701

Samurai dude: I’m getting some really conflicting messages from my supervisors!

Samurai Jack is over!!! In the end, the truncated final season wasn’t all I’d hoped it to be. It starts strong, with a hyper intense first three episodes, but after that everything slows down significantly, and near the end there’s some not-so-great damsel in distress tropes. Ashi’s story arc could have been less cringe worthy, I think. The final episode is mostly a good time, although it likely could’ve benefited from being two episodes instead of one crammed with so many truncated story beats.

The ending is oddly bitter sweet and a little bit of a downer. I feel like Samurai Jack’s always been a positive, upbeat series, and if anyone deserved a solidly happy ending, it was Jack. Yet the show picks the worst time to finally acknowledge the problem with saving a future that Jack will eventually negate by defeating Aku in the past.

Also, no reference to The Guardian episode? I am disappoint.

In other animated news, I’m so into Attack on Titan season 2. Being only a 12 episode season has greatly improved the show’s pacing, not to mention that season 2 is covering some of the best material from the manga. That new opening is just stuck in my head. I have one big complaint, and this is aimed at the manga, too. When Eren is presented with opportunities to ask very basic and commonly asked questions such as “What are the Titans?” or “Who is the group manipulating the Titans and why?” to people who may actually have answers, he DOES NOT ASK THOSE QUESTIONS. “Why do Titans want to eat people only?” “Where do Titans come from?” These are questions that literally everyone in the world of Attack on Titan thinks about on a daily basis! EREN, IF YOU MEET SOMEONE WHO MIGHT KNOW, ASK THOSE QUESTIONS!!!

Published on May 29, 2017 by Alex Kolesar

leavescat

I’ve never seen a show bat 1000 on its opening themes quite like Attack on Titan. There’s always at least one that’s mediocre.
- SlugFiller
  
  Err… Madoka? Heck, Evangelion. Generator Gawl, too.
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  AoT does have the distinct advantage of using the same jpop band to do all of its openings (and ending but I only really liked the second.) I’m pretty sure I loved every Bleach opening up to the point where I stopped watching the anime.
- endplanets
  
  Speaking of how great the Attack on Titan theme song is
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsmpfZPPP5o
foducool

dumb kid has no idea how to tie loose ends when hiding a murder :/
- James Rye
  
  He’s too nice for his own good, especially considering his position.
- George Paterson
  
  At this point Eijiro has to step out of Nataku’s shadow however he can. Showing remorse for Atsumori’s death may be critical to salvaging his position when he gets back home to Hirotomo. Eijiro staking an independent position here by coundermanding Nataku’s callous permission to seppuku might just save his life some day.
  
  If I’m right Eijiro isn’t acting off emotion. He isn’t the type to be doing this out of compassion, but he is a budding politician. The boy is setting up a longer game, a battle of wills with his father’s general that will probably end in Nataku’s death.
  
  If Eijiro can’t turn the tables on Nataku and assert command in some way, Nataku’s going to either wind up ruling through Eijiro as a puppet, or else killing him outright. Both are unacceptable outcomes that Eijiro needs to avoid at all costs. He’s not going to be able to do that if he backs Nataku to the hilt. Nataku is not a regent and Eijiro cannot risk him beginning to act in the manner of a regent. He CANNOT afford to fall fully under Nataku’s sway. He has to be able to thwart the general, or he will wind up under Nataku’s permanent thrall. The only way to avoid a situation where at least one of Eijiro or Nataku don’t wind up dead before the year’s out is to separate himself from Nataku’s authority now, however he can.
Xenterex

@samjack stuff: Episode 9 did reference The guardian episode, but it most comes down to jack saying “I know this place” seeing one thing on the ground (spoilers? glasses) before aku and skaramoosh show up.

I agree it started off okay, but each subsequent episode feels more and more like all the budget/planning went into the promo to advertise the series and then the rest fell into fan-fiction. Most of the intrigue is rushed and even defused before it has a chance to matter to the characters (why bring back scaramoosh?) and actually create tense moments that matter, and it honestly begs the question how jack even ‘lost hope’ in the first place. Pretty much all the flashbacks make the scenario feel sillier with each passing reveal with the end conflict and conclusion (minus the very closing image) kinda a poorly used cop-out.

Going back to The guardian, I honestly hoped jack would have kept his beard till after the final battle instead of getting the awkwardly convenient clean-up as both another nod to that episode showing jack’s future but also being his redemption arc culminating in more than a brief cameo by the gods who forged it in the first place — could have had a whole moment where jack gets a portion of his righteousness/conviction to re-power the sword or something as a journey parallel to his father, but nope, scene’s gotta dine and dash cuz someone realized they’re on a time crunch now and there’s more stuff to rush through.

