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.

When I started watching this anime, I wanted to hear the voices in japanese, thing that I never managed to, because I therefore learned that this anime was an American answer to Japan.... And I'll tell you what, they were very successful, one of the best dubbed anime I ever heard.

They managed to fit everything like the art... I mean look at the details of the characters' drawings, their particular portraits, the dark "aura" they managed to bring from this dark world and look at cool gore scenes! A nice fitting music, enjoyable action moments and all in 5 episodes. What about Samuel Jackson's voice ... coming from Ninja's mouth? It is just... Awesome!!

So basically, the story goes around a futuristic feudal Japan where there are two headbands: Headband no.1 and Headband no.2. The fighter who holds the No.1 is considered god-like, the best of the best and can only be challenged by the one who holds the No.2 one. However, everyone, but literally everyone, can challenge the No.2 holder for the headband, meaning lots of trouble for that guy. Afro's father was the No.1 holder and died against a character named "Justice". Seeking revenge, Afro got the No.2 headband and is now heading to where "Justice" is waiting for him.

He goes on as some people try to stop and kill him to get the No.2 title and at the same time we learn about Afro's past as he was training to be a great samurai. The fighting scenes are very enjoyable and the story is very simple but it is the typical good samurai revenge story. However, the characters are not that much deeply explored and explained, unlike Afro, but I personally think that it's not necessary in this case.

A nice 5-episode anime to watch in a row. Everything it needs to be an awesome samurai-way entertainment. And the final scene... It just gave me chills! :P

"It's nothing personal... It's just revenge" ~ Afro

I think some of the reviewers missed the point of this anime.

It's not trying to be thoughtful and original. It's not trying to be a masterpiece.

Rather, it's a typical samurai-looking-to-avenge-his-father story, the only difference being that here our protagonist is black, and enjoys an icy glass of lemonade. The series does manage to succeed with its characters; while they're mostly cliches, they're also humorous and light-hearted enough that one enjoys their presence.

But ultimately, this series is all about the action.

And in that capacity, this anime succeeds; the fights between Afro and his enemies are visually stunning and well-choreographed. The movements are original, the enemies are ... bizarre and detailed, and motion feels very fluid.

As with "Snakes on a Plane", the title tells you all that you need to know; "Afro Samurai" is a fun, entertaining series, which is all it ever strove to be.

I'm gonna go out ahead and say that most people should watch Afro Samurai at least once, or give the first episode a chance.

Story: The story is pretty flat, but at it's heart it follows the traditional revenge story. Samurai blaxploitation revenge even. Not at all uncommon for anime. However, this anime is genre wise ALLl over the place. The main antagonist Afro seems to be pursuing through the anime is a gunslinger, so you think a bit of a samurai spaghetti western for a moment ( think Sukiyaki Western Django ), but then he's totally fighting cyborgs. Now, you ask yourself what the hell ... just happened, but that's the thing it does it really well and fits into the Afro Samurai universe by itself that you really pay no mind.

Art: For a nation that hasn't exactly been known for it's positive portrayal of people of color ( and use of black face among other things ), I honestly think the creator got Afro right for this. I have no complaints about the animation. It flows beautifully. I don't think I could like the anime nearly as much if the art wasn't as good as it is.

Sound: The sound is very good in Afro Samurai also. The wind blowing scenes do very well, as you can hear their clothes blowing smoothly, not choppy crappy sound effects you get in a lot of anime or recycled sound effects used in some movies. The music is done by RZA, and if the name isn't familiar then you're probably not familiar with the Wu-Tang Clan. The soundtrack is dare I say it...and I think I do, "dope". It is amazing, it is a mixture of not only hip hop but some rock for some tunes. Not to mention the voice acting. Samuel L. Jackson is the icing on the cake for the voice. I could listen to this man's lines over and over again. "DO THEY SPEAK ENGLISH IN WHAT!?!"

Character: Afro is pretty flat. He only has one objective: "Get the headband."
I'm honestly not sure what compelled me to like Afro, by all means he's kind of boring minus his awesome blade skills. The other characters aren't really developed upon much, but toward the end of the series we see a lot more into Afro's thoughts through flashbacks. However, Afro himself remains stoic, even though his previous incarnation was quite animated. Due to the events we witness through flashbacks, it's safe to assume when we find Afro now he's sealed himself off. He doesn't grow through out the series visibly, I'd say he's not very round at all.

