Anime Review: Afro Samurai

Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Kelly Hu, Ron Pearlman
Runtime: 5 episodes at 25 min each
Genres: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Science Fiction
Rating: Mature
Submitted by: Bryan (AMCC, VP)

Summary: The tale of Afro Samurai is one of bloody hardship and pain. Along his solitary path of revenge for his murdered father, he sheds no tears and knows no love. Forever chased by powerful enemies in a lawless technology-speckled dystopia, he evades bullets and blade to reach his final prey: a man who will not die. But Afro will reach his quarry - even if it means painting a road of blood and brains from here to the bitter inevitable end.

(courtesy of aniDB.com)

Animation: The studio doing the animation, Gonzo has done many great anime and the scenes in the show are very high quality. The fight scenes are sometimes fast and might be hard to catch but are very impressive. And this being a collaboration between the US and Japan, the style used in the series to mix aspects of both cultures does not seem so weird which is a great job by the design team.

Sound: Now for many who do not like English dubs in their anime, this may put them off from watching this series. However, with the famous names voicing the characters, they do a very good job and for me at least, it helped me get over my irritation of English voiced anime. As for the music, since it was made in collaboration with the US, the music is done by hip hop groups such as RZA which complements the style very well.

Storyline: The story is very straightforward and for some, leads to a very predictable plot. The infusion of hip-hop and feudal Japan ideas however, help keep the story interesting. The plot also calls for a few flashbacks which help flesh out the characters and even then, the violence is in full motion. The ending to me has a very nice twist but seems a tad out of place.

My take: Overall, the action is very fluid, gory and violent which is fine by me. The fights however at times can be very short by almost ‘Ghost Rider: The Movie’ standards. The ending was satisfying but somewhat puzzling yet helps set up the potential for more sequels. There are some bits of nudity so I wouldn’t recommend watching it with your siblings (although the violence should be the main reason they shouldn’t watch it). Still, it is a much watch anime with its positives far outweighing its negatives.

Overall: 4/5 stars

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