Don’t mean to rant, but it really seems like season 5 ended up being botched potential that’s mildly held together with the occasional scene that brings back a bit of the style and charm that made the series so enduring in the first place. Probably could have made better use of their budget by making a couple of splash pages and then hiring weird al to sing the plot. hashtag starwars <.,>
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  I do not disagree on any particular point! It did provide closure at least. And Aku exclaiming “WHAT. YOU’RE BACK ALREADY??” But it’s certainly my least favorite season. I think my favorite episode in the whole show is the season 3 episode where Jack fights a bunch of ghosts in a graveyard and then fights Aku. That has to be the most intense half hour of action cartooning in the history of animation.
- endplanets
  
  I heard the reason Guardian wasn’t referenced was because the comic series finished up that plot line.
  - TheGorram Batguy
    
    Aha! I see now that this is indeed the case, according to the Samurai Jack wiki. Thanks for pointing this out.
    Of course, maybe this leaves an opening for a sequel, since Jack is supposedly still fated to use the portal at some point as an elderly king.
Kid Chaos

Oh, good, we’re back to Eijiro & co.; what a revoltin’ development. 👿
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  I thought you liked Eijiro!
  - Kid Chaos
    
    Whatever gave you that idea? I’ve never liked the little twerp. 👿
    - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
      
      I just assumed everyone loves Eijiro!
      - LordBolanderFace
        
        That needs to be a samurai comedy sitcom. “I Just Assumed Everyone Loves Ejiro.”
      - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
        
        or just “Everyone Loves Eijiro”
      - KungFuKlobber
        
        “I Jeer at Eijiro”
SlugFiller

For all of his attempted half-assed Machiavellianism, Eijiro might, strangely enough, turn out to be a highly popular daimyo.
- George Paterson
  
  I don’t think there’s anything half-assed about Eijiro’s Machiavellianism. He knows he’s squeamish, so he’s given himself access to Nataku who isn’t. Nataku does things Eijiro knows need doing, that he can’t do himself. He didn’t LIKE playing the role of the decoy while Nataku murdered Atsumori, but he didn’t exactly warn Atsumori, did he?
  
  This act of mercy is almost more likely to be Eijiro asserting and maintaining control of his general to prevent the general from controlling Eijiro than it is to be genuine benevolence. An attack dog is useful, An attack dog who is as likely to turn on you as work for you is not. For Nataku to be useful to Eijiro, Eijiro needs to maintain an upper hand over a battle hardened and highly willful and stubborn adult. Not something that happens if you do everything that adult tells you.
  
  Right now the biggest danger to Eijiro’s power base is falling under Nataku’s sway. He has to keep the upper hand over his general. Openly countermanding Nataku here reminds Nataku who’s the prince and who’s the military officer. At least it does if he can get away with it.
  - SlugFiller
    
    His attempt with the ninjas, and subsequently exposing himself, were way half-assed. If it wasn’t for Nataku, he’d be facing his father about now. I’d think thrice before attributing any competence to the kid after his past failures. I’m much more willing to believe that, despite his desire to assassinate his own brother, he has more of a heart than a brain.
clogboy

Damn it, that went grim pretty quick… I didn’t come here to feel
On an unrelated note: if he and Jori ever come face to face, I don’t really know who to root for: the runaway brat who accompanies the other runaway brat, or the guy who actually knows how to be a good leader.
- animalia555
  
  This. There is a huge part of me who wants Eijiro to be a villain simply so Yori can be the standard hero who redeems his clans honor. But as time goes on it becomes more and more clear tgat this is not the case.
  - Draxynnic
    
    Don’t forget that Eijiro is still aiding and abetting in starting a war. There’s probably hope for him, especially given his age, but you don’t need to be an irredeemable puppy-kicker to be with the bad guys.
    - clogboy
      
      The relatable ones are the best.
      In fact, I’m waiting for a narrative/remix that turns Yori into the bad guy. :p
      Also, when is Eji getting a hair cut. His hair looks moppy as hell.
    - animalia555
      
      I should have been more specific. I also wanted Yori to return and lead his clan. So far Eijiro is only missing one key trait of a leader the ability to take responsibility for his actions. While he hasn’t gotten there yet I can easily see his guilt over the death and devestation caused during battle leading to him confessing to his sins to his father. This could rid him of this flaw.
      
      However, I suppose one could argue that a good leadership ALSO needs foresight to see the possible consequences of their actions beforehand. And the mere fact that Eijiro didn’t even consider something this obvious could be grounds to disqualify him as a leader.
      - George Paterson
        
        it’s either the flaw that will condemn him, or the trait that will redeem him — Eijiro plays a Machiavellian game, but he does not think much of murder as a solution to political problems. Genchu taught him that much.
      - Draxynnic
        
        That’s the thing – he’s a kid. Kids his age often have a fuzzy understanding of actions having unintended consequences. They understand punishment, of course, but that’s someone actively acting to punish them if they get caught. They often don’t understand that their actions can have unintended consequences that they don’t like without it being a case of someone actively acting against them (such as in a punishment).
        
        I suspect, though, that he’s getting a crash course now.
    - George Paterson
      
      I’m not so sure it’s clear that Eijiro is abetting the start of the war. Given his attitude, it’s clear that he’s making some kind of power play. Eijiro clearly does not glory in war and bloodshed. Power however is something Eijiro understands, a world he operates in and a game he plays. It’s actually possible that Eijiro is making a play for power within the clan and hiding his real intentions for the moment.
      
