Now that the dust has settled, I think we can all agree that

>>93376645
Everything except the last 5 minutes of the finale.

>>93376645
I think we can also agree that Whether you like her or not, Ashi has little to no personality

>>93376645
I liked it. It was mostly the first 3 episodes that were really good in my opinion though.

>>93376892
Yeah, this.

>>93376645
Ehhh. The first three episodes were truly excellent but it got more and more disappointing as the season went on.

I liked Ashi at first but personally I felt she completely ruined the ending.
>no final battle between Aku and Jack
>ashi just deus ex machinas him back to his own time
So underwhelming.

>>93376925
That was not Deus Ex by any definition. Since the episode with Iris they were hitting on her hair inger powers, them Aku awakes Aku powers on her later, it's just logical.

Actualy, if she didn't had IMMEDIATELY picked Jack and throw him in a time portal, you can bet that people right here would be making threads saying "huuur duuur if she had his powers why she just didn't threw him in the Portal in the first opportunity?"

Otherwise I agree with you. Genndy should have ended it in a 3 parter movie like the beggining of this season and the pilot.

>>93376970
>Iris
Meant orcs.

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>>93376925
I hated Ashi from her first monologue.

Crusty the Whore here delivered the lines so badly, and the character's lines are nearly all setups for exposition.

>>93376645
The Ashi bits were mixed with the low point probably being the "look at all these characters you remember!" episode. Everything else was great.

But the ending.
Everything from the final battle to the wedding should have been done better or differently. However, the final scene under the cherry tree worked.

>>93376970
It might not be a true Deus Ex Machina but in the context of the show it was definitely an ass pull. Jack spent seasons hunting down time portals, the Guardian was built up to be this great thing and it was all tossed away because Genndy's waifu had all the powers of Aku but was like totally good and pure.

>>93376645
It was fine. First three episodes were fantastic. Everything after was just horribly predictable. The ending was a fail because Ashi made no connection to me at all, but the final scene almost redeemed it.

>>93376645
While things were definitely weaker from episode 4 onward, I think I'd be pretty content to call it the best single season of a cartoon if it had just ended better.

>>93376645
It was good, but not as good as it should have been for how long we waited.

>>93376645
It was good until Ashi. If a plot like that was going to happen, it needed more episodes. Also the fact that shot never happened and Gendy backed off of the heavy violence makes me wonder what could have been.

First three episodes are a treasure, though.

>>93376862
not as little as jackie lynn thomas[/spoiler

I loved it, thought it was great

>>93376862
She has as much personality as Jack.

I don't know if something happened in development but I felt a tone shift after like episode 3-4.

I also didn't like the 'hey remember this guy' appearances a lot of past characters got, felt really lazy.

It was pretty decent, but I feel the first three eps were so good it made everything else look bad

>return of the series stoked nostalgia
>top tier fight scenes
>intense music

After that, anything else just felt lesser

It was passable. Animation, art and choreography were all great but writing was shaky at best and comically bad at worst. Ashi did not ruin, but soured the experience.

>>93376645
>Now that the dust has settled, I think we can all agree that we must never agree on anything.

fixt

>>93376645
It wasn't.

>>93376645
It was really good, people just hate it because
>muh time guardian
>ashi has twilight sparkle's voice
that's just it, oh and there is a dedicated group of autists pretending that two jacks existed on the same timeline and that the series made no sense

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First 3 episodes were tip to, 4th was good, the rest was meh

Is there a full version of pic related?

I think we can all agree that it was rushed as fuck.

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>>93379931
I got ya.

>>93379526
I don't hate Tara Strong in her normal voice, but I hate her Harley Quinn voice.

>>93376645
The first three episodes? Sure.

Everything afterwards? Hell no.

>>93379386
This post hits the nail on the end.

The other episodes weren't really bad, or at least not any worse than your standard Samurai Jack episode from the previous seasons. But nothing could top those first four episodes, they raised the bar too high.

>>93376645
I was disappointed overall, but the first 4 episodes were great.

