Kelly Hu Movie:

Description of Afro Samurai: Season One - Director's Cut [Blu-ray]:
The violent five-part adventure Afro Samurai marks both the increasing confluence of American and Japanese pop culture and the shift in Japanese depictions of African-Americans. The popularity of hip-hop in Japan has led to more positive images of blacks, including Takashi Okazaki's original manga. The "Director's Cut" contains an additional 15 minutes of footage, and is even gorier than the broadcast version on Spike TV. As a boy, Afro Samurai saw his father beheaded by the maniacal Justice. The murderer sought an ancient headband that marks the wearer as the #1 warrior in the world. As an adult, Afro seeks only revenge, cutting down anyone who blocks his path to Justice. Afro Samurai depicts a oddly anachronistic world that infuses cell phones, cigarette lighters, and cyber technology into traditional Japanese culture. The elongated character designs recall Peter Chung's Aeon Flux, and much of the series is rendered in moody grays, accented by gobbets of scarlet blood. Afro is such a taciturn figure, most of the dialogue goes to his motor-mouth comrade Ninja Ninja. This big budget production features an eclectic score by Wu-Tang Clan co-founder RZA and an A-list vocal cast that includes Samuel L. Jackson and Ron Perlman. But for all its elaborate production values and over-the-top fights, Afro Samurai suffers from a weakness at its core: Afro is so monosyllabic and cold-blooded, he's not very interesting. His inevitable duel-to-the-death with Justice lacks the emotional punch of Spike's face-off against Vicious in Cowboy Bebop or Kenshin's one-on-one with Shishio in Rurouni Kenshin. This extremely violent series is not for the faint of stomach. (Rated TV MA, suitable for ages 17 and older: graphic violence, profanity, sexual activity, grotesque imagery, nudity, risqué humor, alcohol and tobacco use) --Charles Solomon

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Afro Samurai: Season One - Director's Cut [Blu-ray] Reviews:
Beautiful artistic visuals and animation by GONZO. An action/visual-driven short-anime series.
2009-12-09 - The popular anime and manga series is created by mangaka Takashi "Bob" Okazaki and produced by world renown Japanese animation company STUDIO GONZO ("Full Metal Panic", "Vandread", "Gantz", "Samurai 7 and many other anime) brought us the popular five-episode series (which aired in the US on SPIKE TV back in 2007 ) was released as a special Director's Cut featuring 15 minutes of never before seen footage.

The short animated TV series featured a collaboration with Samuel L. Jackson, creator Takashi Okazaki and anime production studio GONZO and took three years to develop and the series was followed by a movie titled "Afro Samurai: Resurrection" which takes place a year later after this series.

Because of it's impressive visuals, violent action scenes, unique characters (especially since the main character is a Black samurai) and its hip hop music courtesy of RZA (of Wu-Tang Clan fame), the anime attracted many fans in the US.

"Afro Samurai-Director's Cut" features a total of 5 episodes on one DVD and comes with another disc with special features. Here is a spoiler-less summary of each episode:

DISC 1:

* EPISODE 1 - Revenge - The series features Afro when he was young and watched as his father was killed during a battle. Now Afro, grown up and a feared samurai, is now wanting his revenge on the man who killed his father.
* EPISODE 2 - The Dream Reader - Afro is taken care of by a woman named Okiku and we see flashbacks of Afro's past as a child bent on revenge.
* EPISODE 3 - The Empty Seven Clan - A clan sends out a robot based on Afro to take on the Afro Samurai.
* EPISODE 4 - Duel - Afro comes face-to-face on someone sporting a bear mask (a face resembling a teddy bear that Afro's young female friend used to have) and a flashback from Afro's past.
* EPISODE 5 - Justice - The final battle between Afro and his childhood friend and the final confrontation between Afro and Justice.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

GONZO has done a remarkable job with this series. The animation and the painted backgrounds are well-done! Daytime scenes are colorful and vibrant and night-time scenes are dark and work well with this series. It's also important to note that "Afro Samurai - Director's Cut" has quite a bit of talent involved with the look of the film such as character designer and animation director, Hiroya Iijima ("Gantz", "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" and "Black Cat"). Also, art direction from Shigemi Ikeda ("Gantz", "Gasaraki", "Inuyasha", Infinite Ryvius, "Black Cat" and many of the "Mobile Suit Gundam" TV series and films).

