So, I don't really do reviews. I'm a rather terse person in real life, mostly because I just don't have the patience or care to be long-winded. Also, as I've been born and raised in the south, and I'm not majoring in English Literature, my vocabulary also doesn't quite fit that of most people who actually do reviews. That being said, I'm'a give this a go, with a non-spoiler review for people who have never watched the show, followed by a shorter non-spoiler review for those who used to watch it, followed by spoilers and points for the current episodes so far.
Non-spoiler review of Samurai Jack
I was 10 when Samurai Jack first aired on Cartoon Network, back in 2001. At the time, I was some dumb kid, trying to hang out with my super-cool 7.5 year older brother. I constantly nagged him to let me do stuff with him and his friends, to watch the shows they watched, etc. Any other youngest sibling probably understands exactly how I was, and any other older sibling probably remembers their kid brother acting the same.
At the time, he (we) were super into the other dumb shows that were on Toonami; DragonBallZ, some gundam or other, etc.
I relate this story to get to this point; Samurai Jack came on sometime around these shows, whether it was before or after I can't remember at this point, but while he was at soccer practice after school, or hanging out in the school parking lot with his friends, as teenagers are wont to do, I would be at home, faithfully recording these shows for my brother, hoping I'd get to watch them with him. And, during this period of my life, Samurai Jack aired. It was very kid friendly, as makes sense for the time of day it was on, but it also tackled issues that interested me. My brother, as others will suspect, did not care a whit about it.
So, Samurai Jack was the first show I embraced as an individual. It follows a man, thrown out of his time by a great and powerful evil, Aku. He fights alone to try and return to his own time, and defeat said evil. But, as he fights alone, it turns out that, hey, he's really not alone. There are many others, defenseless, weak, unskilled, who also want out of the evil that the world has become. A lone warrior defending those who cannot defend themselves.
It spoke to me, as is expected of a stupid 10 year old kid, but it also had a rather profound effect on my life. They are great ideals, and indeed(though I won't get into this), greatly influenced how I see my religion, as well.
Less about me, I suppose, more about the show.
The show is much less about "chargin' mah fireball!" than other shows I watched. It was contemplative, quiet, and intense. Each episode brought you closer to the titular character, who adopts the name 'Jack', not through his words, but through his quiet deeds and determined spirit.
The art of the show follows this same spirit; it is never overdone, and indeed, is very simple most of the time. But despite how simple the art seems, it also allows for a very real glimpse at a world covered by darkness. Even in this post-apocalyptic world of no hope, there are still quiet streams, still animals living their lives. You get a glimpse of a world very much alive, and this is where JAck draws his strength from. He does not fight Aku simply because he is evil, he fights Aku so that people and nature my thrive out from under his evil.
Now, 13 years after the show was pulled from Cartoon Network, and 50 years in-show, Jack returns. However, gone is the childlike innocence of the past; Jack has not been idle in these intervening 50 years, nor has Aku, and their constant battles against each other have worn both very thin. From the show quickly, and unexpectedly, forcing Jack to talk himself out of suicide, to Aku talking to himself in the guise of a therapist, it has quickly become apparent that the end is nigh, because neither character has much left of their rope to be worn away.
For those of you who have never watched the show, I do not recommend jumping right into season 5. Samurai Jack has always been a rather serious show, but it has also always had a subtle but necessary form of humor, which, ironically, comes from Aku.
I also do not recommend watching every episode of the first 4 seasons. It is much more suited to the 9-13 demographic that it was targeted for, and when I tried to binge-watch it, I got sick and bored of it rather quickly, but a sampling is necessary to appreciate the current season. Which, and I cannot state this enough, is absolutely amazing.
I guess that about wraps up my coverage for new folks, so...
Non-Spoiler review for those who've watched Samurai Jack before
This'll be a lot shorter, so bear with me.
If you remember this show, you remember how it used to be. Well, good news! The show is pretty much exactly as you remember, except with the innocence stripped away.
Jack is very much at the end of his rope, with Death pursuing him every time he stops, and his own subconscious trying to talk him into suicide at the first real bit of adversity. Episode 1 will feel very much like a return to the original seasons, until Jacks psychosis begins manifesting, which qill quickly remove any illusions that this is merely a rehash of the original seasons. You also receive glimpses of the lives of Jack's next foe, which is also very different from the original.
The beginning of ep 2 will also feel like a return, with Aku back to his old ridiculousness, but, after a quick fight with a robot, the true spirit of Season 5 begins.
