Samurai Jack Season 5 Review

After 16  years, the saga of Samurai Jack has officially reached its end. It may not be the best ending out there, but an end, nonetheless.

Beginning in 2001, Samurai Jack is the tale of the titular character, who was sent into the future by the shape-shifting demon Aku, where the latter has already conquered the world. Jack wonders in the future for a way to return to the past, defeat Aku, and change history.

Unlike the previous seasons where the series is episodic with some continuities here and there, the fifth season of Samurai Jack is a 10-episode story arc that ends with the final confrontation between Jack and Aku. Fortunately, for new viewers, it is not a requirement to watch the past seasons, as the start of Season 5 marks as an entry point for those said viewers. For Samurai Jack fans, they will be happy seeing connections to past seasons, though relatively minor.

The first 8 episodes deal mostly with Jack's character, as he goes into a downward spiral of guilt. As Jack noted in his opening monologue, he and Aku have been fighitng for 50 years in the future, but continues to end in a stalemate. Aku is just too powerful to be defeated by the Jack's Magic Sword, while Jack is simply too persistent to be killed by Aku or his minions. This stalemate, however, did not stop the indiscriminate attacks by Aku's forces against the rest of the world, turning it into a wasteland along with an incredibly high death count. The grim depiction of the future is a stark reminder that for Jack to truly defeat Aku and save the world from destruction, as the show's description tells it from the very beginning - he must get back to the past.

However, that goal has become complicated when in the first episode of the final season, it was revealed that Jack has long since lost the Magic Sword. Despite this, Jack still shows he's a formidable warrior, defeating many of Aku's minions and even one of his top hitmen, Scaramouche.

As this was going on, we are introduced to a new character who will play a key role that would end the conflict for good - Ashi. She, along with her other siblings, are trained since birth by an all-female cult that worships Aku as their god. Calling themselves the "Daughters of Aku", Ashi and the other girls are given the sole task of hunting and assassinating Jack.

Ashi would eventually end up being the only surviving member of her siblings, and the cult overall. Her relationship with Jack is trope-ish, but well executed. She first sees Jack as an enemy, then eventually her ally, friend, and ultimately lover.

On the part of being Jack's significant other, the negative reactions from the minority within social media outlets is for the most part, very laughable. In defense of this suddent development when it happened, it's true that the final season was only 10 episodes long, so there are points in the narrative, especially coming to the end, that ends up rather rushed. But in the case of Jack and Ashi, it was already clear cut from the visuals in one or two episodes that they have been travelling togehter for quite some time. This was already a foreshadowing that two would eventually become a couple and that relationship turns out to be vital in the final battle with Aku.

We then learn that when Jack lost the only remaining means of returning to the past, it left him in a blind rage, which made him lose his sword, not just literally, but figuratively as well, as he is deemed no longer worthy of being its wielder. Kind of like what happened to Thor Odinson in Marvel when he is no longer worthy of wileding Mjolnir, passing it instead to Jane Foster. Jack's loss of the sword also put him into a downward spiral. He does eventually returns to his old self, thus getting his sword back. And allowing him and Ashi to prepare for their fight against Aku.

At this point, a narrative in the original series was retconned. There was a prophecy in which Jack would never return to the past, but has came to terms with it and become the King of the Future, leading an army of his allies in the fight against Aku. This was explored furhter in the comics, which was deemed canon at the time until the final season of the show was announced, making the comic's canonity moot.

Instead, in the final battle with Aku, it was revealed that Ashi was indeed literally his daughter, having Aku's blood flowing in her. Ashi was turned into Aku's minion and Jack is forced to surrender. Aku then announced to the world of Jack's capture, causing all of his allies to make one last charge against Aku to save Jack.

One of the things I enjoyed in this moment is that for Aku's announcement, Genndy Tartakovsky used pre-recorded clips of the late Mako, who provided the original voice of Aku, as the intro monologue to the series is played. Then it is followed by Aku's present monologue this time by Greg Baldwin, who took over as Mako's replacement for not just as Aku in Samurai Jack, but also Iroh in the Avatar series. The transition from Mako's to Baldwin's in the dialogue is seamless and you virtually could not tell the diference between the two. That's where I praise Baldwin for being able to emulate Mako's voice in playing Aku.

On the other hand, I find it weird that Aku is the only one present in his fortress and none of his own army showed up for the final battle. I get that it's because of the rather rushed production and Aku can easily take out the intruders and has done so in the most brutal way possible. Still, it's just weird Aku doesn't have any minions nearby. 

Jack's love for Ashi allowed the latter to break free of Aku's control, which also meant she too has Aku's powers. This allows her to open a new Time Portal, allowing her and Jack to finally return to the ending of the first episode, moments after Jack was sent to the future, and Jack finally kills Aku for good.

Jack's victory however, was a bittersweet one. By killing Aku in the past, it also meant that his friends from the future are erased from existence, and that also includes Ashi, who dies moments before the two are married. It ends with Jack now standing alone as he watches the fields, no longer touched by Aku's evil. Unfortunately, I didn't get emotional on this as it was done before in the anime series Gurren Lagann. It was good and well executed, no doubt. I was just slightly turned off by its similarities with Gurren Lagann.

Looking back at the season in general, it is indeed one long story arc to end the series on a high note, and it has done quite well, despite a few loose spots and a somewhat rushed ending. Jack's character development is great, as is the animation and smart use of the soundtrack. You do see moments of violence, slightly disturbing imagery, and even nudity, but they serve as more of a garnish than the highlight. Jack and Ashi's progression as characters, along with the main plot, remain the center of attention throughout the season.

16 years is a long wait for a series to finally reach its conclusion. But it ends well and is very satisfactory. I praise Tartakovky, the voice actors, and the staff for doing such great work on this series. Whether you are new to Samurai Jack, or have seen it before in the past, it was an incredible journey to the end and is well worth it. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give the final season of Samurai Jack, a 4 out of 5.