Samurai Jack season 5's worst episode was episode 7. Yes,

Totally agree actually. The finale is a close second though

>>95240472
I feel the finale, for all its flaws, has some moments that do feel big and important, whose execution is carried out better.
Yes, killing Ashi off during the wedding is bullshit; I still stand by my point that she should have died as soon as she reached the past.
And while I understand the complains people have raised against Aku's demise, this one I think was well executed. It felt right.
Also, that final shot with mist revealing the lines upon lines of trees as well as the butterfly worked perfectly for me, and left me with a bittersweet sentiment that stayed with me for a while.

File: Cage! 004-005.jpg (2MB, 1988x3056px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 1988x3056px

>>95238395
People seem to forget that Genndy Tartakovsky is the MASTER OF simplistic STORYTELLING.

Seriously, have you guys even watched anything from him other than Samurai Jack? The guy is amazing with very simple short stories that unfold and end in the same chapter. With long, multiple-part stories? Not so much.
Genndy has trouble with consistent stories and pace, probably the result of his love for old-school cartoons, which often had simplistic stories.

If you read his Cage series you'll see than the story is just "Cage search for other supers, get kidnapped and then fights with furries and Doctor Seuss" and the rest is just fights and comedic bits. The same is true with Dexter's Lab and Hotel Transylvania.

The choice of making Season 5 a long, story-driven arc was a bad one from the start.

Still, it turned out to be pretty good imo.
Cut the guy some slack. He did the best he could.

>>95241443
Hey man, I cut him as much slack as I can. If you see anyone defending season 5 on /co/ there's a very good chance that's me posting. I simply wanted to point out the lowest moment in the season, which, to me and unlike many other people, is episode 7 rather than the finale.

I have said more than once that season 5 should have been more akin to the spirit of the original 4, in that they should have been 10 unrelated episodes with an overarching theme of Jack not having a sword and having given up hope. The story we got was still at worst serviceable and at best amazing.

Ashi fighting her mother was a great fight, and this episode gave us some great Red Jack stuff.
The worst episode was the one where Ashi and Jack are on that crashed prison thing and suddenly make out at the end.

>>95238395
Episode 8 was worse.
>>95240472
The finale was the best way they could've ended a bad setup.

>>95242791
Nah, episode 8 had some great pacing and a good measure of silent atmospheric moments and violent and exciting action sequences.
The whole sex metaphor was the cherry on top of the cake.

>>95241443
Symbionic titan was great though and it was longer, and would've been longer still

>>95243067
>The whole sex metaphor was the turd on top of the garbage pile.
Fixed

>>95243152
I guess that's just your opinion.

>>95240989
Who are you people that actually felt something from that sloppy ending? Do you have some overly emotional sensitivity or are you just easily impressed?

>>95243331
I do admit that I'm not that hard to please; I try to have a positive outlook on the entertainment I consume and attempt to always find something of worth in everything, but I genuinely think that the last scene of the series was good enough to guarantee an emotional response.

>>95241443
If he wanted to go for a simplistic ending, jack should have stayed in the future.
The ending gets shit on because genndy tried to break his mold and do a bittersweet ending rather than a simple one that made logical sense.

File: Gh3nf82.jpg (68KB, 1280x720px) Image search: [Google]

68KB, 1280x720px

Season 5's greatest flaw was that it was only 10 episodes. Does anyone know why that is? Every other season has 13. The first 3 were absolutely amazing were jack was essentially punished jack. After he rescues ashi it quickly goes downhill. Supposedly the final season was supposed to be Jack going around the world gathering support and troops to fight against aku and his armies. Jack was supposed to look like king jack in that one episode with the guardian, leading the world into battle against aku. Instead we got an incredibly rushed ending with no emotional weight to it and some ass pull of a way to go back into the past.

Ending would have been much better if jack realized that by going into the past, all the friends he made in the future would cease to exist including ashi, and he chooses to stay in the future to help rebuild it as the new king

>>95241443
I won't cut him slack because I think he can do better

>>95246081
Fucking this, and he was saying in prerelease interviews that he hopes people come out of samurai jack wanting to support his next work, and I really don't feel like doing that after getting burned so hard.

File: samurai jack season 5 comic.png (333KB, 768x1024px) Image search: [Google]

333KB, 768x1024px

>>95241443
I agree, Genndy is the master of simple storytelling. He's not bad at epic storytelling, mind you, but complex storytelling.

The big killer of Season 5 wasn't its length, IMO, but it's complete absence of theme and horrible pacing.

The first three episodes of Season 5 were awesome because the story revolved around survival, and Jack's insurmountable odds ahead of him. After he accepted his duty and killed off the Daughters of Aku, the show didn't really have a theme anymore. It just meandered all over the place, sometimes revolving around Genndy's jackoff material Ashi for long periods of time, even though nobody really gives a shit about her because Jack's been the one we've been rooting for for decades, not this fucking mary sue that popped out of nowhere.

This weird fixation on this new character, combined with an absence of theme and breakneck pacing for an otherwise epic story mixed into this mediocre blend of a show that by all means has the right ingredients, it was just put together terribly.

Season 5 lacked what the other seasons had: Balance.

>>95246031
>Supposedly the final season was supposed to be Jack going around the world gathering support and troops to fight against aku and his armies. Jack was supposed to look like king jack in that one episode with the guardian, leading the world into battle against aku.
This was never genndy's plan because genndy never had a plan. He never thought about how the show should while writing it end and only started thinking about it after fans harassed him about it constantly for years after the show was cancelled. He didn't write the guardian episode and apparently didn't care for it. He's had interviews where he plainly says the ending we got was based even more heavily on the childhood daydream that birthed samurai jack in the first place, and what do you know, childhood daydreams make for pretty shitty storytelling.

This show never needed an ending. It was a mistake for this season to happen at all.

>>95243084
on one hand Genndy wasn't the only creator (Paul Rudish and Bryan Andrews were the other creators)

though of the three creators Genndy was the only one to be showrunner (Bryan was storyboard supervisor, while Paul was a character designer)

>>95246315
The majority of the season was centered around the theme of jack finding beauty, rebirth and hope in the darkest and most seemingly hopeless of places, and realizing that even though the future seemed irredeemable, his efforts have greatly improved it by giving people a figure to rally behind.
The issue is that said theme was thrown into the garbage come the finale and as a result the ending of the show as a whole didn't mesh with any preestablished themes

>>95246436
I forgot to greentext you
>absence of theme

>>95246367
In my opinion, if we had just a bit more detail at the end of the Guardian episode (maybe showing Jack over the corpse of Aku through the portal?) it could have acted well as a series finale. It would have had just enough closure to tell us that Jack actually fucking gets to use that portal and, at the very least, shows that he would have killed Aku in the future.

File: 1497063822568.png (462KB, 1200x1200px) Image search: [Google]

462KB, 1200x1200px

>>95238395
Post Rare Ashi's

Does anyone know when that DVD set is coming out? I'm interested to see how they decided on the choices they made for season 5

>>95246636
Ashi should've died after falling off that cliff

>>95246691
No then Jack would never have gotten back to the past

>>95246671
The blu ray set comes out on the 17th of October, I actually checked this morning because the original advertisement mentioned it being made available for preorder today.

