Afro Samurai's source material -- the first season of a popular anime, adapted from a manga series -- is very much a celebration of style. What little plot exists -- while clever -- establishes itself and then gets the hell out of the way; in Afro's world, whomever is the top samurai in the world wears the "Number One" headband, and only the Number Two may challenge them for the position. On the other hand, anyone can challenge Number Two. After witnessing his father's Number One title taken from him via a rather traumatizing decapitation as a child, Afro spends his adult life searching for the murderer. He's constantly bombarded by challengers, leading to spectacular gravity-defying, limb-flying fights on his path through feudal Japan (a Japan that plays hosts to, er, robots). With RZA providing the soundtrack and Samuel L. Jackson lending his voice to Afro, it's an exercise in animated audio-visual stimulation.
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