After a twelve-year hiatus, Samurai Jack returned to our television screens on March 11, 2017. Prior to the hiatus, Samurai had developed a cult following, especially among adults, despite being a television show intended to children. The Genndy Tartakovsky-created series has won several awards, including an OIAF Award, six Annie Awards and eight Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Program.
The show which aired on Cartoon Network was critically acclaimed and impressed fans and critics alike. The show, Samurai Jack, followed a samurai from the past who is transported to the future which is ruled by a shape-shifting demon dictator – Aku.
Although initially unnamed, the samurai is referred to as Jack throughout the series. Jack’s main goal in the series is to return to the past and defeat Aku before becoming the all-powerful tyrant and taking over the world.
On August 10, 2001, the series debuted with a TV movie – The First Movie. The film, which can be divided into the first three episodes, clearly shows the origin of the relationship between Aku and the Samurai.
When the series ended after its fourth season, it was left with an open ending for fans to draw whatever conclusion they wanted from it. However, this open ending is what allowed the series to return twelve years later with a much-anticipated fifth season that brought the entire series to a close. The fifth season of Samurai Jack airs from March 11 to May 20 on Adult Swim – Cartoon Network’s late-night programming block of adult content.
Here are 5 reasons why you should watch Samurai Jack Season 5
1. Genndy Tartakovsky took over the reins of the fifth season
Genndy Tartakovsky is known for directing every episode of Samurai Jack, although he worked with collaborators to direct the episodes. Yet he also directed all the episodes of the fifth season. Considering Genndy was involved in every episode of the first four seasons and made it a huge hit with great content, there’s no reason he can’t do it again.
Additionally, Genndy is also responsible for creating Dexter’s Laboratory and Star Wars: Clone Wars. He was also an important part of The Powerpuff Girls crew, having directed several episodes. If this proves anything, it’s that Genndy’s direction should be respected when it comes to creating great content.
2. Impressive Cast
The fifth season of Samurai Jack can easily boast of some of the best voice acting works today from Phil LaMarr who voices the title character to Gray Griffin and even Tara Strong, best known for voicing many of your favorite characters from the series. childhood, including Bubbles from The Powerpuff Girls, Raven from Teen Titans, Timmy Turner from Fairly Odd Parents, Ben Tennyson from Ben 10, and Batgirl from Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
3. It takes fifty years into the future
This season takes place fifty years after Jack arrives in the future. However, in those fifty years, Jack hasn’t aged as a side effect of time travel. Over the past fifty years, Aku has also grown weary of the prospect of fighting Jack forever. As a result, he personally avoids direct conflict with Jack. Aku also destroyed nearly all of the time portals, making it harder than ever for Jack to return home.
4. It handles mature themes and content
The fifth season was generally applauded by fans and critics alike for taking on more intense and mature content such as suicide and cult following. The truth is, this season was designed for mature audiences, which explains its airing on Adult Swim rather than Cartoon Network’s more kid-friendly programming block. The result of this decision is “success”.
It’s important to note that this success isn’t entirely surprising, given that anime series with mature content always gain a loyal and engaged fan base. Take a look at Robot Chicken to be convinced.
5. He concludes the series
If you’re a fan of this show, then you should really want to see how it all ends, especially after a break of more than ten years – you understand that the director, creator and writer of the series has not only grown, but also improved over the years, so it would be expected that his work would reflect the changes. In other words, Samurai Jack has no choice but to be better than he was twelve years ago, promising an amazing ending that the show definitely deserves.