>>95246727
Exactly

>>95245834
You that staying in the future is also bittersweet, right?
He would have failed at his main quest and failed his family and home.

>>95246931
He already failed them at the start of the series.

>>95247012
As long as he lives theres still hope though so it isnt a failure

>>95247012
He had failed, but that was what time travel was for.
An important theme of this season was the way the accumulated guilt over his failure for 50 years was eating him alive.
We also know that the reason Jack fell into despair was when the last time portal, his one way to make things right, was gone. This wasn't exactly subtle.

File: 1503860362857.png (295KB, 798x636px) Image search: [Google]

295KB, 798x636px

Shit thread, what's your guys favorite episode of the original?
I'd say the haunted house one since it had that kickass artstyle with the demon.

>>95247106
The solution to the despair of failure is often acceptance and moving on. To fixate on the past is to ignore the future and doom the present.

>>95247186
And that's a great way to approach most issues in real life, but when you have a literal time machine that can change a little.

>>95247114
The aku vs jack wrasslin match. Still gets laughs outta me.

>>95247243
>That pillar didn't fall on its own Aku!
>YES IT DIIIIID!

>>95247114
Any episode with the Scotsman, or the one where Jack fought the ninja and had to rely on light, and the ninja had to rely on the shadows. That fight scene was fantastic from start to finish.

>>95247216
But he didn't. That was the point of season 5. That he had to come to terms with the fact he could not go back to the past and had to instead do his best to see the beauty in the present and work to ensure a better future. The Ashi time portal happening in literally the last 20 minutes was absolute shit and thematically wrecked the season.

>>95247114
Jack vs the Minions of Set is pretty underrated and I fucking love that episode.

>>95247295
>You see Aku, I am smart and you are pure evil.

>>95247114
Jack and Zombies or Jack and the Scotsman Part II

>>95247331
While I do agree that finding light in the dark was a theme visible throughout the season Jack never really got over being stranded in the future. I mean, as far as episode 9 Jack is still lamenting the fact that he will never see his home ever again. Ashi acting in consequence to that was, and forgive me for saying it, a pretty defining moment for her character and while rushed in execution, I believe that the idea itself is pretty good.

File: THRICE.png (231KB, 549x473px) Image search: [Google]

231KB, 549x473px

>>95247243
>ALRIGHT JACK
>WHERE IS THE SWORD
I honestly wish they didn't make the final season, the original could stand pretty damn well on its own

>>95247412
Ashi had no character. She was a plot device necessary to enable a thematically incongruent ending and was Jack's reward that existed to be taken away in the last moments. The closest thing that defines her is the word "mistake"

>>95247509
No one will deny that it was a pretty damn kick ass series.
But unlike most cartoons, Samurai Jack did need an ending, since the entire plot was built around one goal.

File: 1493523152292.png (136KB, 294x319px) Image search: [Google]

136KB, 294x319px

>>95238395

>>95247575
Not really, the plot was more of a excuse to make interesting, and somewhat self-contained stories based on the setting.
With what we got, I preferred it stayed unfinished

>>95246931
Considering all his friends and family had afterlife, it would have been more on the sweet side

>>95247549
>Ashi had no character
Here we go again.
It's okay to hate her character, but don't spew bullshit like this.
She has a character. She loves nature. She pays her debts with people who have done good for her. She's caring. She is really violent, to the point that killing is less than an afterthought for her. She is determined to see things through and she's open minded and driven to find the truth about the world.

>>95247623
I respectfully disagree. Jack getting back to the past and/or killing Aku was an important goal. And honestly, I'd take any ending over the ambiguity that Jack is stranded in the future while Aku reigns supreme.

>>95247575
>Samurai Jack did need an ending
No it didn't you monkey. We all onow Jack defeats Aku in the end. The overarching plot was always dead simple. The show was about episodic adventures and very well could gone on till the end of time. An actual written and televised ending was never necessary.

File: 1461290685312.jpg (25KB, 475x358px) Image search: [Google]

25KB, 475x358px

>>95247661
Maybe if they actually did something with her that wasn't predictable, people wouldn't shit on her so much.

>>95247639
Sure, they all lived horrible lives thinking that they had taken their son's childhood away from him before sending him on a suicide mission of which he never came back before dying tortured, old and hopeless, but that's okay because they are in the afterlife. We don't even see any indication of them being in the afterlife, and while there's an afterlife in Samurai Jack (only for Vikings) I don't think that they could have rested in peace with Aku still making the world a living hell.

>>95247713
Well, yeah, if you prefer to make up your own ending in your head and consider it canon. I'd rather take an official source.

>>95247729
As if what they did with Jack wasn't predicable as well.

File: 1494647030524.jpg (44KB, 502x699px) Image search: [Google]

44KB, 502x699px

>>95247776
>headcanon
Are you in every damn Samurai jack thread or something?

>>95247748
And they could rest fine when jack kills aku in the future. They could even have a moment where jack makes peace with the spirits of the past, which is what the samurai horseman ghost SHOULD'VE been.

Fucking wasted potential.

>>95247797
I do tend to frequent these threads, but I'm not that guy.

>>95247795
How come you always throw Jack under the bus every time Ashi's character is shat on? I'm guessing you have no damn clue what the series was really about?
Jack is meant to be the vehicle. He's for the strange people of the world he's in to bounce off of

>>95247776
Who the fuck cares how it happens? What kind of autistic obsession drove fans to demand a written explanation of how precisely does jack kill aku? You all are to blame for this mess of a finale.

>>95247813
It would have been a fine way to end the series, actually. I would have preferred that Jack stayed in the future as well.
But my original point, it being bittersweet, still holds up. Sure his parents are in peace, but the world still suffered greatly in Aku's hands, his home was destroyed, his culture almost forgotten and there's been many casualties among Jack's friends.

>>95247881
>You all are to blame for this mess of a finale
I'm 90% sure Tartarsauce doesn't know or care about what the fans wanted you delusional coon.

ashi was garbage if you defend her youre retarded

File: 1494402398374.png (516KB, 1052x848px) Image search: [Google]

516KB, 1052x848px

>Jack doesn't even get to say goodbye to the Scotsman
>Wastes more time on Gurren Laganning Ashit
What the fuck man

>>95247869
What really irks me is people complaining about Ashi being simple when Jack is also pretty damn simple as well.
Why is it okay for you people to Jack be a plot device but expect Ashi to be someone pulled out of Shakespeare works?
Hell, I love Jack. He's one of my favorite cartoon characters, and I loved the direction in which they took his character in season 5.
I'm merely stating that both him and Ashi are pretty similar characters in almost every way. That's why I feel the way she gets shat on is unwarranted.

>>95247881
Well, excuse me for being emotionally invested in what I watch.
Clearly you and I disagree on some pretty fundamental issues, so I don't think either of us will really get anything substantial out of this conversation. I say we agree to disagree and leave it at that.

>>95247976
because ashi was forced in a season that was suppose to be the epic conclusion to samurai jack but became about ashi instead

>>95246367
>the ending we got was based even more heavily on the childhood daydream that birthed samurai jack in the first place
I refuse to believe that mainly because of this: >>95246636

The writing decisions for Samurai's season 5 felt exactly like the new-trending garbage we keep getting since 2010 with Hotel Transylvania, Thundercats and Tron Uprising.

