Samurai Jack is back!

[Meta77]

Akus new voice is still amusing. He has such a Latino sound now. I like it

[Klinsy]

So, some of probably are wondering what all the hub hub about the latest episode is about:

• Jack was way out of character in this episode, yes, he can be a goof but it's never to this extent
• Jack has fallen in love before ... with someone who turned out to be Aku, yeah, but comparing that episode to this one is that Jack is still competent in the earlier episode, this is supposedly the "ultimate" Jack, at his upmost potential yet he can't figure basic things out
• This is just me but I was hoping Jack and Ashi's relationship was a father daughter like one, remember, Jack is super old despite never aging plus he's supposed to be from the past, we don't quite know Ashi's age but surface to say she's way younger
• Something about the animation is off, I can't put my finger on it
• The Ashi's nude scene and the final scene were flat out unnecessarily, yes, the show airs on Adult Swim now but those things aren't exactly the "show us what we can do now" things you want
• No Will I Am credits
• This is the next to last episode, it could be used for something very cool before the final battle with Aku but, nope, it's the super sexy romance episode

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Look, all I'm saying is, I made a bet on this after episode 6, and I just won $150.

Dead serious.

I love this season even more!

[Tylinos]

While I can see why people would've liked this episode, it was definitely my least favourite of the season, for a lot of the same reasons Bea gave.  It still wasn't even particularly bad, just...really not up to par with the rest of the season.

25 minutes ago, Bea The Bee said:

This is the next to last episode, it could be used for something very cool before the final battle with Aku but, nope, it's the super sexy romance episode

One correction here, though: This isn't the next to last episode.  We've got two episodes left, not just one.  We still have time.  And speaking of time...

 

Holy crap.  The place from the next episode preview was the time portal Guardian's battleground.  They're actually bringing that back into play.  I honestly thought that was just going to be ignored, since Jack was so sure all of the time portals were gone.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Part of me feels that was all done for the sheer kick of getting a rise out of the fandom...

[Agie]

Been catching up with the new episodes and DVRing them, since I can do that, and I prefer to watch shows at my leisure. Been enjoying them a fair bit.

But I do admit, I preferred Jack and Ashi's relationship as a "father-daughter" one, but I have no issues with the romance itself.

What I do have issues with, is the kiss; no build-up, they catch their breath and then suddenly cut to them kissing. I agree that there wasn't a line of build up, but there wasn't even animation of them starting to kiss; just cut to them kissing suddenly.

Besides that? Was another good episode, one I'd happily watch again once the season hits DVD, and I can't wait to see how the saga finally concludes with these next two episodes. I only hope it ends on a high note.

[Meta77]

I like the romance between them. Anyone blind yo see it was going to happen after the beast stomach episode was just lying to themselves.  good for jack

6 hours ago, Bea The Bee said:

So, some of probably are wondering what all the hub hub about the latest episode is about:

• Jack was way out of character in this episode, yes, he can be a goof but it's never to this extent
• Jack has fallen in love before ... with someone who turned out to be Aku, yeah, but comparing that episode to this one is that Jack is still competent in the earlier episode, this is supposedly the "ultimate" Jack, at his upmost potential yet he can't figure basic things out
• This is just me but I was hoping Jack and Ashi's relationship was a father daughter like one, remember, Jack is super old despite never aging plus he's supposed to be from the past, we don't quite know Ashi's age but surface to say she's way younger
• Something about the animation is off, I can't put my finger on it
• The Ashi's nude scene and the final scene were flat out unnecessarily, yes, the show airs on Adult Swim now but those things aren't exactly the "show us what we can do now" things you want
• No Will I Am credits
• This is the next to last episode, it could be used for something very cool before the final battle with Aku but, nope, it's the super sexy romance episode

Basically overblown reaction from try hard fanboys honestly. The episode was good and a nice slow moment before the final fight

[Waveshocker Sigma]

I guess that's what a good portion of the dumb "fans" get for deluding themselves with their silly headcanons and forgetting past episodes and then throwing a silly hissy fit over something so insignificant. Especially the "Stupid forced heterosexuality" tumblrinas. Man, people are just so stupid these days.

Pfft, "fatherxdaughter realationship". Ha.

My only issue with this episode was that is honestly felt too short and a tiny bit too fast paced for what it was while a couple of moments dragged out a little too long, like the death of Lazarus. That being shorter would've given a little more time for the last scene to come in more smoothly rather than "SUDDENLY KISSING".

