To level up he has to kill to become number one. Afro Samurai by Takashi Okazaki tells the story of a man of few words named Afro who lives in a modern feudal Japan. Afro’s father was the best of all the samurai granting him the spot of number one. However, he was challenged for the title by a man named Justice and was killed as a result. Young Afro having seen the whole thing vows to get his revenge on the man who killed his father. This is a story filled with betrayal, intense battles, and even comedy at times. All of these things come together to make a great story. Not to mention the manga’s unique setting, a mix of both the past and the future where Samurai exist side by side with robots.      

It takes him years, but Afro eventually works his way up to being number two doing some shady stuff in the process. Afro isn’t like most main characters, he isn’t a hero or even slightly a good person. He is so focused on getting revenge and will do anything to get it. He doesn’t care who gets hurt in the process whether it’s a deadly assassin or an innocent civilian. Like most manga, the artwork in the book is done in black and white but the color red is also used to show all of the blood that Afro spills. This makes certain scenes stand out even more, like when Afro (spoiler alert) uses an innocent woman as a human shield. If you can handle blood and slight gore, you will be impressed by how action-packed Afro Samurai is. 

Afro Samurai doesn’t try to hide that its main character is a bad person which makes it stand out a lot from other things I have read. Afro doesn’t care if you’re bad or good, a friend or an enemy, if you are in his way he won’t hesitate to kill you. And while he might not say much you can’t argue the fact that Afro is a strong and dedicated fighter only sometimes getting distracted by a character called Ninja Ninja who only exists in Afro’s mind. I like to think that Ninja Ninja, who is loud and funny and the total opposite of Afro, is who Afro might have been if not for the death of his dad. Ninja Ninja helps to add comedy to the overall dark and violent tone of the story. Now if the story of a vengeful Samurai with an imaginary friend isn’t enough to interest you then nothing ever will.