Crew:
Created by - Genndy Tartakovsky
Executive Producer - Genndy Tartakovsky
Writers - Aaron Springer, Brian Larsen, Bryan Andrews, Carey Yost, Charlie Bean, Chris Mitchell, Chris Reccardi, Erik Wiese, Genndy Tartakovsky, Mark Andrews, Mike Manley, Paul Rudish
Directors - Chris Sarvino, Genndy Tartakovsky, Randy Myers, Rob Renzetti, Robert Alvarez
Art Directors - Dan Krall, Scott Wills
Music - James L. Venable, Paul Dinletir
Directors of Photography - Randy Myers, Rob Renzetti, Robert Alvarez
Casting - Collette Sunderman
Associate Producer - Diana Ritchey
Producer - Genndy Tartakovsky
Cast:
Samurai Jack - Phil LaMarr
Aku - Mako
Guest Stars - Grey Delisle, Jeff Bennett, Kevin Michael Richardson, Tom Kenny
The premise is simple but tragic. Thousands of years ago a great darkness fell over the lands of feudal Japan. The shape-shifting master of darkness, the evil wizard Aku came to enslave the lands of the brave and noble indigenous people. Although these people fought bravely, all appeared in vain as Aku thwarted the best of warriors efforts. But unbeknownst to Aku, the young son of the emperor was spared a life of slavery. The boy, secreted away to safety spent his youth learning the ways of the warrior and honour, across the ancient world.
Upon reaching man-hood the young samurai retrieves the magic sword of his destiny and sets out to free his peoples from the tyrannical rule of Aku. But is his daring enough to stop the evil cunning of this master of evil? After a long and deadly battle, our hero seems to be on the verge of winning the fight. But before he can strike the final blow to destroy Aku and restore peace to his land the great deceiver rips open a portal in time and flings the samurai warrior far into an unknown future.
Arriving in a strange future world ruled by the immortal tyrant Aku our young Samurai takes the moniker Jack and begins a perilous quest that will mark his destiny. Vowing to overthrow the evil Aku, free the enslaved people and creatures of earth, and eventually return to his own time to destroy Aku before this future ever occurs. With this Samurai Jack begins his dangerous mission, in a new and deadly world.
Opening monologue read by Aku"Long ago in a distant land, I, Aku, the shape-shifting Master of Darkness, unleashed an unspeakable evil... but a foolish samurai warrior wielding a magic sword stepped forth to oppose me. Before the final blow was struck, I tore open a portal in time and flung him into the future where my evil is law. Now the fool seeks to return to the past and undo the future that is AKU!"
Jump down to reviews for episodes:
I - The Beginning
II - The Samurai Called Jack
III - The First Fight
IV - Jack, the Woolies, and the Mitchellites
V - Jack in Space
VI - Jack and the Warrior Woman
VII - Jack and the Three Blind Archers
VIII - Jack vs Mad Jack
Episode I
The Beginning
The beginning of a three part storyline introducing us to Jack and his world. In this episode we meet Jack’s parents, a devoted and just ruler, Jacks father explains to his young son some of the duties of leadership, the burdens and the dangers. Jack must always be wary of the of ancient shadows long banished that strive to return. And of course that’s exactly what happens.
The evil demon Aku, defeated long ago by Jack’s ancestors has returned to the earth to once again cast his shadow over the peaceful men and women of ancient Japan. After a fierce battle, all appears lost, the emperor seems defeated and Aku gloats in his victory. But there is one hope left. The boy Jack, secreted away by his mother...
Jack grows up travelling to new lands every few years, learning the ways of the warrior. It is a code of honour, trust and devotion. Then, as a young man he travels to a remote mountaintop in Tibet to reclaim the magic sword of his ancestors. Jack trains for the coming battle of his life. Finally returning to his homeland, Jack must face the merciless Aku. The battle is hard, but it looks like Jack is near winning. However the moment before the death blow can be struck Aku the evil sorcerer rips open a portal in time throwing the helpless samurai into the distant and murky future.
