Das Boo posted:

So wait, is it a thing that people think this is a soulless cash grab? Despite it being an episodic series infamously left without conclusion and its creator saying the whole point of this is to give the show a proper ending because it's fans deserve that much? A series whose original intent was to push artistic animation over marketable animation?

Huh.

Teriyaki Koinku posted:

No, but this is pretty different from how Jack handled robots before -- without fanfare or expounding on honorable samurai ethics. It's not about sparing the robot or not but how they get destroyed this time around.

I think it's intentional why they added the Horror movie-style music when Scaramouche's head pops off. Jack is more of a killer than a samurai at this point, and I think that's going to be even more explicit in the next episode, not to mention the shadowy samurai-figure in his hallucinations.

Funky Valentine posted:

Jack will go back to the past, realize the past was lame, and then go back to the sick-rear end future and hang out with Scotsman.

ZorajitZorajit posted:

I don't remember this. I thought it was forged by three gods. I remember Odin or Thor hammering it. I suspect if a new sword is made "from Jack", then it won't be going to Jack.

Das Boo posted:

So I here's something odd: On my first watch, I noticed Jack's skin tone is more peach and less yellow than in the original run but I dismissed it as "Okay, that probably has an associative subtext they'd want to avoid, I get it."
But my second time through and I'm not sure that's the case. Both his parents had a very yellow skin tone in their river appearance and I can't be positive due to the ambient color, but Jack looked like he had his old pale yellow coloring in the scene where he lost his sword.

Phone posting, so I'll use someone else's else's image.


The heck?

Mr. Fowl posted:

I wonder if maybe getting someone entirely different wouldn't have been better.

He's not bad, but the imitation makes the difference all the more apparent. Sort of like trying to wear two pieces of clothing that seem to be the same color--only they're not quite so the difference sticks out more.

Chokes McGee posted:

I'll be honest with you, I just thought the original guy was rusty from picking the role back up. It's pretty good, doesn't really jar me because the less harsh voice fits the "meh gently caress it" attitude he has now.

Tunicate posted:

I think jack will go back in time and defeats aku, though not neccesarily in that order.

Slime posted:

That actually brings up a good point. The horseman looks scary, and the antlers have made people think of Aku, but this episode made a point of showing that just because something has antlers doesn't mean it's associated with Aku or evil. The same probably holds true for this spectre.

Otherkinsey Scale posted:

I always got the vibe Aku either allowed or participated in the slaughter of most of humanity., since we don't really see that many humans and he had to make room for all those aliens and robots somehow.

Hypocrisy posted:

Aku killed a lot of people/cursed people to terrible fates so...no. Let's keep the idea of Aku redemption in the garbage bin along with Jack dying.

Megaspel posted:

Yeah I think the main thing about Ashi is that she's going to pose a moral quandary to Jack that he has not yet passed. She is a victim of Aku just as much as anyone else, and pitting her against Jack is an extension of that.

I don't care about Ashi, I care about Jack.

Regalingualius posted:

Quoting for reference just in case.

(Really, though, I wouldn't want romance between them, but I could see a mutual respect developing by the time of the finale).

Slime posted:

Counterpoint: Jack never passes up an opportunity to tear his clothes off and just run around in underwear.

420 Gank Mid posted:

Seriously though there were a handful of memorable female character that had very unique visual representation in the original series. Ikra, the Bounty Hunter and Butterfly Princesses, Scottsman's Wife, and Josephine all come to mind

JossiRossi posted:

Not sure I'd call it a Male Power Fantasy because does Jack ever do anything that a female character couldn't do? I agree it'd be great if media had better representation of empowered female leads, but I don't think Samurai Jack is a problem, it's just the aggregate of media, and most other stories of this type would have included plenty of "Jack Getting the Woman", which this show doesn't.

Otherkinsey Scale posted:

I don't know if I agree with those criticisms specifically, but I definitely don't agree with "no criticisms allowed" (or, above on this page, "if you try to look at things through a feminist lens you must be broken and/or trolling").

Samurai Jack is legit a work of art, and as such deserves to be considered seriously. It's a great show, but as Tartakovsky said in an interview someone linked earlier in the thread, "I don’t think of myself as a 47-year-old with a mortgage and three kids, I think of myself as a virile young 25". And there's no way that's not going to be reflected in the show, for better and worse. (For instance, "gotta get back, back to the past" takes on a much more relatable meaning in that light than it originally had.)

Das Boo posted:

Samurai Jack: There was a FORESKIN here. It's gone now.

Regalingualius posted:

I prefer this one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43PhlIsEFNU

PhazonLink posted:

How do we know the wolf is real, could have been a Jack's is bleeding out hallucination which means Jack killed that animal while acting like a wolf.

Roth posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiLk619tHgE

EagerSleeper posted:

I'm actually a fan of this theory. Thank you for the interesting write up!


