Remember the Good Ol’ Days: Samurai Jack

Gotta get back, back to the past.

 

With this, we are thrust into the futuristic, dystopian, stylized world of Samurai Jack. First premiering on August 10, 2001 as a television movie on Cartoon Network, Samurai Jack tells the story of the titular character and his quest to travel back in time from the future to defeat his greatest foe: the tyrannical demon Aku. During his adventures he meets great allies, rights many wrongs, and learns many skills that help him down the line. He also occasionally gets close to returning to the past, but only ends up failing in his attempts due to Aku’s constant meddling.

When it ended in 2004, many fans were shocked. There was no solid closure for the protagonist as he never got to the past or defeated Aku. It was the worst possible kind of cliffhanger to have happen. Eventually, Samurai Jack became a distant memory, occasionally being mentioned here and there. Fans ended up losing faith that there would ever be a conclusion to the series. That is until December 2, 2015 when Cartoon Network made the announcement of a new season.

 

And this is when the world suddenly went crazy…but in a good way.

 

An announcement such as this was considered as manna from heaven for those who grew up watching the series. No one expected this announcement, especially when it seemed as if show creator, Genndy Tartakovsky, just forgot about the phenomenal series he made. So when this announcement came, fans were eager to find out how the story would pick up. Would Jack still be trapped in the future? Has time passed since we last saw our protagonist? These were some of the few questions that came into light and now we don’t have to wait much longer for an answer. The new (and possibly) final season of Samurai Jack is only a few months away. March 11 to be exact.

 

According to Tartakovsky, the new season will have a much darker tone compared to its predecessors. It will form a cohesive story that will see Jack fifty years later on the final leg of his journey. Each episode will have a ‘reveal’ that unravels the mystery that surrounds the story and constantly keeps us guessing.

 

There is much more that Tartakovsky has mentioned about the new season, but for the sake of surprise and just so we all share in this great moment, I’m not telling. What I will tell you though is that this personally for me is one of the shows I am ecstatic about this year next to the DuckTales reboot. This show was the cornucopia of my childhood and introduced me to the concept of the Samurai and Japanese culture. It was something that became near and dear to my heart and only expanded in greatness as I grew up. I’m sure this is the case for many who watched the show. It was a good escape from the mundane and fulfilled the heroic fantasies that we wish were true.

So what is to come of our hero Jack as he completes his grand adventure? I guess we will have to find out when Season 5 premieres on March 11 on Cartoon Network’s Toonami. Until then, we can reminisce about the good ol’ days.