Isn't it a good time for you to let go of your anger and hatred over Samurai Jack Season 5?

Hi, anonymous here.

Now, I may hate to repeat what I have said before here, but I can sometimes read about how you people here really felt about the fifth and final season of Genndy Tartakovsky's Samurai Jack, and especially regarding the character of Ashi and other things about it, myself.

Yes, Ashi herself, her death, and other things about Season 5 of Samurai Jack did turn off a lot of you here.

And yes, the growing level of emotional abuse (?) from some of you that was directed towards the Jewish/Russian-born but USA-based visionary animation director who gave us both Samurai Jack and Dexter's Laboratory, of all things, as well as towards any of Genndy's own collaborators, suggests otherwise.

But while I can sympathize with the rage and frustration of some of you who are fans here of anything that Genndy himself ever created or worked on, and even share some of said rage or frustration myself...

And while the undoing of Genndy's Popeye project (and another project of his called Can You Imagine?) at the hands of the already troubled Sony Pictures Animation, as well as the character of Ashi as well as her death at the very end of Samurai Jack, and that's not to mention, not only Jack and Ashi's kiss at the very end of Season 5 Episode 8, but also the way Season 5 and its very outcome gets or feels too rushed, rather than Genndy and his collaborators doing a Samurai Jack finale or a feature film or a fuller final season or even anything else worthy of the expectations of Samurai Jack/Genndy Tartakovsky fans, have all but angered and upset so many of you here...

Isn't it a very good time for you people to let go of your hatred of and upset anger over Samurai Jack Season 5 and things like Ashi and her death, and just let bygones simply be "bygones", and still appreciate the things and/or characters that Genndy Tartakovsky himself created or worked on?

Long story short, but that's just my two cents. Have a nice day, anyways.

Good post, Genndy.

If you cannot summarize your point in less words, you have no point.

Nice blogpost, where do I subscribe?

>Sup Forums is so butthurt over the SJ S5 ending, they can't even give a good argument in response to OP
Absolutely pathetic.

What argument?

Timbox, this is you isn't it?

You talk like an industry professional, I can tell by your californisms.

Gennedy is still the man, but we have to acknowledge the fuck ups if we are to move forward. Samurai Jack's finale had some issues. I hope he gets another project to work on that isn't some shitty CGI kiddie thing.

Oh no. I would rather post anonymously.

If nothing else season 5 gives me hope for the future.

>Long story short
>Can't even sum up his thoughts
Its like you want to waste my time

Oh. I see.

How do I explain this... the internet is a concentrated box of pure criticism, everything gets shit on no matter what.

As a result, the industry, the inner circle surrounding it and the academia bridge to enter it has become a hugbox of sorts.

Don't be discouraged, strive for greatness, take to heart the core of the issues that people have with your work, but never lose sight of the goal, making good cartoons. Don't take it so personally.

Yes. That is some good advice. Thank you so much.

I'm not mad about her death I'm mad about literally everything she did before that. Her death was just the icing on the stupid cake.

One thing you can answer for me now. Is anyone fighting on the inside for diversity in artstyles? Does anyone want the more experimental Cartoon Network from the days when Barbara was the head?

From the outside looking in, it just seems to be getting worse, and animation is my favorite thing in the world.

Well, there shall still be diversity in art styles as far as I know.

The response I expected, I guess. Maybe i'm just a layman or an old curmudgeon, but to me almost everything (sans flash or cgi shows) looks very very similar, low detail riged and shape oriented. The median "tumblr/calarts" artstyle is way more prevelant than even McCracken's was. We're probably better off than the filmation days, but only just.

What was the lightining in a bottle that spurred the What A Cartoon Show!... I guess i'll just wait and see.

>duh stop complaining about shit writing and blindly love everything made by my favorite writer
Youre a fucking stupid fanboy too clouded by fan obsession to see the obvious faults. I will never not be angry over that shit ending.

you coulda just summed it up like this
>2017
>no good western action shows
>genndy makes a season of jack with action just as good as sym-bionic titan
>animation and visual quality is even better than the already great season 1-4
>everyone on Sup Forums hates it for a few errors that were never the strength of the show to begin with anyway

Uh, What is the matter? And plus, all I am trying to do is probably be nice as long as I post anonymously.