But I can get past that. Good episode. Wished we could've saw the cat dudes some more, though.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Let's be real, tho. Regardless of which side of the fence you were on, that last part was too damn sudden for a budding romance without build up.

It's partly why I think it was done for kicks given how gradually paced everything else was, and they had plenty of time to flesh it out if they wanted.

[Kevin]

Man, Genndy Tartakovsky is giving no fucks! That last scene was clearly shoehorned in to get a reaction out of the fans, and boy did the ship sail! I do agree with Bea The Bee that the animation in this episode felt off though.

[Meta77]

Now we have the final fight. I'm pumped to see what happened to ol blue

[Wraith]

Honestly pretty dissappointed in how this season has turned out. They clearly didn't have time for a romance subplot considering how clunky and poorly executed it was. Trying to stuff all the romantic tension largely into one episode was a pretty bad idea, especially this close to the finale which now has even less time to stick the landing. The writing since episode 3 has honestly been pretty rushed and weak. Instead of focusing on Jack and Aku's rivalry a lot of the focus has been on a new character who's own development has been rushed and clunky and honestly just isn't very likable. Seems like none of the stuff I watch Samurai Jack for has taken priority.

 

The first 3 episodes and a few moments in 6 and 7 were fascinating looks into Jack as a character with insanely good action sequences, art and pacing, but everything outside of these moments has been pretty weak imo. THe show started going on a downward spiral with episode 4 and hasn't quite recovered since then with 8 being the worst of the bunch by far. Taken alone, this season is probably the worst of Gennedy's TV projects that I've seen.

[SenEDDtor Missile]

24 minutes ago, Josh said:

Honestly pretty dissappointed in how this season has turned out. They clearly didn't have time for a romance subplot considering how clunky and poorly executed it was. Trying to stuff all the romantic tension largely into one episode was a pretty bad idea, especially this close to the finale which now has even less time to stick the landing. The writing since episode 3 has honestly been pretty rushed and weak. Instead of focusing on Jack and Aku's rivalry a lot of the focus has been on a new character who's own development has been rushed and clunky and honestly just isn't very likable. Seems like none of the stuff I watch Samurai Jack for has taken priority.

 

The first 3 episodes and a few moments in 6 and 7 were fascinating looks into Jack as a character with insanely good action sequences, art and pacing, but everything outside of these moments has been pretty weak imo. THe show started going on a downward spiral with episode 4 and hasn't quite recovered since then with 8 being the worst of the bunch by far. Taken alone, this season is probably the worst of Gennedy's TV projects that I've seen.

I was honestly waiting until the entire season was over to voice my full thoughts, but I do have to admit that this season was really rushed. I kinda feel like this season could have benefited from having at least 13 episodes, just to allow for a better flow and more time to properly flesh things out. Also the Omen and the Ashi redemption plot (not the idea itself, but rather the way it was handled; I would have preferred something more akin to how Zuko was handled in Avatar, where his conflict in his beliefs was more examined and fleshed out, his struggles to figure out right and wrong and such) was kinda disappointing to me.

[Waveshocker Sigma]

2 minutes ago, SenEDDtor Missile said:

I was honestly waiting until the entire season was over to voice my full thoughts, but I do have to admit that this season was really rushed. I kinda feel like this season could have benefited from having at least 13 episodes, just to allow for a better flow and more time to properly flesh things out. Also the Omen and the Ashi redemption plot (not the idea itself, but rather the way it was handled; I would have preferred something more akin to how Zuko was handled in Avatar, where his conflict in his beliefs was more examined and fleshed out, his struggles to figure out right and wrong and such) was kinda disappointing to me.

I think expecting something on Avatar's level with this small amount of episodes, which we all knew about before even watching, is kinda asking for the impossible considering how much time Zuko had to be built as he was, broken down and then remade into something much more.

However, you're not wrong at all.

[Wraith]

3 minutes ago, SenEDDtor Missile said:

I was honestly waiting until the entire season was over to voice my full thoughts, but I do have to admit that this season was really rushed. I kinda feel like this season could have benefited from having at least 13 episodes, just to allow for a better flow and more time to properly flesh things out. Also the Omen and the Ashi redemption plot (not the idea itself, but rather the way it was handled; I would have preferred something more akin to how Zuko was handled in Avatar, where his conflict in his beliefs was more examined and fleshed out, his struggles to figure out right and wrong and such) was kinda disappointing to me.

