Afro Samurai

Afro Samurai
アフロサムライ (Afuro Samurai)
Genre	Samurai, Action
Manga
Written by	Takashi Okazaki
Published by	self
English publisher	Seven Seas Entertainment
Magazine	NOU NOU HAU
Demographic	Seinen
Original run	1999 – present
Volumes	2
Anime
Directed by	Fuminori Kizaki Jamie Simone (USA version)
Studio	Gonzo
Released	4 January 2007 – 1 February 2007
Anime
Afro Samurai: Resurrection
Directed by	Fuminori Kizaki Jamie Simone (USA version)
Studio	Gonzo
Released	January 25, 2009 (Spike TV) February 3, 2009

Afro Samurai (アフロサムライ, Afuro Samurai) is a Japanese dōjinshi manga series created by Takashi Okazaki, originally featured in the NOU NOU HAU dōjin magazine. It was adapted into a 5-episode anime miniseries directed by Fuminori Kizaki and produced by Gonzo, a Japanese animation studio. The first episode was shown online on January 1, 2007 and premièred on Spike TV on January 4, 2007 at 11:00pm EST. The anime series has since gone on to air in the UK, where it premiered on Adult Swim on May 4,2007, and Japan, where it was broadcast on Fuji Television. It also premiered on MTV in Australia in August 2007. The anime series features noted American actor Samuel L. Jackson as the voice of the titular character and his sidekick, as well as one of the co-producers, and also features Ron Perlman and Kelly Hu as character voices. Wu-Tang Clan member RZA produced the original hip hop musical score, which was released on compact disc by Koch Records on January 30, 2007 in both uncut and edited versions. The series was also licensed for North American distribution by Funimation, who released two versions: a SpikeTV version and an unrated director's cut on DVD and Blu-ray Disc. Both DVD versions were released on May 22, 2007 with the Blu-ray Disc version being released on August 26 of the following year. In the United Kingdom, a Bravo Numbered Limited Edition, equivalent to the US Spike TV edition and featuring the same red themed artwork was released on 2 July 2007. A Directors’ Cut Edition Box Set, featuring new artwork, was released later on 12 October 2007. A second Bravo edition featuring artwork similar to the UK Director’s Cut was released on 21 March 2008. A Blu-ray disc version has been released in North America. In August 2005, Japan-based game developers Namco announced they would be releasing Afro Samurai related video games.

The cost of each episode is estimated at one million dollars, which is a record for the Gonzo studio.

Plot summary

The TV anime series is set in a "futuristic, yet feudal Japan," and stars a samurai named Afro, because of his hair. The story follows Afro as he tries to avenge his father's murder. In the world of Afro Samurai, it is said that the one who becomes "Number One" will rule the world, wielding powers akin to a god. Someone becomes Number One by killing the previous Number One and taking his ceremonial headband. However, the only rule in this world is that only the "Number Two" (also designated by a sacred headband) is allowed to challenge the "Number One." The downside of this is that anyone (and typically everyone) can challenge and try to kill the Number Two, to gain the right to move forward and challenge Number One. Afro Samurai's father was the old Number One, until he was challenged by a gunman named "Justice" (who was then Number Two), who fought him in a duel to become the new Number One. At the time Justice challenged his father, Afro had only been a child. Justice severed his father's head right in front of the young Afro. Now an adult, Afro Samurai is the current Number Two and a master swordsman; he travels the road seeking revenge on Justice, the current Number One. Lengthy flashbacks interspersed throughout the story detail how Afro rose from frightened boy fleeing the death of his father, to master swordsman, and eventually to become the current "Number Two", while the story in the present deals with the adult Afro making his way to the mountain top keep of the "Number One" to duel Justice, while at the same time the mysterious cult known as the "Empty Seven Clan" sends various agents to kill Afro and take his Number Two headband.

