Art and entertainment

I loved how Aku took his time in deciding how to best kill Jack. Finally, he decides to use Ashi to kill him. That would've been a cruel fate as Jack loved Ashi. 

Before Aku can have Jack killed, Jack's friends come to save him. That was a very emotional moment. They most likely knew they were going to die but they tried rescuing him anyways. It was hard to watch Aku kill some of them. This episode did an astonishing job of building up tension and various emotions. If Jack doesn't travel back to the past, Aku will kill everyone. Jack tries his best to get Ashi back on his side. When he said "I love you!" out of desperation, that was powerful. The power of love was what finally helped Ashi regain control of herself. The soundtrack during this part of the episode made the scene more intense. 

Ashi realizes she has Aku's powers which means she can create a time portal to send him back to the past. The rematch between Jack and Aku was epic. Jack finally destroys Aku and rids the world of him forever.

The scene of his return to the past was amazing. I loved how beautiful the animation was especially during the wedding. The use of slow-motion in this scene was perfect. It made a dramatic transition from the awe and joy of marriage to shock and despair as Ashi slowly collapses. When she disappears and Jack cries, that was heartbreaking. 

Jack grieves presumably for a long time over her disappearance. Although Jack destroyed Aku and saved the world, Aku got the last laugh by taking away the woman he loved from him. He left a deep wound in Jack. When he sees a ladybug, he's reminded of the ladybug Ashi saw earlier in Samurai Jack season 5. This scene was a powerful ending. Jack realizes although Ashi is gone along with Aku, he can create a future of his own. What made it more powerful was the brand new soundtrack. The animation in the last scene was so amazing, especially the last shot of the mist dispersing as sunlight shined through. The shot of the cherry blossom tree was breathtaking. It resembled Ashi's head to me which meant she is still with him in his memories.      

Originally, I loved the ending but as I pondered more and more - I realized this was not a good ending. I disliked Ashi and Jack's relationship because it felt more like fan service than essential to the story. I understand what the writer was trying to do but it didn't work well. Ashi's purpose was to motivate Jack to return to the past which worked well. However, when he returned to the past - it felt like fan service and a forced ending. Jack spent so many years trying to get back to the past. He made so many friends in Aku's world and developed as a character. He learned valuable lessons in his journies like freeing himself from his rage and the meaning of friendship. 

For him to return to the past is to undo all of that. Its character development but backward. Losing Ashi after returning to the past was powerful but if Aku destroyed both Ashi AND his chance to return to the past - that would've been completely devastating. I feel like having Aku destroy Ashi and his chance to return to the past before Jack destroyed Aku would've been the best ending. It would've given a powerful theme that you can't change the past but you can change the future. Sadly, that's not the ending we got.

There are other flaws in Samurai Jack such as adult references and screentime devoted to Ashi's relationship with Jack. The humor was good but I felt it was mostly filler material. I really wished that screentime would've been devoted to things like the story rather than humor. Samurai Jack season 5 felt rushed compared to past seasons. 

In summary, Samurai Jack season 5 was an amazing season regardless. The show was near perfect. Samurai Jack is one of the best legendary animated TV shows in my view. I highly recommend buying season 5 on DVD!                 

This is one of the most intense Samurai Jack episodes I've ever seen. I loved the beginning of the episode because we got to explore another alien culture. It was special and creative. The scenery was beautiful. This review contains spoilers so beware!

The scene with the green tigers was a very intense fight. I loved how the show built up the tension quite well with little to no dialogue. What made this fight scary was seeing Jack and Ashi completely surrounded by them. It was also the fact the tigers expressed themselves with letters. 

I watched the latest episode of Samurai Jack season 5 episode 7 and i was absolutely amazed. The whole show became completely dark, violent, and grim on a level never before seen. With that in mind, i will give my thoughts and analysis on this episode including spoilers.

The beginning of the episode is set in the days of his younger self when he is searching for a time portal. He is greeted by several small creatures and they guide the way. He seems to have almost given up hope of ever returning to his time..that is until he abruptly finds a time portal. Jack quickly makes a run for it. He jumps in but just as he is traveling back in time, Aku grabs him and pulls him back. It would seem that Jack and Aku would once again engage in battle but Jack impatiently runs for the portal. This time Aku destroys it and tells Jack it was the last time portal in existence. At that moment, Jack loses his self control and is consumed by anger. In a fit of anger, he rushes towards Aku and attacks him. Aku evades him, wisely knowing that he cannot defeat Jack as long as he wields the sword. Aku transforms the small ram creatures into monsters to fight him. Jack takes out all of his anger on them until they all die. In a guilt-stricken and nervous state, he drops his sword. Jack is stunned by the realization of what he had done but the sword lands near a hole and it falls in. The scene flash-forwards to Jack recounting his tale to Ashi.

As they approach the site where Jack lost his sword, they find that it's gone. Ashi quickly suspects that someone has stolen it but Jack realizes that the sword has left him. Jack then goes on a spiritual mission to restore his sword as he sits in meditation as Ashi guards him. Jack appears in the center of the universe as if he reached a state of nirvana only to embark on a raft in the sea.

Ashi notices an entire army marching towards Jack and is surprised. Nevertheless, she confronts them and tells them that she will stop them all. They then engage in a fierce and brutal battle. It is in this very moment that Ashi's loyalty, character, and faith in Jack is tested.

Jack slowly reaches a house with a man resembling Buddha stands on the dock. The man asks him to join him for a cup of tea. This is very important as tea in Japanese culture has a strong spiritual connection with Zen Buddhism. The tea ceremony symbolized honor, clarity, transcendence, and a spiritual awakening to the Samurai. It's clear that Jack must be spiritually refined in this test before he can recover his sword.

