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Samurai Jack Season 5 |OT| But Yeah, I’m Thinking I’m Back.

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P

PK Gaming

Member
That was, okay I guess

Everything up to when Jack finally goes back in time to defeat Aku was good. But things happen way too quickly once Ashi regains her body. She creates a time portal like it's fucking nothing, which is wack. Jack finally going back in time should have been this ultra momentous moment. Another issue, is how the ending plays up losing Ashi, instead of literally everyone in the future ceasing to exist. Jack should have said goodbye to the people in the future, or at the very least, we should have gotten a glimpse into the future that Jack help save. But nah, it's all about Ashi.

She was garbage btw. I think everyone will look back and see her as the negative turning point for this show.
 
A

A-V-B

Member
PK Gaming said:
That was, okay I guess

Everything up to when Jack finally goes back in time to defeat Aku was good. But things happen way too quickly once Ashi regains her body. She creates a time portal like it's fucking nothing, which is wack. Jack finally going back in time should have been this ultra momentous moment. Another issue, is how the ending plays up losing Ashi, instead of literally everyone in the future ceasing to exist. Jack should have said goodbye to the people in the future
Click to expand...

I would have loved if Aku used that as the final "gotcha" against Jack.

"Very well... kill me, Samurai... but all you have done in the future to return here... all you did as a hero... you will destroy as well! Aaahahahaa!"

Guess there just wasn't enough time?
 
Z

Zubz

Banned
A-V-B said:
I would have loved if Aku used that as the final "gotcha" against Jack.

"Very well... kill me, Samurai... but all you have done in the future to return here... all you did as a hero... you will destroy as well! Aaahahahaa!"

Guess there just wasn't enough time?
Click to expand...

Yeah. That would've been the way to go as the bittersweet twist. Jack coming to the realization that, in undoing that future, he was taking away from the positive there, too. Ashi alone is one thing, but it would've made it more impactful (Especially to the viewer) if we saw that entire army fade out of existence. ... Or had further proof that Aku's final attack was effectively wiping them out. Definitely would've helped things feel more climactic.
 
T

TWILT

Banned
Really enjoyed the finale and the whole final season in general. I do really wish this had at least 2 or 3 more episodes or at least the finale was at least an hour long because the pacing was definitely too fast at times. I admit I'm really mixed on Ashi in general. Her relationship with Jack did feel abit forced, but I did think it was pretty cute at times. And I guess the writers had to find a way to bring Jack into the past somehow (esp after killing the Guardian off). The rest of the episode was good. The callbacks ("NO JUMP GOOD"), the Scotsman, and that visual at the end was so beautiful man. If the finale was just a bit longer...mannnnnnn.

All that being said, I really liked it and I'm glad my boy Samurai Jack after all these years got a proper conclusion.
 
A

A-V-B

Member
Zubz said:
Yeah. That would've been the way to go as the bittersweet twist. Jack coming to the realization that, in undoing that future, he was taking away from the positive there, too. Ashi alone is one thing, but it would've made it more impactful (Especially to the viewer) if we saw that entire army fade out of existence. ... Or had further proof that Aku's final attack was effectively wiping them out. Definitely would've helped things feel more climactic.
Click to expand...

Then once it's confirmed that Ashi is all that's left, have her say, with difficulty, "do it." (I mean she is there, right?)

That would about solve it, I think.
 
V

Veelk

Banned
Curt Baboon said:
[/B]
The reason Jack didn't age for 50 years was because he was apparently unaffected by Aku's time travel powers.
Click to expand...

What? That makes no sense. If anything, he shouldn't age because he is affected by his time travel powers. In fact, that statement doesn't make sense. Jack was teleported into the future. Clearly, Aku's time travel powers affect him, or else the series wouldn't have happened in the first place.
 
U

Unbounded

Member
One thing I really didn't like about the finale is that once Jack left the future we just completely forgot it ever happened. I mean, it makes sense why it would be that way since technically it never did happen, but it still bugs me a bit.
 
B

Biske

Member
Unbounded said:
One thing I really didn't like about the finale is that once Jack left the future we just completely forgot it ever happened. I mean, it makes sense why it would be that way since technically it never did happen, but it still bugs me a bit.
Click to expand...

Can only fit so much into 20 odd minutes.

It's not like you have to have a montage to show that Jack still cares about the Scottsman and remembers him.
 
E

Ecotic

Member
What makes Ashi's death particularly sad is that Jack spent 50 years of hell in a bizarre future fighting Aku, and he lost the one person who knew about it and could appreciate it. No one else will ever share that memory or know what he went through.

The only analog I can think of is when you're the last guy at a WWII reunion.
 
