Launch trailer for Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time. A new sword slashing action game told by the creator of the show Genndy Tartakovsky and Series Head Writer Darrick Bachman. Dive into your favorite moments from the show as you travel back in time to finally stop the evil Aku. Coming on August 21st to PlayStation 4.
I vaguely remember seeing an announcement about this game, but I'm just now seeing the trailer despite it releasing about a month or two ago. I've provided the IGN footage of 18 minutes of in-game gameplay as well for those interested in seeing how the game would play out.
They had me sold when I saw Demongo and the Daughters of Aku in this. I hope we're going to be able to play Jack's story from the beginning to the end and hopefully spice up that ending a tad bit.
ThunderCats Roar is an upcoming American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation for Cartoon Network. The series is set to premiere in February 2020. ThunderCats Roar features an explicitly cartoonish artstyle with a more lighthearted, comedic tone than previous ThunderCats installments. The show's premise is similar to the original; the ThunderCats escape their dying homeworld Thundera, only to crashland on Third Earth, facing off against various villains and their evil overlord, Mumm-Ra.
On May 18, 2018, it was announced that a third ThunderCats cartoon, ThunderCats Roar, was in development and was picked up by Cartoon Network. It was originally scheduled to premiere in 2019 but was delayed to 2020. The show's developers are Victor Courtright and Marly Halpern-Graser. Courtright previously worked on the Disney XD series, Pickle and Peanut as a writer/storyboard artist and created the Cartoon Network digital series Get 'Em Tommy! Halpern-Graser previously worked as a writer for various DC Nation Shorts and was co-creator of Disney XD's show Right Now Kapow. The first two episodes were released on the Cartoon Network app on January 10, 2020.
Voice Cast:
Thundercats
Lion-O (Voiced by Max Mittelman) – The leader of the ThunderCats.
Tygra (Voiced by Patrick Seitz) – The serious member of the team.
Cheetara (Voiced by Erica Lindbeck) – The fastest member of the team.
Panthro (Voiced by Chris Jai Alex) – The strongest member of the Team.
WilyKit (Voiced by Lindbeck) – One half of the ThunderKittens.
WilyKat (Voiced by Mittelman) – One half of the ThunderKittens. Snarf.
Jaga (Voiced by Larry Kenney).
Part 1: After the destruction of their home planet Thundera, the titular ThunderCats fly off to a new home, only to crash land on Third Earth after being shot down by their arch-enemies, the Mutants. Following a scuffle with the Mutants, Lion-O pursues them into the wild while the rest of the ThunderCats meet the Berbils whose village their ship unknowingly destroyed in the crash. Luckily, the Berbils are quick builders and opt to build their base while warning them of Mumm-Ra. Lion-O ends up encountering Mumm-Ra when chased by the Mutants to the villain's pyramid, with Mumm-Ra destroying the Mutants' ship before returning to his lair.
Part 2: Lion-O enters the pyramid to thank Mumm-Ra, only to learn he is evil while revealing the presence of the other Thundercats on Third Earth. Mumm-Ra, explaining his Doomstaff grants him power while establishing a curse where anyone who says his name is struck by lightning, chains Lion-O up and uses a portal to attack the ThunderCats' new home. Mumm-Ra makes short work of the team despite their resistance, with Lion-O and Snarf arriving too late. Things seemed hopeless until Mumm-Ra unintentionally praised the Berbils as they hug him with his own curse used against him, enabling the ThunderCats to break free with Lion-O destroying Mumm-Ra's staff. Mumm-Ra, reverted to his natural form, escapes and Lion-O promises to stay with his team and lead them to victory.
The Verdict:
After seeing the behind the scenes trailer above, I knew what I was getting into when I first saw this, even though I was cringing when I saw the initial images for this. I TRIED to keep an open mind throughout this, knowing that I'm not the audience that they are going with for this new iteration of ThunderCats, but boy, I cannot shake the comparisons to Teen Titans Go!. It wouldn't be so bad if they weren't trying to bastardize what was a great series for Cartoon Network with it's previous iteration with the 2011 series, only to replace it with THIS of all things. Don't get me wrong. There were a few moments that did get a natural laugh out of me from references to the original series, but damn, it hurts seeing ThunderCats dragged through the mud like this into weak comedy efforts.
I don't understand what is with Hollywood bastardizing everything that I grew with as of late, including but limited to ThunderCats, Voltron (let's just all admit that tail end of the Netflix reboot wasn't worth it), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (seriously WTF on Rise of the TMNT at times), and even Transformers (remember they went through their own "comedy" run with Transformers: Animated on this very same network), with poorly drawn "reboots" to cater to kids in a comedic manner with little to no action. That being said, I'm not outraged like the bulk of the Internet at this. At this point, I have just grown ultimately disappointed seeing so many great franchises being reduced to this route. Hollywood isn't catering to my generation anymore as they don't see a profit in it. That's painfully obvious from the trend that these shows keep popping up despite the fan backlash from each and every time a new one pops up.
That being said, there's some interesting differences in this iteration of the ThunderCats lore in comparison to the original series though. Lion-O isn't a boy in a man's body as a result of being aged up from the stasis pods that he was confined within following the Cats' escape from Thundera - something the 2011 series didn't recycle either. Jaga (voiced by the original Lion-O voice actor Larry Kenny himself) is already dead and merely acts as the narrator for the first two episodes. Mumm-Ra doesn't seem to have his original weakness of being unable to face his own reflection, even though that was fucking hilarious in the original series until it was written out in later seasons. Snarf isn't a nanny/babysitter to Lion-O (like in the original series) nor just common housepet (2011 iteration). Instead, he's a fucking robot that offers tools to assist Lion-O out in the field. I guess that's going to be the plot device or deus ex machina as much as the Sword of Omens was in the original series that solved any and ALL problems to the point of absurdity in the original series. When they got to the point where that thing was holding planets together I was like get the fuck out of here, even as a kid. The Berbils were well represented here, even though I have to admit that I'm anxious to see how they adapt some of the other inhabitants of Third Earth into this series in terms of their designs.
What the actual fuck is my immediate reaction to seeing the animation of this show at times...
