Review: Afro Samurai (TV)

Running time: 25 minutes
Number of episodes: 5
Vintage: 2007-01-04 to 2007-02-01 (Canada & USA - Spike TV) 2007-05-03 (Japan)
Age rating: Mature (May contain sex, drugs, and extreme graphic violence)
Genres: Adventure, Science Fiction
Production: GONZO
Music: RZA
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson as Afro and Ninja Ninja

Source: Anime News Network

This isn’t quite your average anime, so it might be a good idea to describe Afro Samurai by what it’s not. It’s not Samurai Champloo, not even close. There, I said it. If you were vaguely attracted to Afro Samurai by proxy of Samurai Champloo you can forget about associating the two because they are completely different in style, approach, and execution.

Being only 5 episodes long, Afro Samurai ends very quickly but not before throwing a ton of concentrated action at you. With GONZO’s amazing talent, this anime produced for America looks and feels like a real Japanese animation like it should. The addition of Samuel L. Jackson’s voice talent gives the show some personality and helps it deliver a worthwhile experience.

There are some things that really stand out in this anime though. For example, Afro Samurai’s story is severely bare bones, so don’t expect anything to move you in any way. The comparisons to Samurai Champloo will usually neglect this very important fact.

The anime takes place in a fictional feudal Japan where an afro-headed black samurai is the strongest warrior in the world, aptly known as number one. To show his title he wears a headband with number one written on it. After his crowning headband is a gun-wielding-cowboy-esque-rugged guy known as number two, the second best warrior in the world who also wears a headband denoting his rank as number two. In the midst of all the fighting things will be clear. Those who wear the number one headband can only be challenged by number two. Those who wear the number two headband will be constantly in danger as every warrior he or she faces will want to wear the number two headband for the right to face number one.

As you can see, the story is simple and straightforward, so immersion and captivation was probably not on the director’s agenda. The whole thing is simply badass encounter after badass encounter, but in the context of what Afro Samurai is all about this formula works in its favor. In other words, the little bit of story is just enough to deliver on the premise of a black badass samurai fighting his way to the top of the mountain, so to speak.

Afro Samurai will not really make that much sense in terms of artwork, much like its story. Feudal Japan mixed with futuristic technology doesn’t quite feel right in my opinion, but this isn’t the first time GONZO has gone overboard with crazy art. On the plus side, the show animates beautifully, so there’s little reason to complain about the art when it’s in motion.

Since Afro Samurai is produced for America the voice acting is in English. I’ll be honest and say that Samuel L. Jackson as Afro is just awesome, but since Afro is mostly mute or repeats a lot of the same lines it’s almost a waste to cast Samuel L. Jackson. Samuel L. Jackson also voices the very energetic “Ninja Ninja,” the sidekick that can never be absent from a black comedy.

The soundtrack is really good for the most part. The RZA did a good job of giving the show some hip hop influence, but it’s no where near as deep as the stuff in Samurai Champloo. It doesn’t sound bad, but it doesn’t have the same communication of urgency and style that the riffs and beats in Samurai Champloo have.

To summarize, I’d say Afro Samurai is a worthy anime aimed at America with superb Japanese animation talent backing it up. It’s no Champloo, but it’s got its own stuff to strut. If the target audience has never seen anime before, this will surely open up their eyes as to what animation can provide as a form of entertainment. I’ll probably check out the Japanese release if there are any significant changes, but this is one of the few times where the dub is fine in english.

Trailer:

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