Samurai Jack is back!!! - ... And with that the series concludes.

Well Adult Swim let me watch Samurai Jack without paying money (but I had to sit through COMMERCIALS)

Spoiler: Thoughts on the ending and alternate ending

The alternate ending is sweet and all but I think the actual ending is better done from an artistic stand point. I guess I like bittersweet endings because I am a sadomasochist. I think happy endings are more meaningful when they come at a cost and this was still a happy ending even with the loss.

And the three gods that made up the Big Good Ra, Rama, and Odin were not the sorts of deities to micromanage happiness. If they could bend space and time to get Jack his fiance back, they should have been able to stop Aku before he tore up Japan.

Maybe I'm used to Slann too much, but I think Big Good characters should rarely be warm and fuzzy.

 

The Reboot reboot series is an abomination. But there was an unofficial fan-made graphic novel that does wrap up the cliff hanger ending and weaves a lot of old plots in such as the return of (sort of) friendlier Codemaster Talon.

There was a lot of callbacks to old episodes but I was hoping for a callback to Aku's Fairy Tales "She had the most adorable...flaming eyebrows" One of my favorite episodes. Especially since this was a major theme of the last season was based on this. Aku was concerned that he was losing an entire generation's fear and this was happening.

I did have a thought that the final season of Samurai Jack reminded me of the recent trend in movies with post-hero themes like we've seen with Logan (well done), Batman (poorly done), Superman (really poorly done), Luke Skywalker (poorly done), and probably a few others. Unlike the poorly done post-hero heroes, Jack was able to redeem himself full circle.

This is why I actually like the new Titans show despite how they seem to trashing the source material. Yes, Dick Grayson/Robin is much darker and more broken than we are used to, but Dick realizes he is broken and is trying to fix himself. All the titans are broken in their own way, and they are tentatively making themselves whole with their new surrogate family. So the show has potential to have a good arc. DC can still mess this up, but I'm cautiously optimistic.

I guess the new Samurai Jack episodes made me decide that post-hero stories only are good in my eyes if there is some sort of redemption arc.

 

I'm also glad that the last episode did a shout out to the original opening



That is the best cartoon opening of all time. It immediately gets you up to speed on the plot, and provides an enticing teaser of the background shots and animation style. And it revealed characterization. Aku's arrogance and Jack's relative stoicism.

 

Aku should be bigger. Also, let me know if you find a Saitama model, so I can plop him down to win every tabletop match...