I’m sure a lot of people were involved in making Afro Samurai but I cannot discuss this show without mentioning the Wu-Tang Clan. It was an iconic rap group that dominated the 1990s, a team of seven members who served different roles in making the Wu-Tang what it was. Inspectah Deck introduced a philosophical feel to each song with his introspective rhymes, Method Man was the most popular member of the group with his infectious charisma, Raekwon and Ghostface Killah brought their Mafioso ideas into the Wu, Ol’ Dirty B*stard injected his eccentric style of silliness into each song, GZA was among the greatest lyricists of them all, and RZA was the Wu-Tang’s leader/producer. These seven rappers (along with an army of Wu-Tang wannabes, including Killah Priest, Masta Killa, and Cappadonna) created many popular albums in the `90s, including three hip-hop classics (36 Chambers, Liquid Swords, and Only Built 4 Cuban Linx) before Ol’ Dirty died in 2004. After Ol’ Dirt McGirt passed away, the Wu-Tang weren’t the same, spewing out a few good but ultimately forgettable albums. They needed a spark, something that would help them bring great music back to hip-hop and keep them relevant, and that spark turned out to be… Afro Samurai.

This 5-episode anime was perfect for the Wu-Tang, combining rap and a love for martial arts into one, and this is why RZA, my favorite member of the bunch, created this show’s soundtrack. Afro Samurai is about a swordsman who witnessed his father’s murder as a young boy and his blood-filled journey to exact revenge on the gunman who killed his dad. Before I became a fan of the Wu-Tang, before I watched a lot of anime, I checked out Afro Samurai with my little brother a couple of years back on Netflix and saw everything except for the last episode. At the time, I thought it was an excellent anime that could be improved, rating it a 7 out of 10. A few weeks ago, I decided to re-watch Afro Samurai to see if I still hold the same opinion of this show that I had before.

Some theme songs are colorful and extravagant while others are complex and emotional. “Brief” is the first word I would use to describe the Afro Samurai opening, along with “disappointing” and “visually unappealing”. Now you’re probably saying “Okay, well the theme song sucks. Anything good about this show?” Like I said before, RZA created this anime’s soundtrack and, of course, it’s amazing, perfectly complementing each scene with a grimy, edgy mood (There’s this one song, Stone Mecca’s “A Walk”, on the soundtrack that’s definitely worth listening to). The acting in Afro Samurai is simply fantastic mainly because a handful of great American-based actors and actresses were brought to the fold; Ron Perlman, known for his work in Titan A.E., was the voice of Justice, Afro Samurai’s chief antagonist, while Kelly Hu, who appeared in X-Men 2, served as the voice of Okiku, the seductress/spy for an evil organization, and the famed Samuel L. Jackson starred as both Afro and Afro’s companion Ninja Ninja (Even Steve Blum and Liam O’Brien, giants in the world of anime voice acting, hung around as a random swordsman or two). Oh yeah, and there’s an African-American protagonist here (a first for anime titles) as well as a couple of other black characters too (Always a thumbs-up for me). These are all the positive traits that I could find here.

Afro is the titular character of this anime, and he’s one of those quiet types. He’s a lonely swordsman marked by trauma and frustration whom the show portrays as a figure deserving sympathy, but Afro simply comes across as uninteresting. Through Afro’s quest in ancient Japan with robots and rocket launchers, other characters are introduced. Justice is the pale-skinned gunslinger/philosopher with a decent amount of depth but not enough to be particularly memorable. Ninja Ninja is my favorite, Afro’s much-more-talkative sidekick who wittily comments on what he observes and gives unwanted advice to our protagonist. Along with Justice, other villains are after Afro’s head such as Afro Droid (the producers are real imaginative with their character names, aren’t they?) and the Empty Seven (reminds me of a group of seven rap figures that I mentioned before), but the true standout of them all is Jinno. The embodiment of fury, he is a man confined to a bear-like robotic armor who wields two blood-stained swords and is determined to slay the swordsman he once called his friend. Sadly, not even Jinno could save Afro Samurai from itself.

“This cannot be the entire series.” This was the first thought that crossed my mind upon completing Afro Samurai. The over-the-top fight scenes and general lack of characterization could be forgiven but the head-scratching ending about non-violence really pissed me off. Afro Samurai doesn’t deserve to be labeled a series; it’s a barely above-average 5-episode bloodfest of an OVA with plot holes aplenty that fails to be seen as a serious title. It’s one of the classic examples of a “turn-your-brain-off” show, the kind that action fanatics enjoy without thinking about aspects that really solidifies and legitimizes a series. You could call Afro Samurai overrated but I’m disappointed because I expected something better from an anime associated with the Wu-Tang Clan.