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Ashi - The one thing about Samurai Jack no one seems to agree on.


Jman

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Samurai Jack is getting critical praise and great ratings.

 

However, there seems to be one thing that is dividing people on the show.  The new character Ashi.  I don't think people hate her, but they are curious what direction Genndy is taking her.

 

Are her and Jack just enemies turned friends?  Is this some father/daughter thing?  Or are the two being set up romantically, dealing with her isolation and his consistent arc of loneliness?

 

She seems to be the sole thing people don't agree on.  So discuss away.  What should they do with her and what do you think they are doing with her?

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Samurai Jack is getting critical praise and great ratings.

 

However, there seems to be one thing that is dividing people on the show.  The new character Ashi.  I don't think people hate her, but they are curious what direction Genndy is taking her.

 

Are her and Jack just enemies turned friends?  Is this some father/daughter thing?  Or are the two being set up romantically, dealing with her isolation and his consistent arc of loneliness?

 

She seems to be the sole thing people don't agree on.  So discuss away.  What should they do with her and what do you think they are doing with her?

romantic

 

I don't personally think it makes sense to assume Genndy has anything planned for her other than being Jack's love interest

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Either romantic or possibly Ashi sacrifices herself to save Jack at some point, the very person she spent her entire life trying to kill.

 

Jack did kill all of her sisters, so that makes me think that a romantic relationship isn't a 100 percent certainty. It's pretty awkward sitting around the dinner table and being like.. hey remember that time I killed your sisters? That was crazy right?

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I figure she's going to take on Jack's mantle once he finally returns to the past at the end of the series.  If you assume an Ocarina-esque timeline split, Jack goes back and takes care of Aku originally, while Ashi cleans up after him in the future.

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I figure she's going to take on Jack's mantle once he finally returns to the past at the end of the series.  If you assume an Ocarina-esque timeline split, Jack goes back and takes care of Aku originally, while Ashi cleans up after him in the future.

or a Majora's mask timeline merger happens with all the people he saved getting to still exist despite him returning to the past
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After episode 8 aired my opinion on keeping Ashi around will hinge heavily on what they do with her from here.

 

If she gets killed and Jack wants to avenge her that's a freak'n waste and they could have done without having them fall in love if that was the case.

 

If she survives then I don't mind that they gave Jack somebody to love. The man deserves that much.

 

On the other hand if Jack ends up dying, aging or returning to the past after he slays Aku... I don't really know.

 

Maybe this is something Genndy always wanted to do or maybe he felt it was finally time to bring romance into the picture but as much as I enjoyed them acting like middle school kids with crushes, it does feel more than a little forced and I don't particularly like that.

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After episode 8 aired my opinion on keeping Ashi around will hinge heavily on what they do with her from here.

 

If she gets killed and Jack wants to avenge her that's a freak'n waste and they could have done without having them fall in love if that was the case.

 

If she survives then I don't mind that they gave Jack somebody to love. The man deserves that much.

 

On the other hand if Jack ends up dying, aging or returning to the past after he slays Aku... I don't really know.

 

Maybe this is something Genndy always wanted to do or maybe he felt it was finally time to bring romance into the picture but as much as I enjoyed them acting like middle school kids with crushes, it does feel more than a little forced and I don't particularly like that.

it was very forced

 

 

but it was obvious it was going to happen

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Eh, I think it worked.  You  have two very fit, very attractive people fighting with every ounce of their being to avoid being killed by a horrible monster, they just barely manage to survive, there was obvious prior romantic tension between them...in the heat of the moment, they're going to go for each other, even if it's just a momentary dalliance.  I know it got me to cheer last night, and I'm still okay with it in the light of day.

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it was very forced

 

 

but it was obvious it was going to happen

 

We had like 5 episodes of them spending a ton of time together, saving each other, Jack changing her world view, and her searching for him desperately when he's lost.  I think this was well-deserved, but I just wish they had paced it better.

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We had like 5 episodes of them spending a ton of time together, saving each other, Jack changing her world view, and her searching for him desperately when he's lost.  I think this was well-deserved, but I just wish they had paced it better.

it was more how juvenile them falling in love was that bugged me, they acted like teenagers in this episode

 

otherwise I'm fine with them being a couple

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it was more how juvenile them falling in love was that bugged me, they acted like teenagers in this episode

 

otherwise I'm fine with them being a couple

 

I give you that. They're grown-ass adults.  Don't make them act like goofy high-schoolers just because that's what people here find amusing, durr hurr!!!

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Jack spent his whole childhood training to combat Aku and the last 50 years in a state of PTSD (not to mention the only girl we ever saw him like was literally Aku), while Ashi has never had anything resembling a normal human relationship before meeting Jack.  How could they NOT be completely awkward once they started having feelings for each other?

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Hasn't Jack acted completely juvenile around women because he's alone and has a One track mind?

 

This wasn't forced, it was built too all season.  Sorry.

Jack has been around women he thought were Beautiful before and not acted this way

 

remember Ikra (she was actually Aku shapeshifted but still) Jack was attracted to her and didn't act like a hormonal teen

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I'll agree that the romance was definitely built up, and I'm glad they actually did it, but I wasn't particularly a fan of the "middle school crush" way they were acting.  Admittedly I can see it making sense in context (both Jack and Ashi have been training since childhood just to fight, so there really wasn't much in the way of time for social interaction), but I still found it sort of annoying.