I agree, but I think this could have been done within the episodes they were given if they were more considerate about how they wrote the season out and which subplots to keep. Which is more important to the show's themes: Ashi's redemption or her and Jack's romance? Seems like the show rushed through the former so they could get to the latter instead of giving the hurdle that is the redemption subplot the time it needed.

 

I was going to wait until the end as well but...I don't see how you clean this up in 2 episodes, lol. I just don't. Guess a miracle could happen

[SenEDDtor Missile]

40 minutes ago, Waveshocker Sigma said:

I think expecting something on Avatar's level with this small amount of episodes, which we all knew about before even watching, is kinda asking for the impossible considering how much time Zuko had to be built as he was, broken down and then remade into something much more.

However, you're not wrong at all.

It's true that we can't expect anything on the same level as Zuko in such a small timeframe, but at the very least with some more foresight and planning the way the redemption was handled could have been much better than how it is now.

Say for example that after Jack and Ashi team up and after she sees Jack set the ladybug free, she becomes extremely confused and conflicted and leaves him in her confusion, trying to puzzle things out. On the way she encounters the people Samurai Jack's helped in the past like in canon, only this time her affiliation with the Daughters of Aku would be revealed by her, leading these people to sympathize (after initial distrust) and try to show/reveal to her that Samurai Jack is not only a good person, but also emphasize that Aku is nothing but pure evil and that her mother is a crazed monster, something that only further confuses and conflicts her, causing her to leave again and again. Maybe also reveal to these people Jack has helped in the past that he's basically begun to give up hope or something. Then maybe she meets up with the Scotsman brigade and sees their attack on Aku's lair (maybe with a gag that she's utterly dumbfounded that after years of being trained in the hopes of meeting the great Aku, she could have literally just gone up to his doorstep this whole time) and in the process she'd finally see just how truly awful Aku really is. From this she decides to try to help Samurai Jack, but not before being intercepted by her mother.

I dunno, this is just a rough draft more than anything, but I don't think this is impossible, just needs to be paced carefully is all.

34 minutes ago, Josh said:

I agree, but I think this could have been done within the episodes they were given if they were more considerate about how they wrote the season out and which subplots to keep. Which is more important to the show's themes: Ashi's redemption or her and Jack's romance? Seems like the show rushed through the former so they could get to the latter instead of giving the hurdle that is the redemption subplot the time it needed.

 

I was going to wait until the end as well but...I don't see how you clean this up in 2 episodes, lol. I just don't. Guess a miracle could happen

Very true, I was just thinking of 13 episodes because it seems like a meatier number to work with. Additionally you're right about how Ashi's redemption was the more important element that they should have focused on, but I wanna add something further:

In addition to what I said above, what they could have done was to have Jack, Ashi, and Aku's arcs run parallel to each other, with Ashi being the first to come to terms with the lie she's lived, then Aku learning from Scaramouche that Jack lost his sword (seriously, what was the point of bringing Scaramouche back to let Aku know Jack lost the sword if his actions are ultimately pointless because Jack got the sword back BEFORE Aku knows about it?), allowing for Greg Baldwin to truly become AKU, THE SHAPESHIFTING MASTER OF DARKNESS instead of Manic Depressive Akuigi all the way through for the two appearances he had and go on a rampage to try to kill Jack while he's vulnerable. And finally when all hope seems lost, when Jack is cornered and Mad Jack is freaking out at Samurai Jack, treating him like a failure...

Have a glorious return of every character Jack has helped in the past, with them saying something about how he helped them in their darkest hour, now they'll do the same, and as they struggle valiantly against Aku, Jack is awed by the effect he had on people, capstoned with Ashi herself saying what he needs to hear, then Jack finally banishes the Omen and Mad Jack and gets his sword back, dealing the final blow on Aku himself.

Again, this is a very rough draft, but you get the general idea.

[Tylinos]

55 minutes ago, Josh said:

I agree, but I think this could have been done within the episodes they were given if they were more considerate about how they wrote the season out and which subplots to keep. Which is more important to the show's themes: Ashi's redemption or her and Jack's romance? Seems like the show rushed through the former so they could get to the latter instead of giving the hurdle that is the redemption subplot the time it needed.

This might be a lot of why the episode felt off to me.  Because the idea of Jack falling for her wasn't what bugged me.  Made enough sense for the writers to want that to happen.