Enjoyment: I really enjoyed this anime. There are good animes ( that win awards ), and there are AWESOME animes. The difference is, awesome animes aren't always good or thought provoking, and good animes are not always awesome ( think A Whisper of the Heart, good anime, but not awesome ). If you're the kind of person who watches movies lots of action movies and frequently says "There weren't enough explosions." chances are you'll like Afro Samurai for it's awesome factor.

Overall. I give it an 8.

I picked this anime up one night while just walking through the anime section. I had heard it was pretty good so i wanted to check it out. To my surprise I noticed that the series was only five episodes long. They do in fact just through you into the story without a lot of backstory on any of the characters except for Afro Samurai.

Story: The story was short, but it got straight to the point. Their are two rankings of Samurai in the world, The Number One, and The Number Two. The whole series is really about Afro Samurai, being the Number Two ... samurai trying to become The Number One and Avenging his father who was killed for the number one spot. I liked the story because as it does follow the traditional style of anime, it is different in it's own right.

Art: I found the animation to be really good, but that's just in my opinion. I thought the detail of everything in the settings was animated very well, and the characters themselves as well. The gore is brought out the best way it could be without being excessive.

Sounds: The music for this anime was different being more of a rap song, with a sweet beat. It's not something you would expect in a normal anime, but compliments this show very well, and the music throughout is also very good.

Overall I would give Afro Samurai an 8, because it was very good even thought it was only five episodes, it had the copasity to be so much longer, probably even as long as a traditional anime being 25 to 50 episodes. It's a good anime that I myself would recommend to others that are looking for a action filled anime that they can watch in one sitting.

Thanks for reading, and this is my first review!! ^_^

I'm the rare reviewer that gives this movie 10's across the board and some of it is due to the fact that this series opened the door to the world of anime for me.
Story-If you like revenge stories this is a great series for you. The bandana storyline is also pretty clever.
Art- I know people that didn't like the way this was drawn, but I loved it.
Sound-Original soundtrack by RZA
Characters-Samuel L. Jackson in a duel role-'nuff said
Enjoyment-If you don't mind alot of blood you'll love it

I was actually kind of reluctuant to watch Afro Samurai. There was no reason why, but I\'m glad I watched it.

The plot is pretty much about a man seeking revenge for a samurai killing his father. In a way, the plot isn\'t that original, but with the voice talents of samuel L jackson, it brings a little comedy into the "seriousness" of the plot.

The animation I would say is quite good, not outstanding, but not too bad. Alot of samurai action, which I would say is the main point.

The fact that it\'s 5 episodes is really a plus, because this kind of plot couldn\'t ... go on forever. So.. really, if you want to watch something short and sweet, and isn\'t drawn out, give it a go.

Afro Samurai is an example of blaxploitation in anime working gallantly. We follow a revenge-driven man simply called Afro, learning more about him through flash-backs, as he strives to be the number one swordsman.

There are several things that sets this apart from typical blaxploitation titles. Most of it for the better. Firstly, it has high-quality animation that makes it look like it had a far higher budget than most titles in its genre. Its main characters are fleshed out to a greater degree than I had expected. In addition, it barely even touches upon racial stereotypes and ethnic differences. Why I think this all ... works, is that now it stands out with amazing stylized art, more relatable main characters, and conflicts that are more personal to them, rather than just racist villains who'd want to fight Afro because he's black and nothing else.

While Afro by all accounts is fleshed out in his backstory, he also suffers from being a silent protagonist. This makes Afro less interesting to watch by himself, but it fixes this problem by making his interactions with the world around him all the more contrasting and entertaining, especially with his ninja counter-part.

While I do love battle royales and tournament-anime, Afro Samurai is a gauntlet-story, where the journey mainly consists of going through one minor villain after another in order to get to the boss at the top, video-game-logic. It falls into the same trappings as most other stories of its kind, which would be several villains that are just 1-dimensional throw-aways, and a very linear journey with no particular twists. Despite not usually being a fan of the format I think it did the best it could with its plot in how it told it.

A simple plot with good music, visuals, and entertaining characters.