This is a great episode; it sets up a tragic and epic story. The characters are grand, strong heroes and evil villains. I liked the music especially. The score is haunting. And used extremely effectively. Everyone is introduced quite well, even Jack although he only has like two lines in the entire episode. I really liked how the young Jack travelled the world learning the fighting tecniques of so many different people too. It was quite sweeping in scale, and really demands that you watch the next episode right away. Great work.
5/5Part 2 of the opening story picks up right where part 1 leave off. Our samurai hero has been mercilessly flung into the distant future. After a harrowing escape from the deadly flying traffic and some sort of horrific garbage truck, Jack learns to his dismay the circumstances of his predicament. He is lost in a future ruled by Aku. The sorcerer has become the god master of the earth. Which incidentally is a lot more full these days. Strange aliens and weird robots roam the planet, many slaves to the bidding of Aku.
Realizing the full extent of the facts Samurai Jack decides he must embark on a quest to fight for justice against Aku in the hopes of one day returning to his own time and destroying the demon once and for all. Jack befriends some talking dogs who are being terribly oppressed by Aku and decides to travel with them to their land and help them overthrow their imprisoning master. But the fight is just about to begin.
Another very solid episode here. Maybe not as sweeping as the last one, but we’re really getting an awful lot of information here. The fighting that there was made up for some of the long dialogue sequences. And this episode was much funnier than the last. I really loved Aku’s image plastered over everything in the future. Aku selling ‘Aku cola’ and ‘Aku burgers’, it’s pretty funny stuff. We also get to meet some really funny dogs. One of which I’m sure is based on the Mr. Peabody, from one of the side sketches on the old Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. Anyhow, a solid episode all around.
4/5When Aku finds out that Jack has arrived in the future he unleashes an army of huge beetle robots to dispatch him. Meanwhile Jack has joined up with the colony of dogs in an effort to overthrow Aku’s hold on them. And thankfully Jack has a plan. A battle of amazing proportions ensues and Jack uses all the skills he has learned over the years to their fullest extent. Even still, the fight is fantastically difficult, and Jack is pushed to his limit.
I really liked this episode. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen in a cartoon before. 20 minutes of the half hour are just fighting!!! It’s incredible, a fight that actually takes the length of time it should. Jack gets hurt, the bugs get smashed. And it’s all done to a crazy techno beat. This is the episode that for me really showed that Samurai Jack is a groundbreaking show that is unique in design and finesse. Amazing episode
5/5This is the first stand alone episode of Samurai Jack and guess what? It doesn’t even have Aku in it! Jack wanders into the woods hungry and meets up with a race of small annoying blue creatures called the Mitchellites. He also is introduced to their subjugated beasts of burden the Woolies. But everything is definitely not what it seems. Jack must decide what is right and follow his heart. Should he protect these beasts who seem intelligent, or his hosts and benefactors the Mitchellites. In to be classic Jack fashion, he must follow his heart and uphold the samurai code, whatever the cost.
This was a very decent episode. It didn’t have the sweeping quality of the opening episodes, but Jack show his moral fiber, and helps those that need it. The Mitchellites were really funny and annoying too. Although I personally found the Woolies a bit tiresome too. At least Jack did the right thing. And of course in the process he manages to quite satisfyingly kick some little blue butts.
3.5/5Jack meets up with a group of scholars trying to escape the tyrannical rule of Aku. These men and women have been responsible for designing the monstrous robot armies of Aku and are now just trying to escape the planet and find a peaceful home of their own. Jack stumbles upon their camp and unwittingly leads Aku’s drones to discover the scientist's intentions. But after convincing Jack to assist them in their escape the battle looks a bit more fair. Jack is especially interested after they promise that he will be returned to his own time if he only he ejects from their spaceship at the precise moment they enter faster than light speed. Jack accepts but first must fight his way through a deadly blockade of tick drones, mosquito drones and bumblebee drones. To do that though Jack must first don a special space suit and boldly go where no samurai has gone before.
I enjoyed this episode. Although the beginning is slightly slow. I liked the space men. They kept their spacesuits on all the time, even when they were at the disco! There were some very good characters too, I really liked the constantly worrying German spaceman. And Jack attacking those tick drones with his flaming sword was pretty damn cool. A very solid episode all around.
