Bringing the style to the beat down
Afro Samurai has returned to action, reluctantly. After finally resting after avenging the death of his father, he gets hunted down like a dog for the atrocities he committed during the avenging. Sio, a very obsessed woman seeking revenge, calls her best dogs on Afro and forces the peaceful samurai back into his murderous ways. Adding fuel to the fire, Sio digs up the remains of Afro’s father in an attempt to resurrect him from the dead, then torture him. Not wanting to wait until that moment, Afro goes off on the quest to find the second headband (the one that allows him to fight the first headband holder — Sio) in an attempt to stop the madness and the cycle of destruction.
Afro Samurai is quite a unique take on the Samurai world. The flavor of the series is cool, collective and cunning. You’re put into a badass world that knows it’s badass and it’s reinforced through this one unique character. The creators of the show could have surrounded Afro with a shoddy story, but to add a little lemon to the hipness they actually created a world of desire and corruption quite perfectly. You have an entire motivated group that surrounds itself around two things: A. Revenge and B. Headbands. Each character is its own with its own problems and wants. Sio has nothing else to lose so she continually uses people to get her revenge on Afro and his wicked deeds. Afro has nothing to gain except peace because he can’t allow the memory of his father to be tampered with, but his hesitation to kill is more evident here then in the previous story. Ultimately, each character must achieve A. and B. to be complete.
Most people have two issues with this series: Violence and Language. Well, there’s a reason why it’s shown late on Cartoon Network. There is a tremendous about of slicing and bleeding in this movie. It doesn’t hold back one bit. If you’re thinking about getting this for someone under 18, please rethink that. It’s not for the faint-of-heart. The language element is pure Samuel L. Jackson. If you can’t listen to Jackson in Jackie Brown or Pulp Fiction, then you need not apply to this film. It has the F bomb, the S bomb and all the other language bombs that could make up a very angry Jackson. With that said, Samuel L. Jackson is entertaining as both Afro and his annoying companion Ninja Ninja. He really buys into both roles and plays them out to the end. Give him some props for that one! Regardless though, it’s vintage Samuel L., so please get grandma and the kids out of the room (and don’t bring this to Church).
Afro on Blu-ray
I had never seen anime look so damn good in HD before Afro. I don’t know if it was the stylish animation or the way things were colored, but it looked fantastic on Blu-ray. Now, the real treat of this Blu-ray was the sweetened sound. You get TrueHD 5.1 that makes all the hip-hop in-between scenes sound that much better. I was really impressed with the presentation and have to give the utmost kudos to Funimation and Gonzo for their effort on this Blu-ray.
As for features, here’s what you get:
– Afro Samurai: The Game
– Enter the RZA
– Afro In-Depth
– Afro Samurai: Ease Meets West
– Afro Samurai at Comic-Con 2008
– Video Commentary
I mean this respectively, but these are the most features I’ve seen on a Funimation title in some time. I really enjoyed the commentary and the documentaries on our favorite badass Samurai. I was impressed with the in-depth material, as it provided fantastic insight to the production and the intentions.
Good stuff all-around.