has anyone here seen SAMURAI JACK?

[xfer]

I got the first season DVDs for Christmas and watched a few episodes last night...I think it's pretty darn good. very little dialogue; the story is told through the heavily stylized visual elements, and it seems intended to encourage you to construct the story in your head using the snippets it provides as material.

 

[Firedwarf]

Yeah, I watched it when it premiered on CN. Good stuff.

 

[xfer]

did you see the whole thing?

how many seasons are there? i'm trying to predict if Jack will get home and kill Aku at the end of this one, or if it will continue endlessly.

 

[gekko]

There is more than one season I am almost certain but I'm not sure how many there are. Really cool show, though some episodes are far better than others.

 

[xfer]

indeed, the first two episodes are very different. after finishing the first i was like "amazing! a cartoon without any humor, with a really stark, powerful mood throughout, etc...no jokey, silly sidekick types..."

in the second episode three jokey characters appear.

but in retrospect, they're done well, and the series was still going strong.

 

[TrevJ]

Good show indeed, I bought the first season DVDs shortly after their release. I believe there are three seasons and about 50 episodes. Episode 3 is probably the worst episode I've seen, so I wouldn't judge the humor of the show on that episode. It gets considerably better later on, especially in episode 9, which has two hilarious bit characters that crack me up every time. I actually think one of the show's strengths is the way it switches between serious, suspenseful storytelling and moments of ridiculous comedy.

 

[xfer]

i got interested in it after reading a really good profile of genndy tartakovsky in the new yorker which included pretty in-depth descriptions of the show, which was his project at the time. (the profile was a few years back). if youre interested, i would seek it out; it's very interesting.

 

[inkybmistro]

samurai jack is one of the best cartoons presently on cartoon network. the only thing i would like them to do with it is to make it even more exaggeratedly minimalist. less dialogue, more environments and stuff. a really good example of such an episode is the one where jack is trying to reach the top of that tower guarded by those blind anubis archers, and the scene where he learns to be aware of his environment with his neglected senses.

 

[xfer]

combat scenes are usually soooooo boring in movies/shows. but in this, the combat scenes are amazing! not like "packed with more excitement than any other scene", but just visually interesting, strong in the theme, promoting the plot, etc.!

 

[Draft Dodging Scarecrow]

I used to watch them all the time on CN, but I don't know when they come on anymore.

That Anubis archers episode was pretty good. I also remember one where he has to fight Shinobi (A fella that dresses in all black and can hide in the shadows) and does the same tactic as he does, but dresses himself in all white. The majority of that episode is them two fighting in a lighthouse with a couple of windows so they are both dissapearing and reapearing very quickly into light and dark and the sun slowly fades so it appears that Shinobi will win. It was a cool episode, IMO.

 

[inkybmistro]

that was sweet. they had so many cool episode ideas/things set up just for the visuals.

 

[inkybmistro]

imagine how amazing that show would be if they took the time to do it entirely (characters and all) in the textured watercolor-y style of the backgrounds.

 

[gekko]

Yet another good episode, fighting the guy who sucks all the great warriors into himself and then spits their souls back out to fight for him when he needs them, like the entire show is battle almost no talk at all

 

[Draft Dodging Scarecrow]

Ahh, I remember that one, it was really good.

Another old show that I thought about today was the King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table cartoon that used to be on. I can't remember much of it, but I do remember them putting their swords in the center and then they're armor would be all, different colors n stuff.

 

[xfer]

i also like how the characters aren't limned by black lines, unlike many other cartoons.

 

[inkybmistro]

about half of cartoon network's current roster was made in flash. LAME.

 

[Draft Dodging Scarecrow]

Most of the stuff that comes on Adult Swim is pretty good. I really like Inuyasha.