Is Samurai Jack Getting Popular Again

Samurai Jack: The essential episodes

Your guide to communicable up on the animated masterpiece

By Mar 2, 2017, 11:00am EST

Jack is back.

After 13 years, Samurai Jack is coming back to televisions everywhere with a fifth season that promises to wrap up the journey of the foolish samurai warrior wielding a magic sword, once and for all. Whether you lot're an quondam fan looking to refresh your memory of the series before the new season hits on March 11, or someone who'southward curious what all the fizz is almost, this post should help.

Samurai Jack follows the adventures of a lone samurai warrior, stranded in the future, seeking a mode to return to his native time catamenia. Jack isn't even his real name, just the slang that was thrown his way shortly later on he arrived in the time period. The prove takes identify in a variegated, dystopian hereafter Earth: a planet filled with aliens as well as recognizable human cultures, monstrous creatures also as recognizable earth animals, magic as well as robots — lots and lots of robots.

Jack wields his father's magic katana, the only weapon capable of harming the shapeshifting master of darkness — and overlord of this future earth — Aku. When Jack stepped forth to oppose Aku in the past, Aku flung him into the future, counting on the fact that he would exist all-powerful before he had to reckon with the samurai again.

Jack seeks to return to the past and undo Aku's future, just his compassionate and righteous nature leads him to offer assistance to any who need it, sometimes to the detriment of his larger mission. Aku's goals are to kill the samurai at all costs — and to destroy any means he might detect of returning to the past. This button and pull between the evidence's hero and villain fuel virtually of Samurai Jack's 22-minute episodes (and a few two- and three-parters). Jack travels the world searching for time portals and wishing gems, doing skilful wherever he is needed, while Aku's minions and the evil sorcerer himself dog Jack's every footstep.

That said, Samurai Jack doesn't really have a continuity, per se. Jack never ends an episode closer to the end of his quest than he was when it started. Episodes can exist watched in practically any social club, and at that place are no recurring characters other than Jack and Aku (with ane single, memorable exception). Which makes it the perfect series for a Sentry or Skip list — there's no overarching narrative, simply 40-some standalone stories, and it's all bachelor on Hulu.

The appeal of Samurai Jack was never in dense plotting or cliffhanger endings. It was in watching a squad of writers and story-boarders craft a perfect samurai pic, trippy magical interlude, noir detective story or epic historical battle in simply 22 minutes of set up upward, payoff, and resolution — often with almost no dialogue. It was in watching a squad of animators push the boundaries of the show's paw-painted backgrounds and minimalist blueprint to glorious lengths. Samurai Jack had the sort of deliberately slow pacing, stylized design and highly choreographed activeness sequences rarely seen in Western activity, Western blithe action, or Western animated action tv set.

Hither's what to watch and what to skip in Samurai Jack

The Premiere Picture show (S1:E1-E2)

Samurai Jack premiered on Cartoon Network in 2001 with a 90-infinitesimal spot, showing the get-go three episodes of the serial — "The Get-go," "The Samurai Called Jack" and "The First Fight" — back to back. This is the place to kickoff with the series, covering Jack'southward origin story, his babyhood training and his banishment to the hereafter.

But yous tin can skip S1:E3, "The Get-go Fight." Information technology opens with a very cute training montage total of talking dogs, but a huge chunk of the episode is devoted to a slow and repetitive fight between Jack and a horde of robotic beetle warriors. This is something of a authentication Samurai Jack 's first season: The show's flare for dramatic staging and pacing is undeniable, but in one case Jack really comes downwards to trading blows with an opponent, the fight scenes are unremarkable.

This improves profoundly over the course of the series, and there's no reason to subject yourself to it now. "The Offset Fight" ends in the same way every other episode of Samurai Jack ends: with Jack walking off into the sunset, neither further or closer to his goal.

Jack, the Woolies and the Chritchellites (S1:E4)

Here, nosotros have an introduction to the purest form of a Samurai Jack story in the show's beginning stand-lonely episode. Jack encounters a strange new civilization and place, finds something wrong there and rights it, forging a new friend forth the fashion — just to get out them backside every bit he continues on his solitary journeying.

