Forum - View topicNEWS: Watch Afro Samurai Episode 1 Now
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Iritscen
 Posts: 793 |
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Right. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree, then.
Well, it's on Spike. Guys 18-35 watch Spike. Guys who generally probably know squat about anime. Of course we're concerned about first impressions on the entertainment we care about.
Yes, it should. But a pretty harmless stereotype compared to one that can get people riled up over violent TV shows or cause them to think we're all violence-lovers after seeing this type of thing..
Understood.
Not understood. What standards are higher than most anime? There's a good amount of praise in this topic for this show. But a lot of anime fans are picky about this or that kind of show, so of course they're picky with this too. About the "deeply predisposed" part -- some people are inherently turned off by in-your-face urban attitude, which this thing exudes in spades. And it's pretty clear what kind of show this is just from the trailer. It's not going to turn emotional and meaningful suddenly in the last (fifth) episode. So prejudgment can sometimes be an accurate thing.
I'm trying not to think about American-Japanese joint ventures, actually. I just want them to make their own stuff and stop pimping themselves out. |
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Iria51
 Posts: 138 Location: San Antonio, Tx |
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The first episode was fun to watch, but it was definitly style over substance for me. It reminded me alot of Ninja Scroll, which is not a bad thing mind you. Samuel Jackson has been in so many diverse projects over the life of career, and this is another nice addition. The violence doesn't concern me as much as the cursing. As long as that doesn't get out of hand, or it isn't used just for shock value, then I think this will be a fun anime' to just turn your brain off and watch.
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Steve Berry
Posts: 522 Location: San Francisco Bay Area, CA |
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Well, definitely, on that point I disagree. Qualtiy doesn't inherently have much to do with nationality to me. Others seem to watch anime for it's "Japanese-ness", and although I do enjoy that at times, it's not a reason I'm drawn to a show. I can understand how people who are turned off by current "urban" youth-oriented pop culture wouldn't like this show, and it does have a lot of cliche "check out how we're mixing genres" moments. But I'm not a purist-- and I think you only have to look at many of the western elements that have "inflitrated" anime and manga-- from, say, the style of Miyazaki's Nausicaa manga, to Samurai Champloo's hip hop influence, to something like Monster's setting-- to see how it's been a positive influence. For many people, it's a global culture-- I'm sure it's that way for the Japanese as well at times. I'm sure there are artists there in the anime and manga and movie industries who are very excited by the idea of getting to try new things that integrate different cultural motifs (whether story telling ideas, or simple visual aspects of pop culture)-- whether from the US or Europe or other places. It obviously produces some things that are subpar (as do all processes), but I'm not really interested in somehow trying to force anime to continue to produce the sort of work it's done in the past. |
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Keonyn
 Subscriber Posts: 5567 Location: Coon Rapids, MN |
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I fail to see how a joint venture is pimping themselves out. It's two sides getting together creatively. I think some people are trying to hard to play the purist card here and the elitism that's resulting is sickening.
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Iritscen
Posts: 793 |
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I don't know what being a purist has to do with it.
I'm generally cynical about anime being made with a shallowly pop culture attitude. Does that include many anime that had nothing to with joint ventures? Yes. Since hip-hop is the new pop, and the Japanese are so trend-oriented, it's not surprising that they would even enjoy making something like Afro Samurai. But I prefer more intellectual or independently-minded works where someone just tells a story they want to tell rather than what's trendy (Cf. Neon Genesis, Tomino's Gundam series). I've always been leery of Shinichiro Watanabe for that exact reason: he seems interested in making works that are cool first and substantive second. I still enjoyed Cowboy Bebop and other of his works, but I'm always a little cynical towards them at the same time because they're so blatantly Western. Basically what I'm saying is, I didn't get into anime to watch Samuraiz From Da Hood. |
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Keonyn
Subscriber Posts: 5567 Location: Coon Rapids, MN |
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I somewhat agree with you, although I did enjoy Samurai Champloo so I don't entirely. At least not enough where I'm going to base my opinion of a series based on its influence. Which is why it has something to do with it.
