New American anime production for cable network SpikeTV, begins airing in November, so keep your eyes peeled to source it from the usual places. Starring Samuel L. Jackson, animated by Gonzo and score by The Rza. The series consists of 5 episodes. DVDs I'm guessing will be released by Funimation.
Afro Samurai is the story of a Black samurai in a futuristic yet feudal Japan who is on a mission to avenge the wrongful death of his father. Afro is a warrior who travels a solitary path encountering a myriad of enemies, friends, and challenges beyond imagination.
At the San Diego Comic-Con on Friday, new details were revealed about the upcoming Afro Samurai anime starring Samuel L. Jackson. The series, slated to run on Spike TV, will be five episodes long, although there may be more episodes if it does well. Each of the five episodes had a budget of over $1 million. Because the series is being made with Japanese television in mind, the uncut version of each episode will be 25 minutes long. Spike TV will be cutting three minutes out of each episode though for an American television run time of 22 minutes. While the episode length is being made with Japanese television in mind, this will be Gonzo's first anime made initially for an English language audience. Thus, it will subsequently be dubbed into Japanese. Besides the television broadcast, Funimation will be bringing Afro Samurai to DVD in the first or second quarter of 2007. Additionally, there will be a release of the series' soundtrack which will include the score by RZA and also feature Big Daddy Kain, Q-Tip and Samuel L. Jackson. A 300-page manga version of the anime is also in the works from Afro Samurai creator Takashi Okazaki, although there is no publisher yet. The fall of 2007 will see more related productions, with a video game release by Namco for the PS3 and XBox 360. Finally, in an attempt to spread the Afro Samurai franchise throughout all media, a live-action movie version starring Samuel L. Jackson is also in the works. Batman Begins director Christopher Nolan was said to be involved to some extent. http://news.toonzone.net/article.php?ID=11692
Seems to have a decent style, although Sam Jackson's voice seemed to have not been processed properly at the end of the trailer.
The music on the site and in the trailer sounds quite good as well.