Jack and the 3 Blind Archers (S1:E7)

Most drawing shows of its era waited at least a season or two before doing their outset no dialogue episode. Samurai Jack barely has any dialogue to begin with, and in its 2d stand-alone episode it goes even further — an episode whose climactic battle completely lacks any audio.

Jack vs. Mad Jack (S1:E8)

Afterwards setting upward its main rivalry and so spectacularly in its opening, it really takes Samurai Jack until its 9th episode to direct involve Aku again. The episode follows the evil wizard substantially pulling Jack's id out of him and making a Jack-shaped assassinator out of information technology.

Phonation actor Phil LaMarr cited this specific episode as the place he went to when crafting an older, wearier Jack for the new season, so that alone makes it worth a rewatch.

Jack and the Scotsman (S1:E11)

Against the repose, un-talkative samurai, place Samurai Jack's only recurring character: the loud, motormouthed Scotsman. He has a motorcar gun for a peg leg.

"Jack and the Scotsman" is an old story: Two dissimilar warriors run across, they fight, and when they are handcuffed together they must piece of work together to defeat a larger enemy, while grouse the entire way. Evidence creator Genndy Tartakovsky has confirmed that the Scotsman will render in the terminal season of the evidence, and so you should brush up on his appearances — the closest thing the testify ever has to a continuity.

Aku's Fairy Tales (S1:E13)

"Aku's Fairy Tales" is a glimpse into an alternating universe where Samurai Jack was non renewed after its initial xiii-episode gild. With no way to know whether they'd get to extend Jack's adventures beyond one flavour or not, the folks behind the evidence managed to create an episode with all the catharsis of a full series wrap upward — just without actually wrapping anything upwards.

It's too simply very funny to watch Aku endeavor to rewrite fairy tales so that he is the world's savior — as a group of bored children pester him to tell them almost their greatest hero, the samurai called Jack.

Jack Learns to Jump Practiced (S2:E1)

Jack is unable to reach a time portal because he cannot jump high plenty, but a tribe of chivalrous and peaceful primates train him in their ways of jumping good.

I hope you lot, this basic plot is one of the virtually delightful and compelling episodes of Samurai Jack.

Jack and the Scotsman 2 (S2:E4)

The Scotsman returns.

Jack Remembers the Past (S2:E6)

In his travels, Jack discovers the ruins of his now-ancient civilisation and his childhood home, and we are treated to several heartwarming vignettes of Jack'due south adventures as a child — a tiny, innocent version of our samurai, before Aku destroyed his abode and he spent his adolescence training to defeat him. Also, there'south totally a cameo from Ogami Ittō and Daigorō from Lone Wolf and Cub.

Jack is Naked (S2:E11)

What it says on the tin. A white rabbit steals Jack'south clothing and he spend the unabridged episode running naked through a foreign wonderland, trying to go them back.

Jack and the Spartans (S2:E12)

Samurai Jack's commencement Emmy-winning episode — and one of its only episodes to be entirely letterboxed into widescreen — is a improve reimagining of the Battle of Thermopylae than either Frank Miller or Zack Snyder accept been able to produce.

Plus, it has robot minotaurs on tank treads.

Jack'southward Sandals (S2:E13)

The elements of Jack's ensemble are elementary and few — his sword, his nagaki, the fundoshi beneath information technology (to preserve his modesty when the nagaki inevitably gets trashed by an enemy), his harbinger hat and his geta sandals — and yet Samurai Jack uses every function of the wardrobe buffalo.

How else practise you explain a charming episode that revolves entirely around Jack'due south geta being destroyed past a roving biker gang? The samurai'south search for new footwear eventually leads him to a family who, though they alive in the hereafter, lovingly preserve a culture he finds very familiar. Simply similar the shut of the first season of the show, "Jack's Sandals" gives u.s.a. a welcome look at what life is like for normal people at "peace" in Aku's world — and how the wandering samurai warrior'due south heroics proceed him.

