Wonderful character development!

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

The original 5 episode miniseries covered just about everything in the series' lore. Sure there were a few loose ends, however, they were uninteresting enough that the series could have ended on that note and I would have been relatively satisfied. So this sequel, or follow up, felt wholly unnecessary. Many of the problems that plagued the miniseries (Bland story with a highly linear plot, Afro developed in no way, boring at times, mindless at others,little character development) are still present here. Strangely, the most fleshing out of the characters came in the form of our "Villains". Afro, has few (if any) redeeming qualities and the writers made no effort to showcase his growth. Which means, you guessed it, Afro is very shallow. A few of the lines from Shichogoro and the actions of Jinno and Sio in the finale, made me think even less of him. Visually, the film is great. However, since I've seen the miniseries, that is to be expected at this point, So the awe and wonder had worn off and I was seeking more exploration in terms of Afro and his companion Ninja Ninja (Who is actually a far more interesting character, even though he is Afro essentially). As both a huge Anime and Hip-Hop fan, I love RZA and the entire Wu-Tang collective, but the soundtrack was meh. A few songs here and there, but overall, I wasn't that impressed. The ending as mentioned by others, IS NOT SATISFYING. It simply reinforces what I stated earlier about the protagonist being shallow and linear. The entire series, hinges on a cycle of revenge. One that could easily be broken (which at this point, will not be if it's up to Afro).This series is pretty obviously influenced by Samurai Champloo. Which is not an issue, but what is, is how it shamelessly takes that formula, and kicks it into mindless overdrive. If you like this mash up style, check out Samurai Champloo. It is much better and the soundtrack is amazing.

i thought that this title was more entertaining than the series because it went all out and just dumped awesome moment after awesome moment on the viewer in a constant barrage of flying limbs and blood. if you want more of the same from the first one, this movie will satisfy.As for the plot, like the first one it's somewhat lacking, but that can easily be forgiven due to the wicked-stylish animation, great voice-work, and action that impressed me more than anything sense Equilibrium. i give it a solid 8, if the plot was more cohesive it could easily receive a 9 or 10. I bought the special edition DVD for 20$, if you liked the first show it's definitely worth the money to buy the second. i really want to find the soundtrack to this because the RZA did a really good job with the music.

2007 was an important year for Japanese animation. Not only did the first American director cross over to direct a big anime (Tekon Kinkreet), the Japanese were allowed to make an original, high profile series for American television. The result was Afro Samurai, a creepy mix of black culture, samurai and technology. Afro Samurai hit it big and a year later Afro Samurai - Resurrection was born, the feature length TV sequel.The original OAV series was a pretty particular beast. The story is extremely simple but the setting is a strange mix of influences. At the base lies an A to B tale about a samurai trying to find the number 1 headband, which will put him in the top spot. There is some background info about his motives but none of that is too interesting.More fun is the fact that our main hero is a black samurai with a huge afro, voiced by Hollywood's favorite black guy, Samuel L Jackson. Even cooler is the setting, where old-style samurai antics are mixed with science, technology, Japanese myth and plain and over-the-top weirdness and action.Resurrection leaves the concept of the OAV pretty much intact. Afro loses his headband and is forced to get it back and that's about all there is to it. Again some background story is added to keep things rolling and to give everyone enough motivation to start killing each other, but apart from some die hard fans I don't think many people will be to interested in all of this.Main attraction of the film is still the artwork. From the start it was Koike's input that gave Afro Samurai its distinct style and appeal. Koike, one of the best animators today, was launched by partner in crime Katsuhito Ishii (Trava Fist Planet and the intro of Party 7), but most will probably remember him from his Animatrix short.His distorted, larger than life, shadow-infused style is instantly recognizable. And even though I couldn't confirm his involvement in this film, the result just breaths Koike. It seemed they spared no money either, keeping in mind this is a TV film the animation is actually splendid, especially during the action scenes.Character designs are still pretty cool with some outrageous figures popping up. There seems to be a bit more focus and technology in Resurrection which only adds to the fun. And there is of course the ending which is marvelously animated and is actually a little bit similar in effect to the ending of Tekon Kinkreet. It's all pretty vague and surreal.Sadly, Resurrection still suffers from the same shortcomings the OAV had. The voice acting is terrible. Afro himself is OK and Liu's acting skills are on par too, but Afro's sidekick (also voiced by Jackson) is a pain in the ear from start to finish. He adds little to nothing to the whole film but is ever present. A real shame they didn't cut him out. And while it was doable in short bursts of 30 minutes, it really starts to irritate in a full length feature.The soundtrack (by RZA) is not all that good either. Somehow the music and images rarely seem to flow together well. A little too poppy and a missed opportunity because with a little more effort Resurrection could've really outdone the OAV. Enough solid hip-hop that would've fit this film a lot better.Luckily, the rest is still as cool as ever. It is not a film that caters for a wide audience though. It's core appeal is very simple. It has samurai, gore, technology, machine guns and a weirdness surplus. It's all about cool and action and apart from that there is very little, nor does the film seem to care about that. In that sense, it seems to owe a lot to films like Dead Leaves.So if you're up for some good solid fun and don't have too much trouble neglecting the grating dub and soundtrack, there is plenty of amusement to be had from this film.4.0*/5.0*

I really enjoyed Afro Samurai the Original. The animation was great, the story kept your attention rapt the entire time. I feel that this sequel did not live up the the original at all. The only aspect that did was the animation. The attempt to delve deeper into the character of Afro leaves a lot to be desired. Overall it portrays him as much weaker than in the original series; physically and mentally. It introduces historical happenings that don't make any sense and introduces characters that weren't mentioned at all in the first series. For instance there is a scene where Gino and Afro meet up with Gino's sister (never mentioned before). Both Gino and Afro are wearing swords and Gino introduces Afro as being like his brother from the sword master's dojo. Immediately after they receive their swords in the original series Afro challenges the sword master. During the next scene Gino is mortally wounded and everyone else from the dojo excluding Otsuru is killed. Therefore, this scene with Gino's younger sister is impossible. Overall this sequel was a disappointment. The plot was not up to par, the ending was mediocre, the fight scenes weren't as well done, and the discrepancies made it less enjoyable than it could have been.Animation good. Everything else not very good.