Samurai Jack: Season 5: DVD Review

Samurai Jack: Season 5: DVD Review

Released by Madman Home Entertainment

It's impossible to overstate how loved Samurai Jack is.

As a piece of animation, its Samurai roots, and iconic etchings have a place in animation history.
As a piece of story-telling, one samurai's quest for revenge against a creature which has wronged him is a fairly simple and timeless kind of yarn.

But Samurai Jack's strength was always in the telling of the tale and the one man encountering others ethos which pervaded much of it.

This final season doesn't scrimp on any of the iconography and spends a lot of time wallowing in the man who has been broken by his place in it all. Jack is ruined by his failure to succeed in his quest - and when Aku's daughters are dispatched to end him once and for all, it appears tragedy is on the way.

But there are surprises in how the tale plays out, with Jack's story, as ever, never being a simple one.

Eleven years after the devastating climax, it's fair to say that parts of Samurai Jack: Season 5 don't quite match up, and while there's a resonance and emotional depth that creator Genndy Tartakovsky is going for, the beats fall slightly short.

However, the style of Samurai Jack: Season 5 is intense, familiar and eye-catching.

Quick edits, stylistic shots and some gorgeous palettes make the season stand out - and it's certainly leagues ahead of anything else, even if its ultimate resolution never meets the highs of the questions raised.

Ultimately, Samurai Jack: Season 5 rewards the long term viewer and brings the story to a predictable but well-travelled conclusion. It's still masterful and deeply watchable, even if parts of it feel familiar and compelling in equal measure.