U

UpperCaseN

Member
So it was that scene where Jack said "I remember this place" and then finding the red shades on the ground, that was The Guardian's place with the portal? I didn't pick up on that until googling about it right now, I forgot what that place looked like and even what The Guardian looked like
 
F

Figboy79

Aftershock LA
I really enjoyed the season, but I wasn't a fan of that ending.

I have no issues with bittersweet endings, but I agree with my wife in that the ending made Aashi feel like just a plot device. She existed solely to send Jack to the past to fulfill the shows mission statement, and Jack is left really being the same character he was at the beginning of the series.

Personally, I think real character growth would have been to have Jack realize that changing the past would erase all of the good he's done for people throughout his time in the future, not to mention erasing Aashi from his life. Then he and his allies could work to rebuild a better world now that Aku is gone.

I just like this "series finale" left more questions than answers, not to mention throwing Aashi in a refrigerator just to further Jack's "even when I win, I lose," angst (and the waste of a good character, as Aashi had some great potential). Overall, I loved the season, but the ending was very disappointing.

Edit: Oh, nice, Gurren Lagan spoilers. I'm still watching that show, so, awesome.
 
B

Biske

Member
The more I think about it, the more I love the way it all wrapped up.


Really makes everything has such an impact. We spent 4 seasons on all his adventures, so many characters and things done, at times felt truly lost and wandering and going no where.

And then be get back to his main goal, which was actually pretty short and simple when it got down to it, and in those small moments wiped away all that happened. That hits me hard. The realization what his quest really was leading toward all the time.

Has a lot of weight for me.
 
W

woodland

Member
Man ;\ that ending.

I hesitate to judge after reading these comments first, which inevitably have biased me somewhat, but really not a fan of that ending. It was like the TTGL ending without any of the emotional build up or attachment since we had Nia for like 25-30 eps, vs.
Ashi for like 7-8 eps? Also, as many others have mentioned, was seriously disappointing not seeing Jack say goodbye to the future world. After all of his friends and allies come to save him,
he *poof* disappears and that version of them is erased forever. Especially rough that Scotsman's last line is "I don't think she's your type".

All in all, so good to have Jack back, but those last few episodes definitely could've used more time to cook or we could've used some more time for development. Ah well,
hope we get more Jack/Genndy later on.
 
J

jrush64

Banned
That was a beautiful ending that broke me. They just couldn't let Jack be happy after everything he's been through. IT was satisfying and made sense though so I can't complain.
 
U

User 73706

Banned
I have to say, in terms of stuff I liked about S5, they really nailed Aku's "fighting style", if you can even call it that. It felt a little more "boring" and practical compared to some of his older schtick, but it makes complete sense considering he was in a Jack-induced depression for lord knows how many years. His fiery rollout attack in the Scotsman episode and now his giant shrapnel rain thing felt like they could have been straight out of Birth of Evil.

Also, the mecha punching the shit out of Aku was even more satisfying to me than the final blow. Not by much, but still, seeing something Aku's size just punching him in the face over and over before ripping his weird antler things off was incredible.
 
X

Xe4

Banned
Just finished watching. I liked the ending. The last five minutes were really great, totally made it work. It sucks it had a mixed reception, but I think that was inevitable no matter what the ending was. Nobody is going to be happy with an ending they waited a decade plus for. I wasn't entirely, and I don't think anyone else was. That's totally ok, I loved it for what it was. I wish Mako's introduction was the actual intro, give a cold opening of people going to the TV screens and then play that intro, it would've been great! The ending did seem a bit conventional and rushed for the first half, which I wasn't a great fan of. All in all, great episode. Really, all have been great except for 8 which I was not a fan of.

Thoughts
For the entire series, and I'm going to have to watch it again next Saturday to totally sum up my feelings, but I did like season five a whole bunch. That's not to say I didn't have my problems with it, because I did, but there was so much to love. Episodes 1-3 were fucking amazing, 4 and 5 were great, 6-8 were ok/good, and the last two were pretty fucking good. The art direction was impeccable. Ashi was a well written character, and I would have loved to see her relationship with her other sisters and her mother more. Jack displayed a huge range of emotions this season, compared to previous ones. Lamar stepped up his game and it showed. Baldwin wasn't a perfect Mako, but he did the part justice and I think Mako would be proud of the work Baldwin did. Crazy how two people who never knew each other could evoke such strong feelings of one another. The action was great (duh), and I only wish there had been more of it. Though with only ten episodes and a plot to move forward, I know why there was not.

