Samurai Jack… IS BACK.
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Harbinger O Great Justice
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[Adult Swim] put out a video about the sound design for Samurai Jack. If you're at all familiar with the process of composing music these days – especially for film, this is a REALLY exciting and awesome little video.
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X-SOLDIER
Harbinger O Great Justice
- AKA
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X-SOLDIER
Harbinger O Great Justice
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Press has seen the first two episodes (probably spoilery review).
Also, it's confirmed that Greg Baldwin IS taking up the mantle as Aku in Mako's absence.
X
Also, it's confirmed that Greg Baldwin IS taking up the mantle as Aku in Mako's absence.
X
Cloud_S
Pro Adventurer
That was pretty damn awesome. Next weekend can't get here soon enough!
Btw, three exclusive posters for sale by AS: https://asseenonadultswim.com/collections/adult-swim-shop/products/samurai-jack-pack-of-3-posters I ordered mine, hope they'll offer more!
Also, if you missed the live Q&A:
Q&A Summary:
Reallllllllllllllllllly hope they can work this out. I've wanted (and so have sooooo many others) a soundtrack release for this series ever since it's premiere!
Btw, three exclusive posters for sale by AS: https://asseenonadultswim.com/collections/adult-swim-shop/products/samurai-jack-pack-of-3-posters I ordered mine, hope they'll offer more!
Also, if you missed the live Q&A:
Q&A Summary:
Question: How did you enjoy making a more adult series?
Answer: I did enjoy it. We never did stuff for kids specifically.
Question: What new and old voice actors are in this season?
Answer: Of course, Phil LaMarr is back for Samurai Jack. The big question was Mako, of course. His passing was horrible. He was an amazing and classical actor and he brought this amazing sensibility to Aku. Because he was classically trained and Aku was such a ridiculous villain, it made this magical thing. So we replaced him with Greg Baldwin. We tried a few people, he really nailed it and I knew the soul of Aku. In one of the recording sessions, Mako's daughter and grandson came to hear him, and when he was acting, it was so incredible that the daughter kind of shed a tear. They were so happy. We know that we're never going to replace Mako 100%, but I think he did a really good job.
Question: What's it like storyboarding for TV versus a feature?
Answer: It's quite different. In this case for Samurai Jack, it was myself and Bryan Andrews did the story boards. We did all the episodes. It was really pretty much two people, and that was great because I love storyboarding and I love telling a story especially, and Bryan has been storyboarding since I think 'The Blind Archers', which was his first storyboard with his brother. It's great and it's 100% creative freedom. I know Mike Lazzo, our boss, has faith in trust. He knows that I know Jack and I would never want to go wrong. So, as long as it made kind of sense and it was entertaining, it was great. Feature storyboarding was rough. You have a lot of gauntlet of stuff to get over, to get approved. So, any good idea that you have, it's a fight. It's a fight to get through, and hopefully there's an idea left at the end of the day. For Jack, we came up with it, storyboarded it, and now it's on the air.
Question: What was the most challenging episode to make and why?
Answer: The opening sequence was really hard because it was the first Jack that I've boarded in twelve years. Funny enough, when we got married, I was storyboarding the first episode on our honeymoon. In the opening shot, I redrew it ten times because I kept sending my sketches to Scott Wills, the production designer, and saying 'Is this cool?' just waiting for a good reaction. But I was like, "What am I doing?" And of course, the hardest one beyond that was the very end, and whatever that was is hard and emotional.
Question: Do you see yourself producing any shows in 2D in the future?
Answer: Yeah, of course. It's no surprise to anybody that I love 2D. I work in CG features because that's what they're making, and I like it, but there's nothing that compares to a hand-crafted, hand-drawn film. There's something just about your drawing, good or bad, that people watch and react. There's nothing like it. I used to be an animation geek nerd, and I love that I can watch a Warner Brothers cartoon and I could see the different animators that drew Bugs Bunny different.
Question: Was there a definitive ending for the series in mind when the show started?