The series is featured in 16×9 and for the most part, the picture quality really brings out the detail of the surroundings, including the rocky cliffs to the disembowelment of several characters. And color from the lush green painted backgrounds, blue skies and huge clouds, villages and buildings to the action sequences which showcases a lot of blood.

As for the audio, "Afro Samurai-Director's Cut" is featured in English 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound and English stereo. The series actually sounds quite awesome with the clanging of the swords and the metal healing, sounding quite awesome. Also, scenes with weapons being launched or fireworks being shot up to the sky, "Afro Samurai" has a solid 5.1 presentation. I actually prefer to listen to the series with my receiver set at stereo on all channels (especially for those that have a 7.2 or higher setup).

"Afro Samurai - Director's Cut" is featured only in English, there is no Japanese soundtrack. Voice acting is well done by actors Samuel L. Jackson, Ron Perlman and Yuri Lowenthal. Samuel L. Jackson definitely brings out the believability of both Afro and Ninja Ninja and gives the series that cool, funky vibe.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"Afro Samurai - Director's Cut" features the following special features:

* In the Booth - Voice Talent of Afro Samurai - (14:48) Interviews with voice talent Samuel L. Jackson, Ron Perlman, Kelly Hu, creator Takahashi Okazaki and co-producer Eric Calderon discussing how the series came about.
* RZA Music Production Tour - (4:54) RZA showing us how he created the music and crew talking about how RZA's music was important for the series. How hip hop is blended with Japanese animation.
* Character Profiles with Commentary by Co-Producer: Eric Calderon - (23:42) Gonzo's Eric Calderon talks about Afro Samurai, Okazaki's vision, the voice talent involved in the series and what is cool about the character and the series.

JUDGMENT CALL:

I know that I'm coming on to this series quite late but for the most part "Afro Samurai - Director's Cut" is a solid series. It's definitely a violent series full of blood and dismembered body parts but it's interesting to see how samurai anime-based series has come since the early 90's. The action is fast and fierce but for "Afro Samurai", the series is highly stylized. Even the blood flowing and how the colors are feature is quite artistic in presentation.

Of course, some people may have a hard time seeing characters that are non-Japanese who are samurai, especially a Black anti-hero with a huge afro. But Takashi "Bob" Okazaki, who was a big hip hop fan definitely was inspired by the music and wanting to do something different and sure enough, Afro Samurai was a unique creation. Okazaki has done a wonderful job with this series and for the most part, doing something unique and different. "Afro Samurai" may feature five episodes but in the overall plan, Okazaki has mentioned, that the series is just a very small part of what he has planned for Afro Samurai and for the most part, one can only hope that the series receives a larger storyline than just five episodes.

The "Afro Samurai" series has star power with Samuel L. Jackson, Ron Perlman and Kelly Hu contributing their voices to the series. You have RZA bringing the hip hop to Japanese animation, so for the most part, it's a unique blend of East meets West in bringing two cultures together. I felt that was pretty awesome!

GONZO also has done a fantastic job on the animation and artistic backgrounds for this series. I felt the action and fighting choreography was well done! Again, everything is stylized. Even down to the packaging of this release. I have to say that "Afro Samurai-Director's Cut" also features a pretty awesome package design. Featuring a magnetic case and how the folds are, it's pretty cool.

As for the TV MA rating, despite the series being shown on television, this is not a series to have children around watching. It's violent, bloody and features nudity and a sex scene. In fact, some might find the series a bit disturbing and too gory for their tastes.

Overall, if you are a fan of "Afro Samurai" that was shown on television, the director's cut features 15 extra minutes will definitely entertain you. I personally can't comment on where the extra footage is located but I would assume that the majority of those extra minutes are the extremely violent scenes.

As for my opinion on the series, for one, its short. The series obviously focuses more on the fighting and violence and the goal for people to become #2 in order to fight the #1 fighter. I felt that the nature of this series was keeping the Western audiences in mind but utilizing Japanese animation by GONZO. As far as storyline execution goes, "Afro Samurai" is nowhere near the deepness of other samurai anime like "Samurai Champloo", "Hakkenden", "Rurouni Kenshin" or "Samurai 7. But again, the series is short and Okazaki has not had the opportunity to have a full-length animated series.

But it's also a different style of anime that although it uses the concept of samurai and has some inclusion of Japanese culture, the series is very Western. Afro is stoic, while Ninja Ninja could be easily too vocal or mildly annoying but what I did like about the series is its style. Sure, it's bloody but somehow the way these fight scenes, no matter how violent they were, the execution was quite artistic in someway.