Character histories

Main characters

Afro Samurai

Adult Afro Voiced by: Samuel L. Jackson
Adolescent Afro Voiced by: Phil LaMarr
Child Afro Voiced by: Crystal Scales

Afro is a black, afro-headed samurai and the main character of the series. In the story, when Afro was just a child, he watched his father die at the hands of Justice for the number one headband and from that day on, Afro swore vengeance on the man with Rokutaro's sword. Sometime after the death of his father, Afro was found by a Sword Master who taught him the art of kenjutsu and hand-to-hand combat, becoming a master swordsman. The Sword Master revealed himself to be the carrier of the number two headband that Afro had been searching for many years. Afro killed his mentor to gain the Number Two headband, giving him clearance to hunt down Justice, while turning his back on everyone he knew to continue his path of revenge. It should be noted that Afro's confronation with Jinno made him become more open and vocal with his thoughts and emotions.

Though he killed Justice, Afro went into hiding to find some peace of mind when he is ambushed by Jinno who drags him to Sio who unearths Rokutaro's remains and takes the Number One headband to force Afro to once more don the Number Two headband and walk the path of demons to stop her from enacting her revenge on him. Forced to kill Shichigoro to regain the headband, Afro makes his way to Cherry Hill while he enter the battle for his life against Sio's vassals before going up against Rokutaro and eventually having the mental strength to kill him. Soon after, Afro gives the Number Two Headband to Kitaro should he still want to avenge Shichigoro when he is ready to.

Ninja Ninja

Voiced by: Richard Aguirre
Perhaps the most mysterious character within the story, Ninja Ninja is Afro's companion, or as he calls his "road dog", throughout the majority of both season one and through the events of Afro Samurai Resurrection. Obnoxious, horny, loud, foul-mouthed, and cowardly, Ninja Ninja represents Afro's antithesis. Ninja Ninja normally goes into drawn out rants or complains to Afro until either they encounter an obstacle, Afro simply walks off, or, and usually when Ninja Ninja has reached a height of irritation, Afro will simply say "shut up." Ninja Ninja usually slouches when he walks and at many times can be found climbing up trees or onto the tops of buildings. It is revealed in the special features of the first season DVD that the characteristic traits of his constant commentary of Afro's journey as well as his inclination to be found in high places were inspired by the Cheshire Cat. During episode five, Ninja Ninja sacrifices himself to save Afro from Kuma's strike; the sacrifice and Ninja Ninja's death monologue propel Afro to finish his fight with Kuma and continue on to face Justice.

It's revealed in the fifth episode of the first season that Ninja Ninja is in fact imaginary, which would explain why most characters never address him and his seemingly invulnerability to any attack. Justice acknowledges this when Afro finally reaches him by congratulating him on finally "shedding his imaginary friend." This realization brings up the idea that Ninja Ninja is Afro's outlet for his restricted conscious, emoting how Afro truly feels about a situation. However, at the same time, it appears that he also has some presence in the 'real world' as well. Evidence to suggest that Ninja Ninja has at least a partial existence in the first season includes him being seen through Brother 2's point of view from his binoculars, moving a hanging pillar in Okiku's home, eating food intended for Afro (Director's Cut), placing Okiku's comb in Afro's hair, and throwing the Afro Droid's computer chip at Afro to cut in half.

During the events of Afro Samurai Resurrection, Ninja Ninja finds his way back into the 'real world' and reunites with Afro. During the events of Afro Samurai Resurrection, the assasin Bin is the first person to actually interact with Ninja Ninja besides Afro. Bin fires a dart which hits Ninja Ninja prompting him to worry about whether or not the dart will cause him to 'die again'. At the end of the movie, Ninja Ninja agrees with Afro's intention of maintaining the death cycle caused by the headbands.

