The logline: Afro Samurai (the #2 Samurai) hunts down his father’s murderer (the #1 Samurai named Justice). Along the way, he encounters all sorts of foes (ranging from Brothers to robots) whom are trying to defeat the Samurai to become the #2 Samurai themselves. This Blu-ray disc contains all 5 episodes from the first season.

Looking at the credits, you would think that with all of the talent involved in this production that it would be a surefire hit. After all, you can’t go wrong with voice actors Samuel L. Jackson, Ron Perlman (of “Hellboy” fame), Phil LaMarr with a score by RZA, right? I wish I could say right, but alas I cannot. “Afro Samurai” is an extremely tedious, unoriginal, and violent affair that borrows heavily from recent superior genre classics like “Kill Bill,” “Samurai Jack” and “Samurai Champloo.” The script simply does not have enough meat to it, nor does it have much in the way of character. Afro himself barely speaks a word. His Jar Jar like sidekick Ninja Ninja (also voiced by Sam Jackson) is incredibly annoying and does all the talking in the series without managing to say much at all. As for the story, I was hoping for something more than a straight forward revenge tale with the occasional flashback to Afro’s childhood/teen years. Perhaps season two will be more complex, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

As for the animation, it is hit-and-miss. My main beef with the animation is that some of the actions (and character models) are not fluid at all and look rather jerky. Of course, this is not the case for every character and motion on screen, but it’s still a problem regardless. On the plus side, I will say the animation is very distinct and stylized and can look rather pleasant at times.