Answer: No, there was not. I got the concept down, and I didn't know how many episodes we were going to do. We were doing thirteen half-hours, and then somewhere around nine or ten, they're like, 'You know what? We're going to do more,' and then you keep going, so you never know when it's going to stop. I never knew how to conclude it until a year after I finished the last episode.
Question: Is there any hope of Samurai Jack living beyond season 5?
Answer: You never say never. There always could be, but right now, I think it's an ending. If somebody wanted to pick it up, and find a different way in, then maybe that would be cool. For me, I wanted to really finish it on a tremendous high note, where everybody is going to lose their crap, and then get on to the next thing.
Question (Almost incomprehensible): Did Igor(?) and Grich(?) play any role in the new production of Samurai Jack?
Answer: No.
Question: What is Jack's father's name?
Answer: Emperor. I'm not big on names, so we always called him Emperor.
Question: Why did the poison arrow in 'The Birth of Aku' catch fire?
Answer: I remember doing it, but I forget why I did it. It was twelve years ago.
Question: Is one of the daughters of Aku based on Alanah's(?) character concept?
Answer: No, but I can see where you're getting at. There was 7 different hair styles for the daughters of Aku. The hair is similar, but she's not.
Question: Will there be an OST available for the show?
Answer: We're working on it. We wanted to do some kind of thing where after the episode airs, later on, it goes online and you guys can buy or download the soundtrack.
Question: When compared to 2D and CG, what was the biggest challenges you had to overcome?
Answer: The biggest challenge of CG, was not treating it like 2D. When I close my eyes, and I see a scene, I see it as two-dimensional. When they would show me final-lit scenes from the first Hotel Transylvania, I had no clue what I'm looking at. It just looks finished and something's wrong, but I don't know what. What I used to do was close my eyes and picture the CG as 2D, and all of a sudden, the mistakes are the focus and the changes became apparent to me.
Question: Will Jack finally travel to the past?
Answer: You really want to know that? You want to know right now before you've seen the first episode? I'm not going to answer that. Come on.
Question: How do you feel about the current state of American animation?
Answer: I feel OK. There's a lot of great creative freedom to a degree and there's a lot of different artstyles, but I'm an animation snob. I'm super critical about it, and I want my animation to be very specific onto what I love just for me. I don't care about anyone else, and so it's not where I want it to be. We're kind of stagnate a little bit and we could be pushing the medium to do different things.
Question: Where did you find inspiration for the music?
Answer: Because I'm an immigrant, I love ethnic music from all around the world and when I started the original series, I would go to Virgin Records where they used to have a sampling bar. You could go and listen to different CDs without having to buy them, and I would go to the 'World' section and I would listen to this rural DJs remix their music from where they're from. I really wanted each place to have it's own ethnicity.
Question: Are you going to have any easter eggs?
Answer: I think there's always something that sneaks in without even me being aware of it. There's a lot of great surprises that I think fans of the show would simply love.
Question: What happened to the Guardian from Season 3?
Answer: We know the Guardian existed, and so we will try to address that.
Question: Will there be the Scotsman?
Answer: Yeah, he's back.
Question: What made you decide to stop making the series?
Answer: We were in the fourth season, and I didn't know where it was heading. I didn't know if the network wanted to do more, I didn't know if I wanted to do more. It was a grind. It's awesome, but it's very difficult. I felt the burn-out, and I didn't want to short-change the ending and decided, 'Well, the network's not asking me for it. I'm not sure I want to do it just yet,' and then Star Wars: The Clone Wars was starting out. There was no way I was going to juggle both of those, because the pressure was intense. So I decided, 'Well maybe we'll do Clone Wars, and maybe we'll come back.' Then, the network changed, my bosses went away, and it kind of faded way. In fact, I left the studio.
Question: When is there going to be an Aku spin-off?
Answer: I'll think about it. It's a good idea, but I don't know. He's got to make it through this whole battle.