Rokutaro (Afro's Father)

Voiced by: Greg Eagles

Afro's father, Rokutaro, was the Number One at the beginning of the series, who lost his title and life to Justice when Justice decapitated him. How he attained the Number One headband, what he did during his time as Number One, and how long he'd had it prior to Justice killing him remains unclear. According to Justice, it was his intention to end the headband wars by hiding the Number One headband, but people kept fighting and killing each other to possess the other headbands. So Justice saw the only way to stop the fighting forever and to obtain ultimate power was to have all the headbands, but realized this only after killing Afro's Dad for the Number One and discarding the Number Two. Unlike Afro, who wears it simply as a headband, Afro's dad uses The Number One Headband as a hairband to tie back his afro in a large ponytail. In Afro Samurai Resurrection, Afro's Dad's skeleton is uncovered by a female warrior named Sio who intends to resurrect him to get revenge on Afro by having his father kill him. Afro's father is seen regenerating in a tube from a jawbone of his original skeleton by the technological expertise of Dharman. In the final stage of restoration, Sio interrupted it, leaving the mental recreation incomplete, thus he became a stronger, much more brutish version of his original self with ripped muscles and blood red eyes and a savage bloodlust. Sio then uses him to kill Afro and as a result of her final revenge, he succeeds and kills Afro. But this backfires when Jinno attacks him but ends up dying as well, and this triggers Sio to try to save her brother but dies by getting impaled by him. In the end, Afro himself gets resurrected by a jolt of electricity from Jinno's damaged curcuits and realizes something important about his father when they communicated spiritually in Afro's dreams with Afro's father saying: The number one kills or is killed, you don't have the luxury to choose whose blood you spill, take back your headband, fear not my son. Afro realizes that his real father died a long time ago and although his father's clone has his original voice, looks, and skills, he lacks his soul. Afro gives his father peace by killing his monstrous clone.

Otsuru/"Okiku"

Okiku Voiced by: Kelly Hu
Otsuru Voiced by: Tara Strong

A young woman who specializes in the art of healing, Otsuru is an excellent cook and adores fireworks. She is the one who discovered Afro in the shrine after he lost the Number Two headband as a boy, and took him to Sword Master's dojo where he befriended Jinno. When she is introduced as "Okiku," she has once again found Afro in a near-death state (having been blown off a cliff by an RPG fired by Brother 6 and badly poisoned by an arrow in a fight with Soshun); she bandages him and takes him to her home to heal. She and Jinno survived the attack that was meant to claim the Number Two headband from Sword Master, and they were both saved by the Empty Seven Clan. Apparently, some time after the events at Sword Master's dojo, she became an agent working for Brother 1 of the Empty Seven Clan. She possesses the unique ability to siphon memories from people as they dream and did this to copy down Afro's sword style to be used to complete the Afro Droid. She was also supposed to kill him should the opportunity ever present itself, but she finds herself unable to after having sex with him. She remarks that she still thinks of him as the same innocent boy she knew so long ago, revealing to him that she is actually Otsuru. Brother 2 of the Empty Seven then kills her for failing to carry out her mission and betraying the Empty Seven. Otsuru apparently had a strong emotional effect on Afro as seen when in Episode five Afro calls out her name twice in his grief over the friends that he has lost.

Sword Master

Voiced by: Terrence C. Carson
A one-eyed samurai who housed orphans and trained them to become warriors. When a young Afro first approaches him about the headbands, he receives a beating and is told by Sword Master that wearing the headbands leads to a life of murder, saying "We are born men in order to live, not to kill". Afro asks about the headbands again at dojo graduation, after hearing a rumor about Sword Master holding the Number Two Headband. The two meet alone underneath the Bodhi Tree outside the dojo, where Sword Master tells Afro he meant to take the secret to his grave. He then tells Afro to make a decision: forget avenging his father's death and live a normal life, or walk the path of the Number Two. When a large group of thugs in search of the Number Two headband attacks the dojo, Sword Master fights them to show Afro just what it means to be Number Two. After the battle is over, with all the thugs and most of the students dead, he faces Afro telling him that he's chosen his path. After Afro charges at Sword Master in order to kill him to claim the Number Two Headband, Sword Master closes his eyes (eye) and is killed by Afro who takes the Number Two Headband.

The official site reveals that Sword Master was in fact a friend to Afro's father Rokutaro, which helps explain the basis for his advice and world view.

