Author: 213/Anitama Cover Source: Exploding Head Samurai
Title: "Exploding Head Samurai"
Original name: Afro Samurai
Countries: Japan, United States
Year: 2007
Supervision: Fumichi Mu
Voice Actors: Samuel Jackson, Kelly Hu, Ron Pullman, Liu Yuling
Duration: 5 episodes + 1 theatrical version
A while ago, GONZO was exposed to conceal debts, and the acquirer, Asahi Tong (ADK), announced that GONZO was hiding debts of about one billion yen and would conduct a deeper review of its finances. After this incident, people can't help but ask, how did GONZO, once such a famous animation company, get to this point? In their list of works, there is such a well-made but polarized animation, which was "Exploding Head Samurai" (アフロサムライ), which was first broadcast in the United States in 2007.
This Japanese anime for Americans tells a story of revenge that is clear at a glance. The story takes place in the future of Japan, which is still in the feudal system, on the one hand, there are various high-tech such as machine fighters, and on the other hand, it is a samurai world that pursues the world's first in close hand-to-hand combat. The hierarchy of this world depends on a headband that says "Ichiban", and it is said that the samurai who receives this headband will have the power of a god. The only people who can challenge "Yiban" are those who wear "Erban", but anyone can challenge "Erban", so becoming a "Erban" means that it is doomed to fall into a never-ending struggle. The young Ah Fei witnessed the beheading of his father who had been a double, and Ah Fei, who had killed his father on his back, turned against his friends in the same division when he was fighting for the new second headband, and has since embarked on the road of no return to challenge.
Originally written by Japanese manga artist Norishi Okazaki, "Afro" refers to large, curly, and puffy spherical hair, which was popular in the 1970s. Nori Okazaki, because he liked American hip-hop culture and Japanese period dramas, created such an explosive-headed samurai with a headband. Okazaki Nogoshi, who was still a student, was conceiving the image of this samurai, and it just so happened that a music variety show called "Soul Train" in the United States was broadcast in Japan, and the program was mainly based on performing riots, hip hop and other types of music, so that Okazaki Nonoshi, who originally liked these, felt that the people in the program were too handsome, and began to use the explosion head as a symbol to try to paint some images, and then created a fandom based on the legend of Yasuke "Black Samurai" of Oda Nobunaga's family in the Sengoku period of Japan. It's called Exploding Head Samurai. Nou Nou Hau was then founded at the expense of Okazaki and several art friends, an independent manga magazine, which was serialized from time to time until september 2002, when it ceased publication.
The birth of the animated version of "Exploding Head Samurai" is also a bit of an accidental component, Okazaki Noboru happened to meet the people of GONZO when he compared the explosive head samurai handmade to another young artist, and gonzo Overseas Business Department instantly shouted "This is absolutely acceptable to Americans when it sees the handbox!" As a result, "Exploding Head Samurai" became GONZO's representative work for entering overseas. The animation supervisor is Fumitoshi Kizaki, who is also the supervisor of Koga Ninho, another Japanese Sengoku anime produced by GONZO. Kitsaki Fumitoshi also got the script for "Exploding Head Samurai" while working on "Koga Ninja", compared to the former with the original novel, the story of the latter can be said to be more nonsense. Because the approximate character image was already there at that time, Kizaki Fumichi thought that such a project as a black explosive-headed samurai could not be done in Japan without looking down, and when he turned to the next page, he saw another samurai with a bear's head who did not know what was going on. Although the object of attraction is not Japanese but American audiences, Kizaki Fumichi is still a little skeptical about whether he really wants to take such a thing, but after talking with the original author Okazaki Norishi, this doubt was finally dispelled.
Taking a certain aspect to the extreme may become a successful style work. Pure pleasure should be the first impression left by "Exploding Head Samurai" for many people. With a plot from the beginning to the end, coupled with a large number of bloody pictures and indescribable shots for teenagers, considering that the target audience is a male audience in north America who likes Cult films like "Kill Bill", it is not difficult to understand that the animation strives to present a violent aesthetic picture. Fumitomo Kisaki said that the animation is largely a restoration of the original, such as the simple story of revenge, and the shape of the characters, which are faithful to the unique style of Okazaki Nonoshi. With the goal of maximizing the impact, the anime still advances the scene of the hundred people in the original manga to the very beginning, and it is really shocking at the beginning. The overall tone of the whole film is dominated by dark colors, except that the blood is bright red, although this monochrome will increase the difficulty of the animation, but in order to reflect the depressing lines and cinematic sense in the manga, it is also done. I have to say that it is really a conscience adaptation that makes the original author feel that his worldview has been guarded.