The cliche is similar to what every amateur like Uwe Boll, Michael Bay, Shyamalan try to do.
An older franchise/cartoon show/something gets rebooted into a darker and more mature incarnation, only for it to end up being lighter, safer, immature than the previous incarnation deemed "experimental" and for children.
It promises higher stakes, more tension, intelligent writing, taking all the good parts of the previous and improving on them.

>>95248014
There you go again. The entire season was still about Jack. Ashi's character is rotating around him the entire time. Sure, she makes decisions of her own, but she is still driven by Jack's actions mainly because she has nothing else in the world. Every step we take is in Jack's behalf, every action is about Jack. Just because he has to share screen time with another character doesn't mean that this is her show now.

>>95247900
The world has suffered greatly at human hands. Hundreds of cultures have been erased and innumerable people have died by the hands of others. Suffering is an intrinsic aspect of life. But there is also always good. Aku opened the world to space travel, there's sapient robots, and several cultures have survived, even thrived. Maybe it would've been better without Aku, but to wonder "what if" is an exercise that only diminishes the value of what is.

>>95248056
>episode about jack and her fucking in the 8th episode out of 10 episodes
>last episode literally ends with her dying trying to force a tear out of us

>>95247976
We didn't follow Ashi for 4 seasons before this, we followed Jack. We got to know the little details of his simple character over time while Ashi got barely a fraction while still taking away massive screentime from what people cared about.
>expect Ashi to be someone pulled out of Shakespeare works?
Oh, fuck off with this tired exaggerated strawman.

>>95248060
But Aku has made the world suffer in a way unknown to humanity at that point in time. The way they established Samurai Jack's world it was a place where people of different nationalities were on really good terms, cultural exchanges and all that. Aku built a world on the foundations of pain, because he wanted to make everyone on earth and in time the universe as miserable as possible.

>>95247926
He cared that they wanted an ending. If it was never asked for so much he would've never written anything at all.

>>95247748
Except an episode in the original show had Jack's parents smiling on him from the because of his actions

>>95248089
So episode 8 was about both Jack and Ashi and the last episode ended with Ashi dying on Jack. I don't see how Ashi's getting more screen time than him.

>>95248027
>I refuse to believe that
Well he fucking said it so too bad

>>95243331
Not him but for me it was closure.
I didn't give a shit about Ashi or her poorly-paced death, but the final scene with Jack and the ladybug closing out the story with that haunting music really hit home the fact that it was "finally over."

>>95248096
First off, she didn't take massive screentime. The time she was alone on screen is nothing compared to the time Jack was alone, and the rest of time they are together.
Second, while we stuck with Jack for four really enjoyable seasons, his character suffered extremely minor changes. All the time we spent with him, while emotionally investing, didn't develop him that much.

>>95248133
That could have either been symbolic or literal; I'd rather not make assumptions but you do have a point there. However, being proud at the man Jack had become is not the same as being happy with the state the world is in.

>>95248183
ok but im watching samurai jack so i want to be stuck with him

im not watching samurai ashi

>>95248117
>But Aku has made the world suffer in a way unknown to humanity at that point in time.
The atomic bomb did the same. We should go back in time and kill einstein/ oppenhiemer to undo the future that is nuclear power.
>Aku built a world on the foundations of pain
Literally all civilization ever
>because he wanted to make everyone on earth and in time the universe as miserable as possible.
And yet kids play in the streets, japanese mechanic earn a living and support their families, boistetous scotsmen are free to love their ugly wives, even robots can retire to dote on their silly little pet dogs. Clearly Aku has failed to crush happiness, rather spectacularly at that

>>95248263
And that's a very respectable want. I understand that; when I saw the trailers for season 5 I was excited to see more Jack. I didn't care about any new character they might introduce, at the time I just wanted more Jack.
I still got the secondary character, and while not exactly iconic or anything, I liked her alright.
Thankfully, you still have a lot of Jack to watch.

File: genndyt.jpg (52KB, 478x321px) Image search: [Google]

52KB, 478x321px

>Genndy "My waifu is gonna ruin his laifu" Tartakovsky
>Genndy "The broad is gonna get applaud" Tartakovsky
>Genndy "Jacks gonna get the hack" Tartakovsky
>Genndy "Laganning" Tartakovsky
>Genndy "I wish that was me" Tartakovsky
>Genndy "My hands slipped after the first three episodes" Tartakovsky
>Genndy "I wanna fuck ladybugs" Tartakovsky
>Genndy "Please give me my Popeye movie or Jack gets it" Tartakovsky
>Genndy "Wanna see my cartoon girlfriend in a pretty outfit?" Tartakovsky
>Genndy "Chimp eloping" Tartakvosky
>Genndy "Finale forgetting" Tartavosky
>Genndy "We need a Western Yoko" Tartavosky

>>95248338
>The atomic bomb did the same. We should go back in time and kill einstein/ oppenhiemer to undo the future that is nuclear power.
Okay, comparing two nuclear bombs to a undying immortal evil god made of literal darkness who has ruled the earth for thousands of years is a bit of a stretch, man.
>Literally all civilization ever
Sure, every civilization has been built on slaves and such. But the idea behind most civilizations is to create an environment where your citizens can live comfortably, prosperously and in peace. And before you pull that card, different civilizations have a different understanding on what they citizens are.
Aku, on the other hand, created a world that is purposefully in pain all the time. He indulges pain and suffering and destroys any attempts at living in piece. He's not a king, he's a sadistic god ruling over mortals.
>And yet kids play in the streets, japanese mechanic earn a living and support their families, boistetous scotsmen are free to love their ugly wives, even robots can retire to dote on their silly little pet dogs. Clearly Aku has failed to crush happiness, rather spectacularly at that
That's literally after Jack shows up. Before that everyone was afraid of saying Aku's name out loud; Aku explicitly states that the new generations is losing their fear of him because of Jack.
The Scotsman also knows no peace; in order to survive in Aku's world you need to be a pretty damn good fighter. And while he lived happily, he fucking died on the battlefield after a lifetime of fighting.
Just because there are a few people who are relatively happy doesn't mean the world isn't a shithole designed to stay as a shithole.

>>95248476
>And while he lived happily, he fucking died on the battlefield after a lifetime of fighting.
Ironically because he put himself in the line of danger because of his faith in jack's mission

>>95248594
That is correct. Although to be fair the Scotsman isn't the most avid Aku supporter; before Jack came along he was the most wanted man on the planet.

File: Hqdefault.jpg (24KB, 480x360px) Image search: [Google]

24KB, 480x360px

>>95248206
Considering the rebuilding the world was able to attain despite akus continued existence, the potential for a bright future was limitless with him out of the picture

>>95247661
Her character disappeared the second the whole Jashi thing started. After that, she became a boring, living plot device whose sole purpose was to be Jack's waifu, get him back to the past, disappear, and then explain why. Her last fucking words were shitty exposition. I'm not that anon you replied to, but that's what I'm mad about. I don't hate Ashi, I don't hate the Jashi ship itself, it all could have been great but it got tossed for some really mediocre shit.

>>95248626
Again, that is correct. Then again, all those people got killed in the final battle against Aku, so there goes that.

>>95238395
Episode 8 was the worst episode of SJ in general.
Not only was it pointless when the show needed to rush shit to finish, it was also stupid and lame. Worst of all, boring as fuck while just being obnoxious.

