Samurai Jack - Episode 1: Part I - The Beginning

Plot
A young samurai is sent to train all around the world and eventually returns, ready for a battle, only to be thrust into the late future.

Characters

• Samurai Jack (Unnamed) - We see him grow into a fit and healthy young man and we know why he wants to fight, he experienced such trauma and yet it has only strengthened his resolve. Consistently good, especially considering the small amount of dialogue. 
• Aku - Aku is so dastardly and downright malevolent. One of the greatest villains ever found in a children's cartoon, even now. Better than Jack in this episode.
• Samurai Jacks Father - His father provides the exposition and the catalyst for Jack going off to train. 
• Samurai Jacks Mother - Though minor, her expressions, the way she holds Jack back, it makes me wish we learn more about her. 

Good Moments

This scene establishes Aku as a villain. The villain of the show. The dark colors, the atmosphere is built up and everything is so tense, without this scene, then there would still be other scenes, but this is the first scene to establish Aku as a very malevolent force of evil. The burning building pushes barriers, like the show itself. It's inclusion is rather shocking nowadays, and it only heightens the anticipation.

The montage of Jack training is fundamental, we see him grow as a fighter and person. Gennedy uses music to enhance the tension and suspense, hooking the viewer in. Whenever you have a montage you need to make sure that is a purpose, and this montage definitely does. Also, Jack gets to experience different cultures and a variety of different fighting styles, it makes me curious as to why the parents decided this was the course of action.

Samurai Jack is primarily an action show. The first fight of the show delivered. It was an extreme attempt at showing how strong Samurai Jack is. Plus, we always need a good confrontation between hero and villain, and due to this being an action show the first fight mattered deeply, the music really enhances the mood, the animation and the cinematic angles (all unique to the show) and the fact that there is a dialogue in this fight (rare) make it stand out.

Bad Moments

Now this me just trying to find at least some mistake, but I feel the beginning scene went on for to long and the main issue I had with it was the constant and quick flashing because it so rapid and confusing (probably what was intended), it just went on to long and I feel like a scene like this would have worked if it was slightly shorter, but at least the colors were dark and not bright and wildly flashing. Again, this is a minor thing.


The issue with this show is that I may not be able to find "bad moments" on such a regular basis because it has had consistent quality throughout the course of the show. 

Character Issues
The issue I have is that Aku is played completely straight here and even though it works, there was no hint of Aku's funny side, not even a slight comment during the battle with Jack. Another issue I have is Jack, we do not really know much about him, his personality traits remain shrouded in mystery, of course it is the first episode so clearly I am letting this slide.

Comedy
Alas, this show is not mainly a comedic show. It is focused on drama, action and deep themes and the adventures of Samurai Jack of course. The episode was not comedic at all, and of course there was no reason for it to be.

Animation + Soundtrack
The animation in this episode is slightly rough and it relatively is creepy when you see a girl on a horse just before Jack begins to train. It is creepy because much like others in the scene, they only have pupils and not the white bit, like Jack has throughout the series. It is actually kind of weird because evidently Jack isn't the only one who has the white part and pupils as well, so I wonder why the kids were animated in such a way, it looks slightly crude.

The soundtrack was expertly scored in this episode, the tension was upped at the correct points and I feel like the soundtrack was clearly the best thing about the episode. Especially in the fight with Aku at the climax of the episode, and the ending song (the intro in this case, it is shown next episode) is always timeless.

MVP
Aku is the MVP for the episode for being a good villain, that is all.

Apologies concerning the font size changing. Hopefully it won't happen in the next review, I checked the HTML and changed it so it matched the others and still came out botched. Comment, and tell me your thoughts also. I know about the new season as well (not a reboot!).