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Ok, now that we have that out of the way, we can get on to the finer details. ‘Afro’ the
title character is a man searching for justice. Both figuratively and literally. He seeks justice
for the murder of his Father, and the murderer also happens to be named Justice. Another
plot also exists through this five part adventure. The legendary headbands. It is said that
there exists two headbands, the number one headband, which grants a level of respect and
fear equivalent to godhood, and is unchallengeable to anyone except he who wears the
number two headband. Unfortunately for whoever wears the number two headband, anyone
has the right to challenge him for it, then in turn (if successful) the number one.
When Justice murdered Afro’s father, he gained the number one headband off him, and left
the number two with a young Afro. From there we come to the present and begin our
adventure with our hero. Not all is revealed to us as his story goes forward, and we are
occasionally treated to flashbacks to fill in the gaps. Although they aren’t as tiresome and
annoying as most flashbacks are.
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Now usually such an array of unlikely characters can make a movie seem a bit too
fantastical, not so much in the abilities of the characters but rather the way they are made
to look. Thankfully due to some laid back character design each character is still quite
distinct, but still afforded a look of believability that cements them within the world in such
a way that they do not appear out of place. Even Afro, who does sport an afro seems
natural, his afro not being the typical, round microphone look alike, but rather a messy
scraggly hair do which, although some characters believe it to be ridiculous, suits him
remarkably well.
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The sound and sound affects in Afro Samurai are well used, well timed, well placed, yadda
yadda, both the sound and vocals of this piece are remarkable (although a certain female
part could have used a bit more ‘acting’ in her voice acting). The soundtrack itself,
sometimes feels out of place within an anime piece, but it appears to be something that
would only irk people who have grown accustomed to certain musical nuances in the
animated genre, and even if it does bother you, most of the time the movie drags you along
so well you really don’t notice the soundtrack. The voice work is superb, and Ron Perlman
(Hellboy, 5ive Girls) truly shines as Justice.
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Lastly we have the special features, you know, the features that are special. There is
nothing out of the ordinary about them, consisting of Interviews, character profiles, and
commentary. RZA’s music production tour (Wu Tang Clan, the ones responsible for the
musical score), a voice talent special titled ‘In the booth’, which has a bit more meaning in
this piece as the five episodes are only recorded in English as far as I know (but please
correct me if I am wrong), and thus the English voice actors are giving a more first hand,
and enlightening view on the material instead of dialogue that was translated then localised
before English recording. Often a good movie, or series is hindered when transferred to
DVD, leaving much to be desired in the packaging, and this small collection of features, and
episodes makes for a remarkable addition to anyone’s collection, just be sure to bring along
your thirst for blood, boobs and violence.
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The first thing that one must do when attempting to watch Afro Samurai is to remove
whatever impressions the name might instil. Sure you can not be blamed for thinking this is
going to be some disco/anime lovechild spawned from the likes of Tekken’s Tiger, and John
Travolta with a little bit of ‘Ninja Gaidens’ Hayabusa thrown in. Especially when you realise
that Samuel L. Jackson is attached to the project as the voice of both ‘Afro’ and ‘Ninja
Ninja’ (Afro’s ‘sidekick’ throughout the movie and source of comic relief). Just as books
can not be judged by their cover, one can’t judge movies on name alone either . . . Well for
the most part anyways. And don’t forget to thank Madman Entertainment for supplying this
nice piece of work to the Region 4 area.
The series is filled with many would be adversaries for our kick ass hero (Afro falls into the
category of ‘almost undefeatable badass’), most fall short within seconds, and throughout
we are treated to various fights, both short and sweet, and long and dramatic. The enemies
he faces seem to be of a varied and highly unlikely type usually found in anime, but if you
want a close comparison try ‘Ninja Scroll’ or ‘Vampire hunter D’. We even get a cyborg
double of Afro, and a dude who wears a stuffed teddy bear head, named Kuma.
The only real challenge with watching this movie, is that it is not highly original, but for the
sake of how entertaining it is, I think most people would be fine with letting it off the hook
in that arena. Also a ‘twist’ at the end, could have been used a bit better and more
meaningfully than it was. Although the movie is actually five episodes which combined are of
movie length, and there are only five episodes in the series entirety, hence why you will hear
some people refer to this production as a movie (at least when all five episodes are available
to watch. Oh, and FYI, if rumours are true, each episode cost $1million).
Afro Samurai (Director's Cut) DVD is presented in region 4 format only, and was donated by
our sponsor Madman Entertainment.
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