Sasuke

Voiced by: Jason Marsden
A teenage student of Sword Master, and a friend to both Afro and Jinno. He wears a pair of glasses which are held to the face by string, similar to those worn in feudal Japan and late dynastic China. Though he graduated from swordsman school at the same time as Afro and Jinno, his skills are apparently inferior to theirs (though he is seen killing two people in his final battle). He appears to be very eccentric as shown by his playful manner with his friends as well as telling his friends that he hopes to eat chicken cutlet for his final meal, much to their disbelief. During a flashback in the fourth episode, he is killed in the Midnight Battle Under The Bodhi Tree after being impaled from behind by one of the assassins targeting Sword Master.

The Empty Seven

Brothers 1 & 5 Voiced by: Phil LaMarr
Brother 2 Voiced by: John DiMaggio
Brother 3 Voiced by: Jeff Bennett
Brother 4 Voiced by: Terrence C. Carson
Brother 6 Voiced by: Greg Eagles
The Empty Seven (無無坊主) are seven monks who believe that attaining both ancient headbands will lead to immortality and godhood. They employ robots and mercenaries to do their dirty work, since the monks themselves have greatly inferior fighting skills when compared to Afro and Justice due to their age. Brothers 1 through 5 look like identical wizened old men with long beards, dressed in robes with some other accessories:

• Brother 1 was the apparent leader of the Clan (although such an authority was never outright stated). His personality and mannerisms were a mixture of an Evangelical preacher and a street pimp. He was almost always seen with an almost nude beautiful woman at his side. As with most of the Clan, he was a wizened old man with a long beard, and has a prosthetic gold left arm (which can be switched out for a machine gun). In an attempt to ambush Afro from atop the elevator leading to Kuma following the Afro Droid's destruction, Brother 1 ended up being paralyzed and held in a stretcher by Brother 3. Brother One's woman is seen in season 2 working as a stripper.

• Brother 2 was the eyes of the Clan, often seen scoping out Afro from a distance with a pair of high-tech binoculars. Usually Brother 6 was shown assisting him. All of his observations of Afro during his reconnaissance were reported to Brother 1 via cell phone. In combat, he was shown to use an extending Buddhist staff or kunai. When Okiku turns against the clan for Afro’s sake, it was Brother 2 who stabbed and killed her. Later, when he was lying in wait to kill Afro, Afro surprises him from behind by swiftly poking his eyes out and shoving his binoculars deep into the wounds. Likely the brutal manner of his execution was out of revenge for Okiku.

• Brother 3 was unusual among the group as the most laid-back of the brothers. While the other Brothers would plot Afro’s death, Brother 3 was usually content to face away off in the corner, listening to his circumaural headphones, and bobbing to the music. During the few times he actually spoke, he was shown to have a Southern US accent. He seemed to have a much more pacifistic approach than his comrades regarding decisions. When deliberating on which assassin to choose to kill Afro, rather than settle things through violence Brother 3 suggested looking at their individual credentials. Later, when Afro invaded the Empty Seven’s temple, he was waiting by the door with tea and rice crackers prepared while calmly chanting, Hachimaki o kudasai, (Japanese for "headband please.") simply asking for the Number Two Headband, rather than attempting combat for it. Afro didn't take the rice and tea offered to him, but Ninja Ninja did. Because of this, Brother 3 survived while the other monks were killed and injured. Brother 3 returns in the second season, offering to tell Afro the whereabouts of the Number Two Headband if he could beat him in a game of chance. But when he is exposed as a cheater, Brother 3 is forced to tell what he knew to save his life.

• Brother 4 was a gruff deep-voiced monk in a green robe who usually carried a Buddhist staff and wore and a wide metal hat. He was usually seen side-by-side with the arrogant, and sadistic Brother 5 who wore a plain white robe, regularly smoked a long pipe, and spoke with a high squeaky voice. In combat, Brother 4's weapon of choice was a sansetsukon while Brother 5 fought with a jian. When determining which assassin would face Afro, Brother 4 insisted that Ivanov the Russian was the obvious choice, which led to an argument with Brother 5, who held opposing views and felt Foo from China was more capable. Brother 1 settled the issue by suggesting a battle royale, an idea which greatly appealed to both 4 & 5. Later, after Brother 6’s defeat at Afro’s hands, Brothers 4 & 5 launched out from where they were concealed in Brother 6’s backpack and attempted to gang up on Afro from both sides. This tactic failed miserably, and both monks were easily dispatched.