I'm not of some opinion that a western influence is an automatic means to dislike or be cynical of a series. Honestly, there's a lot of influence in a lot of anime outside of Japan, just like there's a lot of influence in domestic titles from other areas of the world. Taking influence doesn't make something poor and it doesn't have to be strictly Japanese to achieve some sort of purity standard set by overzealous fans. |
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FUNiRepBlue (disabled)
Company Representative
 Posts: 66 |
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Hey Guys,
Don't forget if you missed Afro Samurai on New Years it debuts tonight on Spike TV @ 11PM. Here's the websites for more info: http://www.spiketv.com/#shows/afrosamurai/index.jhtml http://www.afrosamurai.com FUNiRepBlue |
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Kieran2501
 Posts: 21 |
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Definitely.
I'm glad everyone doesn't think that anime must have some deep philosophical message or a complex plot to be enjoyable. Though, being enjoyable and being truly good are two different things.
That's why I am excited about this premiering there, and there's no doubt I am concerned.
Noted! As for this reinforcing the anime stereotypes, what anime currently on TV doesn't somehow reinforce a stereotype of anime? I think, at least for people in my generation, we were first exposed to anime like Sailor Moon (my first one), DBZ, Tenchi Muyo, Pokemon, etc. All of those are heavily stereotypical anime, but we still got into anime despite that. I think laypeople think of anime as esoteric. That's why I believe Afro Samurai--an easy-to-get-into anime--can show people what anime has to offer--even if it does reinforce stereotypes and lack a lot of the substance. It's like a Tarantino film. Except not as good--at least not judging from the first episode. |
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v1cious
 Posts: 6203 Location: Houston, TX |
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i can't believe people are actually criticizing this cause of how American it is. seriously, has the anime community really become this elitist? i can understand saying it's style over substance, but COME ON PEOPLE! the first episode is always the hook. i'm sure things will pick up as it moves along.
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Deltakiral
 Posts: 3338 Location: Glendora, CA (Avatar Hei from Darker than BLACK) |
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Looks like you can never please the anime community, not enough titles that people can relate to, and now a title that premiere in the US before Japan and people are looking for things to complain about. This series is airing on Spike a channel for guys (as it say in their promo) and basically the first episode is everything you expect. It's has some sweet animation lots of action plenty of blood and some interesting characters. I think that this series has a lot going for it. And having just finished episode one I can't wait for episode two and to see how the music turns out. |
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Iritscen
Posts: 793 |
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No, no, it's not that the anime community is composed of habitual complainers. If you look at the range of genres and styles anime covers, there's a lot of variety. Some of us lean towards one type or a couple types. Some only like one type. Some like all the types. So obviously different fans are into anime for different reasons and have broader/narrower tastes. The people like me who posted their reasons for not liking Afro Samurai are entitled to their opinion. I suppose it's just a matter of shrugging and liking what we like. I'm not going to argue against the show any further. I've had my say. Just suffice to say that, while all you who like the show are equally entited to your opinions, you can't expect everyone to have the same taste. But that doesn't make us malcontents. P.S.: Just for the record, I did enjoy Samurai Champloo, but just barely. I came to enjoy the story and characters, which is always how Watanabe hooks me. This is just going too far in that direction for me. Just to clarify. |
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Kouji
 Posts: 978 |
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I haven't seen Afro Samurai yet but I might check it out when it's released on DVD out of curiosity. I will say this, though. It's silly to hate an anime for being too "American" when anime itself is largely inspired by American animation. The earliest anime titles like Astro Boy and Kimba The White Lion were inspired by American cartoons like Mickey Mouse and Betty Boop. If you're going to hate one anime for being too "American" then you should hate all anime because anime itself is influenced by American animation.
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Strephon
Posts: 177 |
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Yeah, it was (the character's name is "Ninja Ninja," according to the Encyclopedia). Probably it's because you don't pay for somebody like Samuel Jackson and then hand him a character who only has maybe three lines in the whole episode. |
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bakaShin
Posts: 102 |
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i know they are purposely promoting this anime solely on the koolness and style factor to their demographics. But honestly this is just pure bloodbaths and T&A. I enjoy watching those types of shows on occassion but the story is lacking.
Unless they divulge more of the story or characters this will be just one of the animes i watch on tv and nothing more. Its sort of 1 dimensional; revenge, emotionless killings, killing based on ranks. For some reason i found myself laughing when i saw the beginning where the dad went fighting around with his son by his side. |
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