Jack is ambushed by his toughest foe to date, and the end of the episode would leave you guessing if he even survived, if we didn't know there were 8 more episodes to go.
So, I give the current season 5 stars. It has everything I loved about the original show, while also maturing it to fit its now matured viewership. Seriously, if you liked Samurai Jack before, you will enjoy it now, so give it a watch!
Spoilers for Season 5, specifically Episode 3
**Last warning!**
So, Idk if I'm the only one watching this show on the board or not, but even if so, I'm still doing this for me.
Episode 2 and 3 are really linked, and oh-man I loved it. At first I was disappointed with how the Daughters of Aku managed to fail so hard in this episode, but after rewatching it and giving it some thought, it actually makes a lot of sense.
The Daughters were trained from birth to attack always; while they were clearly ready for an ambush, it rapidly became apparent that they were woefully unprepared to be on the defensive. As episode 2 showed, in ambush and attack, they are unparalleled, at least when working together. But, having survived their onslaught, recovering(I'll get back to this in a sec), and re-centering, Jack was clearly in his prime attacking the Daughters.
He showed off the skills that got him to this point, attacking them multiple times with his eyes closed, or when they were least prepared, using some of the Daughters to block the line-of-sight of others, etc, but once his ambush ran its course and the 3 surviving Daughters had him in an out-and-out fight, they proved once again that their lifetime of training and implicit teamwork made them more than a match for Jack. And, while I am discussing the Daughters, late me take a bit of an aside here.
As we know from Ep1, the Daughters did not have anything remotely resembling an even distorted view of a normal life, but Ep3 really cemented this. It showed how these Daughters are less human than even some of the robots Jack faced (I think this was why Scaramoush was shown off so in Ep1, to really give a counter-point to the Daughters), and set the stage for Jack to come to terms with killing them. Jack, obviously, could not have seen this, but he managed to get the same conclusion from their conversation.
So, anyways, back to the battle, once Jack broke them of their teamwork, the Daughters showed off their main flaw, one that their mother programmed into them; the Daughters are a predator, creatures bred from birth to always attack, to never give their prey time to think, time to consider. Which worked great, in episode 2. But now Jack had had time, and the Daughters are unable to shake that programming. Scaramoush would have stayed at the end of the tree and thrown crap at Jack till he hit him or Jack was forced to re-engage. And, had the Daughters done so, they could have killed Jack, but their programming forced them to attack him one-by-one. The first held Jack at bay, but he proves why he's the better warrior. (she may still be alive, though I doubt it.) The second showed the Daughters pride, that they are the will of Aku. And it's not what the prideful are prepared for that kills them, it is the unexpected. The third, Ashi, the only named Daughter, their leader,who first saw the outside world, who won their masks, who commanded they follow the river, who took watch to see the look at the stars, showed that Aku's rage can not defeat Jack.
While we may see the first sister again, I am pretty confident that Ashi will be seen again. She is the embodiment of Aku's rage, which even Aku himself has lost. I really enjoyed how, hanging defeated, her sisters dead, she screams defiance at Jack. And, indeed, it was this rage that caused Jack to let her fall. The danger done, he was once again willing to give this being of flesh and blood another chance at life, but she showed that her life isn't one of a person, but one of a machine. A creature whose whole life has been in pursuit of Jack's death. Thus, with a look of 'I am completely done with this shit', Jack lets her fall.
As I said, I absolutely expect Ashi will show up again. Will she be shown how misguided her life as been, or be a constant threat from the shadows, tracking and attacking Jack at any opportunity? I don't know, and I don't care, but I'll be happy either way. With all of like 6 lines of dialogue Tartakovsky managed to implement and characterize a completely new character, and has done so flawlessly, and for that, I am incredibly stoked.
As a couple other asides, I liked the white wolf in episode 2, as a metaphor for Jack. I was not nearly as pleased with the wolf showing up in ep3, but I suppose they needed some dash of humor in what was otherwise a very tense episode. Also, Idk what the deal was with Jack; I get that he's immortal now, and I also get that it may have taken the Daughters time to find another exit from the tomb(maybe), but his drifting down the river etc couldn't have been more than a day or two at most, and the Daughters pursuit undoubtedly quicker; how did Jack heal up so well? Does being immortal mean that time is 'loose' around him? I get that it's not really known, so maybe I'm spitting into the wind asking these questions, but I am curious to see what others(if) think about it.
Lastly, I'm super stoked about this season. I'm kinda sad the Daughters are (mostly) gone, but I'm looking forward to see what the next trilogy of this seaon brings.
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Spoilers End
