Television series

Afro Samurai

Name: Afro Samurai
Genre: Drama, Action, Adventure
Released: 2007
Cast: Yuri Lowenthal, Samuel L. Jackson, Ron Perlman, Kelly Hu, Phil LaMarr

Action

Afro Samurai is a five-episode fever dream: a lone swordsman cuts his way toward the man who killed his father, RZA's beats thudding under every slash. It's gorgeous, gratuitous and unapologetically style-first — limbs fly, blood arcs like calligraphy, and Samuel L. Jackson voices both the hero and his foul-mouthed conscience. Watch it for spectacle, not subtlety.

TVMaze rating

3.7

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love stylised chanbara with hip-hop swagger, bloody set pieces staged like music videos, and a revenge tale told with more mood than dialogue.

Skip it if you want a story that moves briskly and resolves cleanly, since its five half-hour episodes are heavy on ritual, pauses and gore that some will find more tedious than thrilling.

What it asks of you: Five episodes of about thirty minutes each, so a short commitment, but it asks you to sit still through long silences and to stomach violence that is shown in full.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Samurai Champloo2004

Watanabe's hip-hop samurai anime is the closest sibling Afro Samurai has — beat-driven fights, wandering ronin, and genre-mashing done with real wit and heart.

But It's talkier and gentler; if you came purely for ultraviolence, the episodic slow-burn plotting might test your patience.

Yasuke2021

A Black samurai anime with a moody Flying Lotus score, fusing supernatural war-torn Japan with a quieter, more mournful heroism than Afro's fury.

But Its pacing is deliberate and melancholic, closer to elegy than action spectacle, so don't expect wall-to-wall carnage.

Kill Bill: Vol. 12003

Tarantino's own revenge-quest remix nails the same mix of ultraviolence, style-over-substance swagger, and pure genre-mashing joy, with a sword fight for the ages.

But It's live-action and runs much longer than an Afro Samurai episode — you'll want to commit to the whole saga.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Afro Samurai

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Shogun Assassin1980

RZA built entire Wu-Tang Clan tracks around dialogue sampled from this exact film, and he later scored and co-produced Afro Samurai — this is quite literally where that sound and sensibility began.

A grindhouse English-dub compilation of two Lone Wolf and Cub films — severed limbs, a baby in a cart, and mournful narration over pulpy 70s samurai carnage.

But It's a rough, dubbed patchwork of another film, not a polished original narrative — a historical curiosity as much as entertainment.

Cowboy Bebop1998

Same jazz-and-hip-hop swagger, same lone wanderer chasing his past, same sense that cool and heartbreak can share a frame beautifully.

But It's far less violent and more melancholic sci-fi noir than sword-swinging carnage — moodier than gory.

Sword of the Stranger2007

Gorgeous, brutal feudal-Japan swordplay animation with a nameless wanderer and a body count that rivals Afro's own, all in one tight sitting.

But More straightforward hero's journey, less cosmic menace, and over in two hours rather than a serialized arc.

Ninja Scroll1993

A 90s ultraviolent anime classic — gonzo villains, gore, and a stoic swordsman for hire; the unhinged energy Afro Samurai clearly inherited.

But The misogyny and dated shock tactics haven't aged gracefully; go in knowing it's a product of its decade.

Mugen no Juunin: Immortal2019

An immortal swordsman cutting through endless enemies for redemption — same relentless bloodletting, same episodic revenge structure, gorgeous choreography throughout.

But It's a slow burn with heavy manga lore; newcomers might find the mythology dense before the payoff lands.

Redline2009

Pure sensory overload — hyperkinetic, hand-drawn racing animation with the same maximalist, style-drunk energy Afro Samurai trades in from frame one.

But It's about racing, not swords, and the plot is thin scaffolding for the visuals — style with little substance.

Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust2001

Moody gothic anime action, a lone stoic hero, gorgeous animation and gore — a cousin in tone if not setting.

But Slower and more atmospheric than propulsive; expect brooding over adrenaline for long stretches.

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai1999

Same composer — RZA scored this film years before Afro Samurai, and it's the blueprint for fusing samurai ethics with hip-hop culture, just played dead serious instead of gonzo.

Forest Whitaker plays a hip-hop hitman living by the samurai code in a jazzy, contemplative Jim Jarmusch fable — violence treated as ritual, not spectacle.

But It's slow, philosophical, and nearly plotless by design; if you want kinetic swordplay, this will feel like a nap.

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai poster

Harakiri1962

Both are revenge stories about a wronged warrior confronting a corrupt code of honour — one drowns you in blood and beats, the other in silence and dread, but they're asking the same question.

Kobayashi's austere masterpiece strips away all spectacle to ask what honour actually costs a samurai — devastating, precise, and unforgettable.

But There's no swordplay spectacle until deep in, and its slow, formal grief is the opposite of Afro's breakneck pace.