Question: How long did you study samurai culture before creating the series?*
Answer: I was a fan of samurai stuff since I was ten, and I felt like I had a connection with it emotionally already before I started. On top of it, since I was about that age, I would have this recurring dream where the world is wiped out and mutants would survive, as well as me. I had a samurai sword and I would go to this girl's house that I have a crush on, pick her up, and survive. That obviously has a lot of similarities with Jack. Of course, I dived deeper in. I've read 'The Art of the Sword', which is dedicated to how a samurai takes his sword out. It was amazing and it's more mental than anything. Two warriors can face off and the way a guy takes his sword out, the other guy knows he lost. I'm kind of a semi-historian about it.
Question: Why does Jack have a beard?
Answer: We've kind of talked about it. Jack's lost, it's been fifty years, and he has lost his way. So, we wanted to support not just the mental idea of him being lost, but also physical.
Question: Will you plan on making any more cartoons for Adult Swim after Samurai Jack?
Answer: I think we would want to. This has been one of the best experiences that I've had, and so, I want to.
Question: What's the biggest inspiration for the cinematography?
Answer: The biggest inspiration was 70's film-making. I think the perfect example of it was in 'Lawrence of Arabia,' where there's just a horizon, a blue sky and sand, then you see the camel come out. That's where the core of it is. In the 70's film-making, things were raw, things were dirty, and that's where I drew inspiration. I love to feel stuff viscerally.
Answer: I did enjoy it. We never did stuff for kids specifically.
Question: What new and old voice actors are in this season?
Answer: Of course, Phil LaMarr is back for Samurai Jack. The big question was Mako, of course. His passing was horrible. He was an amazing and classical actor and he brought this amazing sensibility to Aku. Because he was classically trained and Aku was such a ridiculous villain, it made this magical thing. So we replaced him with Greg Baldwin. We tried a few people, he really nailed it and I knew the soul of Aku. In one of the recording sessions, Mako's daughter and grandson came to hear him, and when he was acting, it was so incredible that the daughter kind of shed a tear. They were so happy. We know that we're never going to replace Mako 100%, but I think he did a really good job.
Question: What's it like storyboarding for TV versus a feature?
Answer: It's quite different. In this case for Samurai Jack, it was myself and Bryan Andrews did the story boards. We did all the episodes. It was really pretty much two people, and that was great because I love storyboarding and I love telling a story especially, and Bryan has been storyboarding since I think 'The Blind Archers', which was his first storyboard with his brother. It's great and it's 100% creative freedom. I know Mike Lazzo, our boss, has faith in trust. He knows that I know Jack and I would never want to go wrong. So, as long as it made kind of sense and it was entertaining, it was great. Feature storyboarding was rough. You have a lot of gauntlet of stuff to get over, to get approved. So, any good idea that you have, it's a fight. It's a fight to get through, and hopefully there's an idea left at the end of the day. For Jack, we came up with it, storyboarded it, and now it's on the air.
Question: What was the most challenging episode to make and why?
Answer: The opening sequence was really hard because it was the first Jack that I've boarded in twelve years. Funny enough, when we got married, I was storyboarding the first episode on our honeymoon. In the opening shot, I redrew it ten times because I kept sending my sketches to Scott Wills, the production designer, and saying 'Is this cool?' just waiting for a good reaction. But I was like, "What am I doing?" And of course, the hardest one beyond that was the very end, and whatever that was is hard and emotional.
Question: Do you see yourself producing any shows in 2D in the future?
Answer: Yeah, of course. It's no surprise to anybody that I love 2D. I work in CG features because that's what they're making, and I like it, but there's nothing that compares to a hand-crafted, hand-drawn film. There's something just about your drawing, good or bad, that people watch and react. There's nothing like it. I used to be an animation geek nerd, and I love that I can watch a Warner Brothers cartoon and I could see the different animators that drew Bugs Bunny different.
Question: Was there a definitive ending for the series in mind when the show started?
Answer: No, there was not. I got the concept down, and I didn't know how many episodes we were going to do. We were doing thirteen half-hours, and then somewhere around nine or ten, they're like, 'You know what? We're going to do more,' and then you keep going, so you never know when it's going to stop. I never knew how to conclude it until a year after I finished the last episode.
Question: Is there any hope of Samurai Jack living beyond season 5?