>>95248633
Hey, I will admit that the romance was questionable at best. I honestly would have been fine with whatever direction they had taken their relationship in; my ideal version would have been as just friends or master/pupil. I'm pretty indifferent to the romance in general. Doesn't annoy me.
I feel that this all goes back to the fact that 10 episodes wasn't enough to flesh out their relationship. If they had kept it simple and quiet it could have worked better.
I still disagree about her character disappearing after the romance started.
As a side note, her death could have been handled much better. I will always stand by this, but taking away the wedding and just killing her after they kill the past Aku would have been the best way to introduce her death.

>>95248475
>Genndy "I Need Money" Tartavosky
>Genndy "Hotel Transylvania 4" Tartavosky

>>95248656
3 things
1. That was one of the many examples
2. Not everyone from every village was sent, i.e. there were children and mothers
3. They were all killed within a couole minutes of jack going back to the past in what seemed like a last minute "oh shit what if the audience is pissed about erasing his friends" base covering, and thus the rest of the season would not be changed if you removed akus autism rain scene.
Besides, if I'm talking about changing the last 15 minutes of the finale, that scene falls into said category.

>>95248476
Nuclear power also led to the cold war, our current efforts to disarm or stop development of nuclear weapons among mad despots, and whatever related shit we see in the future. On the upside, nuclear power itself and the broadened knowledge of physics were pretty cool, like aku's interstellar travel and sapient robots.

Civilization is the accumulation of wealth and power by those at the top, and the citizens are human capital. They are only made complacent because they have the pesky tendency of murdering their masters when they are not. Several soceities have gotten away with treating them like shit. The base assumption was never to keep your citizens comfortable, it was to keep your citizens your citizens. And you know, catch flies with honey and all that.

The kids always played in the streets, Aku was just the main character instead. The jap family didn't spawn into existence just as Jack arrived. The scotsman lived a life of danger because he is a crazy fucker.

>>95248836
I'm not taking away the fact that a new world could be rebuild. There is potential in there. But those are just bastions of paradise in a world that's as close to hell on earth as it gets. It would take a damn long time to get all that back to shape, specially with Aku's web of space convicts coming to earth every other day.
Repairing the world, and assuming it doesn't fall into chaos as soon as all those criminals allowed to do as they please as long as they don't fuck with the unkillable big guy on top realize they now can become the new world leaders, would take years, decades and even centuries.
At least the show would end with the same note of hope we got, as in, now there's a chance for the world to prosper without Aku.

>>95248959
>assuming it doesn't fall into chaos as soon as all those criminals allowed to do as they please as long as they don't fuck with the unkillable big guy on top realize they now can become the new world leaders
You know this is what actually happened irl, minus the unkillable big guy on top. Things have only very recently resembled a peaceful state.

>>95248140
The entire 2nd half was centered around Ashi despite being resolution for Jack's journey, and the resolution was entirely Ashi pulling powers out of her ass for Jack to immediately do something in 5 seconds what he was trying to do for the entire series. She as a character immediately died the second she was the only one of the Daughters to get any notable screentime or dialogue. She was blatantly shoved into the spotlight with no real logic aside being a shit plot device that was forced as fuck. Forcing characters on something established is awful and does nothing any favors. It was shit when SE did it with Lightning, it is shit when WWE continuously does it with Roman Reigns, and it was shit when Gendy was doing this with Ashi.

>>95248849
>Nuclear power also led to the cold war, our current efforts to disarm or stop development of nuclear weapons among mad despots, and whatever related shit we see in the future. On the upside, nuclear power itself and the broadened knowledge of physics were pretty cool, like aku's interstellar travel and sapient robots.
Again, nuclear power is in the hands of people who preferably don't intend to blow humanity up. Aku is worse than any nuke and is bent on fucking everyone over at every chance he gets.

Civilization is the accumulation of wealth and power by those at the top, and the citizens are human capital. They are only made complacent because they have the pesky tendency of murdering their masters when they are not. Several soceities have gotten away with treating them like shit. The base assumption was never to keep your citizens comfortable, it was to keep your citizens your citizens. And you know, catch flies with honey and all that.

But if your citizens are being abused by their government the chance for insurrection is almost always present. With Aku you don't get that; you stand up to him and you're dead. You fight him and die, and he'll outlive you and the children of your children ad infinity.

>The kids always played in the streets, Aku was just the main character instead. The jap family didn't spawn into existence just as Jack arrived. The scotsman lived a life of danger because he is a crazy fucker.
Kids played in the street during the Middle Ages too.
That family was laying low and accepting god knows how much shit from Aku's regimen. I mean, there are crazy bike robot hybrids running amok in the streets of their city with no one to stand up to them. Just because they're making the best of a bad situation doesn't mean they are free of one of those punks showing up one day and trashing their home.
You could also argue that the Scotsman is a crazy fucker as a result of living in the world Aku created. A successful one, but a result.

>>95249052
The entire second part was about Jack overcoming his suicidal thoughts, Jack getting back his sword and Jack going to confront Aku to end it all already. Just because Ashi was there to help him doesn't mean that the show's about her now.

Also, I felt her inclussion was smoother than you give it credit for. This isn't like Jack came across a random girl in a town and she said "let me help you". She had a history with Jack and that history evolved during the season.

>>95249100
Aku doesn't intend to blow humanity up either, he just wants monuments to his greatness and constant unwavering obedience. So north korea basically.

Revolutions usually lead to greater immediate suffering for those who overthrow their leaders. Many times those that replace them arent better or are even worse. We like to think of history getting slowly better, but this widespread prosperity business is really pretty new. The world was hell for most of the time the world existed, people just looked on the bright side a lot, because they'd probably kill themselves
otherwise. Aku's world is really just more of the same. It may actually be more stable than real earth was for most of forever.

>>95249290
>Aku doesn't intend to blow humanity up either, he just wants monuments to his greatness and constant unwavering obedience. So north korea basically.
North Korea doesn't bring in space immigrants specifically because he wants them to wreck havoc upon the world around them. At least, I don't think they do.

And yes, revolutions aren't an insta fix button, but they entail change. The French Revolution, for example, was really, really fucked up, but at least it lead to toppling the absolutist monarchies that held Europe with an Iron fist and which eventually led to democracy taking over. And while I admit that this is a bit more subjective, I prefer democracies over monarchies, but thay's a different subject.
Anyway, my point is that Aku's regime is eternal and if left alone he would continue to rule even after the Earth had been consumed by the Sun.
If he was a benevolent god, he might get a pass even if I think that static societies are not really such a great idea, but being the evil bastard that he was it's a terrible thing to have him in power forever.

As a sidenote I'd like to add that debating with you is being quite fun and enjoyable

i liked on the show when the samurai jack kissed a lady. it reminded me of the real life act of kissing a lady

File: wandersquee.png (46KB, 212x189px) Image search: [Google]

46KB, 212x189px

>>95249623
That's sweet, anon.

