Lack of good storyline.

Charming and brutal

Brilliant and touching

Absolutely Fantastic

I'm sure a lot of people were involved in making Afro Samurai but I cannot discuss this show without mentioning the Wu-Tang Clan. It was an iconic rap group that dominated the 1990s, a team of seven members who served different roles in making the Wu-Tang what it was. Inspectah Deck introduced a philosophical feel to each song with his introspective rhymes, Method Man was the most popular member of the group with his infectious charisma, Raekwon and Ghostface Killah brought their Mafioso ideas into the Wu, Ol' Dirty B*stard injected his eccentric style of silliness into each song, GZA was among the greatest lyricists of them all, and RZA was the Wu-Tang's leader/producer. These seven rappers (along with an army of Wu-Tang wannabes, including Killah Priest, Masta Killa, and Cappadonna) created many popular albums in the '90s, including three hip-hop classics (36 Chambers, Liquid Swords, and Only Built 4 Cuban Linx) before Ol' Dirty died in 2004. After Ol' Dirt McGirt passed away, the Wu-Tang weren't the same, spewing out a few good but ultimately forgettable albums. 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. At the time, I thought it was an excellent anime that could be improved, rating it a 7 out of 10. A few weeks ago, I decided to re-watch Afro Samurai to see if I still hold the same opinion of this show that I had before.Some theme songs are colorful and extravagant while others are complex and emotional. "Brief" is the first word I would use to describe the Afro Samurai opening, along with "disappointing" and "visually unappealing". Now you're probably saying "Okay, well the theme song sucks. Anything good about this show?" Like I said before, RZA created this anime's soundtrack and, of course, it's amazing, perfectly complementing each scene with a grimy, edgy mood (There's this one song, Stone Mecca's "A Walk", on the soundtrack that's definitely worth listening to). The acting in Afro Samurai is simply fantastic mainly because a handful of great American-based actors and actresses were brought to the fold; Ron Perlman, known for his work in Titan A.E., was the voice of Justice, Afro Samurai's chief antagonist, while Kelly Hu, who appeared in X-Men 2, served as the voice of Okiku, the seductress/spy for an evil organization, and the famed Samuel L. Jackson starred as both Afro and Afro's companion Ninja Ninja (Even Steve Blum and Liam O'Brien, giants in the world of anime voice acting, hung around as a random swordsman or two). Oh yeah, and there's an African-American protagonist here (a first for anime titles) as well as a couple of other black characters too (Always a thumbs-up for me). These are all the positive traits that I could find here.Afro is the titular character of this anime, and he's one of those quiet types. He's a lonely swordsman marked by trauma and frustration whom the show portrays as a figure deserving sympathy, but Afro simply comes across as uninteresting. Through Afro's quest in ancient Japan with robots and rocket launchers, other characters are introduced. Justice is the pale-skinned gunslinger/philosopher with a decent amount of depth but not enough to be particularly memorable. Ninja Ninja is my favorite, Afro's much-more-talkative sidekick who wittily comments on what he observes and gives unwanted advice to our protagonist. Along with Justice, other villains are after Afro's head such as Afro Droid (the producers are real imaginative with their character names, aren't they?) and the Empty Seven (reminds me of a group of seven rap figures that I mentioned before), but the true standout of them all is Jinno. The embodiment of fury, he is a man confined to a bear-like robotic armor who wields two blood-stained swords and is determined to slay the swordsman he once called his friend. Sadly, not even Jinno could save Afro Samurai from itself."This cannot be the entire series." This was the first thought that crossed my mind upon completing Afro Samurai. The over- the-top fight scenes and general lack of characterization could be forgiven but the head-scratching ending about non-violence really frustrated me. 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. It's one of the classic examples of a "turn-your-brain-off" show, the kind that action fanatics enjoy without thinking about aspects that really solidifies and legitimizes a series. You could call Afro Samurai overrated but I'm disappointed because I expected something better from an anime associated with the Wu-Tang Clan.

Afro Samurai is the story of a swordsman seeking vengeance for his murdered father. Haven't seen that before. In order to achieve this goal, he must defeat the number one swordsman in the world that stole the title from his dead dad. The funny thing is that this Number 1 uses two guns to fight, and yet he is the number one "swordsman." Go figure. The Number 1 and Number 2 swordsmen are labeled by these special bands saying that they're number one and number two, and as you might have guessed, the Afro is number two, and EVERYONE with a weapon wants a piece, whether or not that weapon is a sword. I can't tell what source this show ripped off more: Ninja Scroll with its "everyone wants you dead" premise and ninja sidekick or Samurai Champloo with its attempt to immerse hip-hop culture with Japanese swordsmen using the "black samurai" gimmick that mildly offended me. Great animation and action, but overall, not a good show.

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.

Taken a lot of thought into this movie and I finally got my opinion all together in words. Let me first say that the ending of this movie, was just aching to watch. I abhor it. The effort they took into this movie just ended up being a disaster. I do not wish to wait for a part two, there was no need to add suspense to the story of the Afro Samurai. Largely because everything else was actually great. 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've not had very much acquaintance with samurai television shows and movies, but I know they are just exhilarating to watch, after viewing this movie, or I should say mini series. What I found dramatic about this movie, however, was how Afro Samurai was treated when he was in his youngest ages, especially seeing his father getting slaughtered by number one. It caused him to seek revenge, and that just seems abnormal for a kid his age. Also, I thought it was heartbreaking as Justice killed Ninja Ninja, an innocent man who doesn't really deserve that! Maybe some of that anger Afro Samurai put into killing Justice was missing his companion.Revenge: After watching his father being literally being slaughter, head cut off by Justice, a man who was seeking to be Number One and became Number One, Afro Samurai seeks revenge on him, and starts training as a boy to kill him. He even killed a bunch of "brothers" at his young age! And also interrupted a man while he was having sexual intercourse by asking the man if he knew where Number Two was. When he denied he didn't know, Afro Samurai killed him.The Dream Reader: Afro Samurai has dreams while Otsuru heals his wounds, about his past life and his training to fight to be Number One. He remembers what he has done and all the pain he has seen.The Clan of the Empty Seven: Afro Samurai has sex with Otsuru, after it, Otsuru confesses that she has told the Clan of the Empty Seven everything, and they made a cyborg clone of him. Now he has to fight the cyborg who is basically a reflection who is faster than the one it's reflecting, so Afro Samurai has to act unexpected.Duel: Afro has to fight several people to get to Number One, and he learns a lesson during it about choosing revenge over the people he love.Justice: Afro has to fight Jinno, a man who was turned into basically a machine to fight Afro. Jinno seems to have lived in pain, and was once a friend to Afro. After, Afro battles the man he has been waiting for, Jinno. He then begins to fight Jinno again, and the suspense begins..I recommend this movie to all anime lovers out there.