Afro Samurai

When he was a young boy, Afro witnessed his father be cut down in a duel at the hands of a man known only as Justice. After taking the life of Afro's father, Justice cast aside his Number Two headband and took the Number One to claim its godly powers as his own.

Years later, having obtained the Number Two headband which grants him the right to challenge the Number One, Afro moves forward in his hunt for revenge on the man who murdered his father. There is just one thing that stands in his way—everyone else in the world! Though the Number One can only be challenged by the Number Two, the Number Two can be challenged by anyone. As his enemies gather to try and take the title of Number Two, Afro must fight through a myriad of foes and obstacles if he hopes to reach the Number One and claim vengeance once and for all.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Samurai, Afro Main

Ninja Ninja Supporting

Jinno Supporting

Justice Supporting

Otsuru Supporting

Brother One Supporting

Sasuke Supporting

Rukotaro Supporting

Sword Master Supporting

Yashichi Supporting

Kajita, Kouji Producer

Kasama, Nobutaka Producer

Okiura, Taito Producer

Kizaki, Fuminori Director

Reviews

Sep 26, 2024

XOArama

Recommended

Have heard people speak of this anime a lot, finally got around to it and its about what I'd expect from a 5 episode action based anime. The animation and the fight scenes are pretty good, has a lot of its own style and atheistic and its really enjoyable to watch. The story itself is serviceable, it really does nothing special, its a classic revenge story with not twists or anything unique but its good enough to keep things moving. I think the shortness of this series is its only downfall, if it had more time to cook and develop its characters and the world ... they reside in I think it could've been amazing but as it stands it just a cool one off.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by XOArama (91)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Oct 10, 2024

ChrisDC

Mixed Feelings

Afro Samurai is an interesting blend of Black and Japanese cultures combined into an action-packed short anime.
The story behind its inception is quite touching, and how it came to be is equally fascinating, considering Samuel L. Jackson played a significant role in the project.
However, the result and quality of the anime are mixed.
On one side, we can clearly see inspiration from Ninja Scroll's fixation on fast-paced action. On the other hand, we can see Samurai Champloo's inspiration when it comes to the "free flow" of battle, with hip-hop playing in the background to add to the coolness of the character's mindset.
These ... are great ingredients for a fast-paced battle anime; however, that's the issue, as Afro Samurai focuses only on action and less on story. The problem is that a lot of the action on screen doesn't feel like it matters because these battles mainly consist of expendable "villains" who challenge our thick plot armoured protagonist, Afro Samurai, because they just want to kill him for owning the #2 headband.
This isn't to say that Afro Samurai doesn't have a story because it does; the issue is that the story is a generic revenge story consisting of forgettable characters in a world that doesn't have a backstory explaining why it's so messed up. The women-only exist as sexual objects, while the men only exist to fight, minus the one hype man.

The gist of the story without spoilers is this: Afro Samurai is walking around and chilling > then gets attacked by some forgettable villain > wins the battle, and repeats ad nauseam until the final battle.

Conclusion:
Afro Samurai is good in action, music, and style, but its story is lacklustre and dull/predictable, so it loses many points. Most of the fights, minus two fights in the series, are meaningless. This is a shame because it could have been a lot better, considering the anime's foundation is solid, and Afro Samurai's backstory had some intrigue to it. It's a shame that the anime only focused on action and looking/feeling cool instead of capitalizing on the story and the meaning behind the absurd amount of fighting.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by ChrisDC (21)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Jan 23, 2025

Giratinaswrath

Not Recommended

It's a 4.

Ok, look. The action scenes are pretty great! I can see why this gained a cult following. Everything is snappy and nice to look at. It's just cool. The art has some decent style!

However.

Every other aspect of this show is lacking. The writing, the characters, the worldbuilding. All of it is very bad. At first I thought it was a parody and it does seem to poke fun at the concept in noncommittal, unintelligent, transient ways. All of the ways in which it is a parody is played off as "Haha look this helmet is kinda funny right? LOL" and then it ends. ... BUT EVERY OTHER PLOT ELEMENT IS GENERIC AND PLAYED STRAIGHT. Nothing seems to follow logically in the story and random story beats pop up out of ALMOST nowhere, having been set up the scene before in the same episode. The character reactions and behaviour don't make sense, rationally or emotionally. The show will throw up a 5 second sappy scene and expect you to feel sad about it 3 minutes later. Which is not helped by the unconvincing actors/dialogue. I came in knowing it was an english original, but I was second guessing myself because so many of the lines and so much of the voice acting feels exactly as if it had been poorly dubbed.

Again. This show is really nice to watch for fights. But that is it. You might have more fun watching a youtube compilation of top 10 epic anime battles from your favorite shounen. The rest of the show is unbelievably shallow and hard to sit through.

WATCH AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by Giratinaswrath (3)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Underrated Creative/Innovative Anime

by LifeWeeb

34 Entries · 3 Restacks

Less Than 12 Episodes

by Gino99

50 Entries · 148 Restacks

One Main Character

by Gino99

50 Entries · 101 Restacks

North American Anime & Manga Releases for November

Here are the North American anime, manga, and light novel releases for November. Week 1: November 5 - 11 Anime Releases Gibiate TV Series Blu-ray [Limited Edition] H...read more

Nov 3, 2024 12:15 PM by Aiimee | Discuss (1 comment)

Live Action Feature Film of Afro Samurai Announced

According to their press release, FUNimation, Gonzo Studios, and Indomina Group, a U.S. and Dominican Republic based producer and distributor, have announced a live ...read more

Jul 22, 2011 1:15 AM by Naruleach | Discuss (39 comments)

	Poll: Afro Samurai Episode 5 Discussion ( 1 2 ) hznu - Nov 29, 2008	82 replies	by m0neky »» Jan 27, 3:17 PM
	Poll: Afro Samurai Episode 4 Discussion hznu - Nov 29, 2008	46 replies	by m0neky »» Jan 27, 2:47 PM
	Poll: Afro Samurai Episode 3 Discussion hznu - Nov 29, 2008	47 replies	by m0neky »» Jan 27, 8:48 AM
	Poll: Afro Samurai Episode 2 Discussion ( 1 2 ) hznu - Nov 29, 2008	61 replies	by m0neky »» Jan 24, 7:45 AM
	Poll: Afro Samurai Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Luna - Dec 11, 2013	81 replies	by m0neky »» Jan 24, 7:10 AM

Ten of the Best Violent Anime

On screen violence is thrilling, exhilarating, and without a doubt makes the adrenaline run and pump through the veins. Here's a list of 10 of the best violent anime to tie your knickers in a knot.

by MissSimplice

212,607 views

CollectionAction

15 Characters Fueled by Vengeance

They say that revenge is sweet and that it is also a dish best served cold. This also happens to perfectly describe ice cream. Come take a look at characters who are sustained by their vengeance and not just ice cream.

by NicWat10

49,692 views

Spoiler

Collection