Afro Samurai

It's not true that everybody in the world wants to be white. There's this saying that Asians want to be Black. But apparently, Blacks also want to be Asians. Yeah, they love Bruce Lee, Voltron, and geishas. And then we get a TV show like this.

1. "Number Two"

"Yeah, I know. My headband is quite long."

Anime. With a black guy. Lots of blood. And gore. And music by The RZA. That's right. The Wu-Tang RZA. Who again displays his love for everything Eastern by doing the music for a cartoon about a black samurai. Obviously a dream come true for him.


2. "Okiku"

Black-on-Asian sex for the win.

Aside from violence, this series also has nudity. And sex. Too bad that chick turned out to be a spy. So she has to die a gruesome death.


3. "The Empty Seven Clan"

"Look, it's like the Matrix!"

This is where Samuel L. Jackson's voice starts to get pretty annoying. And it's not natural to have wise old Asian masters talking like homeless black guys from Detroit. It is also unnatural to have Terminator-like robots in samurai-filled Japan, but because the fight scenes are so damn cool, we'll let that pass.


4. "Kuma"

Nothing like murder by moonlight.

One of the most beautiful sword fights in this series, with emphasis on two-handed sword fighting. More flashbacks too, for added family drama. But wait... why does the teddy bear-samurai breathe like Darth Vader?


5. "Justice"

Pictured: Not Orco from He-Man.

Finally, Afro faces off with the number one headband. But first, he has to fight some sort of cyborg, out to avenge the death of Giant Teddy Bear. And this cyborg is controlled by another cyborg. And then Number One looks like some kind of creepy alien, with an extra arm growing out of his back. And I think that's Ron Perlman doing the voice of Number One.


Now in the last episode, there were some hints that this─meaning everything in life─is a vicious cycle. Yeah, Afro now has the number one headband. But it will only be a short time before someone thinks of the bright idea to take that headband from him. Unless he can figure out a way to let the headband die with him.


*some info from IMDb
pics from VLC


Afro Samurai. USA/Japan. 2007.


Rating: Seven and a half out of ten.