The Sword... The Samurai...

So...

I've been watching a lot of Samurai Jack lately. Four full seasons of the show were produced and aired on Cartoon Network, but only the first two seasons have been released on DVD. I have personally not seen anything beyond Season 2, which means there are 26 episodes in existence that are brand new to me. This makes me very happy. What makes me even happier is that Season 3 will be released on March 23 of this year. Over the past few days or so, I've watched all of Season 2, which delves a bit deeper into Jack's character than Season 1, and gives a more emotional insight to his ultimate quest.

What is that quest, you ask? Well, if you've never seen the show, I'll give you the basic rundown... In fact, absolutely everything you need to know to watch, comprehend, and enjoy a Jack episode is spelled out in the opening titles narration. The voice speaking is Aku, the... well, he'll explain who he is:


Long ago in a distant land,

I, Aku, the shapeshifting master of darkness,

Unleashed an unspeakable evil...

But a foolish Samurai warrior

Wielding a magic sword

Stepped forth to oppose me.

Before the final blow was struck,

I tore open a portal in time

And flung him into the future,

Where my evil is law.

Now the fool seeks to return to the past,

And undo the future that is Aku!


So that's the overall premise. Many episodes simply chronicle Jack's wanderings through a bizarre dystopian future, and the colorful characters he encounters. He is forever beset by bounty hunters, monsters, assassins, and even demons. Aku shows up often, but not in every episode. All the same, you know that Aku is the evil force against which Jack is forever battling, and in the universe in which the story exists, all evil is simply an extension of Aku.

But all this time spent watching it has got me thinking... The way I see it, we're essentially living in Jack's universe.

Here's my thought... The Samurai were ancient Japanese warriors. What if, during their time, a dark supernatural force along the lines of Aku came into power over the world? I suppose this whole batshit theory of mine depends on your belief in the supernatural... Well, I believe there's shit out there that transcends this world, and by no means is all of it good. I guess you have to believe in time travel too, which I can see being within the realm of power of a "shape-shifting Master of Darkness" such as Aku. So based on all that, if the only Samurai who could stop him had been cast into Earth's distant future, we could currently be in some stage of our own eventual demise at the hands of Aku. There's obviously some dark, evil force at work in our own world... Maybe it's just taking a long, gradual time to destroy us and the planet. No one can argue that THAT's not happening.

Is there really a point to all this crazy rambling? Not especially. Just a lazy Saturday afternoon rant. Check out Wikipedia's Samurai Jack Episode Guide, while I stop being lazy and go run errands.


Bank, bodega, and the grocery store. Hooray America.





*****N*T*G*****

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