History Awesome / SAMURAIJACK

*** The fact that Cartoon Network trusted the showrunners enough to include nine straight minutes [[SilenceIsGolden without any dialogue at all]] in the first episode's 22 minute runtime, something that was unprecedented at the time and is still unheard of today. It [[SeriesEstablishingMoment tells the viewer right away]] that this is going to be a ''[[ShowDontTell visual]]'' show and you're not going to miss the dialogue at all.

-->'''Monster:''' ''(having smacked Jack into a wall)'' "Rise, warrior, rise! Honorably I must be defeated! I cannot let up!"

*** The fact that Cartoon Network trusted the showrunners enough to include nine straight minutes [[SilenceIsGolden without any dialogue at all]] in the first episode's 22 minute runtime, something that was unprecedented at the time and is still unheard of today. It [[SeriesEstablishingMoment tells the viewer right away]] that this is going to be [[ShowDontTell a]] ''[[ShowDontTell visual]]'' [[ShowDontTell show]] and you're not going to miss the dialogue at all.

--> '''The Scotsman''' (barely able to lift his sword): I'll give ye one more chance to give up.\\
'''Jack''' (barely able to stand): I...am not beaten...and so will stand my ground.
--> '''The Scotsman''': Hold yer ground?! Ye can barely hold yer sword!
--> '''Jack''': ''Then come get me!''
--> '''The Scotsman''': *at a loss for words* ...Ergh, seeing as how I'm a sporting man, I'll give ye a moment to recuperate...

-->'''Monster:''' ''(having smacked Jack into a wall)'' "Rise, warrior, rise! Honorably must I be defeated! I cannot let up!"

--> '''The Scotsman''' (barely able to lift his sword): Do...do ye yield?\\

--> '''The Scotsman''': *at a loss for words* ...Ergh, seeing as how I'm a sporting man, I'll give ye a moment to recover...

-->'''Jack''' ''(calling out to the sky from the summit):'' "Aku! I will find a way back to the past! And I ''will'' destroy you!"

---> '''Woolie:''' Your weapons are worthless now! This is ''our'' home!

** Jack's reputation going from a hated DirtyCoward [[note]]The announcer gave out wimpy/off-putting names to the slaves so the crowd will cheer for the champions, and called Jack "Two-Sandals The Treacherous".[[/note]] to a fan favorite over the course of the episode. When he fells the final champion, the cheering crowd is solely behind ''him''.

-->'''Jack:''' ''(to the audience)'' "I will not participate in the senseless violence any longer! You will have to get your entertainment elsewhere."

** The first half details said preparation, which is awesome in a subtle way: Jack, being from the distant past, has little knowledge of the machines around him and how they work, with even something like a psuedo-ballpoint pen confusing him at first. However, [[AwesomeByAnalysis years of training means he's smart enough to understand their basic purposes, and given some thought he starts using everything around him in creative ways]]. Scraps get remade into armor (both for himself and his battle steed), certain parts give him makeshift spears and a bow-and-arrow, the natural crystals make for excellent spear/arrow points, and the various machines are capable of setting up traps.

-->'''Jack:''' ''(to the audience)'' "No, I will not participate in the senseless violence any longer! You will have to get your entertainment elsewhere."

** Jack's reputation going from a hated DirtyCoward [[note]]The announcer gave out wimpy/off-putting names to the slaves so the crowd will cheer for the champions, and called Jack "Two-Sandals The Treacherous".[[/note]] to fan favorite over the course of the episode. When he fells the final champion, the cheering crowd is solely behind ''him''.

-->'''Jack:''' ''(to the audience)'' "I will no longer do battle for your amusement. You will have to get your entertainment elsewhere!"

* In this flashback episode with little Jack, Jack's mentor and his village are captured by evil men wielding better weapons than their {{Simple Staff}}s, with only Jack escaping. Jack is miserable for a while, until you see him train with the enemy weapon, giving you a glimpse of the man he will become. He ultimately goes to the evil men's village and frees his mentor/people, who all use the sticks that made up their cage as weapons, defeating the evil men in their own homes.

** A meta one goes to Aku for apparently managing to destroy that time portal off-screen, because Jack is seen hunting different means to go back in time in later episodes, proving Aku managed to put the kibosh on this one, and if that wasn't enough proof, Season 5 outright confirms he got rid of them all.

*** On a meta-level, there's also the comparison between how Jack reacted to the Scotsman's insults and how Aku reacted. If it's any indication, even Aku, the master of darkness, could only take so much of the Scotsman's insults before he boredly zapped him out of annoyance. Jack patiently withstood those insults up until he earned the Scotsman's respect and friendship. THAT is what sets Jack apart from Aku.

** On a meta-level, many fans expected the episode to be at least an hour long for the finale. And the animators deserve credit for condensing such an awesome finale into ''just one half-hour episode''.

** One goes to the writers for managing to make Creator/{{Mako}} a part of the finale even long after his passing, and for Greg Baldwin's near-seamless segue into his own portrayal of Aku.