Okay. Alright.

Let me put it this way, even as someone who genuinely disliked the ending and how several plot elements were handled, this was one of the best cartoons we've had in the last decade, and from a directoral standpoint, Gennedy's best work yet.

Yes. I agree with you.

To realize that writing was not something Genndy even thought about when making Jack makes me sad.

>his best work yet
The first 3 episodes sure, but the season as a whole still pales in comparison to birth of evil, most of SJ season 3 and 4 and the most remarkable SBT episodes, like i am octus and the final ones

It worked because he could tell stories with just action, It's one of , and imo the best example of how to do a storyboard based cartoon, there's a story, but it flows with the actions of the characters instead of the action just being slapped on top of dialogue heavy scenes like many shows

Well, I could say what little story there was in the original SJ, it was superior to whatever story was in season 5.

I concur.

I personally don't hate S5, but I was disappointed. The first three episodes, maybe even four, had such great promise that I kept eagerly awaiting for future episodes more and more until... well, Ashi happened. Don't get me twisted; I don't hate Ashi but I don't think she was properly developed either. The last two episodes were just average and riddled with rushed/convenient plot holes that I couldn't find myself justifying the experience.

All in all, I thought S5 was decent in theory but mediocre in execution. Ten episodes didn't seem enough time to wrap everything up in a satisfactory manner - for me, at least.

Oh. I see. I see.

It wasn't just a few errors.

The entire season was leading up to Jack realizing he could never go back, but that didn't mean he had to stop trying to be a force for good.

The ENTIRE season was about confronting the past, moving past failures and facing the future.

Time and time and time again we saw the same themes brought up. Jack has to accept his past is what it is. Jack has to realize he can still accomplish good. Jack has to regain the idealism that made him a hero.

All they had to do was have Jack defeat Aku in the future. Never have him go back. Have him accept that what has happened has happened and it's not his fault.

He can get married, he can be happy, he can continue to be a force for positive change in the world and create the world that he wanted to save in the first place.

In way it would have been a perfect microcosm for the fan base as well. Stop dwelling on what was and instead look to the future and other great projects.


But noooooooooo. instead we got that crap heap of an ending that ignored everything that season could have stood for, made no damn sense, was a downer for Jack in every way while ignoring his character development and required a deus ex machina to pull off in the first place.

Samurai Jack was set up to have one of the most elegant, touching and relevant endings of perhaps any TV show ever and THEY WENT OUT OF THEIR WAY to ruin it.

If nothing else, I'm grateful for some of the music, the Scotsman, and even 'le maymay maestro' Scaramouche. There were gems sprinkled throughout the season.

I think that the issue of the season was not ashi, it was that the story lacked a focus, the first episode had focus, but the rest felt like the same thing happened many times just because ashi couldn't redeem herself so fast, felt like padding, not to mention episode 8 wich is filler , filler to establish jack amd ashi as a couple yeah, but they could have done that in a more organic way instead of making a whole episode of inserting sexual tension , if they developed their relationship more calmly people would have reacted way more emotionally to her death, wich also could have been handled better, i feel that without so much padding and adding those fixes to their relationships, they could have focused more on the final battle and have room for a better aftermath

Oh quit bullshitting. If OP did just that, then you'd just be

>If you cannot elaborate your point beyond one sentence, you have no point.

>Isn't it a good time for you to let go of your anger and hatred over Samurai Jack Season 5?
No, because if you don't call someone out when they shit the bed they are bound to do it again.

Alright. Alright. Alright.

I adore Ashi, but the tonal inconsistency she was involved with is what ruined the season.
The sudden shift to cheesy romance ruined the action cartoon premise, so I got into cheesy romance mindset since that at least can be fulfilling in a childhood crush type way.
then they pointlessly killed her off and ruined the cheesy romance premise.
The only people who won in the end are those who think it was good SOLELY because it followed the theme song.

