American, Japanese pop culture meld in 'Afro Samurai'

Assassins attempt to ambush a tall figure with a towering mop of black hair: They covet his ancient headband that identifies the wearer as the No. 1 warrior in the world. A long sword flashes as the dark-skinned samurai silently hacks through his enemies' limbs and skulls. Having reduced his assailants to human sashimi, he walks on, accompanied on the soundtrack by low-pitched rap lyrics.

"Afro Samurai: Resurrection," which comes out on DVD Tuesday, amps up the adventures of the black warrior who burst onto the animation scene in 2007. Taciturn and deadly, Afro (voiced by Samuel L. Jackson) fights his way through a weird, post-apocalyptic world.

"Afro Samurai" exemplifies the increasing confluence of American and Japanese pop cultures. It's based on a manga by Takashi Okazaki and was animated at the Gonzo studio in Japan, where the anime hits "Samurai 7," "Full Metal Panic!" and "Gurren Lagann" were produced. Fuminori Kizaki directed the film, which was created for an American market, with Hollywood stars Jackson, Lucy Liu and Mark Hamill providing the voices. It aired on Spike TV last month.

"Afro Samurai" also embodies the trend among Japanese fans of comparing hip-hop artists to samurai warriors, an image some rappers claim for themselves. RZA, a founder of the seminal group Wu-Tang Clan and composer of the scores for "Resurrection" and the earlier "Afro Samurai" series, described himself as exemplifying both cultures.

"When the producers asked me if I wanted to be involved in continuing the 'Afro' saga, I said, 'Definitely,' " he said in a telephone interview. "I feel my saga is similar to his: For an artist in the hip-hop world, the idea of being the No. 1 producer, the No. 1 rapper, the No. 1 kid in the neighborhood is very important. I feel like I'm Afro Samurai -- as a producer and rapper.

"When I started Wu-Tang Clan, we used that name because it was the best sword style known: The idea was that we were a sword family," RZA continued. "So Afro Samurai's focus on being the No. 1 samurai swinging his sword is really in keeping with the philosophy the members of Wu-Tang talked about in our lyrics."

Ian Condry, an assistant professor of Japanese cultural studies at MIT and the author of "Hip-Hop Japan," said, "It's not surprising that rappers and samurai go together. They both believe in honor and loyalty. They both represent where they come from. They both battle for supremacy through the strength of their skills."