• Brother 6 was a massive, muscled individual with cold inhuman eyes in monk regalia who wore a wide metal hat. He was the only Brother who didn’t resemble an old monk with a long beard. As mentioned in the manga, his true name is Rokutaro and he is the youngest of the Empty 7. Violent and impulsive, Brother 6 never hesitated to use excessive force in his actions. In combat, he wielded a long Buddhist staff and a backpack holding a variety of weapons, including a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and a flame thrower. Brother 6 was the man who rescued Jinnosuke and Otsuru from the brink of death, but regarding Jinnosuke felt it would have been more merciful to just let him die. He was the one to burn down Otsuru’s home, and blew up the bridge after Afro’s initial confrontation with Afro Droid (much to Brother 1’s displeasure). When that tactic failed, Brother 6 fought Afro one-on-one. He proved a difficult opponent and when defeated held Afro’s sword within his body, disarming the samurai so that Brothers 4 & 5 could finish him.

• Brother 7 has never made any appearance within the series, and remains a mystery. Some question weather or not there is a brother 7. The manga states that the Clan of the Empty Seven was 5 identical brothers, and that Brother 6 was only recently promoted. The scientist, Dharman, was assumed by many fans to be the Brother in question, but the official site states that this is in fact not the case.
  

As of Afro Samurai: RESURRECTION, Brother 1&3 are the only brothers remaining, with the exception of the yet-to-be seen brother 7.

Dharman

Voiced by: Phil LaMarr (normal version), S. Scott Bullock (Director's Cut version)
Dharman is an insane cyborg scientist employed by the Empty Seven Clan to build their machine-ninja army and the Afro Droid. He also helped rebuild and heal Jinnosuke whom he considers his masterpiece, referring to him as his "Teddy Bear". His name comes from the fact that he closely resembles a Japanese Dharma doll. When Jinnosuke was defeated by Afro, it is likely that Dharman was the one who repaired and rebuilt him. He was assumed by many fans to be Brother #7, as indicated when Brother #1 refers to him as "brother," but the official site states that this is in fact not the case. He also does not like to think of himself as part of the group, referring to them in the third person in the second-to-last chapter. Dharman is seen in season 2 working for Sio in her vicious plan to get revenge on Afro. Using advanced bio-technology, he is able to create a clone of Rokutaro from a jawbone that Sio had stolen from the warrior's grave. He also was responsible for turning Sio's foster family members Bin, Michael and Tomoe into cybernetic warriors. Dharman is aroused by Sio's seductive beauty and sadistic nature as she toys with him. When the resurrection process is complete and Rokutaro lives again, Dharman is killed by Sio, who stabs him with her sword for letting her henchmen fight Afro without her permission.

Afro Droid

A semi-sentient robot copy of Afro created by the Empty Seven Clan (specifically their personal scientist, Dharman). It was created from combat data siphoned from Afro's mind by Okiku, and is able to reproduce all of his learned techniques and abilities. It is physically superior to Afro, and its external appearance is identical. The Afro Droid is also equipped with guns, lasers, and explosives. Afro eventually defeats Afro Droid in the third episode after the droid is impaled on its own sword following a sky-high, mid-air duel between the two, after which Afro destroys his memory chip and copied skills, thus stopping any more Afro Droids from being made.

The Afro Droid also has an ultimate weapon which carries sexual undertones. The very phallic shaped weapon is used against Afro during their fight and when fired the Afro Droid declares "That felt good" implying a form of ejaculation as the weapon reverts to a position that resembles a flaccid penis.

