Afro Samurai

Quote:

After watching his father die in a duel against an unbeatable villian known only as 'Justice,' young Afro fixes his life on the study of swords and revenge. 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.

* Taken from the official website.

What makes this anime so special, other than the fact that the main character is a samurai thats black. Well its seems like the "baddest mother fucker", Samuel L. Jackson, is going to be the voice for the Afro Samurai. And not only that, but this show will air on Spike TV.
This anime was announced way back in 2005 and it may be too early to start a thread but since a trailer has been released maybe its worth taking an early look.

The trailer looks badass. Looks like a ripoff from champloo but when you see the end of the trailer you can tell that it will have some boondock feel to it.
It's been announced that it will only have 5 episode but from what I saw in the trailer, the animation and flow of the action is awsome. It's a shame that they are mostly marketing this through the name of Samuel Jackson becuase the show itself looks great.
You can see the trailer at the official site. Not sure what the release date is since all the trailer says is Coming Soon.





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Jam it back in, in the dark.

i know I'll be watching this anime not cause Im a fan for samurai and head decapitations but cause the music composer is none other than the great Producer (and rapper) RZA from Wu-Tang Clan.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I have been waiting for this since 2005, Samurais + Afro + Rza Samuel L. Jackson + Gonzo = GREATNESS. Any date when it's airing?

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

This looks interesting....and I'm probaly only saying that because it sort of reminded me of Samurai Champloo...but sill, the story sounds solid....and I may actualy like it....Too bad we don't get spike anymore.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I'm waiting this anime for one year now -_-

Just to put up the (age restricted) trailer :

http://media.tv.ign.com/media/843/843116/vids_1.html

This anime got style !

And some few articles about the african presence in japanese lands :

http://www.cwo.com/~lucumi/runoko.html
http://www.cwo.com/~lucumi/boddy.html
http://www.cwo.com/~lucumi/japan-bib.html

And mostly :

"BLACK SHOGUN: AN ASSESSMENT OF THE AFRICAN PRESENCE IN EARLY JAPAN"
http://www.cwo.com/~lucumi/shogun.html

GO GO GONZO !

I was speaking idiomatically.

This oughtta be good. The trailer is having problems downloading, but it does kinda remind me of Bebop/Champloo. Is there any word on who's producing/starring in it, other than Samuel L Jackson?

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Seems to me like they're gonna do 5 episodes initally to see what the viewship is (I'd watch it on Spike TV, but no cable---yet).

Or they could pull a FLCL and just have 5-6 episodes of PURE AWESOME, with EXCELLENT animation, I for one will welcome this, if it happens.

FELIPE NO

Looks like the kind of show Aaron McGruder wishes he could make.

Thought it'd have a more tongue-in-cheek quality, but the trailer just looks dumb.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Black Ninja

This oughtta be good. The trailer is having problems downloading, but it does kinda remind me of Bebop/Champloo.

Really? I thought it reminded me more of Hellsing and/or Ninja Scroll. I just saw the preview for this not too long ago myself and I'm also looking forward to it.

Samurai + Sam Jackson + Gonzo Animation Studios + RZA beats = ANIMATION ORGASM

Also... Nigga puffin' on a BLUNT! HOLLA!

Jam it back in, in the dark.

The animation for this looks stellar, so I think I'll be looking forward to it. It'll certainly be one of the only decent looking black guys in anime.

However, I want to know what Samuel L. Jackson is smoking...first Snakes, and now this?! Not that I think this is stupid (as opposed to Snakes), but they seem like...odd...choices to make in the industry. Just...odd.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Are you kidding me? SAMUEL JACKSON IS SMOKIN' A BLUNT! This CAN'T be an odd choice.

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Originally Posted by Wikipedia

Five episodes are being produced and will air in the fall of 2006 on Spike TV. According to Funimation, a DVD release is planned for early 2007.

I wonder if the fansub (if subs are needed, that's it) community will pick this as a regular Japanese anime, seeing that this will air on USA and most raws come directly from Japan. Otherwise I'll have to wait to DVD rips seeing that Spike TV is pretty much ignored from my Cable company ;____;

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

A blunt and a random "mothafucka" at the end of the trailer. Uh.