Here's the thing about Afro Samurai - it's not a complicated tale, the characters are not really very deep, nor do they really grow very much, the plot is terribly predictable and it is filled with all the tropes. But, seriously, who the hell cares? Because you're not supposed to watch this anime with a desire to see a complex plot, novel storytelling or deep characterisation.

What you're supposed to expect when you decide to watch this series, is Samuel Jackson being a bad ass mother f*ck!ng samurai on a 5-episode-long quest for pure, bloody, decapitating revenge against the gloriously awesome Ron Pearlman. And that's ... exactly what it is.

The art is done in quite monotone and muted colour, with the exception of the bright red gushes of blood drenching almost every scene. It makes for a visual treat.

The presence of modern technology in places throws you for a loop at first, and I didn't quite get used to it, considering the environment the characters are in, but it's all part of what makes this show cool.

And then there's RZA... is there anyone better out there to make a hip-hop soundtrack to a Samurai-bent-on-revenge-themed piece of visual media? I didn't think so.

Afro Samurai is an excellent piece of bad-assery and entertainment. Don't go looking for more than Samuel Jackson just being his cool self and you'll be completely satisfied, you dig?

ive read an article in the past that samuel l jackson will voice a character named afro samurai. it made me curious because i just dont like english dubbed anime it sounds icky to my ears.

so here is my review

story: i liked the story of the show very classic samurai elements and all. with the mix of new technology elements. and a setting of a world of killing and chaos made me want to watch more.

art: very superb art and the detail is marvelous. the movement of the characters was art itself. the art has a gory element on it so it gives ... a little plus for me.

sound: the opening song was nice but not good enough for me they couldve made a better track.

character: i just loved how ninja and afro talked about stuff and the like. really made me watch more because of their chemistry.

enjoyment: i had fun to watch this its like a moving canvass. plus the way that ninja talked was tight.

overall: if you wanna watch some all out samurai action. watch this one it wont disappoint.

but there is one dissapointment for me i wished that they made this into a movie. not a 5 part anime so that the viewers could grasp the story even better.

Overview:

I normally write my reviews by dividing them into neat categories and using a scoring rubric, but Afro Samurai is an unconventional anime and I will review it in an unconventional style!

The story is basically the same sort of revenge tale that was common during the low budget 1970s "samurai slice em up" films like Lone Wolf and Cub, which was released in the US as "Shogun Assassin", and released elsewhere as "Baby Cart: You go to HELL!" These were grindhouse samurai exploitation films that you would see in an old drive-in theater after a screening of "Blood Sucking Freaks" or "Wizard of Gore". These ... films didn't try to be artsy or deep. They simply wanted to spray the audience with blood and give them a good time with lots of stupid fun! By the way, a drive-in theater in case you didn't know is where the audience pulls up in cars and watches from their cars as a projection is cast on a large outdoor screen. Yes, those actually used to exist in the 1950s-1970s! They usually played non-mainstream films, most often violent exploitation films and porn.

One does not watch Afro Samurai for the amazingly deep characters and philosophy, but for the over the top madness and fun! In addition to absolutely nailing the tone and feel of a 70s Samurai exploitation film, it also mixes that with another 70s staple: the blaxploitation film. Due to the synthesis of samurai style with hip hop music and dialogue, Afro is often compared to Samurai Champloo. The difference is that Afro takes itself far less seriously, but is MUCH more entertaining to watch and actually mixes the 2 cultures in a much more effective manner. The voice acting by Samuel L Jackson is superb, and the soundtrack is actually quite good, unlike Champloo!

Afro Samurai may not be an artistic masterpiece, but it is a very fun ride that I would highly recommend. It is an American produced anime, but the Yanks actually did a great job with this one, so don't let that put you off! If you actually sit your ass down and finally watch this underrated anime, you will probably enjoy it.