Answer: You never say never. There always could be, but right now, I think it's an ending. If somebody wanted to pick it up, and find a different way in, then maybe that would be cool. For me, I wanted to really finish it on a tremendous high note, where everybody is going to lose their crap, and then get on to the next thing.
Question (Almost incomprehensible): Did Igor(?) and Grich(?) play any role in the new production of Samurai Jack?
Answer: No.
Question: What is Jack's father's name?
Answer: Emperor. I'm not big on names, so we always called him Emperor.
Question: Why did the poison arrow in 'The Birth of Aku' catch fire?
Answer: I remember doing it, but I forget why I did it. It was twelve years ago.
Question: Is one of the daughters of Aku based on Alanah's(?) character concept?
Answer: No, but I can see where you're getting at. There was 7 different hair styles for the daughters of Aku. The hair is similar, but she's not.
Question: Will there be an OST available for the show?
Answer: We're working on it. We wanted to do some kind of thing where after the episode airs, later on, it goes online and you guys can buy or download the soundtrack.
Question: When compared to 2D and CG, what was the biggest challenges you had to overcome?
Answer: The biggest challenge of CG, was not treating it like 2D. When I close my eyes, and I see a scene, I see it as two-dimensional. When they would show me final-lit scenes from the first Hotel Transylvania, I had no clue what I'm looking at. It just looks finished and something's wrong, but I don't know what. What I used to do was close my eyes and picture the CG as 2D, and all of a sudden, the mistakes are the focus and the changes became apparent to me.
Question: Will Jack finally travel to the past?
Answer: You really want to know that? You want to know right now before you've seen the first episode? I'm not going to answer that. Come on.
Question: How do you feel about the current state of American animation?
Answer: I feel OK. There's a lot of great creative freedom to a degree and there's a lot of different artstyles, but I'm an animation snob. I'm super critical about it, and I want my animation to be very specific onto what I love just for me. I don't care about anyone else, and so it's not where I want it to be. We're kind of stagnate a little bit and we could be pushing the medium to do different things.
Question: Where did you find inspiration for the music?
Answer: Because I'm an immigrant, I love ethnic music from all around the world and when I started the original series, I would go to Virgin Records where they used to have a sampling bar. You could go and listen to different CDs without having to buy them, and I would go to the 'World' section and I would listen to this rural DJs remix their music from where they're from. I really wanted each place to have it's own ethnicity.
Question: Are you going to have any easter eggs?
Answer: I think there's always something that sneaks in without even me being aware of it. There's a lot of great surprises that I think fans of the show would simply love.
Question: What happened to the Guardian from Season 3?
Answer: We know the Guardian existed, and so we will try to address that.
Question: Will there be the Scotsman?
Answer: Yeah, he's back.
Question: What made you decide to stop making the series?
Answer: We were in the fourth season, and I didn't know where it was heading. I didn't know if the network wanted to do more, I didn't know if I wanted to do more. It was a grind. It's awesome, but it's very difficult. I felt the burn-out, and I didn't want to short-change the ending and decided, 'Well, the network's not asking me for it. I'm not sure I want to do it just yet,' and then Star Wars: The Clone Wars was starting out. There was no way I was going to juggle both of those, because the pressure was intense. So I decided, 'Well maybe we'll do Clone Wars, and maybe we'll come back.' Then, the network changed, my bosses went away, and it kind of faded way. In fact, I left the studio.
Question: When is there going to be an Aku spin-off?
Answer: I'll think about it. It's a good idea, but I don't know. He's got to make it through this whole battle.
Question: How long did you study samurai culture before creating the series?*
Answer: I was a fan of samurai stuff since I was ten, and I felt like I had a connection with it emotionally already before I started. On top of it, since I was about that age, I would have this recurring dream where the world is wiped out and mutants would survive, as well as me. I had a samurai sword and I would go to this girl's house that I have a crush on, pick her up, and survive. That obviously has a lot of similarities with Jack. Of course, I dived deeper in. I've read 'The Art of the Sword', which is dedicated to how a samurai takes his sword out. It was amazing and it's more mental than anything. Two warriors can face off and the way a guy takes his sword out, the other guy knows he lost. I'm kind of a semi-historian about it.
