AFRO SAMURAI
Afro Samurai is a 2007 series, a collaboration between Gonzo Studios, Samuel L Jackson, and Takashi Okazaki. Unlike some people’s misunderstanding of it, this series doesn’t aim to be thought-provoking or moral in any sense, and it’s most certainly not trying to be a masterpiece. Instead, it strives to show a real, unfiltered revenge story, with a protagonist on the warpath and likes a cold glass of lemonade after waging it. The series manages to create great characters with stories that are intriguing to follow. Ultimately though, this show was all about the blood-pumping, visceral gore that it brought onto screen.
Right off the bat, this is a super short story, and it follows a straightforward main plot. There are two rankings of Samurai in the world of Afro Samurai: Number One and Number Two. The entire series revolves around its overpowered main character Afro, whose father is tragically killed by the Number Two Samurai “Justice,” who then becomes Number One. Afro sets out on a revenge quest to kill Justice and become the Number One Samurai.
Overall, the plot doesn’t have much content, so focusing on the main character should be crucial. Afro is flat as a character. His only motivation is revenge in the story, which is a cold but realistic motivation nonetheless. Does the question remain on why he’s such a likable character despite being so stoic and sometimes bland?
It’s because the series has some of the best action that puts EVERYTHING that is happening to the side. I would like to point out that we learn a lot more about Afro through some hefty flashbacks. However, he remains the same quiet, violent, and overpowered character despite his flashbacks as a very expressive character. This is the thing I found most impressive; his flashbacks tell why he is the way he is, which made him such a likable character. He doesn’t grow throughout the series’ present-day scenes, but the flashbacks make up for showing his motivations in the most literary sense.
The series is all over the place in terms of the setting, though. Justice as a character seems to be a gunslinger, or at least he’s dressed like one. So, the first thing that came to mind was that it’s an anime spaghetti western revenge thriller, but then Afro is fighting Cyborgs, and then there are Samurais with RPGs. The randomness often surprised me, but the story is concise, making these random events feel like perfect comic relief.
The best thing about this series’ production is the self-awareness that the creators had when making it. They made it precisely five episodes because the plot was so small and to the point. It is a short and terrifying story that is not drawn out by any fillers whatsoever.
Talking about the animation, this is the real meat of this series. You don’t watch Afro Samurai for the story or the characters, but the sheer over-the-top chaotic action! Japan is a nation that is wildly notorious for its terrible portrayals of other people of color; because of this, Afro felt like a breath of fresh air. The art design itself was superb on its own, with a black and white filter on the characters while the blood pouring out of them was pure crimson.
The gore in the series is SO well done. The red blood showers look amazing in combination with the colorless character designs. I cannot find a single flaw in the series’ animation and art design; it flows beautifully and is one of the sole reasons why I liked it so much. Talking about the animation value, you need only to look at their hair and torn clothes flowing with the wind. It seems precisely out of a Samurai film from the 70s.
Everyone has heard of Afro Samurai because of Samuel L. Jackson’s contribution to this series. Samuel L. Jackson plays afro. What I can say is that Sam L Jackson delivers one of the best anime dubs that I have ever heard, with his voice acting of not just Afro but also Ninja Ninja being incredibly entertaining. Unfortunately, the rest of the cast doesn’t seem that invested in the series production, with Sam being the only voice you can remember.
The music was INSANELY good, with a fantastic mix of funk music and Hip Hop. RZA did a tremendous job with the music in this series, but I do have to point out that the sound effects themselves were not the best. The sound effects felt like they messed up it in editing, or some sound effects felt like they were low quality compared to the voice acting and the fantastic soundtrack.
Afro Samurai is by no means perfect; it’s not even unique or a masterpiece. What it does best is being aware of what it is and channeling that into a fun, exhilarating, action-packed ride that I would recommend to everyone. This is one of the few American-produced anime that I think are top-tier. If you do sit down and give this short and sweet series a try, you’re going to be enjoying it. Despite the apparent flaws, the under-developed side characters, and an external world, I found myself liking this anime purely because of how fun it was to watch.
