Afro Samurai

Plot synopsis:
In a feudal yet futuristic Japan, it is said that the one who wields the Number 1 headband is the fiercest fighter in the world and shall possess god-like powers. The only way to obtain the Number 1 headband is to challenge and defeat the current wearer in combat. However, only the Number 2 can challenge the Number 1 whereas anyone can challenge the Number 2. Thus, whoever wears the Number 2 headband risks constant attack. The Number 2 headband's current owner Justice fights and kills Rokutaro, Afro's father and owner of the Number 1 headband. Afro Samurai witnesses the fight and vows revenge against Justice who tells him to seek him out when he is "ready to face a god."
Years later, Afro is the Number 2 master swordsman. He kills the Empty Seven Clan and various assassins, recalls his past memory, and goes to Mount Shumi. He also confronts his vengeful childhood friend Jinno. Afro discovers that there are other headbands in existence, ranging to an unspecified higher number and sees that the corpses of those who wore them are skewered throughout Justice's safe house. Afro kills Justice and takes the Number 1 headband, and all of the headbands disappear. Afro returns and lives in the mountains to confront Jinno, who is adorned with every headband in existence and seeking revenge. The final scene shows that Justice has returned from the dead.
However, the story changes in Afro Samurai: Resurrection, when Jinno takes Rokutaro's corpse, while Jinno's sister Sio takes the Number 1 headband and asks Afro to find the Number 2. After taking the headband from Shichigoro, Afro confronts the resurrected Rokutaro, who kills Jinno and Sio. Afro defeats Rokutaro, gives the Number 2 headband to Kotaro and continues to wear the Number 1.

Tags: revenge, psychedelic, violence, flashback

Review:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Can you dig it?This is what you get when you mix Japanese samurai flicks, ultra-savvy blaxploitation attitude, future-tense technology, and hip-hop into one energetic camp hybrid that takes NO prisoners.The pseudo-Anime' "Afro Samurai" is set in a futuristic feudal Japan, in which all the swordsmen in the world are in a murderous pursuit of the #1 Headband, which once obtained, would allow its wearer to call himself a god and master of all that he surveys.
Undergoing conventional samurai training by a renowned master, young Afro grows up, receives the #2 Headband, sets out on his mission of revenge and attempts to obtain the #1 Headband, cutting down every single man who challenges him.
Bearing witness to it all is Afro's loyal sidekick and only friend, Ninja Ninja (also voiced by Jackson), who provides much of the show's comic relief.In many ways, at least to me, "Afro Samurai" was a long time coming.
As a longtime fan of Japanese animation and Manga (Japanese comics), "Afro Samurai" cut and slashed its way into my heart from its earliest moments when Afro's father is challenged and defeated by the maniacal Justice.
I've waited a long time for something to come along that fused hip-hop and Japanese animation into a relentless action feast and when it finally came along, I was not the slightest bit displeased.
The animated show "The Boondocks" is another example of this Anime'/hip-hop trend done right.But first and foremost, "Afro Samurai" is only concerned with one thing: style over substance, that means excessive sword-play and violence over anything even remotely resembling a discernible plot.
The brain-child of creator Takashi Okazaki, director Fuminori Kizaki and co-writers Tomohiro Yamashita and Yasuyuki Muto, "Afro Samurai" lets the blood flow (but really, more like spray) in fountains and geysers.
The blood flows in copious amounts in the various martial arts sword-fighting sequences, which are excellently and stylishly executed much like Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" movies or your favorite samurai blood-letters.
In fact, if you look deeper, his comic foil Ninja Ninja could also be considered Afro's wild, fun-loving, and talkative alter-ego (since there were a few times when I felt Ninja Ninja wasn't even real)."Afro Samurai" also has one of the most memorable casts of bad guys ever assembled for animation outside of Japan.
(It's hard to believe this is the same man who once played the Bible-quoting hit-man Jules Winnfield in 1994's "Pulp Fiction.")With "Afro Samurai," an Anime' fan gets something that he's always wanted and more: a piece of animation that blends so many distant genres and fuses them into one hell of an eye-popping action experience.