Question: Why does Jack have a beard?
Answer: We've kind of talked about it. Jack's lost, it's been fifty years, and he has lost his way. So, we wanted to support not just the mental idea of him being lost, but also physical.
Question: Will you plan on making any more cartoons for Adult Swim after Samurai Jack?
Answer: I think we would want to. This has been one of the best experiences that I've had, and so, I want to.
Question: What's the biggest inspiration for the cinematography?
Answer: The biggest inspiration was 70's film-making. I think the perfect example of it was in 'Lawrence of Arabia,' where there's just a horizon, a blue sky and sand, then you see the camel come out. That's where the core of it is. In the 70's film-making, things were raw, things were dirty, and that's where I drew inspiration. I love to feel stuff viscerally.
Reallllllllllllllllllly hope they can work this out. I've wanted (and so have sooooo many others) a soundtrack release for this series ever since it's premiere!
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Cloud_S
Pro Adventurer
XCIII did not disappoint. I only wish there were more than 10 episodes in this season..13 at least.
Visuals were on-point, the rainy scenes were clear and perfect even with the constant rain coming down. The green glow from the fireflies(?) worked well with the atmosphere and music. Speaking of the BGM, wasn't let down by it at all.
The switch from comedy with
on screen to the very last second before the credits.
Also here's a little something I put together: Samurai Jack - XCII Screenshots/Wallpaper 1920x1080 [Found a nearly lossless encode of the episode, made 50 choice screenshots for 50 years passing.... Also stitched together most of the panoramic shots]
Visuals were on-point, the rainy scenes were clear and perfect even with the constant rain coming down. The green glow from the fireflies(?) worked well with the atmosphere and music. Speaking of the BGM, wasn't let down by it at all.
The switch from comedy with
Aku to Jack contemplating suicide, to his fearing for his life all the way to the utter shock that he had killed a human...not "just nuts and bolts"... flowed very well. Was on the edge of my seat from the start of the daughters appearing
Also here's a little something I put together: Samurai Jack - XCII Screenshots/Wallpaper 1920x1080 [Found a nearly lossless encode of the episode, made 50 choice screenshots for 50 years passing.... Also stitched together most of the panoramic shots]
Interslicery
.....
I feel like I'm the odd one out, but I'm not nearly as impressed as most people seem to be. I mean, it's good. It's cool to see stuff like Jack struggling with not aging and loosing his only way to defeat Aku, but, I'm not a big fan of a few things.
1. I really hate the cg. It sticks out like a sore thumb to me, and doesn't feel like Samurai Jack. The previous seasons felt like it could be a tapestry that you're viewing, a chronical of the life of this epic quest or something. The cg adds a 3D aspect to it that just feels wrong to me.
2. While the music itself is great, I think it's too invasive. For example when the daughters are looking for Jack in the tomb, the music is overshadowing everything. For example, It would have been much more nerve wracking if it was just silence, with only the footsteps of the daughters being heard, maybe the sound of the Firefly when it cut back to Jack or something.
3. Not too keen on the overall darker tone. While I like the dealing with heavy topics and character development, having the intro literally be Jack talking about how death is everywhere and how there's no hope, casts a shadow (for good or bad) over the whole thing. Yes, there's light bits (the assassin in the first eps was fantastic), but it gives the expectation that the focus will be dark and serious. With lighter stuff being the exception.
Like, I couldn't imagine the episode Chicken Jack showing up in this new version.
4. Last one, I miss letting scenes breath. It feels a bit too edited. The part with the daughters looking for Jack throughout the temple was more reminiscent of what I was looking for, but still.
Granted all this could just be me rejecting that its different from the old series, but I don't think so. At least not all of it. Stuff like point 4 though could easily hanger in future episodes, since it's only the second, and they're trying to get things moving.
Edit: I also think things move a bit too fluid. With Aku esspecially, he almost seems off model. As much as a shape shifter can be off model, anyway. I know those are two different things, but I'm lumping it all under an increase in movement and movement animation.