3/5Following the advice of the ancient Woolies Jack travels to a land suspiciously like India. There he meets a strange Yoda like creature that tries to sell Jack a beautiful Persian carpet. After some small confusion, Jack finds out that this creature is actually the soothsayer the Woolies bade him to seek out. He sets Jack on a daring quest through the dangerous desert to the west. And the journey’s end he will find, if his heart is pure, a magic jewel which has the power to send him back to his own time. But Jack must beware for there is great evil afoot. Before Jack can learn more though he is attacked; and miraculously saved by a beautiful warrior woman, named Ikra. After escaping Jack learns of how this warrior’s father was betrayed by Aku’s treachery; and Jack vows that together they will quest to find this magic jewel. Only then by it’s power can both wrongs be righted. And so Jack and the vallient warrior woman set of on a long and dangerous quest. But unbeknownst to our hero, Ikra is more than meets the eye and her secret may just be the end of Samurai Jack.
This is an excellent episode. It reminds me of Indiana Jones, questing for the ancient long lost treasure. And I really liked the dynamic between Jack and the warrior woman. This is the strongest written stand alone episode so far in the series. The tension is palpable, the action intense, and the scope grand. I really liked some of the framing too. The desert shots were often wide and sweeping, this illusion being created to good effect by blacking out the top and bottom of the frame, a la widescreen. It reminded me of Lawrence of Arabia, ok well maybe not that great but still a very fun episode. The bad guys used were very cool looking too. I especially liked the bounty hunter robots at the beginning. And finally, it’s good to see Jack having an, at least potentially, romantic relationship.
4.5/5While travelling on a Chinese Junk ship, Jack overhears a story told by an old Viking warrior of a magic isle where lies a mystical wishing well. The well has the power to grant a single wish for any warrior brave enough to reach it. For the well is guarded by three mighty archers. Realizing that this might finally be his chance to get home Jack travels to the snow covered island and makes his stand against the archers. After a harrowing escape from the battle though, Jack understands that these archers are blind and yet manage to compensate with their other senses to deadly effect. Jack recalls the teaching he learned from the monks in China. He must learn to trust his senses other than sight. And so Jack dons a blindfold and returns to the guarded well. He will fight the archers on their own terms. Although it might mean his end…
This episode helps flesh out more of our Samurai’s past. The scene with his training in ancient China was very enlightening. I really liked how Jack learned to see, without sight. Although the episode did feel a little bit like a one trick pony. That’s not to say it’s bad by any means, but the episode deals with one simple philosophy and explains it well. I guess that’s good; I mean we need these kind of episodes to get a better understanding of Jack’s motivations. And once we understand his samurai code we can much better relate to him. The only kind of annoying points are that there was no Aku in the entire episode, and the first 5 minutes had no Jack whatsoever in them!
2.5/5This episode is all about the fighting. Jack, minding his own business entering a bar, is attacked by bounty hunters. He fights them, then more, then more, and then still more. Fight, after fight, after fight, Jack is getting more than a little pissed off at Aku. But watching from his fiery lair Aku realizes that no warrior has the strength to defeat Jack’s fighting style. And so the devious sorcerer hatches a plan. He creates a mirror image of Jack, gives life to Jack’s inner demons, and Mad Jack is born. The two warriors clash in deadly battle, on and on they fight. And our hero is getting more and more furious. But at the climax of the battle, Jack sees something in himself that he has forgotten. He has neglected to attend his inner spirit for quite some time. Jack searches deep within himself and finds his inner peace, the tranquillity of spirit which can defeat any foe. And so with that Jack destroys his inner demon, sending him back from whence he came!
Another episode about philosophy here. The literally constant fighting though marks this one. The episode sees Jack fight more unique foes than I think ever before. And for the most part that is a good thing. Although I really liked Mad Jack, with his black and red Ghi, and wild, flowing hair; the bounty hunters made this episode for me. Some of them were great. I especially liked the Chewbacca one, the Russian bear, and the crazy monkey man with the spiked metal hands. Very good work designing these guys. The idea that Jack can defeat his inner demons through peace is really nicely done too. Jack’s philosophy is really becoming apparent now, every episode we learn more and more about the samurai code. More episodes like this will be heartily welcomed. Great work.
4/5
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