Afro Samurai: Resurrection

Afro, wearing the number one headband, has taken his revenge and withdrawn. A woman named Sio digs up his father's body and forces him back into fighting. Afro sets out again to recover the band he has lost. Fuminori Kizaki directed. It is the feature made after the television episodes. The production's identity is hybrid: Japanese animation, American hip hop aesthetics and a western structure together. The source is Takashi Okazaki's comic. Samuel L. Jackson voices Afro and is also among the producers; he voices a second character as well. The score is by RZA. The Wu-Tang Clan member's music sets the rhythm and the fight scenes are cut to it. The violence is exaggerated and stylised, with blood used as part of the design. The story is thin, but the production invests in fighting and tone rather than narrative. Who it is for: viewers who like stylised anime action and hip hop aesthetics. Who it is not for: anyone after a deep story; this is almost entirely combat.