Speaking of designs, I have to comment on how this show looks visually. It looks like the folks behind Kablam! (remember that Nicktoons fans?) and the Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack came together to make this from how everything looks down to the expressive manner of the characters at times. I hate to mention those two shows negatively as I loved them for they were but their distinct art styles aren't something I would have thought to see in something like this. Cartoon Network used to pride itself with some of the best animation on the planet back in the '90s and early 2000s, only for the present day landscape of the network's line-up to look like stuff that anyone could make who takes a pen to paper without much thought put into it. Sure, these characters are recognizable to long-time fans, but at the end of the day, it's just another bastardization of yet another beloved childhood property from the popular 80's media.
Watch It or Don't Bother?
If Cartoon Network thinks that just tossing out a subpar ThunderCats show to give them an petty excuse to hang onto the ThunderCats license, then that's only going to toss more oil onto the fire with fans demanding a revival/continuation of the 2011 series and/or more nostalgia to the original series. This show does nothing to quell the fans of either of those iterations of ThunderCats. Instead, it spits in the faces of the fans and memories of those shows alike.
This one is easy. Spare yourself the torment and avoid this like the plague. It doesn't "officially" debut until February, but the first two pilot episodes are up on the Cartoon Network app for viewing for those with morbid curiosity like me. I honestly would be surprised if this ends up being another hit for the network like Teen Titans Go!. I feel genuinely sorry for Victor Courtright though. In the behind the scenes video that I shared earlier in this article, he seemed like a genuine fan of the original series and wanted to offer his own lighthearted spin on it. I'm sure his intentions were pure and he didn't sought out to tarnish the ThunderCats' legacy, but this show isn't the right course of action following the 2011's series' abrupt cancellation. Sadly, fans aren't going to give him a break in that regard either once this show officially debuts in February and there's mass exposure to it outside of the Cartoon Network app.
The fifth season of Samurai Jack is the final season of the animated series. This season follows Jack on a journey that concludes his story. It premiered on the Toonami programming block of Adult Swim on March 11, 2017 and concluded its run on May 20, 2017. The announcement of the season came in December 2015, eleven years since the series was originally concluded on Cartoon Network. Genndy Tartakovsky, the series' creator, returned as a director, writer, and storyboarder for this season.
Fifty years have passed, but I do not age. Time has lost its effect on me. Yet the suffering continues. Aku's grasp chokes the past, present, and future. Hope is lost. Got to get back—back to the past. Samurai Jack. — Jack, in the opening sequence
The story takes place fifty years after Aku cast Jack into the future, although Jack himself hasn't aged at all as a side effect of time travel. Aku has destroyed all the time portals in existence, but he is deeply distressed over the prospect of battling Jack forever and has stopped pursuing him directly. Jacks previous actions have inspired many to oppose Aku's tyranny, among them being an elderly Scotsman, who is organizing an uprising to finally bring an end to the demon. Unknown to Aku, Jack has lost his sword, and he is troubled by hallucinations of his deceased family, his former self, and the victims of Aku, almost to the point of suicide. Now a wandering warrior with little purpose, a now bearded Jack uses a suit of armor and futuristic weapons and vehicles to fight the forces of Aku.
A set of septuplet girls, the "Daughters of Aku", are born into a cult of Aku worshipers and raised as assassins with the sole purpose of killing Jack. When they come of age, the Daughters of Aku find and overwhelm Jack, destroying his equipment in the process, but he manages to kill all the Daughters but one, Ashi, who he spares out of remorse upon learning of her upbringing.
Accompanying Jack on his journey, Ashi comes to see Aku as evil, and helps Jack through his emotional and spiritual journey, talking him out of commiting suicide and helping him reclaim his lost sword. The two eventually become romantically involved as they journey to defeat Aku. Aku is eventually informed by one of his assassins that Jack lost his sword and confronts him, not knowing Jack has recovered it in the interim. Before leaving, Aku senses that Ashi has part of him inside her, and possesses her body to attack Jack. Jack refuses to kill Ashi, and lays down his sword in defeat.
Aku takes Jack prisoner and prepares to kill him, but the people Jack helped all over the planet rally to his defense. When Jack tells Ashi that he loves her, she regains control of her mind and helps Jack regain his sword. Realizing she possesses Aku's powers, she opens a time portal to return Jack and herself to the moment Aku sent Jack to the future. more specifically, ten seconds afterwards. Weakened from their first fight, Aku is unable to defend himself or flee and is finally killed by Jack, saving his homeland and family.
With peace restored, he prepares to marry Ashi, but on her way to the altar she suddenly collapses, and Jack rushes to her side. She tells him that she realizes that since Aku is now dead, she would never had been born in the future, and she fades away, erased from existence. Saddened, Jack travels despondently to the countryside, but his spirits rise upon seeing a ladybug, which lands on his hand. It reminds him of the good times he and Ashi spent together. He lets the ladybug go free and contently looks upon his homeland, having returned to everlasting harmony and tranquility, under a sakura tree.
Episode Summaries (FULL Spoilers)
53 1 "XCII"
Fifty years have passed since Jack arrived in the future; his sword is lost, he has given up hope of returning to his time and he is tormented by hallucinations of his parents, his kingdom, and a mysterious armored figure on horseback. Jack, now using futuristic weapons and armor, rescues a mother and her two children from several bug robots, and wanders the land on a motorcycle. Scaramouche—a fast-talking musical assassin robot styled after the late Sammy Davis Jr.[14]—has destroyed a village and killed all of its people to get Jack's attention. Jack delays in arriving to the village, but eventually defeats Scaramouche. Meanwhile, seven young girls are raised and trained from birth by an Aku-worshiping cult led by the High Priestess to become the Daughters of Aku, a team of assassins with the sole purpose of killing Jack.
54 2 "XCIII"
Aku has grown tired of pursuing Jack and is starting to give up hope of ever defeating him, especially since he has stopped aging. Elsewhere, the Daughters of Aku overwhelm and disarm Jack; while hiding from them, he hallucinates an argument with his younger self about the point of keeping on living and fighting. He flees to a nearby temple ruin, pursued by the Daughters. One of them stabs him in the side as he kills her, and he discovers the Daughters are human, not robots as he assumed. Jack uses Scaramouche's tuning fork-like dagger to make the temple walls explode, and escapes into a river flowing past it. The episode's climax is an homage to the musical composition "The Ecstasy of Gold".
