Pretty much, yeah. I’m surprised to say that I don’t have many complaints. I was really enjoying the glimpses into his mind. They picked some great ways to show how he was riding right at the edge of insanity. Glad to see an exploration of the darkness without becoming mired in it. Too many other revamps trying to be edgy or adult fall into that pit. Until this last episode (agreed, weakest by far) they weren’t too heavy handed with the more grown up aspects. Subtle artistic differences like showing the bodies in the background or using that bright red for the blood over an otherwise muted palette? Great touches.
Some not great choices, too. Aside from the literal dick head I wish they hadn’t been so obvious about Ashi winding up with Jack. On a WTH note, what exactly was she scrubbing off with that rock? If it was charred skin has she been running around naked this whole time? Also, seriously missing the old Aku. Why does he seem like a gag villain now? No scheming, no meddling, no reveling in Jack’s despair? Ashi’s Mom comes off way more evil than he does right now. I’d love to see her get a beat down and a half. Hoping there’s some kind of twisted mind blowing reveal in store. Something to make finally defeating Aku feel worth the effort.
In real life, some holy men and women wear no clothes but smear ashes all over their body; it could be a reference to that. But more likely scrubbing dirt off is simply symbolic of spiritual cleansing and rebirth.
I loved those shows … and Samurai Jack, too. It is in the same league of quality, but of course, very different.
If you love Star Wars, Spagetti Westerns, and Japanese Samurai movies like Seven Samurai, chances are you will enjoy this one …because those are the influences on the creators of it.
My son is coming back from college. I realized we should try to watch this season together (we loved the previous ones) but I didn’t set up my DVR.
Are the episode on Video on Demand or are the episodes being rebroadcast at weird hours so if I do a search I can find them and get the DVR’d? I will check when I get home but thought I’d ask here if anyone knows if a new viewer to this season can get caught up.
Don’t know yet but I plan to check on demand later today. We have Dish Network. I’m going to see friends tomorrow and they want to get caught up, too. I’ll be glad to share whatever I find out.
I’m mostly just going to repost the same thing I put on FaceBother. It’s over and I’m not happy at all. It’s gotten harder and harder for me to watch shows because I’m afraid of wasting my time like this. Halfway through the first episode I knew how it would end. I didn’t want to know and prayed that I didn’t know. It was so good otherwise I desperately hoped they would pull out some kind of interesting, satisfying, worthwhile NEW ending at the last second. Maybe for much younger non-anime fans who don’t read books this was fresh. For me though, bored there done with that.
How else could it have logically ended…I almost didn’t think they would go that route though.
I thought it was an excellent conclusion. It would have been nice if they could have taken a little time to show what the future would be like in an Aku-free timeline, but I’m not sure how they would have worked that in with the narrative.
I would have liked to see Jack pray to the gods not to condemn Ashi to oblivion, and as a result he discovers a para-Ashi living in his own time.
BTW: We never learn Jack’s real name; his sigil or the sigil of his house is a circle containing a square with a stroke through each side. Does that actually have a meaning in Japanese calligraphy?
And I OTOH am thrilled they did not do anything like that, would have been mortified if they did.
It was the exact right bittersweet note to end the more mature Jack with. It was a bookend to the start of the season - Jack haunted and tormented by his losses, both literally and by the loss of his sword, to the point of giving up - to the end dealing with the loss of the woman he loves and the recurring released ladybug motif, mourning but no longer tormented.
This portion of Jack’s story was as much about his growth (and brilliant animation) as it was the relatively likely to happen finally getting back to the past plot line.
I found the final episode to be rather abrupt, considering the pace of the storytelling previously. “You have powers!” “Yes I do!” ZAP! STAB! HAPPY END! SAD END! It all seemed rushed and sudden.
But I thought it was a good end narratively, despite the pacing issue.
