afro samurai
3/06/2008
i’ve been watching a really cool anime series called ‘afro samurai’. it’s produced by samuel l jackson and he voices the two main characters. the story is in feudal japan, but is futuristic with its fusion of samurai and technology. at one point afro, a samurai warrior, is attacked by a robotic guy with an rpg … afro’s side kick, the annoying ‘ninja ninja’ spots the cyborg and says “rpg? that motherfucker’s got an rpg?”.
the story is based around revenge, as all good samurai movies are. afro, the young boy, watches as his father (the #2) is slain by the #1. the #1 and #2 refer to special headbands worn by elite warriors. #1 is a godlike figure who has immense power. the only person who may challenge #1 is the wearer of the #2 headband. therefore, everyone wants the #2 headband. as a result, afro (who is now #2) is constantly attacked by people who pursue power and glory. afro is hellbent on destroying #1 to avenge his father … and being #2 is the only way he can do it.
the cartoons are really, really good and i’ve been watching them on the subway (big plug here for my cowon d2 pmp). there are 5 cartoons in the first series. a second series is supposed to be slated for release this year. each episode, apparently, costs a million dollars to make … and a live action version, starring samuel l jackson as ‘afro’ is also being considered.
*update: i just downloaded the soundtrack, which has some very cool hiphop by rza. and i forgot to mention that there are heaps of buddhist statues and motifs throught the show, which is pretty cool.