55 3 "XCIV"
Jack floats downriver and takes shelter in a cave, while the six surviving Daughters of Aku track him. He hallucinates an argument with himself over whether he can bring himself to kill all the Daughters if necessary as he had never before killed a human. A wounded wolf joins Jack in the cave, and they both recuperate from their injuries. Jack recalls an incident from his childhood when his family was accosted by assassins, where his father gave the assassins a choice: leave, or "face your destiny". They attacked, and were killed by Jack's father. As the Daughters of Aku close in on Jack, he gives them the same choice, echoing his father's words. When they stay, he quickly kills three and lures the others onto a branch hanging over an abyss. One by one Jack drops them into the abyss, but before he can return to solid ground, the branch breaks and he too falls into the abyss.
56 4 "XCV"
Jack awakens and finds one of the Daughters of Aku lying bloodied in the snow. He is attacked by one of the Daughters, Ashi, but he quickly subdues her and binds her with the chain from her own chain-sickle. They are both suddenly swallowed by an enormous creature. As they fall, Ashi again attacks Jack, but he saves her from the deadly fall into the creature. Jack hallucinates an argument with himself over saving Ashi or leaving her to die. He protects her and carries her with him as he makes his way out, despite her barrage of threats and ongoing attempts to kill him. They eventually make it out of the creature and into a body of water, where Jack saves Ashi from drowning and carries her to a small island. She prepares to attack him again, but relents and drops her sickle upon seeing Jack gently release a ladybug that landed on his hand, in contrast to the High Priestess, who had crushed a ladybug for not being "a part of Aku's order".
57 5 "XCVI"
The Scotsman, now elderly and wheelchair-bound, leads an attack on Aku's tower. Aku easily obliterates two of the three assembled armies. The Scotsman stalls Aku to allow his army, consisting of his daughters, to retreat. He is killed, but returns to life as a specter, and instructs his daughters to regroup, find Jack and destroy Aku. Elsewhere, Ashi has a troubling vision of the High Priestess, who is disgusted and disappointed at Ashi's insubordination. Ashi asks Jack to prove his claims of Aku's evil nature. They journey to several places destroyed by Aku, and eventually come upon a razed village whose children are forced to attack them through a mind-control device. As Ashi destroys the mind-control device, Jack is horrified to see the children collapse, believing them to be dead. The mysterious figure on horseback appears, and Jack willingly follows the figure into the fog. Ashi arrives as the children start coming to, and finds that Jack is gone.
58 6 "XCVII"
As Ashi searches for Jack, she comes across many grateful people that Jack had helped in the past. Ashi finds Jack in a graveyard surrounded by the spirits of great warriors. The horseman that has been haunting Jack, the Omen, announces that Jack must face the consequences of his failure or be dishonored. Jack prepares to commit seppuku, while the Omen attacks Ashi to keep her from interfering. She pleads to Jack not to lose hope and tells him of all the lives he saved, including her own and even the children from the previous episode. Jack confronts and defeats the specter, then tells Ashi it's time to find his sword. Meanwhile, Scaramouche, who was reduced to a head after his defeat by Jack, sets out to inform Aku that Jack lost his sword.
59 7 "XCVIII"
Jack recounts to Ashi the circumstances surrounding the loss of his sword. He fought Aku atop a mountain at the last time portal in existence when Aku destroyed the portal. Angrily, Jack fought and killed three innocent goats transformed into monsters by Aku. Traumatized after killing living creatures, Jack dropped his mystical sword which fell into a deep pit. In the present, Jack and Ashi return to the mountain, but they cannot find the sword. Jack realizes that the sword abandoned him because of his consuming anger. As Jack meditates to determine its whereabouts, Ashi keeps watch over him. She slaughters an army of soldiers trying to kill him, and foils a sneak attack by the High Priestess, killing her with an arrow. Jack's meditations take him on an astral journey to an old monk, who tells him after a tea ceremony that he has lost his sense of spiritual balance. Relinquishing his anger, Jack regains that balance and is transported to a heavenly realm where the gods Ra, Rama and Odin give him his sword, samurai gi, and restore his appearance from the last four seasons. After he returns to the material world, he and Ashi set out to confront Aku.
60 8 "XCIX"
A spaceship is knocked off course by an asteroid and crashes on Earth. Elsewhere, Jack and Ashi travel together and board a giant beast that carries passengers across the desert. The other passengers attack them, so the two escape and continue traveling on foot. They get caught in a sandstorm and find shelter in the crashed spaceship. They encounter thousands of leech-like creatures that band together as a creature named Lazarus and attack them. They escape, and come upon a weapon designed specifically to counter the creature, however they do not know how to operate it. Jack and Ashi fight the creatures and try to activate the weapon, without success; as they are almost completely engulfed by the creatures Jack manages to activate the device and it electrocutes the creatures. After Jack and Ashi recuperate, there is a smash cut of the two passionately kissing as Dean Martin's "Everybody Loves Somebody" starts playing. The song continues to play over the end credits.
61 9 "C"
Ashi bonds with Jack as he tells her of his life before Aku. During the night, Jack ventures off alone, and by day happens upon the location where he unsuccessfully fought the Guardian of a time portal Jack was destined to use. He finds the portal destroyed as well as the Guardian's broken red glasses, confirming Aku's claim that he destroyed them all. Ashi catches up to Jack, who explains he left her behind out of fear of losing her to Aku as he did many others of his loved ones. Ashi reassures Jack that together, they will defeat Aku. At that moment Aku appears with Scaramouche, who has finally informed Aku about Jack losing his sword. Upon seeing Jack does have his sword, Aku destroys Scaramouche and decides to leave before sensing his own power inside of Ashi. Confused, Aku recalls visiting the Daughters of Aku and leaving part of himself in a goblet for them, and assumes the High Priestess must have drank it and given birth to her seven children, making Ashi his biological daughter. Noticing Jack's affection for her, Aku possesses and transforms Ashi, and forces her to fight Jack. Jack tells her to resist, but she is unable to do so. When Jack wounds Ashi, she briefly comes back to her senses and desperately begs Jack to kill her. Unwilling to do so, Jack drops to his knees and lays down his sword, which Aku then holds up triumphantly.
62 10 "CI"
Aku imprisons Jack in his fortress and begins to broadcast the samurai's capture to the entire world. After the villain ponders on how exactly he is going to destroy Jack, many of the closest allies and good friends Jack has made over the years come to battle Aku and rescue Jack. Jack faces off against the possessed Ashi and manages to free her of Aku's possession by telling her that he loves her. Being half-demon, Ashi then discovers that she's inherited Aku's powers, and uses them to send herself and Jack back to the past to the moment right after Aku had sent him into the future. Jack finally destroys Aku for good, rescuing his family and preventing the tyrant's rule over the future, which effectively rewrites the timeline. On the day of Jack and Ashi's wedding ceremony, Ashi suddenly collapses and fades out of existence, as Aku's destruction in the past has prevented Ashi from ever being born in the future. Some time later, a despondent Jack wanders a misty wood alone, but gains hope for the future when he sees a ladybug land on his hand, reminding him of his time with Ashi. He lets the ladybug go free and stands under a full blooming sakura tree, looking out as the mists disperse to reveal his now peacefully harmonious realm.