Jinnosuke/"Kuma"

Voiced by: Yuri Lowenthal
A swordsman who wears a cybernetic teddy bear mask, the same design as Otsuru's teddy bear from their time as children in their dojo, earning him the nickname "Kuma," which means "Bear" in Japanese. He wears black keikogi and hakama, and his geta sandals have toe straps made of metal instead of cloth. Jinnosuke possesses great skill in wielding twin blades and is an old friend of Afro from his days at the dojo. Back then Jinno thought of Afro as a brother, but when Afro killed their master for the Number Two headband, Jinno vowed vengeance against him. His remaining eye constantly weeps, and under his robotic eye there appears to be a scar in the same position, due to the injuries (physical and greatly emotional) he suffered at the Midnight Battle Under the Bodhi Tree; he tells Afro that his tears have never stopped falling since that day. Jinno was rebuilt with cybernetic body modifications by the Empty Seven to "create a samurai of extreme power." Afro defeats him by destroying his life-support system, but it seems Kuma was again able to cheat death. He returns to challenge Afro years after the death of Justice, this time his body completely modified, appearing more android than human and virtually mummified in the other headbands from Justice's lair. At their second meeting, Jinno has also regained his teddy bear mask with the Number Two headband over the missing right eye; a mirror image of when Afro was recovering in the Sword Master's Dojo as a boy with his bandages mirroring Jinno's current bandages while smoking a cigarette. Jinno appears in season 2 with a motorcycle and working with Sio on her revenge plan. It is revealed that Sio is actually his blood sister who lived with foster parents when she was a child. Jinno was rebuilt several times due to the defeats from Afro, meaning that Jinno lost the fight at the end of season one. Because of the damages to his body, he is mute most of the time. Near the end of Resurrection, when Afro is near death, Jinno remembers his bonds of brotherhood with Afro and attempts to stop Rokutaro from killing Afro. However, he is killed along with Sio, and both die in each other's arms. Somehow, the electricity from Jinno's robotic body resuscitates Afro allowing him to continue the fight with Rokutaro's clone, eventually winning. With Dharman dead as well, Jinno will most likely remain dead; however, by coming to terms with his hatred for Afro and reuniting with his sister, Jinno may have been able to find peace at last from his suffering.

Justice

Voiced by: Ron Perlman
The holder of the Number One headband for most of season one, Justice is the man who killed Afro's father before his eyes many years ago. He is a remarkably skilled gunman, dressing in a cowboy garb with the Number One headband tied around his wide-brimmed hat. He has discolored, diseased-looking skin, which his bio on the official site implies is the result of a past accident (undecided, but assumed by the publishers to have been submerged in toxic waste) which would explain his abnormal abilities. Justice has the ability to regenerate himself after being exposed to blood, as seen just before his final fight with Afro when the injured hero's blood flows to Justice's feet and his withered body begins to reshape into the young version that fought Afro's father. He also has a third arm hidden on his back that holds a sword for catching opponents off guard (in an earlier version of the official website, Justice was described as "The Gunman with Three Arms"). His origins are unknown, but he claims that destiny designed him to attain all the headbands and thus gain enough power to rule the world as a god and bring an end to all the violence and killing via force. Justice was able to survive being nearly decapitated (an ironic reversal of the scene with Afro's father), and seemed able to control the Number One's throne room to some extent, but Afro manages to defeat him by slicing his body into many smaller pieces.

In season two, Ninja Ninja points out that there is a broken statue of Justice in one of the buildings of the ruined city, but Afro does not pay attention to it.

He returns near the very end of Afro Samurai Resurrection in a non-speaking role, fully healed and meeting a mysterious masked man during a solar eclipse. This small cameo has led many to believe Justice will be utilized again in future plot.

During interviews in the DVD release, it is stated that Justice and Afro's father were in fact part of the same clan of swordsmen and indeed best friends; however, their differing views on the headbands and how to end the violence plaguing the world eventually drove them apart, leading to the final confrontation between the two in a semi-same way with Afro and Jinnosuke.

