(Source: www.icv2.com)
Afro Samurai, the highly-anticipated Gonzo anime based on Takashi Okazaki's manga, will make its Spike TV debut on Thursday, January 4th. Samuel L. Jackson produced the 5-part anime, as well as voicing the lead character. Wu-Tang Clan mastermind The RZA is scoring the show.
Set in a futuristic, feudalistic Japan (because nothin' says lovin' like cyborgs and samurai swords), Afro Samurai follows the story of a blunt-smoking swordsman named Afro (Jackson) who seeks to avenge his father's murder, natch. However, the only way Afro can challenge his father's killer to a duel is to become the second greatest swordsman in the land. Much carnage and patented Samuel L. Jackson attitude ensue.
Ron Perlman (Hellboy, Beauty and the Beast) will voice Justice, the three-armed gunman who is Afro's nemesis. Kelly Hu (X2, The Scorpion King) will voice Okiku, "a friend from Afro Samurai’s past who is forced to betray those she loves in order to save one most dear to her" (yeah, that's a quote from the website).
Dollars will get you doughnuts that Hu's character is the love interest. Not only that, but she will probably end up getting:
(a) in some kind of danger so that Afro has to rescue her and/or
(b) killed in some pathos-filled way, so that everyone will cheer Afro all the more as he takes Justice's ass to town. (No, I haven't read the manga).
FUNimation will handle the home video and merch rights for Afro Samurai.
