellsing are fantastic shows because they take from the well of culture not everybody likes to admit is there, and shows you something that takes it one step further, shows you what those film makers of yesteryear could have done with the technology at our disposal today. they work on a storytelling level because the stories are simple and have been told many times. they are human stories.

the idea of Afro Samurai, i can say with some confidence, was never to get you thinking about our society like Ghost in the Shell or Neon Genesis, it's not that horse. Afro Samurai is meant to appeal to something deeper than your ego or your intellect, it appeals to your instinct. that's why it's so stylish. it's pleasure is purely aesthetic, and that is not at all a bad thing. Anime has a long history of taking from western culture and vice-versa, i like to think of Afro Samurai less as a corny bloodbath, and more a celebration of the corny bloodbaths we all know and love. western stories like Fist Full o' Dollars, The Good The Bad and The Ugly, and eastern stories like Ninja Scroll and Yojimbo. the standard for art these days is too narrow and too pretentious considering our history. i love Afro Samurai because it's not trying to deny all the things we hate to love, blood, gore, revenge, and i'm not saying that to be nihilistic or cynical. i'm saying that because it's true, it's just easier to justify revenge and blood and gore when we can come up with some over-convoluted plot to fit it into. well screw that.

Enjoy.

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.