Now, if only he can convince his other Anime'- and "Kenshin"-loving friends to watch the one and only dude wit' a head full of hair, "Afro Samurai."10/10.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Seeking to avenge his father's death, the Afro Samurai sets out to kill the #1 fighter in all the land, a man called Justice.
After earning himself the title of #2, which is required for him to be able to challenge Justice, Afro Samurai sets out on his journey to revenge.
His task is a lonely and dark one, but like it or not he has a companion in the constantly b1tching Ninja Ninja.Although it will not be to everyone's taste, Afro Samurai is a perfect example of something being pitched right at the target audience it is intended for.
adult swim is the perfect home for it because it is very much targeted at young males who like their hip hop, Anime and traditions of feudal Japan.
However for target audience the emotional core and the narrative twists will be more than enough to fill the running times of each episode and expand across the season.What the series delivers in spades though is the cool world of the samurai crossed with the violent and stylish world of Anime with a big dollop of urban culture thrown in there too.
The soundtrack compliments it really well because, as other things (eg Boondocks, Wu-Tang etc) have shown, the mix of ninja/samurai (yes, I know they are very different) cultures and modern hip hop seems to be an easy fit.
Generally though all voice work is good because they are matching the style of the series rather than giving performances per se.Overall then, not for everyone's tastes but in targeting its audience it is as ruthlessly efficient as Afro Samurai himself.
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).
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.
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..
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 graphics and design tend to be great (especially Afro Samurai's) although they can settle for just good or serviceable at times.
If you wanna get a picture of what Afro Samurai is, think of the animated sequence in Kill Bill vol.
And was amazed by the sound of the title "Afro Samurai" Right then in there i had a vision of this character looking like Jim Kelly from enter the dragon.Needless to say he reminds me of him in some way's.
Like the "Id", the action is excessive and illogically over-the-top: A testament to the limitless potential of animation and the illogical and almost random nature of our basic human instincts.Even the slightly disjointed and simplistic story reflects the properties of the "Id".
As a kid, young Afro watched his dad die at the hands of an evil gunman(played by Ron "Hellboy" Perlman), and vowed to spend the rest of his life training in the samurai way to take down his father's killer and become "Number One." Along the way, he meets old friends, new enemies and host of quirky characters in a stylish world where ancient feudal japan meets post-modern science fiction and fantasy.Clichés also extend to the many characters in this show.
It is like an all new liquor cocktail which uses existing ingredients, but what sets it apart from other cocktails is how everything is mixed together.Special mention goes to Samuel L Jackson who plays both the stoic Afro and his loud mouthed trash talking sidekick, Ninja-ninja.
Honestly if I never looked at the cast list, I would have never thought he voiced those two characters at the same time.Afro Samurai is to this new century what Ninja Scroll was to the 90s: A bloody, violent, fresh, unabashed display of excessiveness that delivers what it promises.
this has its fair share of blood and gore, but the silent macho persona of the main character is becoming a very tired medium to watch, the voice overs are so poor to the extent that i preferred to switch the sound off to mute, and the animation, even though it looked dark and pretty in some cases, for the most part it looked like a dated '80's cartoon.
and if i wanted to watch a relatively average '80's style animated series, i have a good fair share to pick from.
Afro Samurai is the story of a swordsman seeking vengeance for his murdered father.
I strongly disagree with the other comments that state that Afro samurai has a ghetto influence or that the history is simple for those users I just have to say: go and see 50 movies about samurais and read something about them and then come back again and erase such dumb comments, I don't have the time to explain why they are so wrong, great movie interesting personality conflict of the character, good animation, it is respectful of the samurai traditions, the character is well rounded as well as it's counterparts, maybe a little too bloody but well that is part of the style too, also the details in the movie are well taken care of, for me the last fight was too short, and the dialog could be improved at the end with Justice(final enemy), a background of Justice would be interesting too, recommended..