The Verdict:
As you may know, I already covered the premiere here, so I'm going to cover the bulk of the remaining episodes while focusing a lot of this review on the arching theme for this "season".
I thought the backstory and build-up to Jack facing off against the Daughters of Aku was very well done with a nice symbolic throwback to the classic days that this series is known for, especially with the wounded animal being forced to slaughter those for his own survival. Genndy Tartakovsky has never shied away from powerful usage of symbolism and he definitely doesn't skip a beat here. I'm sure that long-time fans will catch the subtle nods towards previous benchmarks from this series, such as Jack's debut in the first episode is a homage to his confrontation with the Spider Drones from the premiere movie that kicked off this series, the influences from Jack's confrontation with the eight Assassins and the contrasting white/black color balances from his battle with the Black Ninja, and the minions of Set during Jack's Egyptian adventure. I enjoyed the backstory and conflict of interest with Jack debating on whether or not to kill the Daughters of Aku when he found out that they were human. That kinda threw me off a bit when the series did pit Jack against mortal opponents in the past. Not everything that he faced in the original 4 seasons weren't "demons" or mere machines. Hell, there was an entire episode devoted to the face that there was human/mortal assassins after his very life. So this whole premise of Jack having a moral dilemma about having to kill/strike down mortal opponents was a little lost on me.
That being said, they made Ashii's redemption story a bit too obvious. She was only one of the Daughters of Aku that showed any hint of goodness from their upbringing and flashbacks from their training. I felt these episodes telegraphed that a bit too hard and took the wind out of the sails on that revelation. I was thinking that Ashii would end up becoming Jack's successor in the future timeline after her redemption storyline played, but the narrative shoehorned her into a love interest for Jack. One of the biggest gripes from the original series was in the first season where Akra was setup as a love interest for Jack in one of the earlier episodes of this series, only to be made out to be another Jack ploy. That was the main reason I wasn't surprised when Ashii was made into a pawn to stand in Jack's way when he finally confronted Aku once and for all. But I'm getting ahead a bit here... Before we go into that confrontation into detail, I want to discuss Ashii's "transformation" a bit more in detail.
I have to agree with Scaramouche on that one.
I thought it was cool that she was able to revisit and meet the individuals that Jack has saved or inspired throughout his travels. Some of these were welcome cameos (Da Sa-Moo-Rai, the Ravers all grown up, the Woolies, the Archers, etc.), but others like Demongo made me go "WTF?" when they had like nothing to do with the finale. If Demongo was still alive, then why the hell he didn't assist Aku against Jack in the finale? How is he still alive anyway after failing to defeat Jack and his own essence turned against him? Ugh, such a missed opportunity to bring back one of Aku's best underlings back for another shot against Jack. I did like Scaramouche though, but I felt like he got far too much screen time than he deserved.
Ashii found herself inspired by Jack's devotion to do good and his sacrifices to save others and cleansed herself - physically and mentally - of her hatred of him. At the same time, she didn't abandon her skills that made her such a formidable opponent for the Samurai in the first place. Ashii versus the hordes of Aku stood out as establishing her as Jack's equal - I felt that episode was her equivalent of Jack's iconic battle against the Spider drones that stands out as one of the series' best episodes - even to this day. That's why I was holding onto my hope that she would end up being Jack's successor of sorts instead of falling into a love interest trope.
Something that fans were asking by the end of Season 4...
The effects of Jack being unaffected by time travel and unable to age was something else that wasn't explained by the end of this season, much to my dismay. I did like that Jack was dealing with an inner turmoil that caused him to lose his sword in the first place. Fans should remember that even if he had the sword that Jack cannot kill or do anything malicious with it anyway, so it was best that he didn't have it when he faced the Daughters of Aku anyway. That was one main reason why I didn't see any reason to be worried when Aku took the sword during the finale anyway. There was an entire episode devoted to the fact that Aku can't use it to harm Jack in any shape or form. I couldn't see why Jack just didn't use the sword on Ashii and brought her back to her senses right off the bat since it shouldn't kill her as long as she has good within her. Jack's inner turmoil reminded me of Jack's dark side that Aku manifested in one of the earlier seasons that Jack had to confront and qwell to maintain his own clarity of his own mission. It's natural that he would lose his way after being on this path for so long, especially after the last time portal was destroyed and dealing with the trauma that he slaughtered innocent lives without thinking twice. Now that I'm thinking about it... Damn, that kinda doesn't make sense. The sword shouldn't even allowed him to kill those lives PERIOD in the first place unless Aku's infection/evil was so toxic that the sword couldn't detect the good within, but oh well... I guess that's the same thing Jack feared that would have happened if he struck down Ashii when she was completely consumed by Aku.
Jack always finds a way.
The action from start to finish never skipped a beat. That's one thing that I looked forward too more than anything else in this revival. Jack and Ashii definitely didn't disappoint in that regard. That being said, I don't think the mature rating was really necessary as it was seldom used outside of a few adult themed jokes that I'm sure only fans of the original series that grew up and are revisiting this series 11 years later would only appreciate. Scaramouche's comment about that one guy's head looking like a penis was as blunt as you're going to get though in terms of adult content outside of a few "fan service" moments of Ashii being semi-nude or getting her clothes ripped off.
The fan-fictions and fans shipping them together online went NUTS when this happened live when this episode premiered...
Back onto Jack and Ashii's romance... That moment was so fucking random and threw me off that they did that at the end of that episode. It felt so rushed and forced too. I wanted Jack to have a female companion during his adventures back when this began but not shoehorned into the fifth season to serve as a minor plot device. As the ongoing trope(s) of this series, you knew that Aku was going to find a means to use that against Jack - just like he always finds a way to turn everything good Jack has going against him or ruin it completely. That's why I ultimately disappointed that this series came down to this lazy style of writing. Eleven years waiting for an ending that most people have cooked up in fan-fictions... ugh. With the age differences between Jack and Ashii I would have preferred that he saw her as a sort of a surrogate daughter of his own and passed on his teachings to her to continue when he returned to the past. Making her his lover just felt like a cop out.
