XVIII

Season 2...It's about time!!!
It has been much too long between the DVD releases of Samurai Jack Season 1 and Season 2 (due out May 24, 2005). Season 2 has some of the very best Samurai Jack episodes, including:

* Episode 14 - Jack learns to "jump good" thanks to the help of an ape-man and a tribe of his fellow apes. This has some great scenes of Jack in training and as Jack in turn teaches his new friends to defend themselves.
* Episode 18 - Jack has to battle a posse of assasin robots. Once again, Jack must prove - to himself, more than anyone - that his heart is greater than any enemy Aku can throw at him.
* Episode 19 - Jack stumbles upon his ancestral land, now in ruins. This has some heartwarming flashbacks of Jack's life as a little boy.
* Episode 20 - Jack and the Mountain. Jack joins three monks in a death-defying climb up a mystical mountain. Are these the spirits of the monks who created Jack's samurai sword? : )
* Episode 22 - Jack battles three lion-men...the greatest...

Samurai wha? Who knew it'd be this awesome!
Well, this is the volume that tens of thousands of die-hard fans have been waiting for, and judging from the excellent quality of the first set this one is a no-brainer for any aficionado of animation; asian or north american.

Continuing his quest to return to his home in the past and vanquish the evil that exile him, Samurai Jack treks the world over, encountering the strange and powerful alike.

Held together with an unlikely combination of highly stylized directing and geometric visuals, Samurai Jack offers a brand of animation literally not found in any other series. While the analogies have been made before, they bear repating: if you like old spaghetti westerns, bizarre sci-fi, episodic storytelling or just plain frenetic action this is certainly the series for you.

The Emmy Award Winning Series Continues
The tale of Samurai Jack is a deep one, permeated with a sharp visual style that doesn't rely solely on it's animation to entertain. The first season was fantastic and in terms of quality, this 2nd season is no different.

The character of Samurai Jack will amaze you with his perseverance, courage and skill. He's quite the heroic character...inspirational for people in real life to never give up no matter what the odds.

The special features include a fairly amusing creator scrapbook of Genndy Tartakovsky. It gives an informative look at the life and career of Samurai Jack's creator and is worth watching.

With all that being said, I found the 'wow' factor in this season to be marginally lower than that of the first season. Perhaps it's because I didn't love ALL the episodes like I did the first season. Episodes XXI and XXIV here failed to impress me, although XXIV's ending had a decent twist.

Samurai Jack is still one of my personal...

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