This is one of the greatest anime shows since, "Cowboy Bebop" and "Wolf's Rain".The story is about a ninja named Afro and he seeks to kill his father's killer and claim the Number 1 headband.The animation is great, the action scene's were cool, the story is good, and the voice acting was great.
Jackson does a cool job as Afro and Ninja Ninja, Ron Perlman does a nice and evil job as the villain, Justice, and Kelly Hu does a nice job as Afro's healer, Okiku.Overall, "Afro Samurai" is worth watching whether you're an anime fan or not..
I'm usually no fan of anime's for their poor attempt at stories and usually mountainful of fillers (Useless episodes that have nothing to do but to expand the series.), but Afro Samurai just cuts to the chase.
They needed a spark, something that would help them bring great music back to hip-hop and keep them relevant, and that spark turned out to be Afro Samurai.This 5-episode anime was perfect for the Wu-Tang, combining rap and a love for martial arts into one, and this is why RZA, my favorite member of the bunch, created this show's soundtrack.
Afro Samurai is about a swordsman who witnessed his father's murder as a young boy and his blood-filled journey to exact revenge on the gunman who killed his dad.
Before I became a fan of the Wu-Tang, before I watched a lot of anime, I checked out Afro Samurai with my little brother a couple of years back on Netflix and saw everything except for the last episode.
Afro Samurai doesn't deserve to be labeled a series; it's a barely above-average 5-episode bloodfest of an OVA with plot holes aplenty that fails to be seen as a serious title.
You could call Afro Samurai overrated but I'm disappointed because I expected something better from an anime associated with the Wu-Tang Clan..
An extremely powerful samurai with an afro, hell bent on revenge, accompanied by a companion voiced by Samuel L Jackson himself, what's not to like.
Soundtrack is pretty good too, hip hop and whatnot, reminded me of Samurai Champloo.Samuel L Jackson voice acting was the best, typical nigga style with lots of humor.
Afro Samurai is a TV mini series that is as cliché as it can possibly get when it comes to a tale about revenge.
The best thing was the animation it was slick and sharp (though Afro looks 30 when he's supposed to be in his teens)and is why i gave it a 6.The story is basically his father is killed by a man called "Justice", this leads him on a journey of vengeance.
Every episode is him confronting someone and killing them in a gruesome way, there are no major twists in this series only a blatantly obvious one which you will be able to guess when you see it.The character of Ninja Ninja (Afro's sidekick) has been classed as annoying i personally found him refreshing it was change to a flash of blood.
Afro Samurai is not a new (filmed in 2007) but it's a new style of Japanese animation in a sense that Japanese and the US collaborative film and the screenplay is English.
Jackson or Phil LaMarr joined the film as voice actors and the hip-hop music is used, and the touch of animation is very stylish and aesthetic which is trying to attract them.
I was a bit hesitant to watch this because well it did sound a touch odd in the end I was more then pleasantly surprised.Afro - Samurai is a tale of revenge, responsibility and choices made.The titular hero ( oddly enough called Afro ) is a stoic one man army killing machine who is on his way to hunt down Justice.
If you can't stand blood or gore please don't watch.If you do own the Director's Cut or Murder Sessions then you will know that a lot of effort went into this anime.
I guess I should share my opinion on the rest of the movie.Afro Samurai was above all one of the greatest anime movie I've seen, excluding the ending of course.
It was a hip hop style anime movie chock-full of Romance, Action, Violence, Drama, and suspense.
I heard bunch of things about Afro Samurai before watching and also RZA factor was the major reason to found A.S. interesting.
The story was so superficial that it looks like they suddenly found an idea and started drawing without thinking about the plot.Headband didn't amaze me from the first episode to the end(and also in the Resurrection).
Afro samurai was one of the better anime films I've watched.
This is a revenge series set to a hip-hop soundtrack.Afro, as a young boy, sees his father slain by his fathers best friend.