While we're at it, let's discuss the ending in detail. Jack's spirit is broken after he could not bring himself to kill Ashii that stands in his way of defeating Aku - Ashii has been consumed by Aku's darkness and serves him loyally as his new lieutenant. Aku holds Jack hostage within his lair with the sword outside of his reach, but ALL of Jack's allies come to his aid and stage an all-out assault on Aku - including the Scotsman (who was killed by Aku in a previous episode but manages to continue to fight on as a ghost) and his hundreds of daughters, Mr. "Jump Good" and his gang of monkeys, the gentleman dogs from the Spider drone two-parter, the Archers, the Woolies, and even the Atlantians to name a few. Hell, even the robots from the giant mecha episode even came to help Jack with their giant robotic Samurai. All of these cameos were a treat to see, especially Jack reuniting with the Scotsman and turning down his proposal to marry one of his daughters, but ultimately, Jack's allies didn't make much of a lasting impact in this battle. It came down to Jack helping Ashii overcome Aku's darkness with their love for each other and regaining his sword. That whole revelation about Ashii having Aku's powers as a result was rather stupid AND careless of Aku, but it instantly rushed this confrontation to the moment that we've all been waiting for since the premiere of this series - Jack returning back to the past and destroying Aku once and for all.
What transpired afterwards was best described by folks on social media as the "Gurren Lagann" ending, whereas viewers were expiring the happily ever after ending where Ashii and Jack were set to get married in front of Jack's family, mentors, and peers in his own time as the world returned to peace now that Aku was gone, only for that moment to be robbed from Jack as Ashii disappeared before his very eyes. Much like Simon's love, Ashii failed to exist after dispatching the major villain (in this case, Aku... in hers, the Anti-Spirals), leaving Jack to mourn her loss in the closing moments of the show. In his time of mourning, Jack sees a ladybug and he is reminded of Ashii and the happier times of his journey as we fade to black.
This is where fans have been split on their reception of the series' ending here. At first glance, I was on the fence about it but after having a week to think it over and rewatching the marathon as part of Memorial Day weekend on the Toonami block tonight, I feel like this was a copout. Genndy Tartakovsky made us wait for eleven years for an ending that most people guessed that would happen and never really answered a lot of the questions that were left unanswered, nor issues that were left unresolved. Shades' purpose never was truly revealed, nor was Demongo's revival along with what happened with Jack's allies in the future now that Aku was deposed of. I know people were more happy to see Jack and Ashii getting married and Jack being reunited with his family and mentors in his own time was rewarding enough for the perils that his adventure had put him through, but it ultimately felt so rushed and abrupt. I'm not going to give the creator a pass for time and make excuses that they could have extended this finale out with another episode to wrap things up in an epilogue of sorts, but it just comes down to lazy writing wrapping this up.
I felt that the first portion of this journey up to where Jack got his sword back was done masterfully, but everything after that felt like Cliff Notes to a bigger and better written story. It reminds me how Inuyasha: The Final Act was rushed along to hit all of the major points of the manga before setting Inuyasha and his allies to their final confrontation with Naraku. It's the same thing here, where I feel like viewers were shafted for this rushed narrative in favor of just getting it out there for wrapping up the story to an ending. At least Inuyasha's ending is satisfying to an extent, but viewers were robbed of the addition content and events that transpired that were omitted and skipped over from the manga.
Watch It or Don't Bother?
Eleven years is a long time to be away from something and to be dragged back into the fold to complete something you thought you would never have the opportunity to finish. That being said, after seeing this from start to finish, I'm kinda leery about wanting Tartakovsky cooking up a proper ending for Sym-Biotic Titan next.
Whether you liked the original or just here for the ride for the first time, Samurai Jack Season 5 is worth the ride, despite being an emotional roller coaster in its closing moments. Some people will absolutely love it, others will absolutely hate it, but we can all agree that Samurai Jack will always have a place in history as one of finest examples of American animation.
Jack's back, but I couldn't help but wonder was this a journey worth revisiting when it was all said and done. As much as I would love to see a revival/continuation to Sym-Biotic Titan in a similar fashion, I'm unsure if I would want to see Genndy Tartakovsky return to another one of his previous works if its going to end in another lackluster effort in the long haul. Then again, at least this didn't turn out as bad as those last few seasons of Dexter's Laboratory or the Powerpuff Girls reboot.
Despite how I feel about how this ultimately went down, I have say one thing to Genndy Tartakovsky and Cartoon Network as they didn't have to do anything to resolve and finish Samurai Jack's journey. Not many CN Originals get a chance to go out on their own terms, but at least we got to see Jack's quest come to an end. With that, I only have to say this...
Saturday, March 11, 2017 marked the return of a Cartoon Network original animated series as Samurai Jack returned as part of the current iteration of the Toonami block. Out of all of Genndy Tartakovsky's animated works, I felt that Samurai Jack was the one that deserved a proper ending after having it's legs chopped out from underneath it during the early 2000s era of Cartoon Network.
Hopefully after this wraps up, maybe we can get a proper ending to Sym-Biotic Titan?
Cast:
Phil LaMarr – Samurai Jack
Greg Baldwin – Aku
Grey Griffin – High Priestess, additional voices
Sab Shimono – Emperor
Plot:
Fifty years have passed. But, I do not age. Time has lost its effect on me. Yet, the suffering continues. Aku's grasp chokes the past, present, and future. All hope is lost. Got to get back. Back to the past. Samurai Jack.
— Jack, in the opening sequence
Fifty years have passed since Jack arrived in the future; his sword is missing, he has given up hope of returning to his time, and he is tormented by hallucinations of his parents, his kingdom, and a mysterious figure on horseback. Jack rescues a mother and daughter from several bug robots and defeats Scaramouch, a fast-talking musical robotic assassin (styled after Sammy Davis Jr.)[18] who has destroyed a village to get Jack's attention. Meanwhile, seven young girls are raised and trained from birth to become the Daughters of Aku, a team of elite assassins with the sole purpose of killing Jack.
The Verdict:
Anyone else notice the subtle design similarity to Jack's new armor to Lance's Manus armor from Sym-Biotic Titan?
I'm going to try not to ramble to much about this as it's going to take me a few episodes to see where they are going with this. For Jack's first appearance in about a decade, this wasn't a bad way to kick start the revival of his animated series that never saw a proper ending.
