first view & anime 07 Jan 2007 06:56 pm by shinigami
Afro Samurai episode 1 first impression
Seriously, this is a badly done parody, right?
In the beginning alone we have a black samurai guy dodging bullets point blank, his head still twitching as if trying to speak minutes after it was cut, and somehow with a gun, no less!, the Bad Guy (I suppose) describing the plot to the freshly deceased’s son and manic villain laughter. Confronted with so much laughable elements, I can’t be impressed by the action. To be fair, the graphics are surreal, the action very fluid to the point where it might become more of an exercise in animation than something satisfying for the action-oriented viewer.
The OP is, at least in the first episode, very short(30 seconds). It’s generic rap, that sounds good, but nothing special.
Fact is… it was so cheesy, I won’t do a blow by blow first view of this useless excuse for a first episode. Suffice to say that the expository dialogue abounds (”You will grow up consumed by hatred and will try to revenge your father”, “We have you surrounded by 20 people and yada yada. Oh, and before you die, we must inform you that we were payed to off you.”, “You still got a long way to go till you find that Godmode cheat.”, “Your jumping has only put you in the line of my fire. So I won’t shoot you before I say this!”), the coolness of the Afro Samurai is only surpassed by actual Jamaican bad asses. And, by the way, I’d rather watch capoeira than this confusing ballet where guns turn to swords faster than ugly ducklings into swans, and where bullets cut in half by swords (matrix time, probably) become shiny golden flakes.
And WTF is it with all those floating thingees…? They are supposed to be their bandannas (see bellow) but they are freakin’ everywhere. I mean do they stop in the midst of all the action and tie up fresh ones? Or are they wearing some around their wrists too? Ankles? And why do they have to be so long? After the battle his bandanna has got to be a few feet long (possibly longer than at the beginning too). Does it grow along with his coolness? Does it grow with his battle lust? Do the bandannas of his defeated opponents somehow attach to his own like a misunderstood Highlander “your power will become mine?” Is this huge-ribbon-meets-shonen? O.o How does that guy closes the doors behind him? When he walks past, it’s like… the train is… almost in the station…. still… arriving…
Seeing Eyeshades Shady Guy and his magically floating scarf does make one wonder if gravity works in mysterious ways (Shinju pointed out that it doesn’t work on bracelets either) or if mere cool can create a speshul space where the laws of physics are themselves defeated. (That would explain why blocking a punch sends the opponent spinning in a triple axel.)
Oh, and megaubercooladvanced technology? I’d put those binoculars on top of a kick ass rifle and shoot the guy’s afro off, making sure half of his head goes along with it. Then again, maybe only voyeurs get the cool toys.
And what is it with the blowing up clouds of smoke again? Was this done by fetishists? (google is your friend if you don’t see the connection, you innocent soul you.) Though it would explain the perpetual low fog.
Check out the main chick. If this is the best this world has to offer, I’m not surprised people die that easily. What would be the point of sticking around?
Then there’s the Hulk. And even he has almost as many lines as Samuel L Jackson’s character. Talk about wasted potential. I hope that, whatever happens in the next episodes (which I won’t be watching) Samuel L Jackson graces the viewer’s ears with his well paid talents.
And then there’s the pervy Santa Claus. The less said, the better. And the rocket launcher with the shark-headed (no, really) missile. And… so many other things, really.
The ED features no animation, no images, nothing but a black background with white text.
As first impressions goes, it was disastrous. The action was fast paced and fluidly animated, but ridiculous and at times confusing due to the “creative camera work”, so to speak. The voice acting was so exaggerated I wonder if these people were told they were acting in a comedy. The plot? Ha. The script? Those people WERE acting in a comedy. Unfortunately, it wasn’t particularly funny.
P.S.: Shinju commented on this one too, some of the credit goes to her.
on 10 Jan 2007 at 7:44 am 1.lolnoob said …
lol if you dont like the style the show is created in. piss off and go watch inuyasha. or better yet.. sailor moon ya fuqing pussy.
on 10 Jan 2007 at 4:16 pm 2.shinigami said …
In moments like these it’s important to realize the internet is a place where we can state our opinions in whatever manner we find appropriate. Of course, our poor English skills limit this ability to get our point across in the best of ways.
Oh, heck, more to the point: to someone who learned English as a second language, nothing is funnier than an illiterate native speaker stating what he/she belives is an opinion that should count.
on 10 Jan 2007 at 10:41 pm 3.Northy said …
You should watch Inuyasha instead of this anyway, man. Even if the show is a wee bit formulaic, it’s still loads better than shit like this. Leave this show to the people who can’t even get the expletives, THEIR native language, right.
on 22 Jan 2007 at 3:02 am 4.Serge said …
come on man, out of all the anime youve seen you seem too hung up on something like an incredibley long bandanna and his ability to deflect bullets with a sword then the art style. also you must also listen to the dialogue a little more to realize that ninja-ninja is also played by samuel jackson, meaning that his talent is not wasted at all. and this is a pilot episode so its going to be a little vague and the story has to be allowed to flesh out brfore you start shooting it down.
on 30 Jan 2007 at 7:13 am 5.pVr said …
Since when was anime meant to be realistic? At least this show has come to terms with the absurdity of the genre, instead of trying to stay realistic and then inserting random elves and fairies. I thought it was entertaining and obviously Samuel L. will talk more when they reveal more plot (thought that was fairly obvious).