Meanwhile, Ashi has killed almost all of the soldiers. She quickly realizes too late that there is all but one left alive and has already rushed to Jack. Ashi quickly runs on foot then calls the bird to her. Ashi barely stops the arrow flying towards Jack. It's revealed that the warrior attempting to kill Jack is none other than her mother. This is probably the biggest test that Ashi has ever faced and whether or not she really has changed for the greater good. Her mother explains to her that she was always the weak one and gives her one last chance to redeem herself by killing Jack. Ashi refuses and explains that her mother lied to her about everything. Ashi's mother realizing that Ashi clearly has taken Jack's side, fights against her. The high priestess then tells Ashi that Jack killed her sisters to which Ashi replies with "you killed them! We were made for one purpose - to kill! Our fate was sealed the day we were born!" The battle culminates to a point where Ashi kills her own mother.

In Jack's spiritual quest, the monk says that all the ingredients in the tea are good but it lacks the most important quality - balance. Jack is frustrated and angered by his response. Jack desperately pleads for the monk to show him the way to his sword but the monk refuses. The monk explains that it's not for him to show Jack his own path. Immediately we see Jack's manifestation of his inner anger rant about the monk hiding the way. As the monk explains the path to the sword is something Jack must earn, Jack's inner anger tells him that he deserves it after everything that has happened.

Eventually Jack realizes that the ultimate obstacle in his quest to the past was himself. Since the time he was transported to the future in the first episode to the present, Jack has built up alot of anger and frustrations. It's his inner uncontrollable anger that has blinded him. Interesting to note that one of Jack's greatest flaws is anger. If you recall in the episode "Jack vs. Mad Jack" episode, Jack has conquered his angry side before but it seems to have reappeared later in the show. Jack vanquishes his suppressed rage once and for all. The monk finally sees that Jack is completely in harmony with himself and we see the gods from the "birth of evil" episode appear to him. At long last, Jack is worthy of wielding his sword and undergoes a transformation to his younger self. While i enjoyed this scene, i disliked Jack going back his younger self because it's not consistent with the story. The episode concludes with Jack returning to the present world and tells Ashi that the next step in their journey is to fight Aku.

These are my concluding thoughts regarding this episode. I predict in the next episode that Jack and Ashi will face Aku but will not be able to defeat him. Let me know your thoughts and predictions in the comments below as i eagerly await the release of the next episode.  

Just finished watching Samurai Jack season 5 episode 3 which took place after Jack fell into the river and drifted away from the daughters of Aku. This episode was far more darker than the last one as i explain in my review. Once again, spoilers included.

For this week's episode of Samurai Jack, i was incredibly mind blown and found it difficult to breathe. The action, the revelations, everything had me on the edge of my seat. That being said, i continue to give my review and analysis of episode 2. Once again, keep in mind there are spoilers.

The show opens up with Aku's minions coming up with ways to destroy Jack but Aku is completely careless. From what we can see, Aku has clearly given up on trying to kill Jack as nothing has ever worked. Aku has become so depressed after 50 years so he has gone into hiding hoping that Jack would die of old age. He then realizes that Jack has not aged due to the effects of the initial time travel. As for the new voice actor who plays him, i think he did a phenomenal job. He captured the essence of the character perfectly much like the original voice actor for Aku.




Samurai Jack rides his bike until he comes across the beetle drone in the beginning of the episode. He destroys it, unaware of an even bigger threat lying in wait. He gets ambushed by the daughters of Aku who tear him apart and strip him of almost all of his defenses. This is one of the few times where Jack had to flee and go into hiding as he hallucinates once more. This time, he is faced with himself who encourages him to kill himself and give up fighting. What we know from the last episode is that Jack lost in the sword in a fight but it was not with Aku. After all, Aku does not know that Jack has lost his sword which puts Jack in a very vulnerable position. Jack once again sees a vision of the mysterious samurai in the mist. This gives me more reason to suspect this mysterious samurai is Jack himself as this vision occurred shortly after his hallucination discouraged him from fighting. Somehow Jack musters up the will to survive and chooses to rush inside ancient ruins. What Jack did was very smart as splits up the daughters of Aku to make them more vulnerable to attack. Surprisingly, the daughters of Aku realize what he's trying to do and go into hiding. Jack is unaware of their position but slowly crawls out of hiding in an attempt to escape. Suddenly he is attacked out of the dark and comes close to getting struck. The sparks from the blows help illuminate the catacombs just slightly before he runs away. As the episode progresses, Jack becomes increasingly scared and unaware of how to handle the daughters of Aku. What made this episode so intense, bloody, brutal was the fact that Jack has never encountered an enemy that was too unpredictable and too agile to be robots. That's because they aren't robots - they are
human beings trained to destroy him since birth. Eventually Jack reaches his opportunity to strike and when he does, he strikes down one of his adversaries believing it to be a drone until sees blood. Too late does he realize that he just killed another human being and is overcome with guilt. Jack doesn't hesitate to use his sword taken from his previous battle to create a blockade after getting a knife stuck to his side and falls right into the river. He is taken upstream in an unconscious state.    

At first i did not understand the purpose behind having the white wolf in the story until i realized it's purpose. The white wolf was meant to symbolize Jack himself fighting against more powerful and formidable enemies. After the fight is over, we see the wolf in critical condition as the episode concludes. I predict that in the next episode, Jack will have some sort of internal conflict within himself after killing a human life and whether or not he should continue surviving. Nonetheless, i am looking forward to how Jack will make his comeback. Let me know your thoughts and comments below.