First of all, I love that they are going into a more mature direction. Jack's not fighting only robotic enemies as the "Daughters of Aku" who were introduced here seem to be Jack's first "human" enemies that aren't demons or robots like the usual minions of Aku. I just hope that their story doesn't turn into one where Jack doesn't kill them and they all end up being his sidekicks or something lame like that. I don't condone killing children (even grown up ones) but it seems like from the previews for the next episode, Jack is going to be conflicted when forced to harm them.
This episode opened up a lot of questions for sure. Why doesn't Jack age even after 50 years has passed? What happened to his trademark sword? Why the hell is Jack hallucinating? Where the hell IS Aku?
I have a few theories. I think that his separation from his sword might be the cause of the hallucinations since it was essentially a part of him, so his psyche could be damaged as a result. As for Jack not aging, I think something that cut Jack off from going back to the past caused that. It has to be either that or some crazy plot twist where he never left the past but his journey to the future was like a spiritual thing instead of his physical body going. The lack of Aku is pretty obvious since Mako passed away after recording the original Avatar: The Last Airbender a few years ago, voicing Iroh. Greg Baldwin was his student and filled in the follow-up, The Legend of Korra, so naturally he would fill in for Aku's lines here in this premiere where Scaramoush called him.
Sorry Scaramoush, but Jack's not a fan of your musical and lyrical talents.
Speaking of Scaramoush, how awesome was fucking Tom Kenny in this episode as that character? He really surprised me here. While I wasn't crazy with his portrayal of Doctor Octopus in Ultimate Spider-Man, I liked his character here. I love how that guy is really branching out more into other action roles instead of being known as merely the guy who voices Spongebob Squarepants. I was hoping that he would have been a new reoccurring villain, but at the same time, I can't be surprised that they killed off Scaramoush in one episode because the original series killed off Demongo in the same episode that he debuted in as well.
The Daughters of Aku... Why do I feel like they have some kinda of X-23 style redemption storyline incoming?
The Daughters of Aku seem to be the new big bads that will be the ongoing villains for this season so Scaramoush served as the sampler for the viewers to show that Jack hasn't lost his touch - completely. He's still just as formidable as he was when we last saw him, despite not having his trademark sword. I thought it was a nice touch that Jack is pillaging the weapons of his fallen foes like a true wandering warrior with no direction. Samurai Jack's powerful usage of symbolism and clever visual metaphors is still very strong here. They haven't skipped a beat in that aspect in the least with age. The same goes for the action and the visual style. At first glance, I was feeling that the visual style was looking a little dated, but they added a few subtle nods to comic books as the episode went on and I can get behind this again.
Watch It or Don't Bother?
Absolutely. Jump back into the world of Samurai Jack. It seems like we're in for a wild ride this time around. I'm so anxious to see where this goes.
One-Punch Man is a Japanese anime series based on the webcomic created by One and its subsequent manga adaptation illustrated by Yusuke Murata. Set in a world where monsters run rampant, the story focuses on Saitama, a superhero who has grown bored as he has become so powerful that all of his battles end in a single punch. The series was directed by Shingo Natsume at Madhouse and was written by Tomohiro Suzuki. The series also features character design by Chikashi Kubota, who also served as chief animation director, and music by Makoto Miyazaki.
Plot:
On an alternate unnamed world in the metropolis of Z-City, strange monsters have been mysteriously appearing and causing disasters resulting in the world's superheroes rising to combat them. Saitama, the protagonist of the series, is the strongest hero who easily defeats the monsters or other villains with a single punch. However, due to his immeasurable strength, Saitama has become bored with his power and is constantly trying to find stronger opponents who can present a challenge to him.
Beautifully drawn artwork and stylish action, bust-a-gut tier comedy, and tons of parodies of the action
anime genre. What's there NOT to love about this show?
As Saitama is active as a hero, he meets various other heroes and villains. He gets a disciple in the form of the cyborg Genos and consequently joins the Hero Association in order to gain official recognition. Despite defeating many strong monsters that even the Heroes Association’s top members are unable to defeat, Saitama struggles to gain respect. Most people look down on him due to his plain physical appearance and some accuse him of being a counterfeit hero. Only a small number of individuals in the series recognize his talent and humility towards others.
Sorry, couldn't help myself. That intro is too awesome...
The Verdict:
Once the news broke out that Toonami was adding this anime to their weekend anime block, I figured I better get on the ball and review this series before it finishes up it's first run on Cartoon Network.
One of the most random shots during Deep Sea King arc... but one of the few
times they actually show civilians before the bad guys show up.
It’s only 13 episodes, but this first season(?) makes it worth your time for a tight concise story.
At first glance, One Punch Man seems like your traditional Shonen Jump anime with the hero who fights against evil in some bizarre quest to become stronger. Saitama is a hero, but he has a different problem that sets him apart from other Shonen heroes. Saitama is so powerful that he can defeat any adversary that he encounters with literally ONE punch – hence the name, One Punch Man. Most of the anime is about Saitama’s ongoing struggles to find an adversary to truly test the limits of his power but even during the two part finale, Saitama reveals that he hasn’t even scratched the surface of his full potential, wondering if he’s cursed to be never truly “challenged” in battle. This is a complete 180 to the dynamic found in action-heavy anime modeled after Dragonball Z’s success. Goku and Vegeta are always striving to become stronger while Saitama is sitting at the top of the plateau without any equal, looking down over the ridge.
All of that just to kill a single mosquito.
The biggest take away from this anime is Saitama’s worth as a hero. It’s not fully explored until Saitama takes in the cyborg , Genos, as his “student” and Genos encourages them both to join the Hero Organization that works for the government. Genos is propelled to the top ranks with ease while the officials and several of their fellow heroes can’t take Saitama seriously. They look at his successes as mere flukes and see him as stealing the glory from more recognizable heroes. Saitama is the type to brag about his exploits but by the end of the series, he began to make more of his fellow heroes believers in his abilities. Genos even begins to wonder if Saitama’s powers have limits – if at all. The way how Saitama’s strength of character, especially his selfless behavior of tarnishing his own heroic image at the cost of saving lives, is the beauty of how the narrative of this anime stands out.