The instant I heard the title "Afro Samurai" I knew I had to see this series, and the fact that Samuel L. Jackson plays the main character only raised my expectations. My expectations were met.
To start (extremely) positive the animation is pristene and the direction of battle is executed exceptionally well with the animation style. Granted it the cliche blood physics are kept, but it is used to great effect during both battle and character development.
My one criticism of the story is the not so original main character motivation of revenge and the reason for it. However, the character, or rather ... characters, formed from this origin is far from predictable. As well as the underlying plot is not very imaginitive but what is seen on the surface is pure gold.
The main character(s) is pretty much unbeatable: silent type, vengance driven, efficient killing machine samurai played by Samuel L. Jackson with an afro (black), and a loud mouth, weed smoking, counterpart also played by Samuel L.Jackson with an opposite afro (white). The villains are very unique and give new meanings to: never-ending supply, creepy, robotic ninjas, gunslayer, and insane teddy bears. Their motivation is not unique i.e revenge or power but still the story behind the explained is rather moving.
One more, and final criticism I make, is sound during battle. I don't know why but I prefer to be able to tell which sound goes to what action to the extents that I think I'm supposed to. Yet, with this the awesome sound track as well as fast paced cool fighting sequences threw me off a bit.
It's fair to say I really enjoy watching this series, because I do and I watch each action and blood filled episode with a feeling of great anticipation.

Want a very stylized, mindless hack-and-slash gorefest of an anime? Look no further than Spike TV and their 2007 production of Afro Samurai.

This anime is a mixed bag depending on how you approach it (as can be seen just by briefly looking through the reviews on here). If you are seeking a deep story and complex characters, this anime is going to disappoint you royally. However, if you are looking for an action-packed product to get the man juices flowing, Afro Samurai will look like the best piece of animation you have ever witnessed.

As stated, the story is about as basic as ... it gets: Boy's father is killed, boy vows revenge, boy trains up, boy kills his way to his father's murderer....you get the drift. As it is only a five-episode miniseries, you can't expect much in the form of deep subplots or a vast network of strongly developed characters (though that is not to say that this franchise doesn't have its own collection of lore to read into). The timeline of the story very flatley sees Afro cut down a challenge and proceed to the next opponent (usually stronger and more intimidating in scale than the last) until he ultimately reaches his "final boss on the top floor".

The animation and art is where this show really shines. It is extremely fluid and the darker tones of the anime really come out in its shading and dreary hues. As it was made for an American audience first and foremost, it is a very "western" piece of Japanese animation, causing it to be quite unique in the library. The piece definitely stands out in comparison to most other family members of the typical action anime genre.

This show is exclusively in Dub and with its voice cast roster, it is clear why. It features many dynamic actors who bring their chops to the table in all the right ways. Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction, Die Hard 3) stars as Afro Samurai and his internal voice Ninja Ninja, Ron Perlman (Hellboy, Sons of Anarchy) provides the voice of the series' main antagonist Justice, and the likes of Kelly Hu (X2), Terrence C. Carson (God of War), Tara Strong, James Arnold Taylor, Grey DeLisle, and Steve Blum provide various supporting roles throughout the series along the way (large and small).

The characters of the series, though simple, are pretty solid and serve their purpose well. Afro Samurai himself is obviously the most developed character and receives the lion's share of the treatment on progression. Ironically, Afro himself is a fairly silent and stoic character and Jackson ultimately gets to shine through the almost-constant annoying chatter dialogue of his companion Ninja Ninja (Afro's 180° degree antithesis) more so than the actual protagonist. Besides the main character, the side characters do not see a lot of development and can suffer from a lack of depth if one decides to fixate on it (aka. shallow archetypes such as generic love interest character, typical villain posse, best friend, former master/mentor, etc.).

Your enjoyment of this show will depend on your desire to see blood.....like, a LOT of blood (Arms flying, decapitation, pierced eye sockets....the works). This anime is all about violence and you won't go over three minutes without seeing a character spill their bowels on the ground in some shape or form. Besides that, this anime doesn't hold back on cursing and swearing either (definitely more so if you watch the Director's Cut). The anime also contains a smattering of nudity throughout the first few episodes and a full sex scene in the second (The miniseries has a solid and deserved TV-MA, so you shouldn't be blind if you are considering a watch to begin with.). All in all, Afro Samurai is a mindlessly fun anime full of stylized gory action. It's really that simple. It's "nothing personal, it's just revenge."