>>93379325
>Ashifags think this

First four were good, that seems to be the general consensus here, but i also loved the 9th which led to a bigger disappointment for the finale

>>93376925
>no final battle between Aku and Jack

I too would've like to have seen it, but Jack and Aku have been at it so long that it would've been like Obi Wan vs Maul on Tatooine. They've seen everything each other has so anything but a quick battle would have been self-indulgent.

First three episodes were really great. An outstanding piece of western animation.
Rest of the show was painfully mediocre and easily the worst SJ season.

>>93376645
It was a downward slope, but I really appreciate Genndy's conviction. He did a fine job, and we got an ending to a decade-old (jesus, almost 2 decades old) series. Most cartoons don't get even that. Overall, I liked it.

Only the first 3 episodes were good the rest was shit

>>93380204
thats a fair point. They did face off numerous times and Jack pretty much always spanked his ass with impunity

>>93381865
this. everything was great but the ending was rushed and thus lukewarm. here's how I would've done it if he had to return to the past
>ashi and jack manage to get away from aku after a short battle
>ashi, having been fully BLACKED, now has fully developed all of aku's powers
>tests out some of his other powers first to get a hang of it
>relays to jack she could probably send him back herself
>jack is hesitant knowing she would not exist but she insists on it
>too much has been lost. too many lives taken. sees of all his fallen comrades
>finally agrees and goes back
>rest is pretty much the same, even keep the sakura tree and ladybug

The first three episodes promised a proper Samurai Jack epic adventure, one that would involve Jack overcoming his grief and becoming the king that we saw in the Guardian's vision (yes, I know it's been discussed to death, and I'm not saying there necessarily HAD to be a Guardian fight, I'm just saying that what we saw in the vision seemed like the road Jack was heading towards in the first three episodes).

The fourth episode took a step away from the grandeur, but it felt like a throwback to the original Samurai Jack episodes by putting Jack in a fantastical situation, so it was a nice reminder of the show's roots. It also introduced Ashi into the equation, and hinted that she would become an important character throughout the rest of the season.

How that was handled is where the show lost its footing and devolved into what felt like badly written Samurai Jack fanfiction. I don't object to Ashi as a character, goodness knows that Jack finding love in the future is something he's earned. I do object to how she was handled, how her development was rushed and not particularly engaging in any way. We needed scenes where she could quietly reflect on her journey, or scenes where she interacted with Jack long enough to form a meaningful connection to him. Ashi's transition from assassin to Jack's companion needed far more expansion and care than what we were given. I feel the biggest failing of her character (outside the final five minutes of the finale) is the resolution of the conflict between her and her mother. Ashi's mother was built up as a consistently looming threat over Ashi, that Ashi's mother is to Ashi what Aku is to Jack. As such, Ashi's mother deserved to have her death be truly meaningful, that her death would be the final trial for Ashi. Such a profound, dramatic moment is something that should have been saved for the finale, or at least the penultimate episode, but instead it is squandered and Ashi's mom is defeated like any other random bounty hunter.

>>93379325
Jack shit more likely

>>93381887
this, not much more needs to be said

>>93377009
>Genndy's waifu had all the powers of Aku but was like totally good and pure
This is a really big problem. In a simple story like Samurai Jack evil is a tangible force. Ashi was made out of evil but she can control it easily once that hunky samurai boy totally says he likes her. What does it even mean for her to master the evil inside her like this? Shouldn't she rather cast it off like she did with her scorched skin?

>>93376850
fpbp. Seriously I just headcanon my own ending. Genndy didn't even need to change it that much to fix it. Like 30secs additional runtime.

What was the point of killing the Scotsman and having him become a ghost? And as early as it happened?

Why not just kill him, no ghost, in the big battle against Aku? Lots of other friends of Jack got wiped out when Aku got annoyed and started fighting seriously. Wasn't it trying to raise the stakes here? Then the Scotsman's ghost lowers them again immediately.

>>93376862
She has plenty of personality.
Whats with this meme of people saying she has none or is a flat character when that's objectively false.

>>93382701
>Shouldn't she rather cast it off like she did with her scorched skin?
Or have it play out similar to the Aku Infection episode, where Ashi has to battle from the inside to regain control.

You got it OP, it really was.

>>93377009
>built up to be this great thing
>literally only in one episode
I hate guardianfags and I've heated you since season 5 started. Your suffering is the silver lining to Jack's shit ending.

