Powerful

Good movie but grossly overrated

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

This is one of the greatest anime shows since, "Cowboy Bebop" and "Wolf's Rain".The story is about a ninja named Afro and he seeks to kill his father's killer and claim the Number 1 headband.The animation is great, the action scene's were cool, the story is good, and the voice acting was great. Samuel L. Jackson does a cool job as Afro and Ninja Ninja, Ron Perlman does a nice and evil job as the villain, Justice, and Kelly Hu does a nice job as Afro's healer, Okiku.Overall, "Afro Samurai" is worth watching whether you're an anime fan or not.

Fist of let me say that the animation in this feature is superb. Unfortunately, due to the ridiculous dialog, I couldn't finish watching it. I love Samuel L. Jackson but something about feudal samurai yelling "punk ass bitch" and bars blasting RZA kills the atmosphere for me.I'm not opposed the mash up of genres, but I think that this one did not fulfill its potential. Perhaps its partially due to the fact that I not a big fan of the Blaxploitation genre.Additionally, the plot was rather weak. You killed my father, prepare to die etc. If you like movies like Shaft and you also like Japanese anime then maybe you can make it through the whole thing. However, I hear the ending sucks.I gave it a 5 for the visual quality of the film alone.

Seeking to avenge his father's death, the Afro Samurai sets out to kill the #1 fighter in all the land, a man called Justice. After earning himself the title of #2, which is required for him to be able to challenge Justice, Afro Samurai sets out on his journey to revenge. His road is a dangerous one as he must first find out the location of Justice from his foes – all of whom would seek to protect Justice and also win the title of #2 for themselves. His task is a lonely and dark one, but like it or not he has a companion in the constantly b1tching Ninja Ninja.Although it will not be to everyone's taste, Afro Samurai is a perfect example of something being pitched right at the target audience it is intended for. adult swim is the perfect home for it because it is very much targeted at young males who like their hip hop, Anime and traditions of feudal Japan. It mixes these in a great series of animations that some audiences will claim is very high on style at the expense of content. Now I appreciate that most reviews here are gushing in their praise of this series and not keen on anyone criticising it but, the thing is, those saying it lacks substance do have a point. Like I said before though, it is target audience stuff and for those into it, there will be plenty of content to support the style – those looking to be intellectually stimulated by the themes and ideals behind the characters will not get what they are looking for (but why were you looking here for those things). However for target audience the emotional core and the narrative twists will be more than enough to fill the running times of each episode and expand across the season.What the series delivers in spades though is the cool world of the samurai crossed with the violent and stylish world of Anime with a big dollop of urban culture thrown in there too. It is no surprise to find The Rza involved because again it brings it back to a product that knows what its audience. So those coming to it will be looking for certain things and it delivers it well visually. The Anime animation is slick and cool and moves with all the conventions you will be used to from the genre. The soundtrack compliments it really well because, as other things (eg Boondocks, Wu-Tang etc) have shown, the mix of ninja/samurai (yes, I know they are very different) cultures and modern hip hop seems to be an easy fit. Performance wise you gotta say that Jackson is perfect for the role and again shows that he )or his agent) can pick the roles that bring him heat from his base fans. He is really good in his dual roles and brings the dialogue alive. Of course he is well supported by a famous cast – even if they are not all given roles that are that big. Perlman has a great voice and uses it well, but while I think Hu is again a good example of targeting your audience's tastes, her voice is not her strongest feature. Generally though all voice work is good because they are matching the style of the series rather than giving performances per se.Overall then, not for everyone's tastes but in targeting its audience it is as ruthlessly efficient as Afro Samurai himself. Stylish, bloody, brooding and with an overall air of effortless cool, it is a fine series that I enjoyed. Put it this way, if you like the sound of it then you will almost certainly like it – it is that good at what it does.

looking at the cover and synopsis of this, i thought I'd be in for a treat. i was greatly disappointed however. watching this made me realize just how much advanced Samurai Jack is, in every aspect. this has its fair share of blood and gore, but the silent macho persona of the main character is becoming a very tired medium to watch, the voice overs are so poor to the extent that i preferred to switch the sound off to mute, and the animation, even though it looked dark and pretty in some cases, for the most part it looked like a dated '80's cartoon. and if i wanted to watch a relatively average '80's style animated series, i have a good fair share to pick from. i really wanted to like this. i was excited even that i found something like this from a local rental store. but now I'm eager to take it back..kids will probably dig it though, no doubt. i don't think i was this critical with my cartoons back in the day.