2. While the music itself is great, I think it's too invasive. For example when the daughters are looking for Jack in the tomb, the music is overshadowing everything. For example, It would have been much more nerve wracking if it was just silence, with only the footsteps of the daughters being heard, maybe the sound of the Firefly when it cut back to Jack or something.
3. Not too keen on the overall darker tone. While I like the dealing with heavy topics and character development, having the intro literally be Jack talking about how death is everywhere and how there's no hope, casts a shadow (for good or bad) over the whole thing. Yes, there's light bits (the assassin in the first eps was fantastic), but it gives the expectation that the focus will be dark and serious. With lighter stuff being the exception.
Like, I couldn't imagine the episode Chicken Jack showing up in this new version.
4. Last one, I miss letting scenes breath. It feels a bit too edited. The part with the daughters looking for Jack throughout the temple was more reminiscent of what I was looking for, but still.
Granted all this could just be me rejecting that its different from the old series, but I don't think so. At least not all of it. Stuff like point 4 though could easily hanger in future episodes, since it's only the second, and they're trying to get things moving.
Edit: I also think things move a bit too fluid. With Aku esspecially, he almost seems off model. As much as a shape shifter can be off model, anyway. I know those are two different things, but I'm lumping it all under an increase in movement and movement animation.
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X-SOLDIER
Harbinger O Great Justice
- AKA
- X
Full history of the show's conception, creation, and return.
https://massappeal.com/samurai-jack-return-adult-swim/
X
https://massappeal.com/samurai-jack-return-adult-swim/
X
Shademp
420
I can't believe...it's finally over.
Genndy wasn't kidding when he said the end would be bittersweet...
Well here's a time paradox (or loop). If Ashi never existed, then Samurai Jack was never sent back in time. Which means that Jack is still in the future and Aku is not defeated. Which means that Ashi exists again and she sends Jack back in time again... >____> Yeah I guess that is a neat time package...?
I just can't take it in that finally, after all these years, the story of Samurai Jack is over. I knew from the start that without involving parallel universes, there would be the bittersweet element of the show's timeline being erased. All the characters we've learned to know, with the Scotsman being a prime example, had to be erased if Jack was to ever return to the past.
But that wasn't enough. They had to make Jack find love...and lose it, as a necessary sacrifice in order to save his home and people. Contrary to what Jack believed, his home did not remain just a memory. But through Ashi's death, Aku got to laugh beyond the grave.
The most bittersweet ending in recent memory, to me. It quite hurts. Still a fitting ending though. It wouldn't have worked if Jack made an excuse to remain in the future and help that world prosper once Aku had been defeated. Jack would never forgive himself for abandoning his home and family. I was scared they would take the route of Jack staying in the future but fortunately they didn't.
Also, Jack's father recovered a little *too well*. If you look at him in the first episode of the series, I just can't see him having any black hair left...unless he dyed it. XP Yeah, let's just assume he dyed it. The way his whole body recovered still borders on being too impressive though.
So satisfying to see all these characters from the first four seasons make a return for the penultimate battle. It was the perfect payoff.
EDIT: Just remembered Jack saying that he did not want Ashi to become just a memory. His home came back, but Jack's fear was realized and Ashi did indeed become...only a memory. ;___:
EDIT #2: So here is one question left unanswered. If time has lost its effect on Jack, does that mean that even in the past Jack is immortal? Will it LITERALLY be like Ashi said that Jack is not dead and that "he never will be"?
I just can't take it in that finally, after all these years, the story of Samurai Jack is over. I knew from the start that without involving parallel universes, there would be the bittersweet element of the show's timeline being erased. All the characters we've learned to know, with the Scotsman being a prime example, had to be erased if Jack was to ever return to the past.
But that wasn't enough. They had to make Jack find love...and lose it, as a necessary sacrifice in order to save his home and people. Contrary to what Jack believed, his home did not remain just a memory. But through Ashi's death, Aku got to laugh beyond the grave.
The most bittersweet ending in recent memory, to me. It quite hurts. Still a fitting ending though. It wouldn't have worked if Jack made an excuse to remain in the future and help that world prosper once Aku had been defeated. Jack would never forgive himself for abandoning his home and family. I was scared they would take the route of Jack staying in the future but fortunately they didn't.