Minor characters

• Fu (voiced by Jeff Bennett) - A trickster assassin from the Hunan Province of China, hired by the Empty Seven clan. He is considered to be one of the world's most capable assassins, and describes himself as "first among men and machines". Brother 5 believes that Fu could have defeated Afro, but Brother 4 disagrees about this, stating that Ivanoff would have been more suitable. He is killed along with every other assassin that charged toward the Afro Droid (his appearance was in the Director's Cut DVD).
• Hachiro (voiced by Jeff Bennett) - In Afro's flashback, he and his brothers were the ones who attacked young Afro some time after Justice killed Rokutaro. After young Afro attacked his brother Yashichi, Hachiro later attacked him. With some help from Jinno, Afro managed to kill Hachiro.
• Ivanov (voiced by John DiMaggio) - A Russian assassin hired by the Empty Seven clan. He is considered one of the world's best assassins, and describes himself as "second to no man". Brother 4 believes that Ivanov could have defeated Afro, but Brother 5 disagrees about this. He is killed along with every other assassin that charged towards the Afro Droid (his appearance was in the Director's Cut DVD).
• Kihachi -
• Kuro -
• Jiro -
• Juzo -
• Matasaburo (voiced by Dave Wittenberg) - He is one of the students of the Sword Master. He is killed in the Midnight Battle Under the Bodhi Tree.
• Oyuki (voiced by Grey DeLisle) - Oyuki was the bartender at the bar that Afro stops at. She is also where Soshun got the headband history from.
• Ronin (voiced by Dwight Schultz) -
• Shuzo -
• Soshun (voiced by John Kassir) - A man who comes from the Land of the Weapon Masters of the West. He wielded a crossbow with a grenade launcher. He first saw Afro in a bar and learned the history of the headbands from its bartender. He encountered Afro on the mountain when Ninja Ninja detected him. In his battle against Afro, Soshun was killed by Afro, but one of his poisoned arrows had grazed Afro and resulting in his temporary handicap against his first encounter with Brother 6.
• Yashichi (voiced by James Arnold Taylor) - He is the brother of Hachiro and was with him in their first attack upon young Afro. Some time later, young Afro managed to interrogate him for the info on who has the Number Two Headband before killing him.

Episodes

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#	Title	Original air date

Reception

The anime of Afro Samurai was named the 90th best animated series by IGN. They praised it for its top-tier voice acting, specifying Samuel L. Jackson, Ron Perlman, and Kelly Hu, as well as its soundtrack.

Music

Main article: The RZA Presents: Afro Samurai OST

The hip hop soundtrack is produced by the RZA (Wu-Tang Clan) and features other artists as well, such as Big Daddy Kane, Talib Kweli, Q-Tip, and GZA. The soundtrack was released on CD on January 30,2007

The soundtrack to season 2, called The RZA Presents Afro Samurai: Resurrection, will be available physically and digitally on January 27th, 2009 through RZA's label Wu Music Group and features Rah Digga, Kool G. Rap and members & Affiliates of the Wu-Tang Clan.

Sequel

A new movie (referred to as "Afro Samurai: Resurrection") was aired on Spike TV on January 25, 2009 at 10PM. The DVD will be released some time in February . Takashi Okazaki said in the new season Afro "loses his way, gets tired of all the killing" and he "wakes up to his destiny, which is to be the world's number one warrior." Afro battles with an alluring female warrior named Sio (voiced by Lucy Liu) who is the sister of Jinnosuke/Kuma and has uncovered Rokutaro's skeleton and plans on resurrecting him to kill Afro. Mark Hamill voiced Sio's manservant/protector Bin while Yuri Lowenthal reprised his role as Kuma. A trailer can be seen on the Afro Samurai website and a sneak peek is available at Spike.com. Justice's appearance at the end of Resurrection suggests the possibility of a third installment, but no official statement has been made as of yet.

Video game adaptation

Main article: Afro Samurai (video game)

Afro Samurai is an upcoming video game for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It was the cover story for the February 2008 issue of play magazine.

External links

• Official Website
• Offical Website (Japanese)
• Afro Samurai ({{{type}}}) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Afro Samurai at IMDb
• Afro Samurai, Vol. 1 (manga) preview (published by TOR/Seven Seas)