>>93376645
Last few episodes were steaming garbo. Needed more episodes to develop.

>>93376645
A solid 7/10 that complements the 8/10 show, I didn't expect more. Although I ahve to voice my concern in that, I felt cheated from the way the series changed its style from the first 3 episodes onwards. I mean why show us the dark and edgy (but done pretty well) side ofthe show and then do an 360 and walk away?

>>93382873
Episode 8 was a good run-of-the-mill Samurai Jack episode...with a romance plot so awkward they had to turn it into a joke with the music at the end because there was no way anyone was going to take it seriously.

>>93382091
>Ashi's mom is defeated like any other random bounty hunter.
Holy shit, are you fucking dense? That was the entire fucking point, that for all their "mysterious" bluster, the cultists were all just idiot humans who thought they were better than they actually were. Jesus christ, if you're going to act like an entitled /co/ntrarian you could at least raise decent points

>>93382903
And then why go right back to dark and edgy in the end?

>>93376645
It had some pacing and development problems, but nothing another draft wouldn't have fixed. Little things like how the final episode should've had a cold opening of the original intro and then have Aku pop up going NOOOOTTT rather than two minute build up of people watching TV. They could've used those extra minutes pacing out the ending better.

I also don't believe Jack was actually in love with Ashi so much as it was just his first time being intimate with someone and had a puppy crush that was purely physical. I feel like since this was an adult show anyway, exploring the fact that this was a purely physical relationship was a bit more interesting than presenting Jack and Ashi as an actual loving couple. I have no idea how to fix that, but it does feel like the only reason they're in love is because you told me, not because I believe they should be. Just very little chemistry between each other.

Was I being a jaded fuck or was the deadpan punchline to the multi-episode Scaramouche joke/red herring not all that funny?

>>93383147
No, it wasn't even slightly funny because we saw the punchline coming from five goddamn miles away. I loved Scaramouche, but his entire journey for a shitty joke took time away from the show that could have been used for more practical purposes, like fucking fleshing out the primary love interest of the main character.

>>93383061
You say there was very little chemistry between them, but that's kinda because they didn't have a lot of screentime together between her redemption and their romance episode, so you kinda have to take their short/awkward compliments to each other instead.

just nuts and bolts

First three episodes were pure kino

fourth was okay enough

rest of the season was up and down after that. Every episode had good parts and crap parts.

and I still think she looks fucking weird from the side; not sure why the animators were so intent on making her look like a monkey

http://www.strawpoll.me/13257849

>>93376645
Yes, it was very good.

>>93376645

I really couldn't find anything wrong with it. It was a good ride. The only way I think it could have been improved would be to add more episodes to help with the pacing of certain things. It kind of feels like things like Ashi turning away from Aku and Jack getting over his suicidal thoughts just kinda get resolved a bit too quickly. But that's a minor gripe, perfectly understandable given the limited nature of season 5. It was very good for what it was.

>>93376645
My only real complaints was it felt like they drained most of their creative juices in the opening episodes. They were highly stylized and just generally great.
The later episodes felt more standard. Still generally enjoyable, but not nearly as creative. The fight with the cat assassins with letters on their shirts was creative, but I don't really feel the latter half reached that creativity that much.

And easily my biggest complaint was the ending was REALLY rushed. At the very least, the finale should have been an hour long.

It was a bumpy ride for sure. The pacing could have been better and a few choices I disagree with. However, I still love the final product and loved it most of the way through. I don't even have that many issues with the ending. It could have used more time, but as a concept I don't think it's terrible or anything like that.

>>93382847
The thing is, Jack did fight because he was alone. He had to be reminded that he was loved by people who weren't there anymore or could be dead by that point for all he knew. Ashi had her savoir right there, so she didn't need to struggle as much as Jack did.

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>>93376645
The first three episodes showed promise with Jack confronting his past, struggling to stay alive, and learning to kill humans when necessary, all while having to deal with a new enemy. Then Genndy had to shoehorn a companion/love interest in the last 7 episodes of the entire fucking series, completely ruining the tone and direction of the season. The occult subplot basically becomes an afterthought, and all of Jacks personal development built up in the first few episodes was rendered meaningless, and reduced to a forced awkward romance that didn't even make sense from a narrative standpoint. It's like Genndy just threw a bunch of different story ideas together with no regard for pacing or consistency.