Well I like the music a lot. RZA's stuff in Ghost Dog was awesome, so I'm looking forward to the soundtrack for Afro Samurai. Other than that, while the fight scenes look kind of interesting, I'm not that pumped for this. It just seems like a bunch of stereotypes shoved into a doped up Kenshin OAV.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Kurado

A blunt and a random "mothafucka" at the end of the trailer. Uh.

Well I like the music a lot. RZA's stuff in Ghost Dog was awesome, so I'm looking forward to the soundtrack for Afro Samurai. Other than that, while the fight scenes look kind of interesting, I'm not that pumped for this. It just seems like a bunch of stereotypes shoved into a doped up Kenshin OAV.

Admit that you want to see it for the music! >=p. If he chooses to add one good ol wu tang track, that'll make me a happy guy for life. Lookin at the anime looks interesting to me at least. Rza has that skill. It'd would kick ass if they make a RZA character.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Oh I'll watch it for the soundtrack and possibly awesome fight scenes, but for anything else? Probably not. Unless the Afro Samurai is some kind of spiritual ancestor of Flynn from Snakes on a Plane.

How ya doing, buddy?

I don't know if any of you guy's know this, but it takes place in the future.

Also, each episode costs $1 million to make. That's a shit load of money, to spend on any anime, so you know it will be good.

And if anyone wants a place to talk about the show, they can follow the link in my signature to Afro Samurai Fan Forums. It's my first forum and I need all the members I can get.

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Just getting up to date.
The first episode airs tonight at 11pm in spike tv. I sadly have no cable and even if i did they don't provide spike tv.
Luckily enough they are providing the first episode in the official website. Not sure if its the full version but thats what I'm hoping for.
http://www.spiketv.com/mods/afro/player/index.jhtml

EDIT:
Ok so its just a preview about roughly around half of the first episode.
Lots of fast action that doesn't make any sense.

How ya doing, buddy?

whoa this seem's pretty adictive and funny too (?afro samurai?wtf?).
Too bad I cant view the episode shenlon post there because im not from US or Canada.
Oh wel... guess ill wait for the downloader's friend, the torrent

First fight spoiler..well kinda

Spoiler:

I'm guessing they use bandanas to show their ranks among samurais. Correct me if im wrong but the bandanas that apeared in the first fight had "first" and "second" written on it.
If anyone else has seen the first fight could you explain me how the hell did the afro dude's head flip off? I mean the other was using guns lol

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Other than the incomplete storytelling and animation, I was focusing more in RZA's work ;p.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

The animation and music is amazing, the fights are really cool as well. You can never judge an anime's story on the first episode so I will wait to see how it turns out.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

So they show more violence and gore than anything from Adult Swim (not counting non-anime fare like Metalocalypse), but they felt the need to censor even the most common swears ("son of a ___"). At least one "shit" was snuck in.

Also, I called it.

Spoiler:

The wisecracking partner is an imaginary friend for Afro, a la Tyler Durden.

Come on, no way none of those villains would resist the urge to kill someone that annoying.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Well, I was impressed. When the project was first announced, I rolled my eyes, as it seemed as though they were trying to bite off of Samurai Champloo. However, Afro Samurai seems to have built itself into its own style, as opposed to... well, biting off of Champloo. I'm looking forward to the rest of it.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I enjoyed it, watched it twice as they decided to show it twice. It remind me of Champloo as others have stated, but I liked the art and feel to the whole thing.

I'm still surprised at how violent it was compared to Adult Swim, especially since it was shown at 11 pm.


Either way, looking forward to the next episode.

FELIPE NO

Seeing it the second time made me love it even more than what i said earlier. I'd like to see a dream match between Mugen and Afro. Other than that, I'm liking the little humor from his little friend (Ninja Ninja).

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I liked the show as well. I thought it would be stupid at first, with Japanese people trying to make a show about a black guy being a samurai (I almost thought it would be like those silly samurai fight sequences on The Boondocks, just extended into an entire show), but it turned out to be pretty good. I'll definitely keep watching.

Jam it back in, in the dark.