File: 1492156661203.png (143KB, 540x548px) Image search: [Google]

143KB, 540x548px

>>95249623
>>95249637

>>95249439
>If he was a benevolent god, he might get a pass even if I think that static societies are not really such a great idea, but being the evil bastard that he was it's a terrible thing to have him in power forever.
You would think that, but if he was truly terrible then the world wouldn't exist. All governance would collapse under his obscene mismanagement, famine, plagues, war, etc would depopulate every nation, people would suffer and die and the earth would be left barren and poisoned for ever and ever. But none of that happened. People still live, even work, there are still green places, society still has economy and organization, industry and immigration are apparently thriving. It doesn't make sense but the world lives under the rule of ultimate evil, and has lived for thousands of years. Shit man we're under threat of apocalypse from economic collapse/environmental destruction/world war with wmds etc after only a few centuries of modern industry. Aku must be doing SOMETHING right.

Yeah you're a pretty cool dude too.

>>95249702
Aku does the bare minimum to keep people alive but suffering. It's the same reason why he kept that one tree in the whole forest save and alive.
What's the point of crushing people if they have no hope left to crush?
He's not like that mass of darkness he originated from. After getting a personality Aku became a sadistic son of a bitch. I mean, the first thing he did was to put the guy who gave him live on a tree tied up so he could watch his entire home burn. Aku doesn't destroy for the sake of destroying; he enjoys making people remember that he's in charge of their lives and that with a flick of a wrist he could kill them all. That's why Jack frustrates him to no end; he undermines the image of an unbeatable god he's forged through millennia. Jack proves that he can be beaten.

>>95249936
Then he is not truly terrible, only mundanely terrible. Hum drum, everyday evil. So prevalent as to be inexorable, but not so malevolent as to be degenerative and ultimately self-destructive.

>>95250118
As far as I know, governments don't set out as their goals to make their citizens miserable. Sure, they might have some preferences on who deserves to live and who doesn't, or who deserves certain living conditions and who doesn't, but Aku is just a sadistic bastard. It's a kind of government that has never been seen in real life at least to my knowledge, one that has as a main objective to fuck as many people as possible and being as efficient at it as possible. There's no real comparison to anything we've seen before because Aku is more of a god than a governor. I'm pretty sure that humanity went on under his supervision, and having such a dickhead over your all day probably encouraged the vilest of people to become the most prevalent governors and men in power. Aku starts the wheel of suffering, his presence makes sure his minions perpetrate it and he gets all the credit.

>>95238395
It was shit because he looked better with a beard

>>95250508
That I can't deny; he should have at least kept a small one.

>>95247729
>her being the literal daughter of Aku was predictable

Oh fuck off already, did you even see the reactions to how the show ended? Also nice goalpost moving.

>>95250834
What the hell are you talking about

>>95250834
What the hell are you talking about?

>>95250846
he's saying that
A. people were suprised that she was actually akus daughter
B. the person he was responding to moved the goalposts when their point was refuted
>she has no character
>"here is her character"
>well that character is predictable

>>95252285
Ashi still was one of the biggest improvements in the show. Even if she was bait to fap to

>>95255177
>girl character is aesthetically pleasing
>automatically makes her fap bait
you're just hurting the cause

>>95238395
While I think the finale was ultimately more of a problem (mostly because of the "erase all your friends from existence" thing) I totally agree with your flaws of episode 7. ESPECIALLY the Ashi vs. Priestess fight. This is the woman who abused her and her sisters physically and emotionally her entire life, her own children. She turned them into the weapons for her own agenda, only to have the die at the hands of the man who was the true hero. The fight between Ashi and her mother should have been long, epic, climatic. It's a huge character moment. But it didn't happen that way. They were fighting, and then it was over. I was half expecting her to show up alive in the finale for a rematch, it felt so sudden.

>>95257320
That's ultimately because Ashi's character wasn't important, only her relationship to Jack. The climax of her arc is just a footnote

>>95255177
I wouldn't go so far as to call her an improvement over the show; she just led the show into an unexplored terrai, at least for Samurai Jack.

File: jakso.jpg (96KB, 938x520px) Image search: [Google]

96KB, 938x520px

>>95238395
I think your expectation were a bit too high,but I do kind of agree

>>95260206
I usually chew on people who shit on season 5, or at least argue with them, but in this particular case I don't think my expectations were too high.
The theme of Jack and his lost sword was one of the things the interviews and panels hyped the most, and the execution for a while was great. I liked seeing Jack resorting to other weapons and guns; it was really cool and it added to the desperation of his character. I just lament that the act itself of finding the sword went by too quickly for me to savor it as much as I feel I should have. The scene with the tea was great; I love methodical, slow and quiet sequences like that. But maybe it would have been best to sacrifice it for something else.
Jack confronting his rage was kind of weak for me too; it was like he willed it out of existence. I dunno, I think there could have been a great way to combine both the retrieval of the sword and dealing with Jack's demons.

>>95238395
Worst part is when he gives up against aku because of a waifu.
Not only it makes 0 sens, but It contradicts every thing he has done before, especially with "muh honnor, muh legacy".

>>95261588
I honestly feel it makes complete sense.
Look at it this way.
Jack is completely lost for years and years. Without purpose, having failed his mission in every way imaginable and just wanting to die.
Then comes in this assassin who was fed lies and had no exposure to the real world trying to kill him.
He fights her off, but somehow she seems interested in knowing about the world. So he embarks on a journey to show her just that, and she eventually joins his side.
That's fucking unprecedented, living proof that the future can actually change and that even those who have been corrupted by Aku so deeply can be reasoned with. The women who tried to kill him ends up saving his life.
Suddenly, he has a quest again and someone by his side, someone he can eventually love. But he's still wary, for he fears that she will be taken away from him like quite literally everything he's ever had or known.
And then, boom. She becomes a tool in Aku's hands bent on killing him against her will. All that hope he had allowed into his life is crushed once more by Aku. And he's supposed to kill her, the one person who had kept him from suicide.
Is it so strange that at this point Jack was so done that he just wanted to give up and die right there?

File: hair-625x352.jpg (36KB, 625x352px) Image search: [Google]

36KB, 625x352px

>>95260474
>Jack confronting his rage was kind of weak for me too; it was like he willed it out of existence
That's exactly what he did the first time though, did you really expect more?
What miffs me is the fact they revisited the same idea in the first place

>>95261588
Jack has always forsaken his goals for others. He used his wish to free the fairy, he destroyed a time portal in order to save some monks; it's his thing. He too altruistic to make any decision that may harm an innocent, regardless of the greater good or the fact the problem would be erased in the first place if he just got in the damn portal.

>>95261760
Yeah, that's why I didn't say that he should "let go"; that had been done before. I know they tried a different approach, I just don't think it was the correct one.

Although I must admit that introducing Mad Jack back was both unexpected and awesome.

>>95260474
bottom line is
it was rushed,just like most of the season

File: 1470081871808.jpg (50KB, 413x449px) Image search: [Google]

50KB, 413x449px

>>95260206
anon that edit looks painfully accurate

>>95261804
Pretty much. In theory, most if not all the ideas that were either underwhelming or straight up failures could have been great. I will always blame the 10 episode format. Is it related to Adult Swim or was it a decision from the inside? Because all previous seasons had 13 episodes, and three more episodes could have really saved us a lot of trouble.

>>95261804
Those episodes of 1-3 will always be a masterpiece at least

>>95261794
I like that answer.

>>95261795
Was it? I remember threads calling blue jack mad jack 2.0 as soon as it appeared. And was it even the same mad jack? The show didn't really acknowledge that he dealt with this exact problem before, they just treated it as if it were fresh. Really the whole season seems as if it were some strange reboot pieced together from vague memories of the original show rather than a true continuation.

