Afro Samurai anime tells the tale of a boy, whose father is brutally murdered before
him and his subsequent quest for revenge.
Jumping back and forth between the present and the past, we see how he came to
be the emotionless killer he is today and follow his journey to seek revenge
against the man that killed his father all those years ago.
Afro Samurai Anime Review
Afro Samurai 2007 is an odd mix of samurai style fighting, advanced technology, and
hip-hop grooves.
Similar to Samurai Champloo in style and feel, the problem
here lies in the fact that the characters are flat and the plot is rather
simplistic.
Our main man, Afro, is an emotionless killer, hell-bent on bringing his
father's killer to justice. Afro Samurai justice. He has very few lines across the 5 episodes, trying to stress that strong and
silent archetype.
He travels with an uninvited sidekick, whose sole purpose is to add some
comedy to a rather dark tale, but is only mildly successful at it.
The plot it straightforward from beginning to end as Afro keeps chugging along
till he finally faces off with his father's killer at the end. No great revelations or character growth are anywhere near this feature.
Now to be fair, it does have a couple of interesting side stories involving
Afro and his old childhood friends that aren't exactly fond of him. These little stories and flashbacks are what make-up the middle three episodes
of the release.
However, these little side jaunts are not enough to save Afro Samurai from
having an exceedingly mediocre plot.
Now while the plot may be simple and the characters one dimensional, the
animation is really top notch.
It would seem most of the budget went into the technical aspects of this
release, rather than trying to write a story with some depth.
The music is more of an acquired taste, with its rap themes and beats; it will
really depend on your preferences.
However, if you enjoy the music it will definitely enhance to your overall
enjoyment of the series, as it mixes well with Afro Samurai's style.
Where Afro Samurai really excels is when you combine the animation, music, and
style with its fight scenes.
Since most of the release focuses on action, one would hope they would get
that right. Well, they did. Featuring enchanting fight scenes, some of which are rather lengthy, all of
which carry oodles of style.
This is the aspect of the release that most people will enjoy, a badass
character with a sword, killing a bunch of people in spectacular battles. If only they done more with the story they might have actually had something
here.
The main draw for the English dub, the only one going to be released at this
point, is that Samuel L. Jackson voices Afro and his sidekick.
The dub's quality is not so much the problem, though some of the side
characters did sound a little off at times.
The real problem with the English dub is that it uses a whole bunch of slang. This won't be a problem for some people, but if you do not like lines such as,
Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, Afro!
That was off the chain, cold blooded my brother! you might want to stay away. Especially with the unedited version, which will throw a, damn, mother fucker!
onto the end of that.
Related Articles: Afro Samurai: Resurrection Anime Review
Afro Samurai is certainly not going to appeal to everyone. Those of you that are looking for something with deep meaning, interesting
characters and some brains should look elsewhere.
However, for those of you looking to watch (Afro Samurai Crunchyroll) some badass kill hordes of people
in style, with animation to match, give Afro Samurai a look. It should be able to satisfy your hunger for violence, but little else.
Miscellanies: Afro Samurai
The unedited version has a number of different extras along with a total of 15
more minutes of footage.
Fan Art: Afro Samurai
Afro Samurai | |
| Genre | Action, Adventure |
|---|---|
| Episodes | 5 |
| Status | Finished Airing |
| Aired | May 3, 2007 to May 4, 2007 |
| Producers | Dentsu, Victor Entertainment, Pony Canyon, Fuji TV |
| Studio | Gonzo |
| Rating | R+ - Mild Nudity |
| Themes | Gore, Samurai |
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