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[lvl99 Pixel]

God damn that Season 5 Episode 3 Promo...

Things are about to get seriously dark.

Spoiler

Is Jack going to go berserk and kill them all? Does he accept the fact that he has to kill to defeat Aku? Maybe that wolf scene was foreshadowing that his morals and warrior spirit died after being struggling so much.

aye, if its darker than episode 2 I might actually be out, which is a fucking shame since Jack is one of my favourite cartoons

 

[Net_Wrecker]

Just when I thought I couldn't love Samurai Jack any more, they go and do a take on The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly's final standoff, complete with an Ecstasy of Gold lift.

This show <3

 

[Bronx-Man]

Therapist Aku has good taste in cardigans.

Homeboy got himself that cleeeeeeeean fit.

 

[Chezzymann]

aye, if its darker than episode 2 I might actually be out, which is a fucking shame since Jack is one of my favourite cartoons

Yeah i think this level of blood and hinting at suicide is enough darkness for the show. I dont think it should go too far, it still should be the same show. Not something completely different.

 

[UnemployedVillain]

aye, if its darker than episode 2 I might actually be out, which is a fucking shame since Jack is one of my favourite cartoons

Yeah i think this level of blood and hinting at suicide is enough darkness for the show. I dont think it should go too far, it still should be the same show. Not something completely different.

*Sigh* This is why western animators stick to kids shows and comedies

 

[Admiral Woofington]

Speak for yourselves, unless the show ends with Jack getting lost at sea and then appearing later as lumberJack, there's no way they can fuck up a season I've been waiting this long for

 

[Chezzymann]

*Sigh* This is why western animators stick to kids shows and comedies

I mean I'm fine with that stuff, its just i want it to still resemble the old show. Its already at the point where theres a dramatic tone change between seasons, if it gets even darker it wouldn't really be the same show.

 

[LotusHD]

I mean I'm fine with that stuff, its just i want it to still resemble the old show. Its already at the point where theres a dramatic tone change between seasons, if it gets even darker it wouldn't really be the same show.

It still does though? I mean, it'd be weirder if they didn't address what Jack should be realistically going through. What would be "too far"?

 

[Net_Wrecker]

aye, if its darker than episode 2 I might actually be out, which is a fucking shame since Jack is one of my favourite cartoons

Yeah i think this level of blood and hinting at suicide is enough darkness for the show. I dont think it should go too far, it still should be the same show. Not something completely different.

You can't come back after over a decade with a season that's completely about finishing the story and just make 10 more goofy standalone episodes, brehs. This ending is a long time coming. Jack has to deal with the fact that he's been spinning his wheels for decades, the fact that Aku's essentially won. It has to be darker, more personal. The stakes have to be raised. This is the final push, and the shackles are off.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

I mean I'm fine with that stuff, its just i want it to still resemble the old show. Its already at the point where theres a dramatic tone change between seasons, if it gets even darker it wouldn't really be the same show.

We just had a scene of aku being goofy.

And this is a 10 episode series that is meant to end the whole series. You don't go from a serious series ending arc to a more light hearted one for no reason. Genndy isn't going to make his baby rated R because fuck everything, he is making what he wants to make without the restriction of a pg rating.

The grand majority of the first episode felt like nothing different from the rest of the series.

 

[lvl99 Pixel]

*Sigh* This is why western animators stick to kids shows and comedies

If Jack was always this way I wouldn't have batted an eye.
If it ends up being tonally disparate, then its nothing to do with violence being the problem in and of itself.

Jack was more than capable of being a mature cartoon without the need for blood and suicide etc

You can't come back after over a decade with a season that's completely about finishing the story and just make 10 more goofy standalone episodes, brehs. This ending is a long time coming. Jack has to deal with the fact that he's been spinning his wheels for decades, the fact that Aku's essentially won. It has to be darker, more personal. The stakes have to be raised. This is the final push, and the shackles are off.

nobody was asking for 10 goofy episodes

 

[Chezzymann]

It still does though? I mean, it'd be weirder if they didn't address what Jack should be realistically going through. What would be "too far"?