My biggest issue with the anime was that all of those cool, interesting characters that you see in the kick-ass introduction of this anime don’t show up until roughly two thirds of the way into this anime. It’s a damn shame too as all of those characters bring something different to the table and add to craziness that makes this anime stand out. Then again, the anime’s creators did their best with this for what they were given, cramming so much content from the One Punch Man manga into this 13 episode season. It was confirmed earlier this year that the anime would be getting another season, but with no air date when it would go into production nor when will it be available.
In the meantime, I guess I'll pick up reading the One Punch Man manga to fill in the gaps.
Watch it or Don’t Bother?
Saitama's "secret" training regime
Definitely watch this. If you’re fan of action anime or over the top craziness, this is definitely for you. There are moments where I absolutely laughed my ass off at this anime and other moments where I was fully invested into the action. It’s the same dynamic that kept fans emotionally hooked to Dragonball Z and many other Shonen Jump-style anime (One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, etc.).
There's still no timetable on when the next season is going to drop, but for what it's worth, this is a nice concise story for those looking for a shorter anime to fill in the time before the Fall television season kicks off in full swing.
Unless you have been living underneath a rock for the past year, then you have heard of the latest anime craze of 2014 (well, one of MANY...), Attack on Titan. Cartoon Network's Toonami animation block has recently finished airing the English dub in its entirety this past weekend, but I have seen the entire series in Japanese earlier this year within a span of 2-3 days after being drain into this narrative.
I have been sitting on this review for quite some time, mainly out of consideration to my close friends who haven't seen this anime in its entirety. Now that the English dub has FINALLY finish airing in its entirety, I feel comfortable posting this review without worrying about discussing potential spoilers.
Plot Summary: (MINOR Spoilers)
The story of Attack on Titan centers around the adventures of Eren Yeager, his adopted sister Mikasa Ackerman, and their friend Armin Arlert. After the wall which protects their hometown of Shinganshina is breached by Titans, Eren watches in horror as one of them eats his mother. Vowing to kill all Titans, Eren enlists in the military along with his friends.
Five years later, the three cadet graduates are positioned in Trost District, one of the border towns jutting out of Wall Rose, when the Titans attack again. In the ensuing battle, Eren is eaten by one of the Titans before Armin's eyes. However, a Titan later appears that begins fighting the other ones instead of harming humans; the Titan is revealed to be Eren, who has somehow developed the ability to transform into one. Though he is seen as a threat by some, he helps the military take back Trost. After being placed on trial for being a danger to the humans, he is taken in by the Survey Corps' Special Operations Squad, led by Captain Levi.
In an expedition to Shinganshina, the Scouts are attacked by a Female Titan who attempts to capture Eren. Although the Scouts are able to briefly capture the Female Titan, she breaks free and devastates Levi's squad, forcing the expedition to retreat. Armin determines that the Female Titan is a soldier, and devises a plan to capture her at Stohess.
The first "season" concludes after Eren defeats the Female Titan, but the manga continues the narrative.
The Verdict:
To be fair, I'm going discuss this anime in two chunks, to divide the reception of both story arcs covered in the anime.
The English dub aired on Cartoon Network as part of their late night Saturday Toonami anime-oriented programming block, but you can EASILY find the Japanese dub (with English subtitles) online in its entirety online if you're willing to look for it. If you're dead set on seeing this series in English, the first 13 episodes are available already on DVD and Blu-Ray while the remaining 12 episodes will be available sometime this fall.
In terms of personal preference, I prefer the Japanese dub more than the English dub, but that doesn't discredit the English dub at all in terms of quality. Trina Nishimura (Lan Fan in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Mizune in Soul Eater, Milly Thompson in Trigun: Badlands Rumble) voices Mikasa Ackerman, Bryce Papenbrook (Shugo in .hack//Legend of the Twilight, Rin Okumura in Blue Exorcist, Kirito in Sword Art Online) voices Eren Yeager, and Matthew Mercer (Leon S. Kennedy in the Resident Evil series, Tygra in Thundercats 2011, Fei Long in Street Fighter IV series) voices Levi - just to name a few of the superb voice actors lending their talents to the English dub.
I know I might end up shelling out the cash for this series on DVD, since the visuals on this anime never cease to amaze me. From the brutal, vicious death scenes to the high speed visuals to highlight the agility of the 3D Maneuver Gear (ODM Gear in the English dub), this anime is simply gorgeous to behold.
The Battle of Trost
This opening story arc of the anime is where most people either don't stick with the anime or quickly become fans of the anime and stick around for the long haul. Even I will admit that the training montage dragged on a bit longer than I hoped but if you don't get hooked during the actual first battle that occurs afterwards, something is wrong. From my personal experience from suggesting this anime to friends and colleagues, that's pretty much the cut-off period for most people either loving or hating this anime.
This is the anime's least action-packed arc, but when it finally starts, you will be on the edge of your seats dying to know what happens next. This story arc serves as fans' introduction to the series before it sinks it's claws into its audience and keeps them coming back for more, much like AMC's The Walking Dead.
Fans quickly realize that nothing is sacred here as anyone and everyone could fall victim to the Titans at anytime. At the same time, this is where the series plants the foundations for a lot of reoccurring themes throughout the anime (and the manga) and establishes relationships between the bulk of the 106 graduating rookies.
The Female Titan
Without a shadow of a doubt, this is easily Attack on Titan's BEST story arc - hands down.
Captain Levi be like...
This story arc begins in the wake of the humanity's first "legit" win against the Titans in the Battle of Trost with Eren held on trial as the military attempts to decide what is the best action to take for the safety and future of mankind with his "Titan Shifter" abilities. Once the verdict is passed, Eren is taken in as part of the Survey Corps' Special Operations Squad, led by the fan favorite character, Captain Levi.
We, the audience, are given a brief glimpse of the Survey Corps in action at the end of the Battle of Trost, but now is the full introduction to this branch of the military.
The narrative then changes gears onto an expedition that would see the Special Operations Squad venture to the outer walls of Trost on a mission to take Eren to the basement of his abandoned home to find the "secret" that Eren's father left there. Sadly, this expedition turns into a slaughter for the Survey Corps' troops as the Female Titan emerges looking for Eren. Seeing the Female Titan in action is both incredible and horrifying as she makes quick work of almost everything that stands in her way of her objective. This terrifying foe forces mankind's best into a corner with their backs against the wall and results in the series' best action sequences from top to bottom.
Sadly, this story arc ends with a bit of cliffhanger, presenting many more questions than answers than when this anime started.