Craven Jack (S3:E1)

In this episode, a wizard turns Jack into a rooster for no reason — and he is scooped up by the unscrupulous boss of an underground robot animal fighting ring and forced to compete without hope of escape — until he bumps into the wizard once more and is turned human being for, again, actually no reason. So the episode ends.

It's amazing.

Jack and the Zombies (S3:E4)

Jack and the Zombies is remarkable for being the only episode in the 4 original seasons of Samurai Jack in which Jack fights and destroys a horde of something other than robots.

As well Aku steals Jack's sword, in gild to destroy it so that he will be truly invincible, and then that's pretty high stakes.

Jack and the Traveling Creatures (S3:E7)

Samurai Jack's 2nd Emmy-winning episode is also the closest the bear witness has always come up to revealing Jack's eventual fate — until at present. Its a much watch, if only to come across whether Genndy Tartakovsky has really known how all of this was going to terminate since 2003.

Jack and the Creature (S3:E7)

Jack finds an adorable but somewhat infuriating creature that begins to follow him on his travels.

Besides, that creature is clearly Totoro, from My Neighbor Totoro.

Jack and the Haunted House (S3:E9)

Samurai Jack has its standard episodes, and it has its wild divergences in tone and genre. In "Jack and the Haunted Firm," that divergence is the ghost story, and the show plays upon that theme also every bit it does everything else — and with a brand new this-episode-only art style, as well.

The Nascence of Evil (S3:E11-12)

Samurai Jack began with a nearly complete history of Jack'due south life. At the end of its tertiary season, nosotros finally get an origin for its adversary, Aku. In the two installments of "The Birth of Evil," we notice out how Jack's sword came to exist, how his male parent managed to defeat Aku a first time. We also learn almost how his parents resolved to create at global network of enlightened warriors to train their son to defeat Aku, should he e'er ascension once again.

Samurai vs. Ninja (S4:E1)

Enquire me to bear witness yous a visually arresting episode of Samurai Jack that pushes "simplistic design" and "fight scene staging" to an incredible zenith, and I'll put on "Samurai vs. Ninja." It would take about fifty words to describe the visual trick of this episode, when y'all could but spotter it and exist amazed when y'all realize exactly how things are virtually to go down.

Just watch it.

The Scotsman Saves Jack: Part I & 2 (S4: E6-seven)

Finally, Samurai Jack'southward only recurring secondary grapheme gets his own two-parter. Later finding an amnesiac Jack, the Scotsman sets out on a quest to observe what caused his heroic friend's memory loss and cure it — all while defending a defenseless Jack from all of Aku's bounty hunters who still want to impale him.

Seasons of Expiry (S4:E10)

"Jack faces four unlike menaces on unlike seasons of the year," reads the Wikipedia description of this episode. It'due south a simple judgement that belies a masterfully crafted 22-minutes of boob tube — an accomplishment recognized with the show'southward last (so far) Emmy. The four vignettes of "Seasons of Death" are each a full episode of Samurai Jack in microcosm. Each 1 is themed to a season of the year, each one shows Jack triumphing over an obstacle, and each subtly showcases a different aspect of Jack's heroism and the tonality of the show overall.

Tale of X9 (S4:E11)

"Tale of X9" is the only episode of Samurai Jack in which Jack is not the chief graphic symbol, and one of the near extreme breaks in structure the show has ever done (and two episodes before it would end, no less).

It'south a narration-heavy noir detective story set in the Samurai Jack universe, where our "Sam Spade" is a robot detective named X9 who is blackmailed out of retirement past Aku for one last hit.

Recall of this as the Brick of Samurai Jack. What happens to a Samurai Jack story when the assassin trying to kill Jack is our hero? I won't spoil the ending.

Jack and the Baby (S4:E13)

If you're expecting the final episode of Samurai Jack's fourth flavour to exist something of significance to its overall story, reign in those assumptions. "Jack and the Babe" is uncomplicated: Jack has to accept care of a babe. The beating heart of this episode is Jack retelling the story of the Japanese folk hero Momotarō, but information technology doesn't really come together as a whole until the punchline of its final moment.

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Source: https://www.polygon.com/tv/2017/3/2/14536782/samurai-jack-best-episodes