Afro Samurai to premiere on January 4

The five-episode anime series Afro Samurai will premiere on January 4, 2007, broadcast on the Spike TV network in the U.S. The series is based on the manga by Takashi Okazaki and is co-produced by Samuel L. Jackson, who also plays the voice of the protagonist. Ron Perlman and Kelly Hu also appear as voices, and hip-hop artist RZA is in charge of the soundtrack. The series will air in Japan later in 2007.