>>95261873
I don't think it was necessary pointing out that Jack's negative emotions were the same. It was pretty obvious.
I don't think they needed to mention that "oh shit, I've been angry before". It would just be awkward; handling it like they did was the correct choice.
Besides, what I meant was that I didn't expect them to bring back an old antagonist that wasn't Aku, specially not one who wasn't particularly popular from the original.

>>95261834
No, you can't keep blaming the episode count. Better stories are told in even less time. This is a failure of directing. There were too many disjointed elements, there was a clear attempt to go back to the episodic format but they failed to also competently weave in the overarching narrative when that was the main focus. Ep4's romp inside a monster's belly, while a great callback to the old jack style, was superfluous and the same characterization that happened there could've happen with something that moved the damn plot along. The arc with honda's ghost was already redundant with blue jack's purpose in the narrative and didn't amount to much anyway. The episode of callbacks was unnecessary when they did the same thing again in the final episodes; one or the other would've sufficed, not both. The whole scotsman's ghost thing was yet another subplot that barely had presence and seemed clunkily stuffed in an already bloated story. And episode 8's romp in an alien prison/sex metaphor was again another bit that while offering important character moments did not serve to move the plot. This mess is a result of shit writing/directing.

This is the same thing that happened with Korra. You can't keep forgiving these creators for failing to use their time properly. They knew what they had to deal with and their incompetence at dealing with it is squarely on them.

>>95261912
I'm saying they didn't bring him back, they reimagined him in a similar but unassociated way. Blue jack did not function the same as mad jack; he was an overall reflection of jack's various emotional states born of severe mental anguish meant to serve as a narrative device, not and evil doppleganger brought to life by dark magic and a singular moment of anger, meant to serve as a physical confrontation/direct antagonist. I think the fact they didn't point out it was the same being was because it wasn't. They were reusing the idea, not the character.

>>95261834
Genndy intially wanted a movie but his cowriter convinced him a season would be better for fitting in everything he wanted in the finale. So this was actually initially going to be an obscenely bloated and rushed movie, and a moment if sanity turned it into a slightly less bloated 10 episode season.

Just accept that Genndy has acheived hack status.

>>95262057
I felt Episode 4 was handled fine. It gave exposure to both characters while showing off some great background art and imaginative designs.
The Omen was interesting, in that we were kept guessing on whether it was real or not. While I do like the idea that on top of all the shit Jack's having to put up with an ancient samurai spirit is out to get him, I admit that his character could have been mixed with suicidal Jack. However, the Omen represented the honor Jack believed to have lost, and that is something blue Jack didn't add.
The Scotsman ghost I admit was a bit clunky. I think he should have stayed as an old man, but that's just my opinion. However, he served well to display that even after Jack had given up, his name still gave hope to the people under Aku's regimen. They killed two birds with one stone by having a beloved character playing that role.
I don't really mind that episode 8 was a bit of a stop in the plot that focused solely in character development. Yeah, it could have been dedicated to something else, but taking a moment to rest and focus on the people we're traveling with didn't really seem like such a waste.

>>95246031
>Season 5's greatest flaw was that it was only 10 episodes.
Seasons 5's greatest flaw was that despite being only 10 episodes they tried to shoehorn in another major character, and a love interest at that.

nah the season was pretty much perfect. You all forgetting the intense head trip he went through to even get the sword back?

>>95262057
SJ was never about the overarching story though

>>95247748
>We don't even see any indication of them being in the afterlife, and while there's an afterlife in Samurai Jack (only for Vikings)
We've seen four skyfathers in Jack, pretty positive there's an afterlife for everyone.

>>95262314
Even for the aliens with no human divinities?

>>95262249
Perfect is a stretch. But it was pretty good, if flawed. Amazing at best and mediocre at worst.

>>95262276
But this season was. That disconnect I yet another issue I have with the season but I don't think that should have an impact on my critique of it as it's own work. Besides, a shift is to be expected after 10 years of absence.

>>95248060
>Aku opened the world to space travel, there's sapient robots, and several cultures have survived, even thrived.
Aku brags about desolating the planet in IIRC the Demongo episode, space travel is to mostly let marauders fuck with people, the robots mostly serve as Aku's minions, he's unleashed monstrosities that are never going to go away, eliminates city states at his leisure, and corrupts nature for fun. The planet's pretty well fucked far as civilization goes.

>>95242791
>tumblrina heterophobe detected

>>95262372
Not you, but I find it kind of amazing how there are people actually claiming that Aku was a good governor.

>>95238395
Ashi's mother popping out of nowhere without the rest of the cult made no sense. It just kind of happened. It didn't have the "oh shit" feeling it should have had.

>>95262440
To be fair, I think that they all died on the Daughters' graduation day.

>>95248849
>Civilization is the accumulation of wealth and power by those at the top
Which requires a stable natural environment for food production and to extract resources from. Aku has stripped the planet of countless resources, rendered God knows how much farmland worthless, opened up Earth to hostile aliens, established an evil empire that runs on mass produced killer robots, and created enormous monsters.

File: 1498080820051.jpg (10KB, 181x241px) Image search: [Google]

10KB, 181x241px

>mfw he actually got back to the past

>>95249290
>Aku doesn't intend to blow humanity up either
Because he wants them to suffer.

>>95262214
I think episode five was great; I even liked it more than ep3. But it did not help the already crunched for time season as a whole. It was a callback to the episodic format in a season trying it's best to deliver an overarching plot. You just can't have these slow cooldown moments when there's this many subplots flying around begging to be fleshed out. Ep 4 just does not fit. Same with ep 8 but I hated that one. For both the character moments are vital, but the choice of delivery hurts it.

The first thing blue jack talks about is jack's honor and what the "honorable" thing to do was, then even segued into an ominous shot of honda. The show itself acknowledged the clear overlap between the two entities. Both were not necessary.

Scotsman is actually a victim of all this other superfluous shit. That plot if any could've done with more screentime, but because of all the previous issues there was none left. Ghost scotsman could've even aided in Jack's recovery and served to highlight the growing romance between ashi and jack if he had had some episodes devoted to the three of them interacting [like say instead of that godawful cringeworthy ep 8. They even do a zoom in shot of scotsman declaring his intentions to find jack, yet nothing comes of it. They set up that subplot to have more presence than it did and I can only imagine they foolishly chose to cut whatever they had prepared and instead keep all the other worthless crap.

>>95262057
Actually, you've opened my eyes to something else, and for that I thank you.
The problem wasn't the lack of episodes; that's just a symptom.
The main problem was the identity of the season.
The main reason we all love the first three episodes so much is because of what they really are; Samurai Jack for adults.
We have the long silence, the absurd characters with Scaramouche and even Aku, the over the top action, the beautiful backgrounds, the visual storytelling... Only now dealing with more mature topics and more violent than before.
It was a good self contained three parter.
However, the rest of the season felt more over the place because the story it was trying to tell didn't exactly lend itself to the classic Samurai Jack format. That kind of story with character development, change of motivations and overarching plot points would require a different style; more dialogue, more exposition, a stronger tie into continuity.
But they couldn't just be Samurai Jack in name only; they had to adhere to the original's spirit with all these new changes.
And in this we disagree; I feel that the mix of old and new style was, while far from smooth and more than a bit flawed, worked. You don't. And I can easily see why; there's certainly many elements to complain about. It was a risky bet that paid off for some people but not for others.
I won't deny that there are issues that aren't subjected to personal taste; the ending was still one of the heaviest blows the season took as well as I exposed in the OP episode 7.
At least that's what I think; from what I've gathered I consider you an intelligent anon, so I'd like to know your opinion on my reasoning.