You're not Anonymous. I'M Anonymous.

>which coulda been handled better
or ya know, coulda just not happened?

Well, guess what? I actually do admire Ashi myself, despite the rather controversial romance thingy.

I wasnt saying that the romance qas a bad thing, but it did interfere with having the wonderful fight scenes the show was known for.
Again I was happy to see the romance and my only hope for the finale was for ashi and jack to survive and stay together.

she deserved to be happy :(

So did her sisters.

What a faggy, self-serious post
Fuck off

Anyway, I think it was actually good for me to hear somewhere along the grapevine that Samurai Jack (and especially Season 5) was the fulfillment of this dream that Genndy Tartakovsky himself used to have when he was 10 years old at the time. And so I will quote from Genndy himself:

>"I had the same dream since I was 10, about the world being destroyed and run by mutants. I’d find a samurai sword, pick up the girl I had a crush on, and we’d go through the land, surviving."

Now the samurai sword that Genndy was referring to happens to be Samurai Jack's magic katana sword, while the girl next door crush that Genndy was talking about might well be the ill-fated and half-demonic Ashi.

That is all.

This thread has been brought to you by Squarespace.

Hey Hey Hey! Watch your language, because I don't like words such as the F bomb. And do not tell me to F*** off. Because I am trying to be nice and kind.

That's nice and all but good intentions do not a good cartoon make.

Anyway, we all know Jack should've ended up with Scaramouche anyway.

so did most people in the series, but ashi was the deuteragonist so i was a bit more concerned for her well being

Fair enough. It felt pointless when she vanished into thin air, her last words exposition and not "I love you, Jack. Please remember me." Like a treat yanked away at the last second.

Frig off, Lahey

moreso because a few minutes beforehand she "told the audience" she was okay at the moment it would have made sense for her to disappear at.

That too. She should have disappeared the moment Aku was slain or quickly thereafter.

Oh no we are not upset anymore, the ending was just so unremarkably bad that people just forgot about it.

Time resets are a bad way to end a series but a common one, all the characters that Jack met in his travels were undone, they are as good as dead and no one mentions that in series and the only character Jack gives a shit is a last minute plot convenience, a walking Deus Ex Machina that the series wants us to like but the reality is that she was just good to make rule 34 and nothing else.

The series lost all it's opportunities to refer to adult themes beyond violence and jokes. More depth into the implication that killing Aku will practically kill everyone would be nice, that was what I was expecting, Jack realizing that he cant go back in time anymore but also that the world and the friends he made in the future are his family now and killing Aku in the future will ensure a better world.

I really dont know how much it was Genndy's fault and how much it was the network's for rushing the project, but the sad reality is that Genndy is not a good writer beyond comedies, he is an excellent animator tho.

Yeah, You're so absolutely right about that.

>Genndy is not a good writer beyond comedies
>Forgets that Genndy wrote and storyboarded Seasons 1-4
>Forgets that Genndy wrote the first 3 episodes of Season 5
>Forgets that Genndy wrote Sym-Bionic Titan
Alright buddy I'll accept that the final episode wasn't that strong but you can't actually think that one episode is indicative of his skills as a writer

yeah i was reffering mostly to time travel which at this point should be a big no no for most writers since the conclusions are always really unsatisfactory.

>episode intended to be grand finale of his magnum opus
>not indicative of his skills

I genuinely liked season 5.

it was my favorite show up until CI desu.

if you cannot read and comprehend the arguments of the opposition no matter how long they are you don't have any right to debate.

>Jewish/Russian-born but USA-based visionary animation director
Oy vey, the race card!
Didn't even read the rest of your balderdash.

Sorry, but I actually do not know what the real fuss is about?

Are you still OP? Explain what specifically you want to know and i'll tell you.

Okay. Now, why are some of you here really divisive over the ending of Samurai Jack?

Gimme time and i'll explain.

Okay. Alrighty then.

Timbox shouldn't you be working on finishing Dexter's Odyssey and the Ashi Movie instead of posting on a Mongolian tap dancing forum?

