Over a decade since its last episode and dozens of movie rumours in-between, SAMURAI JACK is finally coming back to our TV screens, which is exactly where the show belongs.
Personally, I believe SAMURAI JACK is one of the finest cartoons ever produced and certainly stands shoulder to shoulder with classics like BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, so to have it come back to TV after its abrupt and awkward end in 2004 is an animated miracle.Â
Legendary director and creator of SAMURAI JACK Genndy Tartakovsky (DEXTER’S LABORATORY, STAR WARS: CLONE WARS) returns once again to take the helm. Tartakovsky promises this season to be much darker than previous iterations, with a focus on the samurai’s existential crisis. We will pick up years after the last episode. The central theme of this season is Jack dealing with the mental strain that inevitably follows fighting a seemingly futile quest to destroy Aku and get back to the past.Â
Fans are excited to see Jack and the infamous Aku light up our screens once more in heated battle. Sadly Mako, the voice actor for Aku, passed away in 2006 and Aku’s iconic voice is lost with him. In lieu of this, Tartakovsky flirted with the idea of finding a completely new voice for Aku, but ultimately decided (thankfully) that Mako’s iteration of the demon was simply too iconic to replace. He has found an impersonator to try to recapture Mako’s outstanding performance, which I imagine is a relief for many fans.Â
This will be the final season of the show and as such, expect a grand violent finale, whether you are an ardent fan or have never seen the show before, it is time to get binge watching.
SAMURAI JACK Season 5 is slated to be released later this year.Â