I just caught up to the end of this thread and wanted to chime in. In regards to past discussion about Samurai Jack and putting ladies in skin-tight battle suits, I'm fairly sure being sexist or using the septuplets as eye candy wasn't the goal of the show, so I'm going to have good faith in this show until I see something more egregious or if they use the 'bitch' word. So far the Daughters of Aku are being set up as intense, fearsome, but also tragically sheltered individuals by the show itself, and it seems like the show is devoted to making them (or at least just Ashi who may be just the sole remaining assassin) interesting character(s). And that's a pretty feminist/progressive goal right there, so I'm happy so far. Feel free to quote me though if it turns out that Ashi turns into pure fanservice later on.

I'm looking forward to the next episode of Samurai Jack, because it reminds me of the time that Jack went inside a farting dragon whose farts where so bad that it was killing a town. God, I loved that episode.

Covok posted:

I do love that Aku is going insane as well. He's also talking to himself and feeling existential dread.

AndyElusive posted:

Holy poo poo, needle rain? There's something I'm sure will make it into my nightmares now.

TwoPair posted:

Well they looked quite dead, and their writhing in pain didn't help. But really you can chalk it up to Jack's PTSD. This was just the straw that broke the camel's samurai's back.

Dolash posted:

Seems pretty obvious Jack's following Samurai Grim Reaper to take himself out of the picture, since he's snapped at the thought that his ongoing existence is causing net suffering because he'll never defeat Aku but by his struggling against Aku innocent people are being harmed. The whole "they chose their path" justification he used when fighting the Daughters has fallen apart as he's gotten to know Ashi and it's obvious they never really had a choice and then those alien children are forced to attack him too, whether they were actually alive at the end wasn't as important as the traumatic thought that he's the catalyst for their suffering. We saw the armoured suit guy explain they'd deliberately chosen to use children, knowing Jack wouldn't be able to fight back, so at least a few people have figured out Jack's real weakness by now.

It's a little ironic that this is being done in Aku's name and Aku himself probably has no idea. He hardly even seems to care. Aku's evil empire is self-maintaining in a way that's somehow even more grinding than if Aku had personally directed these latest attempts to kill Jack. It sort of drives home the futility of Jack's resistance that he isn't even threatening Aku anymore. At the same time, Ashi is learning the opposite lesson, and by seeing the children survived (who obviously parallel her experience) then resistance against Aku is possible after all.

Regalingualius posted:

Rhonne posted:

So what was that thing that told Ashi where to find Jack? The one after she left the bar.

Serge Painsbourg posted:

Unless he's able to tell Aku in a later episode, his bits were pointless.

Bobulus posted:

What was the episode which opened with Jack fighitng some aliens on flying bug robot things? He saved some, like, chipmunk looking aliens in like five minutes, then walked away and the rest of the episode happened. I was assuming the cloaked creature was one of those chipmunk aliens.

I don't think that was the Arabian-theme episode mentioned above.

Gaunab posted:

Bunch of sourpusses in this thread.

nerdbot posted:

It's a shame the romance stuff was so... present. Because the monster was cool as gently caress and I am so there for what basically amounted to a Samurai Jack episode set in a Metroid game

That was otherwise nnnnottttt goooooddddd. Even without how hamhanded it was, what was the point? Was any of this really worth spending one of our ten episodes on?

nerdbot posted:

I don't feel like either of them are quite right. I guess this episode isn't exactly the best way to gauge it but it feels like all of Jack's development over this season got trimmed off along with his beard, and he's just 100% fine and back to how he was in the original series except now also ready to gently caress

SirKibbles posted:

Shows always seem to do this, GoT does, Korra did it. If you only have like 8 episodes please don't waste an entire one on romance and screw up your plot pacing as a result.

Das Boo posted:

I'm remembering some weeks back when that second episode premiered and how I was just floored at the quality. The cinematography, the choreography, the pacing, the backgrounds, the music. I watched it several times and admired everything that went into it. How cool is it to do this tier of quality in a TV show, where you don't have the constraints of a movie? You can develop better characters, deeper atmosphere and take the time to build suspense without worrying about wrapping up the plot in 90 minutes. And all the cool, meditative, artistic shots can fit in with room to spare for comedic scenes. gently caress, this is great!

And then here we are.

RonJeremysBalzac posted:

Were you people all former Zutara shippers or something. Ashi is an adult. So is Jack. Nothing ever suggested he was anything but heterosexual before. The whole premise of Jack and Ashi was based on Genndy's original childhood conception of Samurai Jack, where he and a girlfriend wandered a post apocalyptic wasteland.

Dolash posted:

Eh, it was a bit clunky to spend a whole episode on just this, and in such a silly "whoops, they're naked, how awkward!" way, but I don't think there's anything inherently wrong about them being in a relationship. The slight goofiness actually made it feel more like an old Samurai Jack episode, it seems like being restored and regaining his sword made Jack act a lot more like his original self instead of the world-weary apocalyptic survivor he was for most of the season. In fact, the whole premise of wandering into some random monster by chance was a lot more like an original Samurai Jack episode, and if this were a full-length season or a full "however many seasons we want" revival I'd say it would've fit in fine.