Samurai Jack
| Television series | |
|---|---|
| German title | Samurai Jack |
| Original title | Samurai Jack |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Year (s) | 2001-2004, 2017 |
| length | 22 minutes |
| Episodes | 62 in 5 seasons |
| genre | Action , science fiction |
| Theme music | Samurai Jack - will.i.am |
| idea | Genndy Tartakovsky |
| music | James L. Venable |
| First broadcast | August 10, 2001 on Cartoon Network |
| German-language first broadcast |
2007 on Cartoon Network |
Samurai Jack is a US animated series by Genndy Tartakovsky that was shown on Cartoon Network from 2001 to 2004 . In 2017, the fifth and final season was broadcast on Adult Swim . The previous episodes are also shown there uncensored.
content
The series is about the samurai Jack , who was born a prince in feudal Japan . At the age of only six, Jack watches as a giant, pitch-black yōkai named Aku destroys and burns the imperial palace and the surrounding city. Ten years ago, Jack's father accidentally summoned Aku. The emperor was initially able to defeat Aku with the help of a sacred katana , but Aku was freed again during a solar eclipse . Jack's father tries to attack Aku again with his katana, but this time the yōkai can capture the emperor. Jack is brought to safety and out of the country by his mother, she flees to Nepal and hides the sword in a Buddhist monastery.
Meanwhile, Jack travels the world and is taught in different countries in just as different martial arts. After many years when he was a young adult, Jack traveled to his mother and asked her to hand over the holy sword. Jack then returns to Japan, where he finds out that his father and the entire people of Aku have been enslaved and are now forced to toil in crystal mines under inhumane conditions. Jack immediately goes to Aku and the first showdown takes place . Just when Aku is in an awkward position and Jack wants to give him the coup de grace, Aku casts a powerful time spell that moves Jack into the future.
The future is dominated by high tech and is now predominantly populated by humanoids and anthropomorphic monsters. Jack initially suffers a culture shock . In addition, thanks to his godlike powers, Aku has subjugated the entire earth. Fortunately, Jack encounters kind-hearted people and beings who secretly revolt against Aku and report to Jack about powerful time portals. These are said to be spread around the globe and with their help Jack could return to the past. Jack immediately sets off on an adventurous journey around the world to find the time portals. In the meantime Aku learns that Jack not only survived, but - as a side effect of the time magic - is no longer aging. This time it is Aku who goes into shock, and he even becomes depressed. Because no matter what nasty tricks he tries, Jack can hit him back every time. Even the most talented assassins and bounty hunters Aku sends against Jack fail miserably.
In season 5, Jack falls in love with a former assassin and ninja named Ashi , with whom he can get as far as Aku. It is then revealed that Ashi was born from Aku's magic and is thus his daughter, so to speak. But she turns against Aku and Jack can finally destroy the yōkai. Ashi uses her powers to cast the same time spell that brought Jack into the future. Both travel back to the 19th century, but Ashi pays an expensive price for them: without Aku, it would never have existed and so it disappears into nothing before Jack's eyes.
Characters
Protagonists
- Jack
Is the protagonist of the series. His name is a pseudonym that will actually only be given to him in the future by enthusiastic rebels and "fans" of him. His real maiden name is kept secret. Jack is 1.78 m tall, athletically built and has chin-length, black hair that, according to Japanese tradition , he has pinned together into a small, high-standing pony. During the 3rd and 4th season he went through a depressive phase and "overgrown", so that he grew a wild mane and a long beard. For most of the show, Jack wears a white kimono with a black belt, a large rice hat, and getas . As a weapon he wields a sacred katana. However, Jack is an unmatched guns and karate fighter and can use virtually any tool or weapon in combat. Although Jack is referred to as a "samurai" in the series, his lifestyle and fighting attitude are closer to that of a ronin . Jack's character is calm, level-headed, a little suspicious, but helpful and sincere and deals with most dangerous situations in a wait-and-see manner. He saves everyone in need and will therefore soon be celebrated as a hero around the world.
- Ashi
She is one of seven "Daughters of Aku". The chief priestess of the acoustic sects is actually their birth mother. With Aku one cannot really speak of "fatherhood", because the pregnancy took place after the high priestess had drunk a magical substance from Aku (there was no active sexual intercourse). Ashi is initially trained mercilessly in martial arts and weapons, and is repeatedly told that Jack is evil and wants to destroy Aku's world. But in Ashi the good prevails and she learns to question the monotonous doctrines of her sect. At first she tries to murder Jack, but soon discovers that she was deceived. She travels around the world herself and is won over by the people Jack met and got to know better. When she sees Jack again, she has to rescue him from a predicament. The two fall in love and Ashi helps Jack return to his time. Unfortunately this means its end, because without the future Aku it would never have existed.
