Afro Samurai (????????) is a Japanese d?jinshi manga series, created by Takashi Okazaki, originally featured in the NOU NOU HAU [1] d?jin magazine. It was adapted into an 5-episode anime television series, produced by Japanese animation studio GONZO, and set to air in January 4 2007 on Spike TV at 11pm EST, but premiered online on December 31, 2006.
The anime series is set to feature noted American actor Samuel L. Jackson as the voice of the titular character, as well as one of the co-producers, and will also feature Ron Perlman and Kelly Hu as character voices. Wu-Tang Clan member RZA produced the original musical score,[2] which is due to be released on compact disc by Koch Records on January 16, 2007 in both explicit and edited versions. The series has been slated for five episodes and is set to air in the United States on Spike TV and Japan on Fuji Television. The series has also been licensed for North American distribution by Funimation, whose first DVD release is planned for early 2007. In August 2005, Japan-based game developers Namco announced they would be releasing Afro Samurai-related video games in both Japan and America.[3]
The cost of each episode is estimated at one million dollars[4], which is a record for GONZO.
