Might be late to the party, but just binged watched all of samurai jack (yes the entirety of the 5 seasons).

Ok so to begin with, I really loved season 5, it was truly an upgrade. If you rewatch the first 4 seasons you notice that the episodes feel quite repetitive revolving around 3 main themes (Jack trying to find a way to the get to the past and failing, meeting people and helping them out befriending them, and fighting bounty hunters) so it can get quite boring.

To start with the positive, I loved the art style and animation, it was loyal to the series and modern at the same time.

The first 3 episodes were amazing, but, like many, I found the ending a bit disappointing, I didn't hate it, but compared to the beginning of the season, where the pacing and the storytelling was on point, it felt rushed and way less impactful.

The pacing was very good for the first 3 episodes. The way they built up to the moment of his first human kill was amazing, and they way it affected him was very impactful. Combined with the fact that Jack was already tormented and on the verge of breaking and committing suicide, it truly gave a twist worthy of a finale to the Samurai Jack saga.

The 4th episode is where the cracks started showing in the storytelling, it was still fine, but not on the same level as the first 3 episodes. I knew that 1 of the sisters will survive and that it would be Ashi, it makes sense from a storytelling perspective, it's simpler. It's way more complicated otherwise, you wouldn't have time to explore the different characters in depth. Plus, you need another character to break the cycle; Jack couldn't defeat Aku, and Aku couldn't defeat Jack, having a new character tied to both was a smart choice as a plot device.

I feel they didn't properly explore Ashi's character. Jack and Ashi' relationship being a very important narrative, I felt it needed a bit more depth to be convincing. I didn't mind the romance though. I've seen many opinions online that they wanted their relationship to be a mentor/apprentice one rather than a romantic one, I disagree, a romantic relationship is way more impactful, it can be a turning point in someone's life. It can give back purpose when hope is lost. I believe Jack deserved it somehow, all his journey, he was a loner. Everybody needs somebody, sometimes, even someone as strong and determined as Samurai Jack. My problem is that they didn't explore it properly. It felt rushed, forced, and awkward instead of satisfying.

Ok so my first problem; we needed a more compelling reason why she decides not to kill him. It happened very quickly. Jack was being tormented for 3 episodes, the pacing was on point. She just lost her sisters, and had her whole worldview shattered, and made a character flip in just 1 episode, it was too quick, the pacing was off. They could've explored more the good in her, or made her confused for longer, having to fight her internal demons like Jack. Them journeying together and him showing her the evil of Aku to convince her felt silly.

I loved the episode where she travels alone and meets Jack's friends (for nostalgia reasons) even though the rave song was so cringe.

The biggest problem was episode 7. I found her fighting the orc army completely useless. I loved the plotline of Jack meditating and regaining his sword back, and the contrast with the fight. But, in my opinion, she should've been fighting her mother the whole time. It would have been way more compelling. They could've used this episode to make her flip. Imagine having your whole worldview shattered, and killing your mother this simply without really question it, it doesn't really make sense. It would make way more sense if she goes through the same journey as Jack; he faces his mad self in order to gain his sword back, and she does the same; hate her own past, her upbringing, her mother and at that moment decide to save Jack, kill her mother, then fall in love with him. I also didn't like that Jack regained his past look. I loved the look at the beginning of the season, it really showed someone who's in despair and stopped caring about himself, I understand he needed a new look after regaining his sword back, but, I really wished he kept a trimmed beard; it would've been way cooler, and maybe showed better character growth, having a 3rd version of Jack, one that regained hope, and became stronger.

To recap, episodes 4,5,6,7 were ok. Maybe we needed more time on Ashi's internal conflict.

I found episode 8 to be funny. Yes, it was awkward with the sexual innuendos and how they fell in love, but hey, romance is awkward. I didn't really mind this episode in particular, it's maybe the past episodes that made this one seem awkward. If they built it properly, they could leave episode 8 as it is and it would've been great.

While watching episode 8, I checked the episode number and thought to myself "Oh my god, there's only 2 episodes left how are they gonna resolve the story properly" and 'spoiler alert', they didn't. I really wish there was 1 more episode.

Ok so, I love the idea they were behind, but not the execution. As cliché as it might seem, the idea that Jack needed the power of friendship, and more specifically, love, to finish his quest, is a beautiful ending to the story. Because, even for someone as strong as Jack, you can't do it alone. But before continuing, let's address the elephant in the room; the guardian of the portal. I remember as a kid this episode, and it really impacted me, and during watching season 5, I was waiting to see how they will address it. And honestly, I missed it, I blinked for a second, and didn't notice that the red glasses were referring the portal guardian. That was disappointing. I knew from a storytelling point of view that him returning to the past required Ashi, it's definitely way more compelling that way, but everything felt very rushed at this point. However, I actually loved the plot twist where Aku controls Ashi and Jack saves her by telling her "I love you". People might disagree, it might be "corny" but if he said anything else would've been cornier. It needed to be personal at this point, if Jack said something like "Even if you have darkness inside of you, it's not what defines you" or any other wise thing, it would've been weak. He needed to express what she means to him, how she gave him hope again, how he couldn't stand seeing her lose herself to darkness. If you've ever experienced someone telling you "I love you" very deeply and sincerely you know how this affects you; loves makes us do crazy things. I think if they built up their relationship better, and explored Ashi's inner struggle better, this moment would have been way more impactful.