- The Scot
His real name is never revealed either. He is a very tall, muscular Scot with a mustache and a bald head. His hair is fox red. He is cocky and cheeky, but helpful and honest. He is dressed very traditionally in a kilt and tartan shirt. He uses a sword, a magical bagpipe and a machine gun that serves as a prosthetic leg. The Scot is married to an extremely corpulent and choleric woman, it is obvious that she wears her pants at home. When the old Scot approaches Aku, he has no fewer than 22 daughters in tow, all of whom have been trained to be fighters. When Aku kills the Scotsman, he returns as a powerful spirit and helps Ashi and Jack to triumph.
Antagonists
- Aku ( 悪 ; eng. "(The) evil"; "(the) evil")
Aku's exact origin is not revealed, it is only known that as a formless, pitch-black mass, he has traveled through space since ancient times and haunted planets in order to exploit them like a parasite . He is tracked down and fought by the gods Râ , Vishnu and Odin . When things look bad for Aku, Aku sends part of himself to earth, where it hits as a meteor and spoils the region in which it fell. Millions of years later, he is still slumbering in a poisonous bitumen spring , but is accidentally freed by Jack's father of all people. Aku drives into a huge, ancient spruce tree and now appears as a tree-like yōkai with a grimace-like face. This special face corresponds to a so-called Hannyamask : big big eyes, protruding canine teeth, flat nose and green skin. His eyebrows are made of ruby red flames, and his goatee is made of fire. Six angular outgrowths protrude from its head, which underlines its tree-like appearance.
Aku is ageless and his malice knows no bounds, he has almost godlike powers. At first glance he seems simple-minded and rather funny, this impression is underlined by his voice, which sounds brazen, sluggish and slightly babbling, especially in the English original. He is a gifted shapeshifter and voice imitator, but there seem to be limits: even in a strange shape his green skin, his grimace-like grin and his fiery eyebrows remain. Nor can he change his drawn out laugh. Aku is almost inviolable: For example, he can suck up fired arrows and fire them back at his attackers with his huge hands. Furthermore, he can send out heat rays with his eyes. He is also able to close any wound inflicted on him immediately. The only exception is Jack's katana, which can very well cause him great damage.
In the course of the series, Aku developed a downright obsession with Jack, and for decades he looked unsuccessfully for a way to get rid of the samurai. Aku even becomes depressed when Jack doesn't even age anymore and just can't seem to get it down. Aku experiences a small glimmer of hope after he has succeeded in destroying the time portals, so that Jack is initially really stuck in the future. When he discovers that Ashi was conceived from his magical body substance, he immediately takes possession of her and forces her to attack Jack. The plan fails because Aku is attacked by a huge army of resistance fighters and Ashi finally defeats the evil within her. The series ends with Aku's destruction by Jack's katana.
- Scaramouche
Is an android in samurai outfit that was created by Aku. He's cheeky, cheeky, and speaks a strong 1980s slang (for example, he addresses almost everyone with "babe" and "buddy"). Scaramouche uses a magical flute and his singing as weapons . By singing and playing the flute, he can animate objects and corpses and telekinetically control them remotely. However, his magic has no direct influence on living beings. He finds it hard to bother Jack, but is destroyed down to his head. However, Aku restores it when Scaramouche reports that Jack lost his katana. During the last big encounter with Jack and Ashi, however, Aku discovers that Jack has found his sword. Aku grumblingly blows up poor Scaramouche.
- Cult of Aku
The Aku cult is a dangerous sect made up of women without exception. The exact number of members varies within the series and can therefore not be determined. The chief priestess drinks a magical substance that Aku had given to the sect and then becomes pregnant with sevenlings . All babies are female and as "Daughters of Aku" they are mercilessly trained to be assassins. You are supposed to track down Jack and kill him. But Jack can kill them in quick succession, which plunges him into deepest depression. Only Ashi survives and she and Jack later become a couple for a very short time. When the high priestess finds out about this, she attacks Jack and Ashi and is killed in a duel by her own daughter.
Publications
The series was first broadcast from August 10, 2001 to September 25, 2004 on the Cartoon Network . However, not all episodes were broadcast. The last few episodes were broadcast in several Toonami special programs. Warner Home Video released the series in the US on DVD.
In 2007 the series was broadcast in Germany on Cartoon Network.
synchronization
Except for the Scotsman , who appears in four episodes, only Samurai Jack and Aku appear regularly.
| character | English voice actor | German voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Samurai Jack | Phil LaMarr | Tobias Kluckert |
| Aku | Makoto Iwamatsu | Ernst Meincke |
Video games
Two video games related to the series were released. Samurai Jack: The Amulet of Time was produced for the Game Boy Advance console , Samurai Jack: The Shadow of Aku for GameCube and PlayStation 2 . There are also several internet games related to the series on the Cartoon Network website.
Awards
Four episodes of the series received an Emmy Award in 2002, 2003 and 2004 . Two more episodes were nominated for this award.
Web links
- Samurai Jack in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- fernsehserien.de about the series
Individual evidence
- ↑ 'Samurai Jack' Creator on Final Season: 'Everybody's Going to Be Bawling' on yahoo.com, accessed March 11, 2017.