Also, Jack's father recovered a little *too well*. If you look at him in the first episode of the series, I just can't see him having any black hair left...unless he dyed it. XP Yeah, let's just assume he dyed it. The way his whole body recovered still borders on being too impressive though.
So satisfying to see all these characters from the first four seasons make a return for the penultimate battle. It was the perfect payoff.
EDIT: Just remembered Jack saying that he did not want Ashi to become just a memory. His home came back, but Jack's fear was realized and Ashi did indeed become...only a memory. ;___:
EDIT #2: So here is one question left unanswered. If time has lost its effect on Jack, does that mean that even in the past Jack is immortal? Will it LITERALLY be like Ashi said that Jack is not dead and that "he never will be"?
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X-SOLDIER
Harbinger O Great Justice
- AKA
- X
As I understand it,
X
the reason we don't have a sort of time loop/paradox is similar to how things work with Doctor Who in that those events remain real for the Time Traveller, while being unwritten for everyone else. — We see past Jack thrown back in time, and know he goes through everything to defeat Aku, even if by defeating Aku, all those events never occur in the timeline he returns to. I think his lack of aging was also a good way of showing that.
I was preparing for the bittersweet bit knowing that all his friends would never suffer and never know him if he succeeded, and he'd be so far in the past that assumedly, he'd never live to meet them (unless he still doesn't age, although I assume that that was just an artifact of time-displacement that's gone now that he's back in his own time). It still hit me solidly in the feels the second Ashi stumbled though. After Sym-Bionic Titan, Genndy is still a master of portraying loss and just hitting the right beats to make it linger.
What really got to me more than I expected it to was the in-world broadcast of the opening sequence used as Aku announcing that he'd captured Jack, so that we got to hear Mako's voice again in the last episode of the series. Saving it this whole time and making it into it's own special moment was a tribute that really hit me all over again finally seeing Mako's name in the end credits of CI.
All-in-all, I couldn't be more satisfied with the ending. It's Jack knowing he did what he set out to do, and doing the embest for everyone, even if he suffered trials and repercussions that are impossible to explain to anyone, that final meditation scene of the ladybug just tied it all together showing the grey in his thoughts brighten as he gets to truly look forward for the first time.
I was preparing for the bittersweet bit knowing that all his friends would never suffer and never know him if he succeeded, and he'd be so far in the past that assumedly, he'd never live to meet them (unless he still doesn't age, although I assume that that was just an artifact of time-displacement that's gone now that he's back in his own time). It still hit me solidly in the feels the second Ashi stumbled though. After Sym-Bionic Titan, Genndy is still a master of portraying loss and just hitting the right beats to make it linger.
What really got to me more than I expected it to was the in-world broadcast of the opening sequence used as Aku announcing that he'd captured Jack, so that we got to hear Mako's voice again in the last episode of the series. Saving it this whole time and making it into it's own special moment was a tribute that really hit me all over again finally seeing Mako's name in the end credits of CI.
All-in-all, I couldn't be more satisfied with the ending. It's Jack knowing he did what he set out to do, and doing the embest for everyone, even if he suffered trials and repercussions that are impossible to explain to anyone, that final meditation scene of the ladybug just tied it all together showing the grey in his thoughts brighten as he gets to truly look forward for the first time.
X
Cloud_S
Pro Adventurer
Yeah,
that was an odd one... his mother also de-aged.
Also, since the youtube link is restricted to the UK, here's his father for those who can't see it:
Also, since the youtube link is restricted to the UK, here's his father for those who can't see it:
Agreed, that was both totally unexpected and wonderful.
I'm almost satisfied, but I can't deny the fact that I get the feeling if they had 13, or 16 episodes for this it could've improved in some spots (certain aspects felt rushed a tiny bit, and more interaction time between Ashi and Jack would've been nice to see).
So here's something interesting.... I don't believe this background (from the background painter's blog, which has tons of amazing pieces...really need a damned artbook/full resolution digital download!) was ever used in any S5 episode:
(
certainly would fit in the last segment of the final episode
I wonder why....
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