And finally, let's address the last 5 minutes of the last episode. These last 5 minutes are possibly one of the most rushed 5 minutes in the history of television. These 5 minutes alone could been explored in 2 episodes. I wished season 5 had 13 episodes like the first 4 seasons. We all knew, that eventually he would return to the past, and it makes sense that Ashi would help him, being Aku's daughter. It's not a bad ending in theory, actually it's the best one, again in theory, but for the love of God, why did they rush it this way. Let's go back to the second episode, where Jack kills the first daughter of Aku and we see blood spilling for the first time. See how impactful this moment was? It was impactful because, we've been watching 4 seasons of him destroying robots and never spilling red blood. It was impactful because earlier on, he was comforting himself by saying 'they're just nuts and bolts, they're just nuts and bolts'. They took the time, through 2 full episodes, and 1 more to show us the impact on him. Really the pacing was perfect. Then in the final episode, he tells Ashi he loves her, she takes back control of herself, notices she has the powers of Aku, goes back in time, Jack defeats Aku, they prepare to get married, and then she disappears, in freaking 5 minutes, all of this happens.

I don't really care about her disappearing and him not getting a full happy ending. Everything at this point would've felt weak and unsatisfying. I really needed an episode where he fights Aku, in the future, defeats him, with the help of his friends, the scotsman, everyone else, and specially Ashi, a climactic battle. Then he enjoys the victory with everyone, and finally he's confronted with the choice of leaving everyone and going back to the past, because of the obligation to his family. He sadly leaves all of his friends behind, and goes to the past with Ashi. When he kills Aku in the past, at that moment, Ashi disappears. It would've been a better bittersweet ending than what we got.

Finally, I really enjoyed the season, it got me hooked, and i think the reason why people are angry about the ending, is because they did a really good job in the first couple of episodes. There was so much potential, and the ending wasn't theoretically bad, it was the right ending in my opinion, but it was rushed.

For anyone who read everything and got to the end, thank you for sticking around. I really wanted to get this out of my system.

That is the Question and update version of previous thread on this Sub Reddit

With Dynamite Entertainment doing comics on Warner Brothers Hanna Barbara Action Heroes like Thundercats, Space Ghost, Jonny Quest, SliverHawks, the Herculoids, Captain Planet, Blue Falcon, Thundarr the Barbarian & now BEN 10 what do you think of doing new Comics on Samurai Jack probably set between seasons 4 and 5 and tells the story of how Jack lost his way that is story that really needs to be told

And maybe a comic set after the Series Finale too? With Jack trying to move on or trying to find love or find piece first I guess well depending on which ending you go by

Anyway there's a big gap to fill and lots to work with we know how it ends it would be a big "how we got here" story and it can run for many issues Specially with the Gap between Seasons 4 and 5 there's a big story to tell there how Jack lost his way and events leading to him loosing his sword and gaining the Black Armor as seen in opening episode of Season 5

For writer I pick Jim Zub who wrote IDW stories to comeback and write for Dynamite version though I don't have a good idea for main artist my pick would be Andy Suriano again though given his bigger name now he probably only stay for first 12-15 issues or comic artist with a similar style

Genndy Tartakovsky would oversee and draw variant covers Ala Kevin Eastman who draws a variant cover for every issue of Main Ninja Turtles Comic Book over at IDW or Declan Shalvey doing B cover for current Thundercats comics since his the writer on it like Genndy sorta did in IDW era

Maybe a crossover one-shot with the Thundercats to just imagine Jack vs Lion-O or Jack meets Usagi with crossover with Dark Horse to those two crossover alone would be epic

But that's me how you vision Dynamite Entertainment likely Samurai Jack comics should be like? Like which writers and artists you wanna see tackle Jack?

Art above by Genndy Tartakovsky from IDW era

2x Aku Birdlings

3x Eggs (soon to be Jack's scrambled eggs)

10000x Love

Look at them go! They love each other so dearly, they watch over their little eggs and make sure to warm it up so it hatches new little Aku Birdlings <3

If you ever came across them! You should rub their horns with your finger, it had sensitive spots like a bird's beak, so they would absolutely fluff their feathers up and love you if you rub their horns and give them head scratches!

I am emualtingg this game on eden. There is a mod for the main menu having the main theme from the show but I guess it's made only for PC. Anyway to have it work on switch?

I felt a voice calling to me, telling me to make a drawing of Aku as a bird perching on a tree twig.. I have finally fulfilled my quest.

BIRD AKU

Made this Samurai Jack papercraft using a freely downloadable template I found online.

Really enjoyed putting this one together — especially seeing the flat template turn into the finished model. Sharing it here because I thought the community might enjoy it!

Template was freely available for download, and all credit goes to the original designer.