Problems
I have problems with the relationship Jack and Ashi had and I don't think it was handled altogether too well, though that is a subjective thing. There are some more objective things that I think the show could have improved upon.
The Tone
This was a more mature season, yet still had to hearken back to Samurai Jack seasons 1-4 which were much lighter in tone. It was no easy task, but it certainly could have been done better. However I think the previews and the first 3 episodes set the series up to be far darker than it actually was. Indeed, it was a little jarring to see lighthearted stuff going on with all that darkness inside Jack and in the world. There were episodes that did it very well, such as 5, and those that did it less well, in the case of 6, where it went from totally lighthearted to deadly serious. Mood whiplash is a powerful thing, if done right, but I do feel it was flubbed a bit here.

The Pacing
There were parts of this show that felt rushed. It ruined the tense moments by not giving them room to breathe. Worse, there were parts of the show that were total filler. Episode 8 did not need to be there at all, and most of 6 could have been cut as well, pleasing fans of the original series aside. I do feel most of the episodes were paced correctly, but 7 and 10 were definitely rushed. Had 6/8 been reduced to give 7 and 10 more breathing room, that would have worked best I think.

Conclusion
Great show. Great season, and great ending. I wholeheartedly recommend all five seasons of Samurai Jack for numerous reasons littered all throughout this thread. I'd love to see Genndy do something with the tone of the first 3 episodes, because he fucking nailed that shit. My god, I'm glad this wasn't a movie, because the majority of that section would've had to be cut. Can't wait to see what he has up his sleeve next.
 
rackham

rackham

Banned
Great show. Great season. Loved Ashi. She wasn't a badly utilized character. I don't mind the fact that she brought Jack back to the past.

I thought they handled his return pretty perfectly.

Sad ending. I hoped it was going to be happier but it's kind of a bummer. Loved the season.
 
M

Mutanthands

Member
Veelk said:
What? That makes no sense. If anything, he shouldn't age because he is affected by his time travel powers. In fact, that statement doesn't make sense. Jack was teleported into the future. Clearly, Aku's time travel powers affect him, or else the series wouldn't have happened in the first place.
Click to expand...

The way I see, as soon as Jack is sent into the future, he stops progressing chronologically by being ripped from his proper place in the true timeline. So, after 50 years of everything, when he goes back with Ashi, chronologically, he returns to exact moment and place he left the timeline and can age again.

Aku's future is the alternative reality, changed by his time travel machinations. Jack was always meant to kill Aku that moment. Time repairs itself when he returns to the exact moment at the exactly same chronological age

Ashi lasting to the wedding thing with Jack's de-aged parents was dramatic license. It doesn't make sense, but it is what it is.
 
Z

Zekes!

Member
Damn

On one hand, I'm glad my boy Jack got his story wrapped up after all these years

on the other, it was a gut punch when Ashi disappeared. Yeah, yeah, their romance might have felt a little forced, but man I was glad to see Jack happy and it sucks to see that taken away from him after all he's been through. I think he earned his happy ending, but like Ashi said...without Aku she would never have existed. Damn.

I don't know why complete thoughts on the final season, but I do know I liked the first half a lot more than the second half. The sense of style and atmosphere was incredible and what I always loved about the series.
 
A

A-V-B

Member
Another idea that could cement Jack truly committing to the past: Future Aku, knowing he's about to be retroactively destroyed by a time traveling Jack, goes on a crazed self-destructive rampage, and he basically destroys the Earth with magic or weapons, something. So even if Jack went back to that future... there'd be nothing there waiting for him. So destroying Aku in the past prevents the end of the world.
 
Roronoa Zoro

Roronoa Zoro

Gold Member
I would have kept Ashi the character but eliminated the romance part. Have him redeem her and then she gathers the allies and stops him from committing suicide. That would have been plenty for her to do. Would have liked to see the allies kill Akus minions then jack reach the guardian to go back since that was the Vision shown. Or maybe he never goes back but kills Aku in the present and enjoys his friends from the past 50 years as his new life. Would have been bittersweet
 
N

NEO0MJ

Member
Sub-Zero at a Starbucks said:
I have to say, in terms of stuff I liked about S5, they really nailed Aku's "fighting style", if you can even call it that. It felt a little more "boring" and practical compared to some of his older schtick, but it makes complete sense considering he was in a Jack-induced depression for lord knows how many years. His fiery rollout attack in the Scotsman episode and now his giant shrapnel rain thing felt like they could have been straight out of Birth of Evil.
Click to expand...

In classic villain style Aku is always willing to indulge himself in his evil if he has the upper hand but when things are looking bad he pulls all the stops and goes for a simple yet hyper efficient attack. Like when he stole Jack's sword and was trying to kill him with it he first transformed into creatures that could use the sword in creative ways but when it was taking too long he just turned into the black ooze and overwhelmed Jack.
 
T

TheSun

Member
Y'know, when peeps made comparisons to Gurren lagann [sic?] I expected an over the top finale, not that other thing.

Welp, Jack finally got an ending.