My problem was how Jack's side of it all just happened in a single episode.  For Ashi, they've telegraphed the heck out of her falling for Jack for a while.  But for Jack, he was in "There is no hope" mode until the end of Episode 6, and spent most of 7 meditating.  They hardly had a chance to build to it for him until now, so it just happened all at once, and really blatantly too.  By the end of just the tigermen fight, they'd been so in-your-face about it that I would've been more shocked if there wasn't a kiss at some point.  It was like eating Zoidberg's fish food flipped an instant attraction switch in his head.

That's why it dragged the episode down for me.  It was multiple episodes of buildup crammed into one episode because the writers didn't really have any other choice.  I can hardly blame them for it, since they probably planned it from the get-go and realized later that Jack was too bitter for proper buildup in the amount of time they had.  But it just didn't work for me.

Still not even a bad episode, but the execution just bugged me.

[Meta77]

people seriously the show is only back for what 10 episodes. You want them go through jacks struggle to find his sword, fight his inner demons, the sisters sub plot, the final battle, a fan episode showing old characters and people are grumpy we didnt get some 20 something episode romance story to build up a relationship. tsk

[Ratcicle King]

1 hour ago, Meta77 said:

people seriously the show is only back for what 10 episodes. You want them go through jacks struggle to find his sword, fight his inner demons, the sisters sub plot, the final battle, a fan episode showing old characters and people are grumpy we didnt get some 20 something episode romance story to build up a relationship. tsk

If they have a limited amount of episodes, here's an idea.

Do not make a romance subplot.

[SenEDDtor Missile]

This feels like Legend of Korra's first season in some ways. Intriguing premise and solid first few episodes eventually becomes marred by rushed storytelling and a romance subplot that was poorly handled and affected the development of certain characters in a way that ensured their development would feel unsatisfying in some way. Now all we need is a deux ex machina asspull at the end and some kind of anticlimactic way of ending it all to really seal the deal.

[Meta77]

1 hour ago, Ratcicle King said:

If they have a limited amount of episodes, here's an idea.

Do not make a romance subplot.

You know darn well the romance took noting from the story

 

[Ratcicle King]

It took one entire episode that could've been used to better pace the upcoming final battle.

Apparently not being satisfied with bad writing and pace breaking filler is salt now.

[Monkey Destruction Switch]

19 minutes ago, Meta77 said:

You know darn well the romance took noting from the story

 

...No, he doesn't "know darn well the romance took nothing from the story". It's called "having a different opinion from you". Dismissing clearly reasoned opinions that differ from yours as fanboyism or "salt" is certainly not a legitimate argument and is a pretty bad attitude to boot.

[Meta77]

1 hour ago, Monkey Destruction Switch said:

...No, he doesn't "know darn well the romance took nothing from the story". It's called "having a different opinion from you". Dismissing clearly reasoned opinions that differ from yours as fanboyism or "salt" is certainly not a legitimate argument and is a pretty bad attitude to boot.

No the dire hard fanboys acting like this was unforseen is ridiculous. its like being mad over a fanfic on deviant art. The man honestly did not have to bring Jack back. He could have left it end the way he originally did. Never to touch it again. instead he brought it back and is telling a story that he wants to tell with "his" creation. We can hate or like whatever we want. End of the matter/fact is he put it in, regardless how rushed some think it is in a 10 episode revival. And yes as you said it IS my opinion that it was good. I am thankful he brought the show back to give it closure. I have enjoyed noting more than calling my dad back home each week to talk to him about it. For me the show means more than just some light fan passing but its nice to see the show finally end while I have him on this earth to see a show i used to watch with him late nights when he got home from business trips.

Sure they probably could have told it better but anyone reading story notes before this show came out where they had storyboards of them traveling together could pretty much tell something was going to come of this

http://slbtumblng.tumblr.com/post/160420835354

Edit: but if your upset you can be. not stopping anyone. Just find the ^^^^ reactions to me at least funny

[Pawn]

Until a couple of weeks ago, I didn't even realise this was only confirmed to be returning for one season. I looked it up when Ashi so easily questioned her extensive brainwashing. The story would have worked better had this season developed Ashi more gradually and had it ended with Jack's lowest point, only for her to convince him to continue fighting. That would have a left an entire season for the characters to bond, retrieve the sword and build towards the finale.

It feels like Genndy had an idea for two seasons or just more episodes and was told "Nope, 10 episodes" and has tried to cram all of his ideas into a short running time. Either that or he wants to be done with it (to move on from it or to avoid the possibility of a cancelled final season).