Also, the series is unique and how it tries to bring together samurai and hip hop music. And of course, having the main character being a Black protagonist. But "Afro Samurai" is a series that is literally action and style over substance. If Okazaki was given a chance to have a full-length anime series of 26 episodes, it would be interesting to see what he would be capable of plot-wise.

Overall, "Afro Samurai" was entertaining, violent, gruesome but visually stylized. It was something different and that's a good thing. Also, the fact that you can find "Afro Samurai - Director's Cut" online for a pretty cheap price, definitely makes this DVD release worth checking out.

A unique and enteraining work
2009-09-18 - I'm really not into the animated action flick. I just have never been interested in action that's in a cartoon, as since it's a cartoon, of course they can do amazing action, be it slicing a bullet with a sword or falling down a cavern only to land safely. Given its reputation as a action cartoon, I wasn't too excited to see Afro Samurai, but I did, and am glad I did. First, I loved the multiple homages to classic kung fu movies. The basic premise of the son avenging the father, the quite son who learns how to be a great kung fu master with his samurai, any fight after fight. Where it really surprising me was the blending of so many different styles. While the movie definitely is meant to be a old school samurai film, it clearly is very modern, and in some cases, futuristic. There are cell phones, robots, guns and rockets. Yet the towns and buildings are so old school they seems out of the 12th century. The best part is the blending was very natural, and didn't feel like they were trying to blend too many things, but just doing what was needed and interesting in the story.

Speaking of the story, it was surprisingly complex for such a basic premise. A story of son avenging his father is the basic story. However, the movie finds many ways of adding interesting side stories and depth to make the story feel more real, and far more interesting. I liked how it was done, and where it went. As the animation, like I said, its not really my thing, but I did enjoy the way it worked. The fighting wasn't particulalry interesting to me, but I did like how it was done. The abundance of blood, the way flashbacks were intermingled with fights, and the way the background seemed relevant to the story were all very good.

Needless to say, I was very impressed with Afro Samurai, and it is not something of which I am usually a fan. I suggest if you're looking for some entertainment and something different you should give this a try.

Just sick!
2009-09-16 - I'm not a fan of anima, I only really like Appleseed, (especially Exmachina) honstly anima kinda stupid to me, going all the way back to the orignal Speed Racer, its like everyones on METH! But I caught this on Spike once, then again, then agian and I was HOOKED! This guy is so f--king cool, Sam's doing his thing, the soundtrck is killer, bloods everywhere, ridiculous enemies, I mean whats not to like. So how could this get better, THE DIRCTORS CUT, Afro gets to tag some As-!

Samurai!!!!!!!!! With beats from the RZA!!!!!!!!!!!!
2009-07-06 - This movie is crazy; it sucks you in from beginning to end! We couldn't stop watching it!!!! Not only is the story-line intellectually stimulating, but the RZA produced music "makes the movie"!!!

A recycled samurai champloo
2009-06-25 - Right off the bat I was disappointed in this because when I buy a dvd collection that says "SEASON ONE" i expect a season, not 5 episodes! (thats false advertising!) I did not realize this until the last episode and it was by far one of the most over-rated animes ever.
Visually speaking this is great work. the characters appearance and their mannerisms were unique. I especialy liked samuel jackson's contribution as ninja ninja and I like that it opened animes to a crowd of people that may not like anime. This gets it the two stars I gae but thats all i can say good about it.
The plot was, for lack of a better word, bad. The story was rushed, every fight scene had a well animated more or two but the rest of the fight would be a "been there, done that" kind of fight. The only unique battle I can recall was the fight against afrobot, it was entertaining, but not that good. Afro was a totally uninteresting character who was not likeable, I actually thought Justice was the good guy by the end of the anime because Afro was so bland and cliche (a jimi hendrix lookin guy with an afro smoking a joint. . . wooow original) And why did they make such a big deal about the soundtrack? Not that monumental, definatley thought Rza would contribute more to a major anime soundtrack than those bootleg mixtape level beats.
All in all this was, as the title says, a recycled Samurai Champloo. This was another "been there, done that" moment for me becuase Samurai Champloo already conquered the Hip-Hop/Samurai Anime idea and did so in epic proportions. If you are a fan of anime then you will treat this like a mediocre painting, you'll look at it, say thats nice, and never want to look at it again.
P.S. I couldnt even sell it to FYE for 1/2 of wat i paid 4 it!