Ranked #1188

Afro Samurai

I watched this series on Spike TV and i must insist this is one of the best dubbed animes i have ever watched!

The voice over cast list start off with Samuel L Jackson (pulp fiction, Starwars) and Kelly Hu (X2: Xmen United) two A list actors very famous for their action movies. And their voices get put through the test as they use their voices for multiple characters in the series. And the voices they portray are very believable in my opinion.

As in terms of animation value, one only needs too look at their hair and their tattered clothing flowing in the wind just like in a classic samurai showdown of the old days. Everything is very artistic and not to mention VERY gory (which is a plus for me).

As expected of a 5 episode series, the story is not very detailed on character backgrounds and side stories except the main character (their website more than explains each character). But, they do throw you in the mix right away. The main character "afro samurai" is the second samurai in the world. And he is on a mission to become the number one samurai in the world. And thats where the story starts, his journey to his headquarters.

the verdict? For those who want a quick pick me up action anime that you can finish in one sitting, by all means pick this up! but if youre looking for a super long anime, youre looking in the wrong place. read more

There are few anime films that come out with the core focus on an african american character, so few to mention in which the story-line, drama and entire series is based on one.
Afro samurai is a true delight, show casing the melodic growl of samuel jackson whose role as the solemn 'Afro' samurai in this 5 episode series. Many would look to the over exageratted hair, funky clothing and dark artwork writing the series off, but, there is a lot to be seen in regards to Afro Samurai, namely, the music, acclaimed rap artist Rza puts together a decent array of music that fits the character and his surroundings quite well.
At the beginning, the fluid animation and fancy fight scenes show care that these were choreographed with the infamous wire-fighting techniques seen in most martial arts films only taken to infinite levels through animation.
Fights range from sword to sword, one against an army, sword vs robot, against clones, large staffs, guns, bows, grenades, namely any and everything that can be thrown in afro's direction usually is which brings him to a final climax with the plate of revenge dish at the end of his journey.
As a character, afro himself is a cold individual whose background is shrouded in the mystery of the number one headband, said to grant great strength and fighting ability to whomever wields it, however, the only one that can stand against the number one is the number two, who, becomes enemy number one of every able bodied man in this psychedelic world which is a cross between ancient japan(seeing as samurai and tatami mats are prevelent) and a little bit of the present time( cell phones and android surgery are orders for the day). It's hard to think that a storyline is as indepth as it really is, towards the end we have seen what it really means to be a man without remorse, feeling or desire to do anything else but kill or does our lone warrior actually have a heart?
It's not every day that an anime grips you within a world such as Afro Samurai's, the voices are done well and fight scenes are phenomenal, definitely one series that takes the cake for originality and personality to boot. read more