The story is very straight forward and lacks any sort of depth, which is also affected by the shortness of episodes.
The art is amazing, very well drawn and animated.
The soundtrack is enjoyable but I feel it's not for everyone.
There is little to no character development, in fact only the main character gets serious development and all the rest are just there.
The voice acting is american, the main character being voiced by Samuel L. Jackson (but he almost never says a word...) and there are some other famous american celebrities involved aswell.
Despite its flaws I found myself liking it just for the craziness which is ... what it was going for. The anime knows what it is and accepts it. I also find this to be a very unique anime because of the japanese/american style fusion.

This is an out of the ordinary Samurai anime with an interesting twist to it. Not only is the main Samurai character black in race but we are presented with a twisted alternate universe of Japan.

As far as story line goes there isn't much, partly because of the series only lasting 5 episodes but also that it wasn't developed that much either. The plot line of why things are the way they are in this twisted universe is not explained, we're given a VERY brief reason to why and it doesn't make much sense aside from 'everyone wants to kill everyone'. Sadly to say the ... story can be summed up in one line and that is "All warriors want to be Number One". With all its flaws and open holes in the story, it still remains interesting because there has been nothing else quite like it. Seriously, when is the next time you'll see a animation about a Black Samurai with a rippin' Afro kicking some serious butt? Probably not for a looooong time.

The art style can well referenced to being very similar -if not the same as- to the art used in Todd McFarlane's "Spawn" the TV series. It can be described as a very flowing but detailed art style with often a dark tone to it. The attention put into the finer details in the art form to make the action really come to life and defining the scene, it gives a surreal feel to the series. I particularly like this art style for its detail alone but the dark overtones really sets off really dark series like this one very well.

The characters in this series are movie motion perfect for an action series and fit greatly into their roles but something is lacking. We learn very little to nothing about the characters in the series and what we are given we have to use our own imagination to fill in, which isn't too bad I guess (again, if it was more than 5 episodes I'm sure there would have been more). Artistically the characters are well formed but they lack strong vocal characterization. What I mean to say is that most of the characters and dialogs sound as if a poor designed robot is try to articulate emotions it knows nothing about. More work could have been put in.

Overall? This is a series that should be watched just for being what it is, a super-awesome-bad-ass-black-samurai-adventure. Not the greatest animation out there but like I said before, when else are you going to run into something this different.

For the longest time, I've been meaning to watch this after seeing AD's for it on Spike TV. Well, lucky for me I recently found it and watched all 5 episodes in one sitting and I must say... I was very impressed with it.

The story is rather simple. Afro Samurai is out for revenge for his fathers death, and he'll f*** anyone who stands in his way.
With each episode we learn just a little bit more about Afro and his haunted and blood filled history, and this all builds up to the final showdown. The plot overall, is rather simple and straight forward, but ... in the latter episodes things do become more heart and story driven. Not exactly the deepest story you'll find, but it still delivers the goods.

The art and animation is fantastic, that simple. Each movement is carefully animated creating a very smooth and often times beautiful animation. The action scenes are incredible to watch and should make any action junkie very happy. I'd even say the action scenes here rival Hellsing Ultimate. And that's saying something. So yeah, the animes budget is clearly seen here.

The voice acting was great, one of the best I've seen in an anime, with Samuel L. Jackson and Ron Perlman being the highlights. The soundtrack was also very good and fitting to the series, and even though I'm not much of a fan of rap, the slow rap intro was great to listen too.

The characters themselves were pretty interesting. While I thought the main protagonist Afro, was a walking badass, he was very cold... maybe even to cold. It was a tad hard to feel any sympathy for him, especially during a certain fight in episodes 4 and 5 (in which I had a tough time figuring out who I was routing for). Ninja Ninja, Afro's sidekick was pretty damn annoying, though it was interesting seeing the true role he played later on.
The antagonists weren't really that interesting in my opinion, save for 2 (one's a twist and the other being Justice the main antagonist) the others were just meh. The main bad group of characters 'Empty Seven Clan' are made up of identical monks and a big dude... yep, nothing very interesting there.

Overall, I say this is one hell of an anime and something which I wish had lasted a bit longer. An entertaining story, beautiful animations, superb voice acting, a badass protagonist, you really can't go wrong here.

So yes, this get's my stamp of awesomeness :D

I think that Afro Samurai had very three dimensional characters for an anime, and the overall atmosphere which was kept by the Afro Samurai himself really added to the depth of this story. I frankly don't have much problem with the anime as a whole (because it was well constructed), except a bit with the story.

