As the title above states in brief, there’s good news and bad news. I want to elaborate on the good and bad though.
The good parts involving Jack‘s return:
- Genndy Tartakovsky is back to helm the 10 episode run.
- Phil Lamar continues to do the voice of Jack.
- Many of Jack’s old allies (the Scotsman) and enemies (Scaramouche) make appearances.
- The show is a part of [adult swim]/Toonami because the violence, tone and language got ratcheted up.
- There is closure unlike Jack‘s previous finale in 2004 which felt more like a cancellation.
The bad…
- The episodes still end with those confusing Roman numerals that aren’t necessarily sequential.
- Just when things were back in full swing, it’s over.
So there isn’t really much “bad” with the new season. I think having about a decade off gave Genndy time to recharge and think of new locales and creatures to bring to life in the show’s no-outline style. Jack was always a journey into new genres or interpretations of famous myths (e.g. the 300 Spartans).
The story just picks up where we left Jack 50 years later. Somehow, the portal has prevented him from aging. His primary mission to defeat Aku has been shelved due to the magic sword being lost. This doesn’t prevent Jack from continuing to defend/rescue those oppressed by Aku for he is quite proficient with guns, other melee weapons and his fists. Little does he know that seven women branded the Daughters of Aku are hot on his tail; you see some exposition on their origin too, they are badass.
Jack‘s premiere run has ended now. I managed to catch it through on-demand while house sitting. It’s also shown in reruns alongside other [adult swim] programming. I highly recommend catching it. If you’ve never seen the original four-year run from over a decade ago, it helps to see much of it. Personally, I think I will try to corral those on DVD to re-enjoy Jack‘s humor and fantastic settings.
I’ve been enjoying the new season quite a bit. The Roman Numerals are incredibly confusing, especially when you have to reconcile them with what episode number on your streaming device and can’t remember which episode title you just finished.
I love the detail and imagery Genndy Tartakovsky puts into the world created in Season 5. I also find the character development easy to follow and easy to become vested in the characters and what happens to them.
I won’t go into much detail about the ending of the series other than what they chose to do is fitting for the series end (Perhaps in a different post we may be able to discuss our thoughts on the ending in another post).