>>95262321
Those skyfathers reign over everyone, three fought the primordial darkness and Zeus held/holds the throne of 'ruler of all things'.

>>95262481
Which really makes me wonder how the fuck the planet is still as populous as it is. How does anyone even lead the semblance of an average life we see in the show? How the fuck are there mechanics with well fed families and bustling inns and clubs etc? how are there still pristine jungles and these beautiful sprawling natural environments jack's always wandering through? They tell us the world is shit but it honestly just seems like your average cyberpunk setting but with aliens. Things may be low but it doesn't look like the grimdark apocalypse we're told it is. Maybe it's just a judge dredd megacities situation; pockets of relatively stable civilization surrounded by hellish wildlands

>>95262565
>I think episode five was great; I even liked it more than ep3. But it did not help the already crunched for time season as a whole. It was a callback to the episodic format in a season trying it's best to deliver an overarching plot. You just can't have these slow cooldown moments when there's this many subplots flying around begging to be fleshed out.
You're right; I actually agreed with you on this next post >>95262591.
I still maintain my position on episode 4 being pretty good and fitting. It was a perfect set up to force Jack and Ashi to interact by putting them in a position that left no immediate way out for any of them.
>The first thing blue jack talks about is jack's honor and what the "honorable" thing to do was, then even segued into an ominous shot of honda. The show itself acknowledged the clear overlap between the two entities. Both were not necessary.
Alright, you're right about that. I suppose that the Omen existed solely to make one of Jack's "hallucinations" real as a twist.
>The Scotsman
He really got a pretty raw deal, didn't he? Yes, I hoped he and Jack would reunite sooner. I was actually expecting the Scotsman spectral form
to duel with blue Jack being able to see it and interact with it as a way to pull Jack out of depression. Say, like Uncle Ben and the Symbiote in that Spectacular Spiderman episode.

File: 519822454_preview_62793596.jpg (84KB, 500x223px) Image search: [Google]

84KB, 500x223px

>>95262591
I completely agree with your conclusion, but like you said we disagree on opinion. The attempt to adhere to an episodic format and the old pacing and style while also trying to tell an overarching story and develop new a character and elements was a detriment to the quality of the season as it's own work. They tried to have their cake and eat it too, but weren't skilled enough to make it all work. I don't think the season turned out well. It was mediocre at best.

>>95262679
>Which really makes me wonder how the fuck the planet is still as populous as it is.
It's a cartoon.

>Maybe it's just a judge dredd megacities situation; pockets of relatively stable civilization surrounded by hellish wildlands
Probably.

>>95262694
Wait, I meant I like ep4, not 5. I agree it was a good episode, but I don't think it fit.

>>95262694
You know what I was hope they would've done with honda was reveal him to be an actual restless spirit from Jack's time and give Jack an opportunity to talk it down/put it to peaceful rest. It would've been the perfect chance to let Jack figuratively and literally make amends with the past he failed, thus allowing him to finally look to the future/ashi. It stuns me that they wasted such an opportunity just to have a five minute fight sequence.

>>95262820
More than out of skill, I'd consider it unlucky. If they had come up with a different storyline that fit better with Samurai Jack's spirit I feel something nearly if not entirely perfect would have come out. The plot they focused on just didn't exactly fall right into that format. Many anon's have postulated their ideas on how to fix this; mine is a simple one. Make Ashi have a speech impediment or be unable to talk at all because of the training she had to endure. That way the communication between Jack and Ashi would have been mainly non verbal and it would have allowed for a lot of visual storytelling. But that's just dust to the wind.
For what it was, the season was satisfactory enough for me, and while I can't qualify it as great even if I really would like to, it was just decent, pretty good at points even.
For all its flaws in the overarching plot, I believe that every episode has something of value in it even if they as a whole don't fit together that smoothly. And that's the problem, isn't it? Samurai Jack was meant as a series of episodes each dedicated to a particular short story, not an extended epic story. And, once more, while I believe it wasn't as bad as many people make it out to be and was pretty enjoyable, Samurai Jack is, in all regards, an episodic cartoon.

>>95262933
You mean, like a warrior who fought and died to Aku while Jack was lost in time heading to the future?
Yeah, it could have been pretty cool. Hell, maybe even go full retard and make that spirit being a manifestation of Jack's father's spirit.

>>95238395
Episode 6 and 8 could trim some fat, I feel like they condense quite a bit of stuff in those two.

>>95262947
>Make Ashi have a speech impediment or be unable to talk at all because of the training she had to endure. That way the communication between Jack and Ashi would have been mainly non verbal and it would have allowed for a lot of visual storytelling.
Go full cassandra cain? That...might've actually worked really well, though I think it would've required even more time to do well, or at least an extraction of a whole lot of other content. But yeah, it might've been marvelous had they gone that direction.

>>95263102
I'm glad you like my idea.
Maybe you could cut a lot of time from Ashi's yelling and trashing in episode 4 to allow for Jack to realize she doesn't speak and try to communicate with signs and such. Hell, the realization that led Ashi not to kill Jack was completely silent.

>>95263070
Whoops
>could condense

>>95238395
What I wish happened was for Jack to keep his beard and long hair.

That would've made the passage of time hold true, so that when he fights Aku he could see that time -did- pass for him.

>>95238395
I still find the whole *Magic change back to old Jack* in ep 7 really really odd. I get it was him stripping away his new self to go back to his old self but the maturity of new jack was kind of interesting.

Just my 2 cents

File: perfection.jpg (187KB, 800x969px) Image search: [Google]

187KB, 800x969px

>>95238395
Nah. E7, while definitely one of the season's weakest points, is still not really the worst. That's either E5 or E8.

E5 is one of those episodes stuck in a series purgatory. You know, the kind of episode that's not really a filler, but nothing too important happens in there either. It literally exists just to move the story forward, to lead up to more important events. I mean, even Scotsman's death isn't really that significant as he's still around + he only makes one more appearance after this. And if you take that and the tree out, there's literally nothing important going on. The serpent scene does feel majectic, but it's very short.

E8 doesn't need any explanation. I mean, it's actually quite impressive visually but sucks substantially, trying to shoehorn a love plotline into a pen-penultimate episode is simply a bad idea on its own.

I liked the army battle scene a lot because the contrast of Ashi's huge ugly battle face immediately contrasted with Jack's peaceful meditation was a pretty fun bit of juxtaposition.

What really bothered me is how anti-climactic that confrontation between Jack and Blue/Red Jack felt. This was something that had been built up for weeks, now, and it just went "You need me." "No, I'm good." and bam, it's over.

Red/Blue Jack saying "I KEPT US ALIVE!" was very interesting and I really, really wish this had been a longer conversation and a longer confrontation. I want to see when Blue Jack started being a thing and how it developed into something with such a hold on Jack.

