Alternative Titles
Japanese: アフロサムライ
Information
Type: TV
Episodes: 5
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Jan 4, 2007 to Feb 1, 2007
Duration: 27 min. per episode
Rating: R+ - Mild Nudity
My own review :
Introduction
I would say that this is one of the best productions of 2007 and you'll see if you read on and why: it comes with many original ideas. GONZO Studios productions have brought many interesting series over time, such as Bakuretsu Tenshi and Samurai 7, but unlike those series, Afro Samurai is actually a series of five OVA's. This series is a story about a samurai that contains all the ingredients for success: more violence and blood, sex sometimes, psychological drama of a good story and good music.
Story
In future Japan, despite the fact that cyborgs are on the agenda, several legends persist. One is the existence of two bandanas: one that says number I and one that says number II. Who will get the first of them will be a god in the world of samurais and nobody can touch him, besides the one that has the number II. The problem with having number II is that anyone in the world can challenge you in a duel to claim the bandana.
Afros father was number I but he dies in battle with Justice when Afro was just a kid, and from childhood, he cannot think of another thing other then revange. Years pass and Afro becomes the warrior that claimed the number II bandana, but the road to Justice is paved with obstacles, some of them fatal. Afro has to overcome not only the number of enemies who crave to get number II, but also his own past.
Characters
Afro
Afro had a tough childhood. After he saw his father beheaded by Justice, Afro cannot keep the number II bandana for too long but he is helped by other children to survive and eventually he got to master the sword. But many years have passed, and had enough time to recover possession of bandana, obviously killing anything that stood in his way. He's more than a legend and any news about the coming of the settlement always troubled spirits, making others try to kill him. But Afro always goes forward, to his goal: to find Justice.
The only thing that's left from Afro's childhood is the pleasure of drinking lemonade - which locals find it disgusting and a drink for children. And the only friend he has is Ninja Afro Ninja, who tails him and protects him, even if no Afro outlines no gesture of gratitude.
Ninja Ninja
It is the most charismatic and joker character in the series. He follows Afro everywhere and he talks with him all the time, even if Afro does not say anything. Ninja Ninja protects him, gives advice, laughs, and even if sometimes Afro threatens him to shut up, NN never gives up. It is puzzling how he always manages to appear and disappear in the strangest places, which earned him the name of Ninja Ninja, and the fact that he is old and alive means that he is very wise to even if he acts more like a clown.
Justice will unravel the mystery surrounding Ninja Ninja.
Justice
The Devil in flesh. It isn't even clear whether Justice is human or not. All we know is that Justice is on Mount Shumi where he awaits Afro. Justice is a legend so old that ordinary people do not even know who's number I. When Afro finally gets there he sees some nightmarish scenes with his opponent. Unlike Afro who's just a soul who's drowned in revenge and can not be reconciled in another way, Justice is more of a philosopher who wants to rule the world with his power, though in fact he exiled himself so much that he cannot rule more then a pile of bones of his predecesors or his enemys.
Name of Justice is in fact a warning about how he sees the world. His body is no more human, or maybe he wasn't ever human with his strange and deadly powers. And the fact that he fights with guns is another proof that he divides justice left and right:).
Graphics
In Afro Samurai, the most important is that the main character was always shown in a powerful position of strength that emanates around him, almost always with my eyes shut so it looks like he can anticipate and react in his favor. Afro is designed with an abundance of hair:) that resides in all directions depending on how he jums, how is the wind blowing etc. And the bandana is actually a 5 feet long ribbon. If you compare the style of drawing used on Afro and Ninja Ninja, you will see many similarities, from hair to NN's scarf which sits like Afro's bandana.
And of course, the scenes in which actors smoke are defining. You see so much smoke that you could cut it with the sword. Afro smokes relaxed, Ninja Ninja smokes the same way but it seems the smoke is an extension of his feelings, and Justice smokes out of arrogance. Besides the smoke, the only thing that is drawing more artistic than that are the clouds.
The action takes place in a mountainous region: almost everywhere we have areas with stones, carved into the mountain temples, bridges over canyons, but there are scenes with trees dry plains and open places where they occur more enemies at once. Temples are entered into disrepair with parts of statues that have fallen, or holes in the roof, but they can exist inside electrical platforms and other technological wonders in Japan tomorrow. What surprised me most was the Shumi mountain scene, which has shaped peaks in the form of hands raised to the sky.
Impressions
Afro's cool, but Ninja Ninja is more interesting. Each of Afro's adversarys have something unique to them- some fighting with swords, some with rocket launchers, automatic crossbows and many more. That's why the fights keep you so close in front of the screen and keep you focused on the main character: it is only human, while some of his opponents are even cyborgs power or speed. He gets hurt sometimes almost close to death, bullets pass through him, but Afro survives these obstacles and that's all that matters.
Overall, Afro Samurai will offer both halves of the glass: you can only enjoy the fight scenes, or you can choose and follow the story past the character and what he had to do to get bandana number II.
0 comentarii:
Post a Comment