 

I did enjoy the Dean Martin cameo, though.  Makes me wonder if Genndy has a thing for the Rat Pack.

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Incest is wincest, Mochi.  The sooner you accept that the better we all will be...

I'll level with you, up until about half a month ago I drew nothing but porn, I was drawing a picture of Goku and (adult) Gohan having sex at one point (it was a request someone made on tumblr), when the picture was about 40% complete I got depressed lost all drive to make adult art and have been drawing clean pics the last few weeks ever since

 

other than the incest thing this didn't have anything to do with this thread....just an update on why I've suddenly started doing cute SFW pictures again

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Hasn't Jack acted completely juvenile around women because he's alone and has a One track mind?

 

This wasn't forced, it was built too all season.  Sorry.

 

Nah man they jumped from Ashi hating him to Ashi being confused to mutual respect and suddenly they're acting like kids with crushes. It was all rather rushed, particularly in this episode. It's not like there was no setup but on screen they jumped from mutual respect to lovers DANG quick and for little reason. I guess you could argue Jack did show attraction to Ashi when he first saw her cleaned up but it still feels forced.

 

I also personally don't like that a capable female warrior was introduced just to end up as Jack's lover. Or at least I'm not sure how I feel about it.

 

If they only became romantic so she would die and give Jack someone else to mourn, that's pretty lousy.

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Nah man they jumped from Ashi hating him to Ashi being confused to mutual respect and suddenly they're acting like kids with crushes. It was all rather rushed, particularly in this episode. It's not like there was no setup but on screen they jumped from mutual respect to lovers DANG quick and for little reason. I guess you could argue Jack did show attraction to Ashi when he first saw her cleaned up but it still feels forced.

 

I also personally don't like that a capable female warrior was introduced just to end up as Jack's lover. Or at least I'm not sure how I feel about it.

Samurai Jack season 5 has a lot in common with dragonball super in being a shameless nostalgia porn cash grab

 

 

it's just much higher quality and better than super

 

 

but yeah introducing Ashi just for her to crumple Jack's gurns is...........sad

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Nah man they jumped from Ashi hating him to Ashi being confused to mutual respect and suddenly they're acting like kids with crushes. It was all rather rushed, particularly in this episode. It's not like there was no setup but on screen they jumped from mutual respect to lovers DANG quick and for little reason. I guess you could argue Jack did show attraction to Ashi when he first saw her cleaned up but it still feels forced.

 

I also personally don't like that a capable female warrior was introduced just to end up as Jack's lover. Or at least I'm not sure how I feel about it.

 

If they only became romantic so she would die and give Jack someone else to mourn, that's pretty lousy.

Of course it was rushed; that's an unfortunate consequence of this limited 10-episode run.  If Genndy had had a full 20+-episode season to play with, I think he would have definitely paced things more naturally, but I feel like he's made the most out of the limited time he's had.  I definitely disagree that Ashi has only served to wind up as a "lover": her regaining her humanity has served as a good counterpoint to Jack's own redemption, and with or without the romance element she's a badass warrior with an enjoyable personality.  (Also cute as hell!)  I don't see any way in which this ends with her being killed off: either she goes back to the past with Jack if/when he returns, or she stays behind and takes over his mantle, or who knows, maybe they both remain in the future.  I don't think Genndy's going to make this a tragic ending after getting one more miraculous shot to properly conclude the series.

 

Samurai Jack season 5 has a lot in common with dragonball super in being a shameless nostalgia porn cash grab

Yeahno.  People have been absolutely clamoring for a proper sequel for ages, and by some insane stroke of luck we finally got it, and it wound up being amazing.  This is a pure labor of love by Genndy and the rest of the team.

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Nah man they jumped from Ashi hating him to Ashi being confused to mutual respect and suddenly they're acting like kids with crushes. It was all rather rushed, particularly in this episode. It's not like there was no setup but on screen they jumped from mutual respect to lovers DANG quick and for little reason. I guess you could argue Jack did show attraction to Ashi when he first saw her cleaned up but it still feels forced.

 

I also personally don't like that a capable female warrior was introduced just to end up as Jack's lover. Or at least I'm not sure how I feel about it.

 

If they only became romantic so she would die and give Jack someone else to mourn, that's pretty lousy.

 

It'd be one thing if she was just there as a love interest, but both had distinctive arcs to deal with on their own, and they dealt with said arcs before any romantic interest was bought forth.  Both exist independently of the romance arc but are driven to be together given their back stories (Jack's isolation is such a consistent and tragic part of his characterization it makes sense to address it in the finale).  That's not forced.

 

Then again, Tumblr will call anything romantic between a man and a woman forced because they're a bunch of snowflakes.

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It'd be one thing if she was just there as a love interest, but both had distinctive arcs to deal with on their own, and they dealt with said arcs before any romantic interest was bought forth.  Both exist independently of the romance arc but are driven to be together given their back stories (Jack's isolation is such a consistent and tragic part of his characterization it makes sense to address it in the finale).  That's not forced.

 

Then again, Tumblr will call anything romantic between a man and a woman forced because they're a bunch of snowflakes.

forced?, no

 

rushed?, yes

 

but they have limited episodes so it's understandable

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I'll concede rushed.

 

God I wish we had three more episodes or at least an hourlong finale.

yeah, if they had had maybe 2 more eps to explore Jack and Ashi realizing they were in love with eachother (rather than race straight to the sex in one ep) it would've felt more satisfying
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