I made a new Aku avatar :D

Thanks to a very loving friend who tolerates all of my Aku-stic shenanigans, I had the privilege to attend the Planet Anime convention in Kansas City this weekend with exactly one goal in mind.

Greg Baldwin was incredibly sweet and more than worth the hour + wait in line both times just for the hugs alone. He got up and performed Aku's opening monologue for us as a reward for all of our patience, he loved my Grapes of Darkness art piece, he added an extra funny message inside the pizza box with a bonus Aku signature, and the little "kill" with the arrow pointing at Jack was his own touch to the BTT print. I also got a selfie taken with him that I'm working on printing out, which has emphasized how big a deal this is to those in my life because I absolutely abhor having my photo taken.

Words cannot express how much this experience has meant to me, and though I was able to hold it back in public, every time I look at these pieces it makes me tear up. This character has been so important to me for almost 15 years, and I can now say that I've met him. His last words to me were "You can have another hug when you kill the samurai!"

Gotta get back ! Back to the past !

Doing a series of Katana wielding fellow in Pixel art ( Did Shuro from Dungeon Meshi first, now Jack).

The show, especially the cinematography, has had a big influence on me. Season 5 was a banger ( albeit a bit rushed at the end )

Most characters having no name is part of the charm and the timeless feeling of the show. But, here are some of my head canons for their actual names:

Jack: Toshiro. Toshiro Mifune was a Japanese actor that starred in a lot of samurai films, including Yojimbo and Sanjuro, films that inspired Samurai Jack (even the "Vagabond" theme in Samurai Jack sounds a lot like the Yojimbo theme). Both Yojimbo and Sanjuro follow the story of a ronin that lives modestly, arrives in a new town or city, and then uses his wisdom, cunning, and some lessons he learned along the way to defeat the villains. Sounds a lot like Jack.

By no means is he named "Brent". "Brent" is the sound my sword makes when it hits a rock.

The Scotsman: Either "Alastair" (a Scottish version of "Alexander", meaning "Protector", fitting for his loyalty towards Jack and his sacrifice to save his daughters) or "Thomas", after Thomas Blake Glover, a real life Scotsman (he was also bald and had a moustache), that traveled to Japan and started selling tea, befriended various Japanese figures, and even brought a steam locomotive and automobiles to Japan.

The Scotsman's wife: Isla. When the Scotsman lists the name of his daughters, he starts with Flora (the one we see the most in season 5). The third one is named Isla. In Scottish naming tradition, it's a common practice to name your first two daughters after their grandmothers and the third one after the mother.

Da Samurai: Stanley. He is pretty obviously a parody of MC Hammer, and that is MC Hammer's real first name.

The Gentleman (Bounty hunter): James "Gentle Jim". In season 5, it is briefly mentioned that Aku's 4th favorite assassin is Gentle Jim. Could be a reference to the Gentleman.

Don (the leader of the gangsters): Either "Alphonse" (Al Capone's name), or "Rocky" (the name of a gangster in an old school Looney Tunes cartoon featuring Bugs Bunny, that spoke with the same accent and "Yeah, yeah" as Don).

The Emperor: Nobunaga. His physical appearance strongly resembles Oda Nobunaga, the great unifier of Japan. He wasn't an emperor, but a daimyo (warlord), a very skilled and cunning warrior that often defied old tradition and was pretty meritocratic, often working with lower class people that were very skilled. Also, he met various foreigners, including Portuguese merchants and Yasuke, an African that he hired as one of his samurais. Fitting with Jack's Father relation with people from various cultures that became Jack's mentors.

The Spartan King and Prince: Obviously, Leonidas and Pleistarchus (son of Leonidas and the new king after Leonidas died at Thermopylae).

How would you live if Aku was your roommate while obviously not being a 100 feet tall tyrant?

Imagine chilling at the living room and Aku just steals a slice of pizza with a tendril while chilling on the ceiling fan lol.

But really would he be a great roommate to live with?

I recently watched Son of the White Mare, 1981 Hungarian animated psychedelic fantasy adventure film, and was SHOCKED by how much it reminded me of Samurai Jack in terms of art style. I know Genndy Tartakovsky is Russian, so it made me wonder if he had seen it growing up since I imagine a lot of the films in the Soviet Union might spread between countries.

I would highly definitely suggest it to any Samurai Jack fans, it was really beautiful and the shape language was so similar to my eye! Trailer is here and full movie is on the Internet Archive.

Hand painted for a pop up gallery.

Edit: Thanks for all the love. I’m Neil Dittbenner on instagram if you want to see more of my art.

Inspired by the "Grapes of Luxury" trope where Roman nobles are depicted being fed grapes or fanned with fronds. This took about 4 hours create with a trackpad on a laptop. There are a total of 11 episodes referenced via items and characters. The one feeding Aku is my own character.

Tattoo by Dominic Nichols (@DeafKidInk) at Found Soul Tattoo

I love this piece so much!

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Haha... It was for a contest, actually. Making a "wanted" poster for Jack is fun. Although I think I exaggerated, oh well... I hope you like it x,b

Anyone have something similar to this for sale? I just got into collecting for Samurai Jack!

Thank you

Art Source