I guess jack actually attempting suicide and failing, or he just starts stabbing them repeatedly going crazy even after they're already dead. Extreme stuff like that

Honestly, I kind of think its already starting to go a bit too far with the creepy birth scene and all the blood.I'm glad they haven't started cursing yet at least. I was hoping that a kid could watch the whole show start to finish without being freaked out but it doesn't seem to be the case.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

If Jack was always this way I wouldn't have batted an eye.
If it ends up being tonally disparate, then its nothing to do with violence being the problem in and of itself.

Jack was more than capable of being a mature cartoon without the need for blood and suicide etc

Jack also didn't fail his mission and was left as a ghost of his former self for 50 years so oooo

I guess jack actually attempting suicide and failing, or he just starts stabbing them repeatedly going crazy even after they're already dead. Extreme stuff like that

Honestly, I kind of think its already starting to go a bit too far with the creepy birth scene and all the blood.I'm glad they haven't started cursing yet at least. I was hoping that a kid could watch the whole show start to finish without being freaked out but it doesn't seem to be the case.

I think gendy is very aware that his audience has grown up. The people who brought this back x years later weren't cartoon network the main network, but adult swim. Kids nowadays might catch some older cartoons on Netflix, but just like the Harry Potter novels got darker as they went along so it makes sense this grew up with its primary audience.

 

[Nordicus]

I was hoping that a kid could watch the whole show start to finish without being freaked out but it doesn't seem to be the case.

*shrug*

TV 14

 

[Net_Wrecker]

nobody was asking for 10 goofy episodes

Obviously. I'm exaggerating to make a point. It's 10 22-minute chunks to finish a story we've been waiting over a decade to see completed, in a series that will sometimes go 5+ minutes without dialogue and have at least one major action scene per episode. There is very little time to dedicate to lighthearted one-off sequences/gags/episodes like the initial run, and Jack has to deal with the weight of this journey now. Is the tone slightly different? Yes, but we aren't in 2005 fresh off season 4 on cartoon network. Everything that made Jack, Jack is still there, except the drama/violence is a little less constrained.

 

[cntr]

I was hoping that a kid could watch the whole show start to finish without being freaked out but it doesn't seem to be the case.

I think you aren't giving kids enough credit. All this stuff is well in line with 90s and 10s animation, it's just a bit more upfront than they typically allow.

 

[Xe4]

I think you aren't giving kids enough credit. All this stuff is well in line with 90s and 10s animation, it's just a bit more upfront than they typically allow.

I wouldn't show this to a 7 year old or anything, but all of Jack is pretty much perfect for a 10 or 11 year old, this season included. It's just the earlier episodes could be watched by someone a tiny bit younger.

 

[cntr]

Yeah.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

I don't think a young kid could fully grasp the darkness of Jacks inner turmoil and

Spoiler

suicidal thoughts

Like they might get thats what he meant depending on their upbringing but I don't think they would sit back and think just how much meaning that has for a character that just one season ago was filled with hope and having goofy adventures on the side.

 

[Xe4]

Looking at the episodes of Samurai Jack, I think it's notable that the show got darker as time went on a little darker. Episodes like "Jack and the Haunted House", "The Birth of Evil", "The Aku Infection", "Seasons of Death", "The Tale of X-9", and "The Princess and the Bounty Hunters" already had a darker undertone that wasn't present in the earlier episodes.

I don't think it's hard to see Jack's mental state sliding from where it was in season 4 to where it is now given 50 years and Jack has the prospect in being in Aku's future for eternity. The show works because it's darker, but not just for the sake of being so. Jack is very obviously lost in this season, and I think a large part of this season will be showing that darkness in these first few episodes so it can deal with how he resolves his issues and moves onward.