I appreciate the new season for making me give Samurai Jack a second chance after many years of ignoring it. Great show.

Shame I found the new season itself very average, aside from the first three episodes. It ended exactly as I though, which is fine but I hoped for better.
 
T

Tsunamo

Member
You know there's one other really really minor not a dealbreaker thing about the final episode that I was a bit sad about and that was the Triseraquins (or the one that was voiced) not having the accents they did in the original. I really loved that about them in the original. Not really a plothole or anything though.
 
rackham

rackham

Banned
I wanted to also say...

man..that part with the intro from the first four seasons really hit me in the feels when ti was incorporated into the finale episode as Aku narrating Jack's beginning and "end."
 
B

BraXzy

Member
Really sad that this has ended but at least it was closed out.

I used to watch this as a kid after school and it always grabbed me because of how different it was to many of the more brainless cartoons at the time. I 100% never saw them all, or maybe even half because so many callbacks I did not recognise.

I may need to rewatch the whole series.
 
C

Curt Baboon

Member
Veelk said:
What? That makes no sense. If anything, he shouldn't age because he is affected by his time travel powers. In fact, that statement doesn't make sense. Jack was teleported into the future. Clearly, Aku's time travel powers affect him, or else the series wouldn't have happened in the first place.
Click to expand...

I meant unaffected in the sense that he wasn't going to be impacted by the future disappearing like Ashi was. He wasn't part of the timeline so his existence didn't depend on Aku like everyone else, which is also why he did not age while he was in the future.

I'll grant you that the phrasing could've been better...
 
The Hermit

The Hermit

Member
I liked the ending, it felt like it was written a long time ago, in a distance lan...err ahem, I mean during the 4 previous seasons.

The only thing that feel it was added later is obviously Ashi. I think the original ending would go with Jack missing his old friends and all his previous(future?) adventures.

It was kinda of messy the way they handled the last season, it begun very dark and then it returned to it's Cartoon Network origins, but the process was a bit jarring.

Still, I am glad he a satisfying conclusion.

EDIY: Greg's voice was perfect this episode. Hearing the old intro and then his voice during the episode was insane, he was channeling Mako. Beautiful stuff.
 
S

Speedydonut

Member
hiFOdMX.jpg
 
T

TheSun

Member
Huh.

After sleeping on it and thinking about it some more, my thoughts has actually worsened.

I'll spare y'all the whine.

Hope tartakovsky [sic?] gets to make more cartoons, I sense m'boy ain't going back to Sony any time soon.

I also hope it inspires jerks to make action cartoons again. They bring in the ratings (unless it was only because Jack was back).
 
T

Tsunamo

Member
I got the impression Gendy really enjoyed the creative freedom he got from Adult Swim versus the stuff he seems to have to deal with working on movies and seemed like he wanted to shakeup the medium a bit again when he works on his next project (judging from his comments in his pre-ep 1 adult swim Q&A) so I don't think it'll take him too long after Hotel Translyvania 3 to get back into TV animation again.

Gonna be a long wait till then though. :(

On one hand i'd kill for a Sym ending, one more season would be enough, but on the other hand it'd be so amazing having another new Gendy cartoon so i'd welcome either.
 
P

Prof. Bathtub

Member
Hm, it occurred to me that Genndy's OTHER called-in-later-to-direct-a-definitive-finale: Ego Trip, also had weird time shenanigans. Though instead of characters being erased by the timeline shift, we had to assume that Dexter's bad futures NEED to happen in order to eventually defeat the Mandarks. In both cases, I don't think we're meant to think too hard about it, though Dexter is not as dramatic a series, obviously.

Anyway, good ending. A few tweaks would be helpful, but I don't think the season as a whole needed to be longer, per se. Maybe future Aku needed some finale words, but I think Past Aku being surprised worked in a David Lo Pan sort of way.
 
B

B-Dubs

No Scrubs
Tsunamo said:
I got the impression Gendy really enjoyed the creative freedom he got from Adult Swim versus the stuff he seems to have to deal with working on movies and seemed like he wanted to shakeup the medium a bit again when he works on his next project (judging from his comments in his pre-ep 1 adult swim Q&A) so I don't think it'll take him too long after Hotel Translyvania 3 to get back into TV animation again.

Gonna be a long wait till then though. :(

On one hand i'd kill for a Sym ending, one more season would be enough, but on the other hand it'd be so amazing having another new Gendy cartoon so i'd welcome either.
Click to expand...

I have a feeling Adult Swim is going to throw money at him after Hotel Transylvania 3. Jack did amazing ratings wise and created a ton of word of mouth. Plus the network has been throwing around more and more money to support the new Toonami block lately.

Genndy's gonna be back sooner than we think, it's just a matter of what he's going to be doing.
 
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