My Samurai Jack series review

My Samurai Jack series Review 

 

Intro: Whoa! The creator of this cartoon hasn't lost his touch after thirteen years, I'm impressed.  

Samurai Jack: Here's the plot for this series. A shape-shifter name Aku is sent free to continue his reign of terror on Earth. The man who imprisoned him becomes aware of his release so he sends his son away to train to become a warrior who can capture him again. When the samurai approach Aku, Aku opens a time portal that sends the samurai into the future where Aku is the ruler. So the samurai has to figure out a way to get back to the past and finish off Aku. 

This show is a boy's fantasy! I say that because this world has everything a boy could come up with when he plays with his toys like robots, aliens, talking animals, Spartans, etc, etc. The bizarre world makes it easy for you to buy the kind of stories this show tells. Plus this show has five different kinds of episodes. They are Jack looking for a time portal, Jack being hunted by Aku's bounty hunters, Jack helping someone, a flashback episode and a silly episode. I'm fond of how this show tells its story with visuals instead of dialogue.   

Samurai Jack is kind-hearted and wise. I wish I can say he's a stoic hero but there are times where he gets frustrated. My issue with this character (besides him wasting his chances to go back to the past.) is that how can he exist without a name? I mean Jack is not his birth name people from the future gave him that name, what did his parents call him if he doesn't have a name? 

Also is he human? There are episodes where he travels in the snow wearing a robe and sandals, sometimes he complains about the cold other times he doesn't. What's up with that? Another thing I wish there was an episode where Jack is unhappy with giving the responsibility to defeat Aku, we had a flashback of him being frustrated with his training.   

The Scotsman is the opposite of Jack, he's hotheaded and likes to trash talk. My gripe with this character is I don't know why Aku is after him? I'm going to guess that his sword can rival Jack's as far as it can hurt Aku. Also, how did he get an army of daughters? (I know how it's just that I don't think it's possible to give birth to that many kids. it makes you question what happened to the Scotsmen's wife?) 

Ashi is a tragic character you'll see why when you watch this series. My beef with her is I'm unclear about how can she be the daughter of Aku? Plus, I'm not crazy about what the writers have done with her in the last three episodes of season five. 

Aku (the main villain) is a tyrant with an ego and a sense of humor. He seems to have a thing for bugs I said that because his foot soldiers are robot insects. My complaint with him is that how can he create time portals if he's a shape-shifter? I'm having a hard time buying that he can rule other planets because A not every planet is under his control and B there are people and things that can pose a threat to his rule. In season 5 Aku seems depressed or bored with ruling Earth because Jack is not a threat to him anymore, however, he's inconsistent about that. 

The problems I have with this series is that I wish I knew how certain episodes end. For example, at the end of one episode, Aku was holding a time portal and Jack took him by surprise, the series should have ended right then and there. The last episode is kind of a mess, I mean it didn't take its time on certain things. This wouldn't be an issue if season 5 had 13 episodes instead of 10. There is an episode in season three that could have been the turning point of this series, however, season 5 ignores that episode. (To be fair before season 5 you can watch any random episode and not miss out on anything, for the most part.) Season 5 broth back one of Aku's Bounty Hunters for a cheap gag, why!?!

Overall, this is one of the best cartoons in the 2000s. I would recommend this if you're into action/adventure.