You know what, I have forgotten to finish the story and plot details for my projects for the past 11 years, but hopefully, I'll be working on it throughout the coming new year of 2018. So just sit tight until then.

First, people remember Samurai Jack for its unmatched use of cinematography and silence. The minimalism in the presentation was a breath of fresh air and brought a unique perspective to animated action programming, which is typically mostly talk and occasional flashes of fighting. Even the most story heavy episodes of the original run of Samurai Jack was heavily focused on visual storytelling over usual forms of exposition or character development (see The Beginning or Aku's Origin episode).

S5 gave us that, but only a taste, after episode 3, the need for Jack and Ashi's relationship to grow and the plot resolution needing to be reached seemed to halt most of that quiet time. Not bad in of itself, but the first grumbles I remember hearing early on.

Ohhh. What a pity.

posting the better cartoon finale.

samurai jack is trash

Secondly, the Ashi relationship itself. Many people felt betrayed that characters they actually cared about got sidelined for a new one. The Scotsman had a good scene or two, but what happened to the guardian? Why did Aku have to be shafted so hard? (The new voice actor pulled it off well!)

Aside from that, some believed that Jack shouldn't be attached to the future that way, and he should find love in his own time, some were on board with Ashi bet felt it was too fast and felt forced, going from minimal attraction to face sucking.

And how she was handled in the end? Next point.

But OP, I love Gurren Lagaan.

Last point i'll cover (there are more specific points)

The ending itself, fails to deliver on the thematic set up it promised, letting go of the past was the telegraph for the ENTIRE season, heck, I wanted to go back to the past going in, but the show was built for being stuck in the future.

If he must go back to the past, there should have been contemplation of the world he would be destroying, the friends he would be leaving behind. Ashi should have died in the portal, and she should have died telling Jack she loved him.

Ouch! How unfortunate!

Yeah you're telling me, still the good was good.

Agreed.

Idk about any of that, but I still have that ending sequence theme on my phone

It was beautiful, I don't agree with all the hate

Way too articulated and self aware a post to be the real Timbox, immersion ruined.

RIP Punished Jack

>samurai jack discussion will always devolve into "nothing ever happened" thanks to the finale
>all the fanartists got demoralized after ashi died
>every thread is the same people arguing the same thing

It IS better, true.

And it will be.

And Genndy is to blame.

Punished Jack was wholly pointless. Like Gennedy or someone else missed the point of why you do that kind of character development.

Genndy should have manned up and realized that shoving his childhood dream waifu into the final season of the show was going to fuck everything up.

Why are you typing these small little comments.
>Oh my yes yes
>Oh ho yesu
>Oh me so sorry

Killing her off was the bigger issue.

Well I don't know what are you talking about, most people don't care about SJ anymore. It was a disappointment and that's it. I don't even think there's that many abuse (like seriously, what the fuck), people just say it's shit and that hurts some people's fee fees, big deal.

And I don't hate Genndy either, but the S5 fiasco definitively made me snap back to reality, since then I've kinda realized that he's just overrated. Symbionic Titan wasn't that good, nor Dexter or Samurai Jack. They're alright, but not god-like like sometimes Sup Forums makes them out to be.

I feel like this a bit condescending post is like, 5 months too late, OP.

Go fuck yourself, you horrible asshole clinging piece of shit. The ending was trash and tarnished the memory, spirit, and character of Samurai Jack. Everything Jack did was literally for nothing. There was no conclusion to his journey. There was no meaning in his choices. Everything Season 5 showed conveyed a sense of utter disdain for the people who supported that fat disgusting hack all these years. I paid to see Hotel Transylvania. I wrote letters to have Sym-Bionic Titan back on the air. I was ecstatic when I learned of the Popeye remake.
This? This was the biggest fuck you to fans since South Park's April Fools episode. So no, I'm not going to let this go, because that monster destroyed something that was once beautiful, moving, and touching.
If I catch outside this fucking forum, I'm gonna sock you right in your bitch ass mouth.

Is only cartoon, why you have to be mad?

Because fuck you, that's why.