Honestly, there's tons of moments like this across the last four episodes. It's so obvious that they needed more time. Almost nothing from 7-10 got any time to breathe. 16 episodes would've made this a great series from top to bottom. 26 episodes would've made it fucking legendary.

File: 1486799088734.jpg (10KB, 337x325px) Image search: [Google]

10KB, 337x325px

TLDR the thread
Season 5 had promise, turned mediocre, and became a festering garbage pile. Best parts were scatbot and suicide jack

>>95241443
My main issue with this is that him telling a long cohesive story worked out pretty fucking well for about five weeks. It was only when time became an obvious issue that things started to go off the rails.

File: willjackgobacktothepast.png (14KB, 664x324px) Image search: [Google]

14KB, 664x324px

>>95265988
Most people here don't even hate the finale because they think it's badly written, they hate the finale because it left them unsatisfied with everybody getting erased and no final Aku boss battle

>>95265911
>I liked the army battle scene a lot because the contrast of Ashi's huge ugly battle face immediately contrasted with Jack's peaceful meditation was a pretty fun bit of juxtaposition.
I did get that contrast. And it fulfilled its purpose. However, it sacrificed something that was way more important.
Just replace the army with Ashi fighting her mother plus a few other assassins and you'd get the same effect plus a more satisfactory conclusion.
Red/Blue Jack saying "I KEPT US ALIVE!" was very interesting and I really, really wish this had been a longer conversation and a longer confrontation. I want to see when Blue Jack started being a thing and how it developed into something with such a hold on Jack.

Agreed. They really should have done something else. Honestly, if they had gone for a different approach, such as Jack embarking on a spiritual journey with blue Jack, that could have been interesting. But yeah, that would have required an entire episode devoted to the journey alone, which would have been fine by me, but with the limited number they had there was no way it would happen.
>Almost nothing from 7-10 got any time to breathe
You know, I actually didn't see this. In fact, I'd dare say that there might have been too much breathing in episode 8 and 9. I appreciate the pause for character development and interaction, but man, did they need those episode to set the tone for the finale. They still tried, but as a consequence it was all very rushed. Not that I didn't enjoy it; it was good, but it could have been so much better.
Also, 26 episodes might have been a tad too much. I dunno, 13 like the original seasons would have been enough to freshen out the story.

>>95266072
I'll never understand what kind of final battle they expected. Jack trounces Aku at every encounter, unless Jack's sword is missing; then Aku is the one beating the shit out of him. The only battle that came close to being fair was their first encounter, that's it. Giving Aku a humiliating death was the best next option available.

File: Samurai_Jack_S5.jpg (288KB, 1066x1619px) Image search: [Google]

288KB, 1066x1619px

>>95264203
>We never got to see the second teaser poster come to fruition
>We never got to see Jack kick ass in the shogun armor for more than an episode and a half

It still hurts.

>>95267038
As much as I liked the season, never seeing this poster happening is so much fucking bullshit.

>>95267133
what would you preferred to have happened in order to set up this scene anon?

>>95268915
Well, I'm just gonna make up some shit right now, so hold on.

Alright. Here we have Jack and Ashi going back to get the sword. For this Jack goes to the ruins of his home because this will be the best place where to obtain a spiritual connection.
Ashi comes along.
He goes into the ruins of a temple, whose entrance is almost impossible to see through the weeds and thousands of years old debris.
Jack has to do this alone, so Ashi stays outside.
Jack goes into his spiritual journey.
Then, The High Priestess and a entourage of
cultist, the last ones remaining, make their way into the ruins of the town. Ashi spots them but much to her dismay they split up. Knowing how crafty her mother can be she stays away from the entrance as a way to hide Jack better. She then proceeds to play a game of cat and mouse with the assassins. Meanwhile Jack is deep into his own mind, in an intense battle against projections of his past foes while blue Jack keeps fucking with him. Eventually, he attacks blue Jack and realizes that only made his enemies stronger. He stays put and allows them to hit him, but they all stay put. Then blue Jack starts yelling at him, telling him to kill them already. Jack then realizes that by listening to blue Jack only has led to his own pain and misery, and he refuses to listen to him anymore, his foes slowly fade away. Blue Jack screams in frustration and throws himself at Jack, but he goes through him. Jack smiles and says "You won't hurt me anymore".
Meanwhile outside, heavy rain has started pouring down. Ashi has fought several cult members, but now is confronted with her mother. She knows where Jack is and yells at her servants to go get him. Ashi tries to stop her but her mother fights her nonstop keeping her from helping Jack.
Jack, meanwhile, as his vision clears and the rain pours on him from the broken ceiling, is greeted by three monks, who without a word hand him over the sword. Triumphant music sounds as Jack takes it from their hands

>>95269212
and smiles with tears in their eyes.
Suddenly, they disappear with a lighting that blinds him. Then, he sees the assassins that had made their way inside the temple. They are paralyzed at the sight of the nearly naked man holding a sword. He's not what they expected him.
He immediately notices that Ashi's nowhere to be seen. He demands to know where she is; they circle around him quietly. Jack unsheathes his sword and demands once more they respond.
Instead, an occult assassin throws herself at him from behind him and swings her own sword at him. He barely manages to dodge the blow and cuts her with a strike of his own. Blood splashes over him, and that brings the memories of killing the Daughters of Aku, and a thought that had been festering in his mind for a while comes to fruition; they were victims the same way Ashi was.
Maybe these ones can be saved too. He begs them to surrender, that they have been blinded by Aku's lies but that they can still break free of him. They don't listen and attack again. Jack deflects the blows but they start to overwhelm him; while not as strong as the daughters they are quite formidable fighters, specially when he's just on the defensive.
We cut back to Ashi, who fights her mother and manages to kill her after a fierce battle. She then runs off to meet Jack at the temple fearing for his life.
Meanwhile, Jack keeps defending himself, but as their fast attacks start covering him with cuts and bruises and his pleas fall on deaf ears he snaps and starts slashing with his sword, and in a brutal sequence murders them all.
He hears steps behind him and turns around, showing the scene from the poster.
Ashi stands by the door, shocked at the scene.
Jack's eyes burn bright with fury, his breathing is heavy and exhausted.
However, upon seeing the fear in Ashi's eyes he snaps out of it, and realizes he was this close to becoming a slave of his rage yet again. He drops the sword, which loudly clanks against the puddle stone floor.

>>95269396
He drops to his knees as the blood flows from his body to the ground, washed away by the rain.
Ashi rushes towards him and kneels to his level.
Jack's face is looking down, muttering over and over again "Not again... not again..."
Ashi shushes him and surrounds his head with his arms, lovingly cradling him under the rain. The episode ends with a descending shot on the blood covered sword as the rain pours heavily on it and a mix of blue and crimson is washed away by a small current.


And that's how I envision that scene coming to life. Sorry for writing so much; I was just making shit up as I went.

File: ashi2.png (1MB, 1024x1448px) Image search: [Google]

1MB, 1024x1448px

>>95269454
>>95269396
>>95269212
9/10 Anon

Wish it had been a real episode. Much better than what we got!

Kinda wish we had gotten to see pic related too

>>95269625
Thanks man! I appreciate your input.

There weren't enough fight scenes.

>>95238395
Yep. All the problems that would later destroy the finale could first be seen here.