 

[cntr]

Yeah sure maybe kids wouldn't understand it fully, but that doesn't mean they couldn't understand it at all.

I mean, look at Pixar movies. I'm sure kids had an idea of what the intro montage of Up meant.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

Yeah sure maybe kids wouldn't understand it fully, but that doesn't mean they couldn't understand it at all.

I mean, look at Pixar movies. I'm sure kids had an idea of what the intro montage of Up meant.

A kid in my theater asked his mom out loud "are they sad because they got old?" which made so many burst out laughing.

 

[cntr]

I'm not saying every kid ever is going to understand, but children aren't incapable of understanding things. Especially once you start getting out of single-digit ages.

 

[lvl99 Pixel]

what are you guys talking about. Kids love violence!
thats why revenge of the sith is the bestest star wars

 

[Slater]

what are you guys talking about. Kids love violence!
thats why revenge of the sith is the bestest star wars

Uhh that's not a cartoon my man, but if you want to use Star Wars then sure kids did in fact love it when Ashoka decapitated four dudes on screen at once and when Maul murdered a whole village, show for great ratings. What point where you failing to make again?

 

[caliph95]

what are you guys talking about. Kids love violence!
thats why revenge of the sith is the bestest star wars

I mean yeah kids love violence, which why the biggest family movies are either Superhero and action movies or even a lot of pixar and disney movies have action.
Also Force Awakens made a billion dollars and is probably at least as violent as revenge of the sith.

 

[Veelk]

Has there been any talk of getting HD versions of older Jack seasons?

 

[lvl99 Pixel]

Uhh that's not a cartoon my man, but if you want to use Star Wars then sure kids did in fact love it when Ashoka decapitated four dudes on screen at once and when Maul murdered a whole village, show for great ratings. What point where you failing to make again?

Just wondering why people started talking about how kids might not understand the new Samurai Jack when I dont think they would really care unless they were super young. My post couldn't have been any less serious.
it wasnt the debate at all, its more about whether or not its consistent, and when a poster suggests that it might get more bloody than episode 2 it just made me a bit concerned with that.

 

[DongBeetle]

Honestly the whole suicide contemplation scene is one of the most effective and well executed I've seen in an animated series ever and really shows how much Genndy has improved as a storyteller.

That and the final scene and how Jack's body language and face convey his emotions about what just happened without a single line of dialogue. Maybe you like the darker tone or maybe you don't but everyone on board is operating at their highest potential. This is the best case scenario we could have gotten and it's really fucking good. Maybe it would help to think of this more like a five hour long movie?

 

[FF Seraphim]

Episode 2 is amazing. I need this series in 4k already. Will buy as soon as it comes out.

 

[DongBeetle]

Episode 2 is amazing. I need this series in 4k already. Will buy as soon as it comes out.

I would kill to even just have this current season at uncompressed 1080p. The art style would scale well no matter what I feel.

 

[OricWindstar]

Has there been any talk of getting HD versions of older Jack seasons?

I don't remember where I read this, but I believe someone asked Genndy and he said it could go either way. So...who knows.

 

[b&jy77VjiKn$#F]

Sounds like it samples from Ecstasy of Gold by Ennio Morricone.

Yeah definitely sounds like it.

 

[Chumley]

I know it can't be helped, but damn do I miss Mako ;_;

Same. Can't get used to the new Aku voice at all.

 

[Error404SwagNotFound]

This just keeps getting better. We're only two episodes in and this is pretty incredible. Genndy is really making this final season something to remember.

Side note, was Aku's comment about the time portals being destroyed a reference to the Guardian? I know Genndy said he would address that somehow.

 

[DongBeetle]

This just keeps getting better. We're only two episodes in and this is pretty incredible. Genndy is really making this final season something to remember.

Side note, was Aku's comment about the time portals being destroyed a reference to the Guardian? I know Genndy said he would address that somehow.