[[folder:Meta]]
* Season 5's sheer ''existence'' is a testament to the love the fans and the creators had for this show. So many shows that wrap up [[TheResolutionWillNotBeTelevised without an ending]] simply disappear into the ether, or get a perfunctory SeriesFinale or -- if the fans are ''very'' lucky -- a GrandFinale movie. ''Samurai Jack'' got an entire extra '''season''' added, a full ''fourteen years'' after its initial air date, ''with most of the original cast intact''. It's almost impossible to think of another show that got this kind of conclusion, with so much dedication on the parts of everyone involved. Regardless of [[BrokenBase divisive opinions]] on the nature of the final season, it can't be denied that the fact that the fans, the creators, and ''even the network'' recognized the good thing that they had enough to bring it back and give it a real, proper conclusion.
** Depending on one's opinion of Cartoon Network's other reboots and revivals, the fact that this was their only one that was even ''a little'' good rather than a lousy cash-grab shows how much they respect the show and its fans.
* As a final testament to this show's popularity, Creator/{{Toonami}} scheduled an obligatory farewell marathon of the entire final season, extending their usual hours from 3:30 to 4:00 A.M. to accommodate all ten episodes in a five-hour sendoff.
** Following this, the final season reran the first four episodes at the usual time before moving to the timeslot right after ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' premieres early at 8:30 P.M., mirroring how a few episode's from the original run of ''SJ'' ran after ''Anime/DragonBallZKai'' before ''Super'' took its place, while Toonami moved its block from starting at 11:00 P.M. back to 11:30 P.M. and transplanting the extra 30 minutes to the end of the line, now finishing at 4:00 A.M. and with the reruns backpedaling to the second episode of Season 5 (since the encore presentations at 8:30 started over at [=S5E1=] and then the changes occurred when it was on [=S5E2=] and mirrored the reruns) just to offer one last chance to see the fifth season's worth of episodes. We finally said goodbye for real to Jack on September 9, 2017.
* This page would not be complete without a shout out to the voice actors who pushed Season 5 into phenomenal territory. From Greg Baldwin, taking on the very hard job of replacing Creator/{{Mako}} as Aku, to Creator/TomKenny, voicing a ''Creator/SammyDavisJr scatting assassin bot'', to Creator/JohnDiMaggio, seamlessly reprising his role as the Scotsman, to Creator/TaraStrong, who made the assassin raised from birth to kill the hero of the series impossibly endearing. But the biggest hand has to be given to Creator/PhilLaMarr, the voice of Jack. Not only did he achieve a poignant portrayal of a man at the very end of his rope, he managed to inspire dread in his portrayal of Jack's rage-filled and haunting hallucinations.
* The fact that the original series, despite having a mostly Anglo staff, boasts a highly diverse voice cast. While Caucasian Tartakovski regulars Creator/TomKenny and Creator/TaraStrong regularly appear throughout the series, several episodes exclusively feature actors of color and, with the exception of Jack, nearly all of the Asian characters are voiced by Asian actors; even then, Jack is played by [[Creator/PhilLamarr a nonwhite actor]] and the only other reoccurring speaking role was played by [[Creator/{{Mako}} a highly-respected Japanese actor]]. Chances are you won't even notice it because the show itself and their performances are all superb on their own. It just makes an already awesome show ''even more awesome''!
* Samurai Jack will finally get a [[http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/08/21/samurai-jack-complete-five-season-series-blu-ray-box-set-announced complete series release]] this October with tons of extras and every episode of the first four seasons remastered in HD. Now, old and new fans alike can relive Jack's legendary adventure.
** That's not all. Remember those talks of producing a Samurai Jack movie? Well, now one is finally coming in the form of a the first three episodes being released to theaters for one night only.
* Greg Baldwin becoming the SJ fandom's answer to [[Series/LazyTown Stefán Karl Stefánsson]] by embracing the memes that were created by his predecessor, Creator/{{Mako}}.
* The show won its fair share of awards, but in 2004, it beat out ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', and ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' to take home the Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming Less Than One Hour). "The Birth of Evil" was just that good and awesome.
[[/folder]]

* The Creature is a [[Anime/MyNeighborTotoro Totoro]]-[[{{Expy}} looking]], [[GentleGiant big teddy bear]] with [[TheDitz intelligence inversely proportional to its size]]. It follows Jack around, unwittingly destroying the {{time travel}} artifact of the week, and still follows an ever-more exasperated Jack. But then when a gang of robot bounty hunters incapacitates Jack, [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass the Creature]] [[BewareTheNiceOnes goes completely apeshit]], transforming into a [[HulkingOut giant raging murder beast]] that [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk the Hulk]] would be jealous of, and ''slaughters'' all the terrified robots.

*** In a way, Jack being born right after the Emperor defeats Aku could count as this. Even though the episode was called "The Birth of Evil", it ended with the birth of the one who just might grow up to destroy Aku once and for all. One commenter on Website/YouTube put it best:

* As the original Spartan King was already shown to be on his deathbed without ever finding out that Jack has survived their encounter with the mechanical monster, this means that the Spartan King featured is his son (who is shown to have succeeded him). Even through generations, the people whom Jack has touched has not forgotten him and will rush to his defense.