And RZA produced an amazing soundtrack.
on 16 Mar 2007 at 8:55 am 6.Alex said …
Well I am all for Afro Samurai. The reason I thouroughly enjoyed this program was because it was original, artistic, visually and emotionally gratifying. The reason it was gratifying was because I have seen LOTS of animae and manga and to tell you the truth it is extremely difficult to get away from the mainstream formulatic stuff to come up with an original way to not only draw the show but to blend it with Hip Hop culture. I feel that this show has had a lot of committment placed into it by a lot of people and they would not have come this far if it was going to be a “Maybe.”
I feel sorry for those who cannot see the creativity and belief that went into this brilliant show. Ironically, shinigami managed to give us a blow by blow of only one episode and has not even seen the complete works..what shinigami heard the first few notes of Beethovens 5th or read the first 2 pages of Moby Dick?…would he stop there and embarass not only himself but everyone else by giving a sorry excuse for a review and subject us all to reading his drivel?
Lets hope not. One more point to be concerned about with shinigami’s view..animae is based in fiction and fantasy and judging by your view you actually probably never even knew that…this is a sad day for your parents shinigami. Go dig a hole
on 17 Mar 2007 at 4:10 pm 7.lolnoob said …
hah my native language is american so yeah piss off cuz i speak it beautifully . english is for boyz that want to be proper and all mighty.
on 18 Mar 2007 at 7:59 pm 8.shinigami said …
Alex, since then I’ve seen the second episode and part of the third which were so boring that I stopped watching. My opinion of the show didn’t change: I don’t like it. You think it’s not mainstream formulatic stuff (I’d say it’s “formulaic”, but I’d just feed lolnoob’s comments. >.>), I say that deep down it is, it just draws on stuff from more sources of cliches :D. Maybe hip hop fans find merit in it, and I can totally understand that. I’m also aware that people cut a lot of slack to new ideas/forms of execution. Still, Afro Samurai is bad. A question, in case you come happen to read this reply: did you watch Samurai Champloo?
Also, which I thought would be obvious, a first view is not meant to be a review.
on 02 May 2007 at 6:24 am 9.Northy said …
lolnoob: Maybe you SPEAK it beautifully, but you write like shit and should be ashamed of yourself for being showed up by two foreigners.
on 26 May 2007 at 6:15 pm 10.samwell said …
i fink tht afro samurai defies animation boudaries as it had a very dark effect when u watch it and to be quite frank it dont matter wht u fink u dumb speng eediot cheif cuz if u dnt like it go wank off over a pikachu cuz i fink its anime’ at its best plus it got samuel l jackson and he jus merks it simple
bbbrrraaaappp
on 30 May 2007 at 6:45 pm 11.Northy said …
You heard the man. Enjoy Afro Samurai or masturbate to Pikachu. There are no other choices.
on 01 Jun 2007 at 10:20 am 12.shinigami said …
*fwap**fwap**fwap*
on 26 Oct 2007 at 3:49 am 13.Arrancar said …
1. shinigami, shut the fuck up
2. The internet IS a place to express opinions, but it’s also a place to play games like “Oh the Huge Manatees”
3. Nobody gives a flying fuck about what youu think about the fluidity, it’s very stylistic and individual to this show.
4. Dodging bullets from point blank. YOU CANNOT TELL ME YOU HAVE SEEN SOMETHING LESS RIDICULOUS IN ANIME, ESPECIALLY IN BLEACH. Such as shooting laser beams out of your fist.
5. You must be the person who watches shows where they do one little thing then spend the rest of, if not the next episode, explaining how they did what they did.
6. I would rather see 6 episodes of crazy ass cut ‘em up than the 13 episodes in Naruto where the third Hokage is being stabbed as that soul thing eat Orochimaru. FUCK THAT.
7. The only cool things about pokemon were any evolutions of charmander, squirtle, dragonair, and growlithe, as well as the legendary birds.
8. Fuck Pikachu.
9. You asshole son of a bitch, saying that people who can’t speak the english language have no right of opinion here. I quote “to someone who learned English as a second language, nothing is funnier than an illiterate native speaker stating what he/she belives is an opinion that should count.” FUCK YOU.
10. Samuel L. Jackson, though he had few lines, was the only bad ass who could be the voice of Afro.
11. mikesumi@gmail.com to argue if you please, because I sure as fuck won’t be coming back here.
on 17 Apr 2008 at 8:05 pm 14.Robert Lombardo said …
You sir are a fucking idiot. It’s obvious that you shouldn’t be reviewing this show because you can open your mind to different styles of animation or anything else for that matter. Closed minded jackass. Do us a favor and break all your fingers so I never have to see your terrible reviews ever again.