Now, the manga-ka is back, and he’s writing and drawing the latest installment in the growing Afro Samurai franchise.

Afro Samurai Manga Volume One

Plot Summary

For those who wish to gain the power of a god, they must possess the Number One headband. But to become Number One, they must first own the Number Two headband. Only Number Two can ever challenge and duel Number One.

When the son of the current Number One watches as his father is cut down by Number Two, a shady gunman named Justice, the boy, Afro, swears revenge, no matter the cost. And the cost is high indeed. Where ever the now grown Afro goes, death follows.

Afro now journeys to confront Justice and reap his vengeance. On the road to Number One, Afro encounters assassins, warriors and samurai who try take his place as Number Two. As he leaves a trail of bodies in his wake, Afro comes that much closer to confronting Number One. Nothing personal…it’s just REVENGE.

Review

Charge!!!

Afro Samurai may take a bit of getting used to for some manga readers, mainly due to its unconventional styling and format. For veteran manga enthusiasts, this may be more bothersome than for one new to manga. Indeed, my first reaction was that Afro Samurai felt more like an American comic book than a manga penned and inked by a native Japanese manga-ka.

For starter’s, the book reads left to right instead of the original manga format of right to left. The manga also has splashes of color throughout, not just in a few pages before chapters. And the style itself is a departure from the generic doe-eyed, tiny-mouthed lithe character designs of many manga. Okazaki, the manga-ka, created Afro Samurai with highly stylized, deeply detailed, and very dark designs.

Story

Afro Samurai has a stylishness both in art and story that sets it apart from the world of traditional manga. The storytelling borders on American graphic novel, as does the art, but the dialog pulls it back towards manga. Afro Samurai bridges two worlds, graphic novel and manga, and belongs to neither, although it’s technically manga.

The story is one people can easily follow, and doesn’t have any deep moments or psycho-analyzing of motives. It’s not one we’re drawn into or relate to. The story is like driving through a scenic place, albeit in this instance, a very graphic, very bloody place. There’s not much connection, only base entertainment in the form of action, bloody action and more bloody action.

Character Development

Unapologetic lead characters in stories are usually a good change of pace from weepy-eyed, angsty, divided ones, especially if said unapologetic characters are right bastards. Afro is an unapologetic bastard, and is vastly more interesting because of it.

Given Afro had a wretched childhood, it’s understandable he’d have issues. But his condition goes beyond “issues”. He’s dead inside and only his need for vengeance keeps him upright. He’ll kill anyone, anyone at all, if they seem the least bit in his way, and he doesn’t care about the rivers of blood he creates because of it.

The only development for Afro we’re given is the snippet of background in the first few pages of the manga. All other characters besides Afro are transitory at best, and serve as scenery or sword-fodder. But development need not apply to butt-kicking stories of cold-hearted “heroes” bent on personal vengeance, thus none is evident in the manga so far.

Character Design

After the battle...

Character designs are very stylized and expressive. The characters at first glance are hard to make out, but further study proves them to be emotive and detailed.

The backdrop of the story is a mix of two worlds- ancient Japanese and Doomsday futuristic. Men wear kimono and eat oden from vendors alongside warriors equipped with high tech projectile weaponry and guidance systems. It’s Mad Max meets Yojimbo.

Art

Takashi Okazaki created highly graphic designs for his manga. The characters are simultaneously detailed and blurry, defined and smudged. Copious amounts of black shading fill in most panels, and fine hatchet work details the rest. The lines in the manga are finely inked, and nary a heavy stroke can be found in the book.

While everything is inked in shades of dark gray and black, red is also used to highlight blood. The contrast is a nice departure from the colorless warm shades of gray typical manga boasts.

Production

The manga is a great culture bridge for Western comic book fans curious about manga. It has enough style to lure in the manga-intrigued, and even reads the same direction as graphic novels, but it also tosses in some cultural references, such as oden and kunai.

In the back of the manga are translation notes breaking down by chapter and page number what the terms and words mean and their cultural context. Also in the back are a few pages from Okazaki’s original Afro Samurai doujinshi.

The actual manga itself is well executed. The paper is a good weight, and doesn’t feel cheap or flimsy. And the cover has a decent heft as well, giving potential buyers at least the appearance they’ll be reading something worth the effort.

Conclusion

Afro Samurai, Volume One doesn’t read like a typical manga, translation notes and reading direction aside. The story itself has a Japanese theme, but doesn’t mesh with the over-exaggerated moments and “feelings” of its manga-brethren. It feels much like an American graphic novel, but has something that keeps it from being a graphic novel just as it has something that keeps it from being traditional manga.

The melding of two worlds makes this manga something unique and worthwhile. If you like to while away your time with highly stylized and graphically violent themes, that is.

Rating

Afro Samurai, Volume One gets3.5 gets outta 5 Hammies!

Retail Info

• Publisher: Tor/ Seven Seas
• Release Date: September 2, 2008
• Retail Price: $10.99
• Paperback: 108 pages
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765321238
• ISBN-13: 978-0765321237

Afro Samurai

The voice of Afro Samurai, Samuel L. Jackson would like Andre 3000 to play ‘Afro’ in the Live Action Afro Samurai. From MTV Movies Blog:

“We have a live-action plan,” Jackson revealed, saying that he wants to see Afro’s battle with Number One up on the big screen with flesh-and-blood actors. “Hopefully, that script will come together and we’ll be able to do that in the next two years or so.”

Asked who he wants for the flick, the producer responded: “You know, when I look at him, I see Andre 3000,” Jackson grinned. “So, maybe so.”

What do you think? Would Andre 3000 make a great Afro Samurai or is there someone else you’d like better?

Then there’s the anime which sucked so hard, they created a black hole in the anime universe, which even the most fantastic anime could never hope to fill.

I have a few anime I would like to nominate as “Best” for 2007:

• Basilisk: Best Story and Best Character Designs
• Afro Samurai: Best Action and Best Character Designs
• Tekkonkinkreet: Best Anime Feature
• Karas: The Revelation: Best Animation
• Ergo Proxy: Best Science Fiction

For the “Worst” anime of 2007:

• Glass Fleet, Volume One: Worst Character Designs and Worst Story
• Witchblade: Worst Costumes and Use of Boobs
• Trinity Blood: Worst Waste of Animation and Time

I haven’t read enough manga this year to be informed enough to say which is “Best”, but if I had to choose from among the manga I have read in 2007, it would be:

Best Manga:

• The first four volumes of E’S: Best Line Work, Best Story, Best Panel Usage
• Gon: Best Use of the Manga Medium

Worst Manga:

• My Dearest Devil Princess: Worst Story

Best and Worst is all relative and my choices for Best and Worst probably won’t coincide with anybody else’s. Since we have a nifty comment board in which to air opinions, let’s hear a few of everyone’s personal choices for Best and Worst Anime of 2007!