The samurai Afi had a clear conflict with the two men. The first is to kill the father and the enemy "a bit", Ah Fei established a pure hatred relationship between the two after witnessing the tragic death of his father, in the process of revenge, he also experienced the taste of family and friendship love, but unlike the protagonists in the Usual Japanese animation, in the face of the misfortune suffered by the friend and lover because of himself, Ah Fei did not show a very violent emotional ups and downs, shaking Only in a moment, he was still upgrading step by step to complete the revenge plan like a monster. Okazaki believes that Americans have some misunderstandings about Japanese culture, and that the so-called samurai are not just kung fu people. If you want people from different cultural backgrounds to understand the meaning of Japanese Bushido, it is easier to understand by grasping the character's determination to explain, a samurai can "avenge his father", a typical "Way" that represents loyalty, can have no nostalgia for love, no hesitation about fame and fortune, and no scruples about life and death, and the plot of "Exploding Head Samurai" is enough to explain these things clearly.
Norishi Okazaki doesn't think that intense pleasure affects the meaning of the story itself, and in his words, there is a great topic in this story that has been considered for 13 years. Another person who has a complicated relationship with Ah Fei is the bear-headed samurai Rennosuke, who turned from childhood friend to enemy. When he was young, Rennosuke was the good side, determined to protect all the people in shimen, always hoping to pull Ah Fei back from the obsession of revenge. However, the result of Rennosuke's efforts, instead of making Ah Fei turn back, caused the entire division to suffer and be destroyed, and he decided to take revenge on Ah Fei at any cost. The transformation from a person who is good to a villain who is not ashamed of himself, from one extreme to another, this transformation may be the part that is preferred to be expressed in the works of Oriental thinking, but in order to ensure the purity of the story with Afei as the protagonist of a black samurai, the main line chooses not to dig too deep into Rennosuke.
Exploding Head Samurai was broadcast in the United States in 5 episodes, followed by a full-length version edited together in late-night slots in Japan. The preparation of the production took about 1 year, and the actual production period took 10 months. Since the work is oriented to the U.S. market, there will inevitably be a conflict of opinion with the United States during the production period, Kizaki Fumitoshi revealed that some places were directly reported to not understand in English, and the scripts and storyboards in these places were adjusted accordingly, although the American producers still did not understand where the change was, but in the end it was agreed - as long as it looks handsome and powerful, it is OK.
In terms of dubbing, "Exploding Head Samurai" directly uses American actors to voice, and there is no Japanese voice actor blow replacement version, which is an English soundtrack and Japanese subtitles when broadcast in Japan. If you look at the cast list before watching the film, these names can already expose the mind of this work, Samuel Jackson, Hu Kelly, Lang Pullman, Liu Yuling... A common face of a water cult piece. Samuel Jackson is what Fumitoshi Kisaki calls a handsome man who can say "Mother fucker", and he plays two roles in one of them, except for the protagonist samurai Afi, who is always a ninja by Afei's side, and is almost ready to contract all the lines. If the samurai Afi is the figurative protagonist, then the music in the film can definitely occupy the position of the second protagonist. The soundtrack is led by one of the best HIP-HOP music producers in the United States, the best Grammy music producer RZA, Jim Jarmusch's "Ghost Dog Killer", Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" and other film and television works he has participated in, and in "Exploding Head Samurai" he has all the music.
After the anime was released, Okazaki changed the manga to a two-volume version, which was released only in North America. The anime received widespread acclaim when it aired, and Norishi Okazaki and Fumitoshi Kizaki, who did not know why they were well received, ran to New York to meet the audience and found that there were many young black boys at a glance. The protagonist, Afi, is clearly a black figure, and the biggest villain, "Justice", is a typical white man with a pistol, so the reason they like this work is that "Afei is a rare black hero, and we are waiting for such a person to appear", which surprises Okazaki Nonoshi who holds the mentality of "the explosion head is whether the Japanese will be scolded". There was a long line of more than 400 people at the signing party, and Kizaki Fumitoshi found that there were black and white people, boys and girls, Japanese anime fans and ordinary people who liked Samuel Jackson, indicating that the work was finally accepted by audiences from all walks of life.
In addition to the anime manga, "Exploding Head Samurai" also launched the game, and the same team-produced film sequel "Samurai Affie: Resurrection" was also released in 2009, becoming the first Japanese animation to be nominated and win an Emmy Award. "Exploding Head Samurai" has announced that it will make a live-action movie, and Okazaki Norishi also laughed that samuel Jackson could play Affee's father, but unfortunately it was a character who was going to die as soon as he appeared. However, it is well known that GONZO withdrew from the North American business in the following years after the financial crisis, so it is a pity that I have not heard the following about this live-action version so far.
Don't think too much about the other, cool to the extreme is the biggest attraction of this animation, and the japanese wind setting is mixed with American violence, which will definitely give you a refreshing to fly experience!
【References】
Afro Samurai Wikipedia
Afro Samurai Official Site
Interview with Afro Samurai director Fumitomo Kizaki and Noshi Okazaki (original author)
Tor Books Partners with Seven Seas to Form New Manga Imprint and Announces Publication of Afro Samurai
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