It kept you clinging, but it would have been nice if it had a little more air time. The back story of our protagonist really was handled well, and we understood the emotions and his overall perspective fluently. The characters makes it hard for me to let the story go ... at this point, truthfully speaking - with such a kick ass villain as there was (speaking here of the English Dub, in which in my opinion, Samuel L. Jackson kicks ass, but Ron Periman is just a shade better).

This is a worthwhile watch. I've seen it three times, and it still never ceases to amaze me. A definitive addition to one's list.

This review is going to be very biased. I have a hard-on for the modern day samurai thing so I couldn't help but give this anime a 9/10. Also, Samuel L Jackson is one of my favorite actors of all time. I am going to write this very biased review anyway because I fucking loved this show.

Story-
The story follows a young black man, I think he's 30 at the most, and his quest for vengeance against the man who killed his father. In this world, there are two headbands that "rank" a warrior's strength. The number one headband and the number two. Only the person ... with the number 2 headband can challenge the number one, so many people are after this thing. The black man, Afro, had a father who was number one, but he was killed by a gunslinger named Justice. So, from there on, Afro trains himself to be the world's strongest warrior. Very generic, I know, but the whole father-son thing touched me quite a bit.

Art-
This series had a very high budget. The animation was amazing and the art style reminded me of some old samurai anime. Afro was portrayed very well and I thought he had the coolest hair and outfit ever. Nothing much to say really. Alot of money was spent on this series, so you get what you pay for. Oh yeah, and the fight scenes were cool as shit. I have never once seen a guy cut a bullet into tiny pieces and kill the guys surrounding him with the shrapnel.

Sound-
Nice hip-hop beats and some jazz mixed in there. The RZA did really well with the soundtrack. It reminded me of the BGM from Samurai Champloo, but alot edgier and more "oomf" to it. If you are a fan of hiphop/rap, you will not be dissapointed with the soundtrack. Oh, and Samuel L Jackon's voice was sexy. He got like 20 lines, but each line was cool as shit. And Justice had a pretty nice voice as well.

Character-
Afro, Justice, and the Ninja are the only characters I really liked in this anime. I really didn't give a crap about Afro's childhood peers, so I disliked all of them. Afro is a very chill dude. He smokes his joints and keeps to himself. The typical "lone wolf" but more badass. Justice had some very good quotes in my opinion. He was a man who had gotten drunk with power and it really reflected in his mannerisms and such. Ninja was funny as hell and he kept Afro's sanity in check.

Overall-
This anime was just cool as hell dude. I know it might be just me, but modern Samurais are the coolest thing ever. Whats cooler than a joint smoking samurai who fights with a style of breakdance and disciplined swordmanship? Anyway, if you like samurai stuff and/or hiphop, definitely check it out. It's very different from your conventional anime, but that's because it's Western. I fucking loved this series, but I can't guarantee the same for you.

Afro Samurai is in my opinion a perfect series for newcomers to the anime community.
Here are the reasons why:

Afro Samurai is a short series with only five episodes, so it almost feels more like a movie than a series, but split up into a serial format. The story is very simple and not the greatest story ever told, but it suffices for this series.

The art style is gorgeous to look at and the fights are all very smooth and highly entertaining.

The music is great as well.However, I never really critique music unless it really sticks out. The series doesn't really have an opening, so ... there is no point in talking about it.
The voice acting is good as well, although there is the twist that there is only an English version. This is another reason why I think that this series is great for newcomers that might not want to watch everything subbed.

The characters are good too, although Afro and his friend don't have a real personality outside of "being cool" and "being quirky".

Everything considered, this is an awesome show both for newcomers and long-time anime lovers and I highly recommend it.

I found this unique anime to be an overall enjoyable watch, if only to understand the much better film. The ghetto voices and the seedy vibe of the setting worked well with Samuel L Jackson's vocals.
I found afro to be a very unrelatable character though I do suspect that was the intention. Comic relief is provided throughout by his verbal sidekick. Action lovers need not fear watching this however as epic sword fights occur frequently. The artwork is not brilliant by any means, the story is not extremely coherent and it is maybe too short but it is nevertheless an entertaining and action-packed anime.