Afro Samurai represents everything that is wrong with anime; for that matter everything that’s wrong with modern entertainment in general. That’s a bold claim, I know, but its not without merit. From the moment this series came to public knowledge everyone was talking about it, I even heard some kids discussing the sequel (more on that later) one the train. Everyone went ape-shit gaga over the anime, not that Samuel L. Jackson and RZA aren’t some huge drawing points. To be perfectly frank one of the only things I really liked was Afro’s sidekick Ninja Ninja. He’s basically a character that brings out everything one loves about Jackson. Raunchy, dirty, off-the-wall, and cool-as-fuck. Seriously, why couldn’t this guy be the main draw? How perfect that he’d be some jive-talking cat who everyone assumes is an idiot but turns out to be some amazing fighter. Nope, we get a fairly silent and stoic (maybe nilistic) “Afro Samurai”. Finding the main fault of this series is easy, because it comes down to length – which effected everything else. If you go through any of my anime reviews on here you’ll find I sometimes get annoyed with 26 episode series; and this one is FIVE FREAKING EPISODES LONG! Were this a simple movie it might’ve worked, but instead the creators tried to stuff a fairly important back story and journey of revenge into one. It didn’t work and the entire thing felt like a mess. Reading the above should give you a fairly good idea of why Afro Samurai isn’t a winner in my book, but for a detailed SPOILER LADEN breakdown, keep reading after the jump.As mentioned above the main factor in all this mess was time. Here’s why:
- Characters: Several interesting and complex characters were brought into the story. We don’t ever really know Afro’s father, so his death doesn’t honestly mean that much. Its only purpose is to introduce Justice and send Afro on his way. Afro is a horrible character because he’s so nihilistic that he lacks any sense of morals. This flaw is pegged entirely on the #2 headband; that its wearer is forever plunged into a world of murder, doomed to walk the earth alone and chased forever – unless they become #1. Ninja Ninja was okay because he was literally a conscious, but at the same time he felt like the classic Fool character in Shakespearean plays. We the audience are aware of him, and he speaks what we’re all thinking (or what Afro is); and yet every suggestion of his is overlooked. The Empty Seven group is barely given any chance to develop as some evil corporation. In fact they’re so built up as terribly powerful that their quick elimination is just offensive. I understand that Justice is the main adversary, but why not spend some time really showing Afro fight his way to #1. Why not show us that he himself is tired of this life – even if he desperately wants to seek revenge.
- Plot: The Revenge genre relies on a conflicted character, someone who witnesses an act of evil and vows to do everything in their power to overturn the person responsible. Nothing gets in their way. At the same time they need a moral base, and that’s an important part of the plot – even going a bit into character as well. Think about Clint Eastwood in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. He certainly kills enough people, and doesn’t hesitate to – but he realizes the war is fruitless and that people are dying without need. The man with no name doesn’t kill innocent bystanders either, preferring to accept his fights one-on-one. In other words the plot builds him up as a remarkable gunslinger (but not prefect), and then gives him a Mexican standoff in the end to finalize his conquest, and as an ultimate show of character. Here the pacing gives us a brief glimpse of a scared child who watches his father die, he trains a bit, lets some people die, and then heads towards #1 to kill him. Somewhere along the lines he catches the attention of said 7 Brothers – except that their involvement in the plot is mute if anything. Oh yeah they’re “power hungry”; which doesn’t mean anything really. Especially since its unclear what the #1 head band does. Is it a metaphorical symbol of godliness, or (as shown with Justice) does it grant inhuman abilities? That final battle brought up one of the worst things ever: there were multiple head bands. Once I saw them I realized the creators had missed a wonderful opportunity to have Afro proceed through several tasks, and to conquer several masters. Think about Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon. Not to mention that the final fight was a bit of a letdown. Basically there was this huge buildup and then things just stopped – that was it.
- Dialogue: Way too much talking, way too little exposition. Its not that some of the talking wasn’t good (Ninja Ninja), its that much of it didn’t tell us anything. Flashbacks tell us almost nothing, and a lot of the dialogue is empty talk. Its stuff said to pass the time. The Empty Seven never tell us that much, and their mad-scientist is so randomly introduced that its not even funny. Much of the dialogue sounds like a monologue, but they’re never informative.
What I’m saying is this: between the expansive plot, the possibly intriguing characters and the crunched pacing this anime was doomed from the beginning. It wouldn’t have been that hard to fix. I’d point towards Gurren Lagann as an example of how to better do an anime. Break the series up into several arcs that eventually fulfill the major story arc (”You’ll be the drill that pierces the heavens!”). Introduce characters, let some leave, but show character growth. Simon goes from nervous and insecure child to leader of an entire crew of rebels, then president, and back to leader role. In other words, his initial purposes for the journey are changed, but he never forgets them. By breaking things up we’re allowed character growth, and more challenges to Simon in order to test him – and for him to show his worth. That the characters grow and change over time is wonderful. Were Afro Samurai done like that it would’ve been so much better.
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