Is anyone else besides me completely taken aback by the quality of Cartoon Network’s Samurai Jack series? I love everything about it the artwork, the pacing, the music, the theme, the use of imagery in place of unnecessary dialog. It just seems to me to be the perfect cartoon, artistically speaking.
My question is: Is it really that good, or am I just over-reacting because I haven’t seen anything like it? I’m sure any anime lover would say I am completely ignorant of real “artistic” cartoons, but honestly, even though I think a lot of anime movies have a great plot and great artwork, they don’t seem to have as powerful an effect with it as SJ’s simplistic plot and minimalist artwork.
I also really like it. And you can see that Tartakovsky was always in love with this style. If you watch classic Dexter you will occasionally see him doing the same zero or minimal dialog and just letting the action tell the story. Like when Dexter has to replace a lightbulb. In Jack he seems to have gone all out for it.
I am getting a little bored with the main plot though. I knew that I would be from the beginning because it’s set up that way. Only read this spoiler if you’ve watched through to the end of the 2nd season.[spoiler]And after XXXII where it looks as though Jack will have to spend many years here I’m a bit worried. There can only be so many “here’s the time portal but for some reason he wont be using it” plots. How many time portals are there anyway? Tartakovsky needs to finish this storyline and come up with a new one. Which is sad since it probably means goodbye to the Scotsman.
Or at least come up with a whole new way for Jack to tackle the problem. Perhaps have him just organize some sort of rebellion and defeat Aku here and now and then he can go back in time without having to worry about interference.[/spoiler]
Samuari Jack is possibly the best cartoon to come out in the last ten years. The Blind Archers tale was the first one that I saw and like yourself I was totally taken aback by the old school values, spaghetti western cinematography mixed with eastern mysticism, highly stylised visuals, fantastic fight scenes, violent robo baddies and … and … and…
'Nother vote for freakin brilliant. I watch it with my 7 yr old. I like the way a mood is invoked that lasts to the very end. And I gotta admit it: Jack with his hair down and wearing a loincloth is damned sexy!
Don’t worry, Cap. I’m an anime fan, and I certainly won’t look down on you for liking the show. I love it myself–Deuteros has already summed up most of the things I like about it.
Fern Forest, I’m hoping that the scenario you described in your last spoiler paragraph is in the works. I think that’s where the show needs to go; it’s what I would do in Jack’s position, I think.
As is implied by my screen name, I’m a fan of a great deal of Cartoon Network programming.
Samurai Jack is certainly at the top of the pile. My favorite episode is “Jump Good,” which mixes action and humor flawlessly.
Now, some of Samurai Jack is trash. The more “wacky” episodes such as the one where Jack loses his clothing and dresses like a thief, or loses his shoes, or has to defeat the farting dragon? These are stupid.
However, episodes like the blind archers, the Scotsman, or the dark ninja? Brilliant.
Two big honkin’ thumbs way way up for the Samurai.
I’ve only recently started watching it, so ALL I’ve seen have been the latest episodes (although I think the one that aired yesterday might have been the VERY FIRST one, and all I can say is WOW even though Jack has not made a (visible) appearance yet).
So, is there any hope of a video and/or (in fact, preferably) DVD collection of the entire series?
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On review of this post I realize I like parentheses way too much, I even have them inside of each other!
I think the last one might have been that “origin of Aku” movie they advertised but I accidentally taped over a while back.
There’s an episode where he first meets these dogs playing poker who explain what Earth is like these days; that has the feeling of a first episode, but I don’t know for sure.
And yeah, “Jump Good” rocks. Not just because I’m a Tarzan fan.
The first movie was cut into the first few episodes. So the series begins with Jack as a small boy going around the world learning various styles of fighting before coming back and fighting Aku. Aku tosses him into the future where Jack is recruited by those dogs who are excavating the ruins of Townsville.
The origin of Aku is actually one of the newest episodes. Actually it’s a one hour special which has since been cut into 2 half hour episodes. The same thing happened with the special where the Scotsman saves Jack. I believe technically those two specials are placed between the 2nd and 3rd seasons.
It’s brilliant. There’s nothing like it at the moment. The pace, the dialogue, the characters and the “scenery” are all superb. And the Scottish dude rocks
Thank God for filesharing. I’ve seen every episode. Now if I can somehow justify SLCs to do it, and incorporate it in my lesson planning, I’d let my kindergarten students watch it, too.