Not yet but the Guardian will be addressed. The Guardian's time portal is super out of the way and hidden, there's a chance he might not completely know about it.

 

[awilliams213]

The background art for this series is just stunning. I hope Genndy Tartakovsky gets to release an art book I would love to see storyboards.

 

[Kain-Nosgoth]

Wow.... What an incredible episode, 10 times better than the first one IMO! (even though i already liked it)

the animation is top notch and the tension was always there during the whole

Spoiler

chasing/fighting

sequence! Also was hoping to see again some stylised moment like the old serie, it didn't disappoint! The background were really good too

Also it goes dark really fast.... When jack

Spoiler

Cracked the mask, i thought the mask would break, reveal the face and then he would stop and flee.... but no... they did go there... didn't except jack to kill someone (unkowningly), even if the serie was going in a darker path

But even with that, they kept the funny part

Spoiler

(psychanalist aku was so good)

and it's amazing

truly one of the best episode from the whole serie!

 

[Neoxon]

This just keeps getting better. We're only two episodes in and this is pretty incredible. Genndy is really making this final season something to remember.

Side note, was Aku's comment about the time portals being destroyed a reference to the Guardian? I know Genndy said he would address that somehow.

As far as we know, Aku doesn't know about the Time Portal being protected by The Guardian. If Aku somehow found out during the 50-year time skip remains to be seen, but it does kinda leave Jack an out to get back to the past if The Guardian was able to keep the Time Portal a secret.

 

[gatti-man]

I think the darkness fits his state of mind and seems to just play on a darkest before the dawn style of story telling.

 

[LucidMomentum]

The scene with the

Spoiler

Caskets

was stunning. Love the world building they've got going on.

 

[User 73706]

Honestly, I think one of the most effective parts of the

Spoiler

suicide

scene is that it's young Jack that's suggesting it, not modern-day / current Jack.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

Honestly, I think one of the most effective parts of the

Spoiler

suicide

scene is that it's young Jack that's suggesting it, not modern-day / current Jack.

well

it's the way he still sees himself, before it all went to shit

 

[PixelatedBookake]

Honestly, I think one of the most effective parts of the

Spoiler

suicide

scene is that it's young Jack that's suggesting it, not modern-day / current Jack.

Another aspect of that I enjoyed was how he phased it as "the honorable thing to do" or something like that. Sometimes I forget Jack still has those samurai values in some form.

 

[cntr]

Another aspect of that I enjoyed was how he phased it as "the honorable thing to do" or something like that. Sometimes I forget Jack still has those samurai values in some form.

That's the first thing I thought of, that of course Jack would think about it, he's an actual samurai with samurai values. It's something they don't bring up too often, but it's nice to see them think about it.

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

Another aspect of that I enjoyed was how he phased it as "the honorable thing to do" or something like that. Sometimes I forget Jack still has those samurai values in some form.

Yeah. They don't outright say that he should slice his belly as is the honorable samurai way, but they don't need to. You know what they mean.

 

[Stoze]

Yeah that scene was handled superbly. The way the music gets increasingly uneasy, the way young Jack tries to calmly persuade him by saying

Spoiler

"Our ancestors are waiting for us, they want you to join them..."

, the voice acting feeling completely different between the two, and current Jack still focused on what's going on/surviving and being pretty dismissive of him.

I imagine we'll see more temptation before the end, but I'm game for whatever darkness Genndy wants to dole out when it's executed this well.

 

[Crossing Eden]

Jack is actually quite fortunate that he doesn't have his sword. All of the assassins so far have used weapons SPECIFICALLY meant to easily break other weapons. They're after that sword. &#129300;

 

[Toa TAK]

I will be in awe of the other 8 episodes keep up the quality and tension these two episodes have.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

Jack is actually quite fortunate that he doesn't have his sword. All of the assassins so far have used weapons SPECIFICALLY meant to easily break other weapons. They're after that sword. &#129300;

I can only assume that seeing how the sword is magical/holy it'd resist it