Afro Samurai: Resurrection

I’ve been wanting to get “Afro Samurai: Resurrection” since it came out. And I finally did it! Yay for me (and for my girlfriend, who also likes Afro Samurai).
This time around, instead of being 5 OVA episodes, it’s an hour-and-a-half feature. The action is just as good as in the first “Afro Samurai”, and the voice work is as excellent as you’d expect (Samuel L. Jackson! Lucy Liu!) (retroactive props to Ron Perlman [!] for his work in the first, and Kelly Hu [!] for hers). And… Oh. My. God. The RZA’s music is as incredible as ever.

I love this movie, even though the story has its logic flaws. Despite the flaws in the logic and characterization of the villains, the movie does a great job of discussing Afro’s motives and methods (he killed so many people just so he could avenge his father, and now it’s only natural that there are family members of his victims who would want [and deserve(?)] revenge against him).

I made sure to spend the extra bit of coin to get the 2-disc special edition director’s cut. Spending that money got me some nudity, sex, and swearing in the actual movie. It also got me “over 100 minutes of special features” that include:
-exclusive insight from creator Takashi “Bob” Okazaki
-GONZO studios interviews about the Japanese side of production
-interviews with people on the American side of production (including the awesome Sam Jackson, and the gorgeous Lucy Liu)
-a cool behind-the-music thing with RZA
-a look at “Afro Samurai: The Game” (which I’ve played and loved)
-a cool feature about the Afro Samurai stuff at Comic-Con 2008
-insightful video commentary with the Japanese side of production
-a little booklet with art and stuff from the creator, director, and RZA

Anime. Hip-hop. Samurai. Sword fighting. Japanese culture. Black American culture. Samuel L. Jackson. Lucy Liu.
If you like ANY of these things or people, go out and buy “Afro Samurai: Resurrection”.