Alright, first and foremost, I'm somewhat upset by how the ending of the series is somewhat retconned by having Afro depressed (complete with
Beard of Sorrow) and absorbed in his emotions. He's hallucinating about his dad on a cross, and has made an entire set of wooden figurines of people from his past, apparently just so they can keep him company. He's attacked by Jeno on a bitchin' motorcycle, and he doesn't even defend himself he's so down in the dumps. At the end of the series, it was a VERY BIG POINT that Afro had overcome all his grief and sadness, and that he never let his feelings get in the way of being ever so vigilantly determined to kill whoever got in his way. Hell, his imaginary friend "Ninja Ninja" even faded into nothing to symbolize him being at peace with his feelings. Looks like all that stuff never even mattered.
Another thing, I thought that they'd go out of their way to further explain why the 1# is so valuable. I mean, yeah, whoever holds it is basically the greatest warrior in the land, and by custom is completely untouchable, but it's explained in the series that whoever has it is basically god. When I first heard this, I thought it was metaphorical, but when we finally meet Justice (the number one headband holder in the series) he really DOES have god-like powers! How come that's never elaborated on! How come it's never used again? You think it'd be pretty fucking important, what with it being the entire PREMISE of the show! At the end of the series, I just assumed that since Afro had the 1# headband now, he had those powers, but apparently not. Maybe Justice was just so goddamn awesome that he could warp reality, I don't know.
Another thing, what was up with that basket-thing on Afro's head at the beginning? Is that some sort of weird Japanese thing, or homage of some sort? I don't get it.
Also, I don't know how anyone else feels about this, but the villains were sort of a letdown. I mean, we had the Samurau guy with the weight and chain, the androids, and the nameless nobodies at the beginning, who were all pretty skilled, mind you, but they don't quite measure up to the COMPLETELY INSANE, OVER-THE-TOP villains from the series. The Samurai just didn't have any real presence of power, despite being skilled. The androids didn't have as much punch as the afro-bot or Jeno from the series, despite apparently being from Afro's past as well (which was also never elaborated on. This movie really suffered from being a movie, it didn't have enough time), and the "revived" Rokutaro (Afro's dad) was just an oddly-more-buff killing machine with no personality, not that the fight with him actually counts, but I'll get back to that in a second.
As I said before, this movie really suffered from being a movie. The series was so enjoyable because it's episodic nature allowed it to be so brilliantly and excellently paced, and allowed all the major villains to be properly fleshed out and built-up, making their fights with Afro all the more enjoyable. All the villains in Resurrection, while impressive, don't measure up to everything Afro's fought before, story-wise or otherwise. For example, the Weight-and-chain Samurai blathers on and on about some event in the past, but we can only speculate who he is or what the hell he's talking about, because he wasn't properly built-up.
Actually, now that I think about it, doesn't Afro fighting all those guys in the beginning DIRECTLY CONFLICT with the logic the show's presented us with? Afro has the 1# headband, and only the person with the 2# headband is allowed to fight the 1#, but I didn't see ANY of those guys with a number 2# headband... WHY the HELL even bother with the 2# if you can just attack the 1#?! We KNOW that this isn't some Tarantino-style scene placement since the fencer dude yells that he wants the 1# headband. It's like the whole premise of the series is undermined because the logic isn't being consistent! Why couldn't those crazy numbered old guys just go after Justice if they DIDN'T REALLY need the 2# headband!? WHAT THE FUCK!
Another point, and this is a big one, is that the main villain of Resurrection is VASTLY INFERIOR to the series'. Sio, the conniving female antagonist (voiced by Lucy Liu) is responsible for everything that happens in Resurrection, but... she's SO WEAK! She's supposed to be a ruthless, brilliant, heartless Demoness with a wicked, torturous heart, but she just comes off as a snotty, overly-emotional, spoilt brat bitch that's WAY WAY WAY out of her league! Just as an exercise, let's compare her with the main antagonist of the Series: Justice. Sio and Justice have both worn the 1# headband. Sio did it by exploiting her mindless, machine brother into sneak attacking a depressed man that won't even defend himself, then taking it without so much as a fight. Justice got the headband by formally challenging the current 1# at the time (Rokutaro), who was presumably at the top of his game, and viciously killed him with his own hands, then took what was rightfully his, what he WON from the battle! Sio is a spoilt brat that can't hold her own in a fight, and was actually killed within SECONDS the first time she tried fighting. Justice was a dual pistol wielding, undead, magic cowboy warlock motherfucker that was clearly analogous to the DEVIL! Sio's just a worthless bint that can't even defend herself, and it's disappointing.
The overly emotional bits at the end with Sio and Jeno were also unbearable to watch as well. I watch this show to see awesome fights, not to see a sappy emotional shit! Jeno was such a great character too, and he's apparently become retarded! What the hell man! I really liked Jeno!
Finally, what pissed me off the most, was the LACK of a satisfying final fight. Oh man, it looks like Afro Samurai and Revived Rokutaro are going to go head-to-head, and it's going to be awesome! Just like the fight with Justice!... Wait, what's this handdrawn face colliding crap?! Wait, did the movie just SKIP OVER the FINAL FUCKING FIGHT?! THAT'S UNFORGIVABLE! I WATCHED THE ENTIRE MOVIE FOR THIS FIGHT, AND YOU'RE NOT GIVING IT TO ME!?
FUCK YOU! It's not like you're incapable of giving an awesome final fight! The fight with Justice in the series was FREAKING AWESOME and I'll never forget it! This is just lazy bullshit, and I can't let this shit slide! I can't believe it! I'll never forgive it!
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Topic: I like anime, do you like anime? (Read 3122933 times)