>>93383147
Like a lot of resolutions in the season, it felt pretty pointless at the end due to how it was resolved

>>93385080

>And easily my biggest complaint was the ending was REALLY rushed.

>YOU HAVE AKU'S POWERS
>I DO?
>I DO!

*solves the central conflict of the entire franchise in literally seconds*

I'm making fun of it, but I'm not actually against it. I just can understand why it could bother somebody. I thought it was fine for what it was. How else could Jack have gone back in time?

>>93388639
he shouldn't have gone back at all

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>When she wants your sword

>>93388639
>How else could Jack have gone back in time?
Let's say Jack defeating Aku really did undo the evil that is Aku in the future. Let's say that Aku's death literally turns around all the evil magics and shit that Aku created, that his demonic armies crumble to dust and his robotic armies power down, no longer fueled by Aku's evil.

With such a reversal of magic, wouldn't it be plausible that Jack, who is in the future not of his own accord but because of Aku's magic, could get flung back into the past, right where he left off? Then he would get his second chance to destroy Aku in the past as well, and we the audience would get to see Jack destroy Aku TWICE.

It'd certainly be better than "OH COOL YOU HAVE HIS POWERS LETS GO K BYE".

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>>93389805
>when she realizes it's more like a shiv

>>93388720
He should have gone back, but it should have been after defeating future aku, getting closure with the characters we got to know, and it should have been over with a single blow.

>>93390086
I'd be fine with what you're suggesting if it adds multiverse.
I just want Ashi to stay alive, is that too much to ask?

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>>93389805
Ashi belongs only to one man

>>93390183
Delet this right fucking now you Cantankerous Cold-hearted Clump of a robotic faggot

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>>93390220
make me

>>93390183
That's the girl who first died you fucking blind nimrod
Besides, why would you want best bot to get the worst, non-character as his partner?

>>93376645
I'm actually okay with the idea of the finale. I just wish certain creases were smoothed out.

When Aku did his final attack, that was a pretty clear sign of how everyone who had helped Jack would somehow die by Aku's hand indirect or not. What felt wrong was the Spartans and Scotsman's daughters getting special treatment in surviving it when it should have just been Ashi and Jack left over (pressed for time to in the ep?). Give Aku time to gloat about his victory since it was seriously lacking this season, then jump back to Ashi/Jack doing the time portal thing.

Afterwards, the other parts I'd change would be that Ashi should have died immediately after Aku's defeat which meant that we would have been swept up in the emotions of everything that just transpired in front of us. This lines up perfectly with the Daughters of Aku essentially acting as the main stand-in for Aku's presence throughout the season. It would've made the survival of the past all the more bittersweet. Everyone that died gets to live but no one would ever know what it cost Jack to even preserve the past. By allowing the past characters to simply be happy without being distracted of Ashi's death it would have shown the fruits of Jack's labor and see what he had been working towards all this time. Afterwards you could easily have Jack still feeling the loss and grief over Ashi, and then insert the ladybug scene at the end to cap it off.

As it is, you get everyone celebrating Aku's defeat but then with Ashi dying later in the wedding ceremony, it just poses awkward questions in your head where somehow someone has to explain to everyone "yeah well she disappeared because Jack was going to marry Aku's daughter from the future or something".

Again, I didn't mind the idea of the finale itself since it actually lines up with Jack's sentiments for most of the final season but if they ironed out those little creases it'd go a long way of actually making it more fulfilling.

>>93382737
>Why not just kill him, no ghost, in the big battle against Aku? Lots of other friends of Jack got wiped out when Aku got annoyed and started fighting seriously. Wasn't it trying to raise the stakes here? Then the Scotsman's ghost lowers them again immediately.
This. It really bothered me how the Scotsman's presence dampened what little stakes there were. Which is a shame because when Aku gets serious he can be pretty scary, but I hardly felt that in this entire season.

>>93391346
>kill off major character for shock value
>immediately resurrect them as a ghost with virtually no downsides
>expect audience to accept it when you end the show with the death of the seasons deuteragonist