Samurai Jack (season 5)
| Samurai Jack (season 5) | |
|---|---|
Cover image for digital downloads
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| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 10 |
| Release | |
| Original network | Adult Swim |
| Original release | March 11, 2017 – present |
| Season chronology | |
The fifth season of Samurai Jack is the final season of the animated series. This season follows Jack on a journey that will complete his story. It premiered on the Toonami programming block of Adult Swim on March 11, 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. The season received wide acclaim from critics, praising it for its more intense and mature tone.
Created by Genndy Tartakovsky, Samurai Jack originally aired on Cartoon Network from 2001 to 2004, comprising four seasons. The series follows a young samurai (voiced by Phil LaMarr) who is cast into the future by the evil shape-shifting demon Aku (voiced originally by Mako) mere moments before defeating the demon. He adopts the name Jack and continues his fight in the dystopian future ruled by Aku. Jack seeks to find a portal back to his time but is constantly thwarted by the demon's forces. The series was left open-ended after the conclusion of the fourth season. Tartakovsky previously expressed interest in a film adaptation of the series to provide a genuine conclusion, but the project never materialized.
"Technology is different, we're using computers now,
instead of hamsters like the old days."
Starting in 2014, reruns of Samurai Jack were aired on Toonami, an action-oriented programming block on Adult Swim. Within two weeks of Tartakovsky's first communication with executive Mike Lazzo, a deal was reached for 10 more episodes of the series. The network released a short teaser in December 2015 after it green-lit the return of the series with Genndy Tartakovsky as executive producer and Cartoon Network Studios as the season's production company. Artwork used in the teaser derived from the cover of an issue from IDW Publishing's comic book adaptation of the series. The new season received further mention ahead of the network's 2016 upfront press release. The fifth season was announced for the 2016–17 television season. Work-in-progress excerpts were shared at the 2016 Annecy International Animated Film Festival. According to Tartakovsky, having a small production team allowed for a smaller budget, faster schedule, and greater creative freedom for the team, and executive producer Mike Lazzo gave the team a free hand, with minimal intervention in the production. Changes in television animation storytelling allowed the show to shift from episodic storytelling, where each episode is more or less independent from the others, to one cohesive serialized story that will conclude Jack's journey. The serialized format allows every episode to have a "reveal" that takes the show in a different direction. The final episode was storyboarded on October 2016, and Tartakovsky expressed hope it will have a very emotional impact on the audience. All the original Samurai Jack episodes are designated by Roman numerals, and the original series ended with episode "LII" (52). Season 5 opens with episode "XCII" (92); the jump of 40 in episode numbering signifies the elapsed time from the last episode of season four.
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