Closing Words
Simply put, Attack on Titan is Japan's answer to America's The Walking Dead. Both series have some of the same similarities, with the bleak situation for mankind in both series with a terrifying enemy that could strike at any moment, creating a constant sense of fear and urgency. At the same time, Attack on Titan serves as a catalyst to sell the mangas to otakus hungry for what happens next. I remember the endings to the anime adaptations of Soul Eater and Deadman Wonderland having a similar effect. Both of those were great in their own right, but I would be lying that I feel ripped off in a sense that the show has a lackluster ending that leaves fans clamoring for more and would race to buy/read the manga to find out what happens next.
In terms of animation, Attack on Titan is a visual masterpiece. From the terrifying Titans to the gruesome death scenes to the stylish maneuvers of the ODMS Gear in action, never ceases to amaze me in terms of visuals.
Let's not forget the death scenes... Warning: These are NOT for the faint at heart and are MAJOR spoilers if you haven't seen the anime in full.
This was one thing that drew me into this anime - NOTHING was sacred and the death toll is insane by the end of the Female Titan arc.
Last but not least, this anime has so many "likable" characters - major AND minor characters. For example, I absolutely hated Jean at the start of the anime, but by the end of the anime, I loved his character because he's the only "realist" among the rookie cadets. He gives everyone that reality check when they need to hear it with precise timing. Everyone seems to hate on Eren and his countless flaws in the anime, but I always cut him a break because I'm sick of the cookie-cutter "perfect" protagonists in anime. Even Eren's childhood friends, Armin and Mikasa, are both interesting in their own right but the anime glosses over the surface of their relationships compared to the manga. These are only a few characters that manage to leave their mark on viewers of this anime.
Let's not forget "Potato Girl"...
I think everyone had that one moment where they "loved" good
ol' "Potato Girl" here...
Sadly, the ending of this first "season" is rather underwhelming as the anime decides to go with a slightly different direction than the manga that this anime was based off of. Like I mentioned earlier, this anime benefits greatly if you pick up reading the manga after finishing the anime. Most people start where the anime leaves off, but I suggest starting at the very beginning. That is because a lot of details were glossed over in the anime, such as the training sessions of the 106th cadet class. To condense that into a single episode was rather strange, along with some of the changes to Eren's relationship with Armin and Anne from the manga to the anime.
I don't want to dwell too much on the manga as this is a review on the anime itself. As a stand-alone anime series, I can easily recommend Attack on Titan as one of the anime series to watch in 2014 if you haven't already seen it in it's entirety. It's one of those anime series where you're either going to love it and can't get enough of it or absolutely hate it and you get sick of hearing about it from everyone else, much like The Walking Dead.
Despite it's faults, the good about this anime far outweighs the bad, so I'm going to give Attack on Titan a 9 out of 10.
Here you go, guys and gals. A Space Dandy-related article to serve as a break of sorts from the numerous reviews I have in the pipeline.
While I'm still in this weird middle ground of whether or not I love or hate Space Dandy, I know one thing is certain - Scarlet (voiced by Colleen Clinkenbeard) is my favorite character, without a shadow of a doubt. That was heightened by this past Saturday's episode that aired on Cartoon Network's Toonami anime block, which featured Scarlet as the focus for the entire episode.
I loved Scarlet since her bad-ass debut in Episode 2.
But exactly who is Scarlet? According to the Space Dandy wikia, "Scarlet is a beautiful inspector at the Registration Center who oversees Dandy's work. Scarlet tries to be calm and professional, but circumstances (and Dandy) force her into this role more often than not. She is quite skilled in hand-to-hand combat, specifically jeet kune do (the martial art popularized and created by the late Bruce Lee himself) style."
In this universe of littered with the crazy antics of Dandy (voiced by Ian Sinclair) and his crew, it's Scarlet's job to clearly and precisely bluntly point out how stupid they are in this series. I loved this week's episode since we were given another insight into her character.
In Episode 19, "Gallant Space Gentleman, Baby", we get to see a different side of Scarlet as she enchanted by a Cloudian (think a ladies man/gentleman) named Gentle. By the end of the episode, Scarlet is shown as a drunken mess with Meow as Dandy and Gentle are more distracted with "rescuing" Honey than paying her any attention. This episode showed a more vulnerable Scarlet as she let her defenses down in the hopes of companionship.
In Episode 23, "Lovers Are Trendy, Baby", we see a complete 180 from Scarlet's no-nonsense, tough girl demeanor as she "hires" Dandy to play the part of her fictitious boyfriend in a ploy to fool her delusional ex-boyfriend (who was easily inspired by a pilot in the Mobile Suit Gundam universe...) that she has moved on. Along the way, Scarlet and Dandy actually end up falling for each other, despite how unlikely and how incompatible they have been labeled as such up to this point. Of course, Dandy does something stupid (as usual) to cause her to doubt her feelings, but this gives Scarlet's crazy ex-boyfriend the opening he needs to intervene. That's when Dandy actually has a genius move to end all of this and breeches his "contract" with Scarlet by kissing her right in front of her ex-boyfriend. This causes him to have an emotional breakdown long enough to allow the cops to arrest him for the damages he caused along the chase.
To say these two don't actually "like" each other, Scarlet and Dandy's kiss lasted much longer than one would expect - thus, hinting at there may be something more to this just being business.
Immediately, I thought of this scene from Cowboy Bebop as it teased a relationship that never blossomed, much to the dismay of fans of this spectacular anime as well.
Ironic that the same creators of Cowboy Bebop are working on Space Dandy, so I doubt this was a coincidence. Much like Faye Valentine and Spike Speigel, Dandy and Scarlet are portrayed as incompatible but with a working business relationship. The sad part of the matter is that the relationship could have flurished if Dandy was only a few seconds earlier or if Scarlet saw him before the bus passed by. It just makes me anxious to see where their relationship would have gone from there if they had a "happy" ending. Sadly, that's what life is about - chances that come once and we may or may not get another chance to experience that "happy" ending, if at all.
The point is driven home harder with both of their reactions to seeing each other at the Registration Center. Scarlet is pretty nervous and awkward seeing him again and Dandy has subdued his emotions, but respects her feelings (something Scarlet's crazy ex-boyfriend wouldn't have done). I have to wonder where Scarlet and Dandy's relationship will go from here.
One of the funniest moments on this episode...
For that, I tip my hat to Space Dandy's episode from this past weekend and I'm crossing my fingers that Bones doesn't leave this up in the air like Faye and Spike's relationship and fans are left to speculate what happened for years to come.