      Don’t forget, Eijiro grew up under Genchu’s tutelage and with the kinder version of Hirotomo for a father. He’s doing something Machiavellian, he’s trying to learn the rules of leadership and master the art of rulership, and he is partly under Nataku’s sway so he’s forced to play the beliigerent to an extent, but I think that’s more “practical politics” than Eijiro’s true feelings on the matter. I don’t think the real Eijiro’s really shown himself much. To this point he’s playing the role expected of him and/or making the politically expedient move, he really hasn’t had a great opportunity to dictate the direction of events because he’s constantly in Nataku’s shadow..
      
      The true Eijiro is more likely to be this guy, who defies his bully of a general in order to keep his hands clear of even more blood, then the guy who held Atsumori’s attention so that Nataku could skewer him in the back.
  - George Paterson
    
    I’m not so sure it’s clear-cut that Eijiro is abetting the start of the war. Given his attitude, it’s clear that he’s making some kind of power play. Eijiro clearly does not glory in war and bloodshed. Power however is something Eijiro understands, a world he operates in and a game he plays. It’s actually possible that Eijiro is making a play for power within the clan and hiding his real intentions for the moment.
    
    Don’t forget, Eijiro grew up under Genchu’s tutelage and with the kinder version of Hirotomo for a father. He’s doing something Machiavellian, he’s trying to learn the rules of leadership and master the art of rulership, and he is partly under Nataku’s sway so he’s forced to play the beliigerent to an extent, but I think that’s more “practical politics” than Eijiro’s true feelings on the matter. I don’t think the real Eijiro’s really shown himself much. To this point he’s playing the role expected of him and/or making the politically expedient move, he really hasn’t had a great opportunity to dictate the direction of events because he’s constantly in Nataku’s shadow..
    
    The true Eijiro is more likely to be this guy, who defies his bully of a general in order to keep his hands clear of even more blood, then the guy who held Atsumori’s attention so that Nataku could skewer him in the back.
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  we’re raising the stakes!
  - purplelibraryguy
    
    Tent’s gonna fall down.
Turul

> your disgraceful negligence

Neglected to drown Nataku at birth.
- Ladon
  
  Don’t think he’s old enough to have done that.
  - Turul
    
    Excuses, excuses…
cody demetro

Didn’t he find his broken glasses tho?
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  I guess I’ll have to re-watch that scene! I would’ve preferred a moment of Jack looking like he did in that Guardian episode flash forward. Not to mention that he definitely did not use the portal presented in that episode.
  - vancho1
    
    Yeah, that was pretty disappointing to me, since it was implied that he would use that portal eventually. And the brief glimpse of Jack we saw during the Guardian episode was a cool design that I’m sad we didn’t see more of. Also, the wedding scene with Ashi disappearing was totally ripped off of Gurren Lagann!
    - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
      
      I don’t think Gurren Lagann was the first series to use that trope either, but the scenes were remarkably similar. AND I DIDN’T LIKE IT IN EITHER ONE! Maybe I’m just a sucker for a happy ending!
  - andrewtraviss
    
    Someone pointed out to me that there’s episodes of the series in Season 1-4 where Aku is explicitly setting out to prevent a prophecy from coming true and succeeds, so it’s not a huge surprise that he managed to prevent this one as well.
    - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
      
      Sure, but from a narrative point of view it’s a pretty disappointing plot thread to be dropped. What gets me is that the Guardian shows us an aged Jack, and then the show DOES A TIME SKIP, but does not age Jack, so how could that prophecy have ever happened anyway?
      - andrewtraviss
        
        I always figured Seasons 1-4 were just parables about Jack rather than a faithful telling of actual events.
LordBolanderFace

*next page*
Nataku: *sigh* “Fine. Say that you’re a very, very bad soldier.”
Soldier: “I’m a… very, very bad soldier?”
Ejiro: “Oh, well we can’t have that, can we? Go ahead and stab yourself.”
SKy

I feel like AoT is just idly riding its own hype train. It was something new and different when season 1 hit, but honestly I don’t see it anywhere among the best anime – even of recent years. The one thing it does extremely well is the emotional despair the setting creates. It aces that. But otherwise it’s rather mediocre.

The characters aren’t very deep – most just exist along and get a bit of back story here and there before the plot entirely forgets about them again until it needs another victim for whatever is happening at the moment. A story is barely existent at all and even after 1.5 seasons we know next to nothing about the world and its rules – and instead of clearing anything up, season two gives us the beast titan who can apparently turn random people into titans he then controls… Anything goes really. You can make no predictions because not even the characters themselves seem to know their affiliation…
There is no goal to it either. What is the series working towards? Destroying the titans? Watching humanity crumble? The hero finding out he’s been part of the wrong team? Destroying an immediate threat to keep the status quo? We don’t have the slightest clue, because the narrative just gets thrown around between seemingly random events.

And they seem to more and more bend their world to fit the narrative they’re going for. I mean come on. The military is bad at military stuff and doesn’t keep their equipment pre-packed in case they need to leave in a hurry. After the worst case happened three times in the last couple of years. Instead they send unarmed soldiers into what’s basically a war zone… But don’t worry. They’ll still get a chance to not be entirely useless, because here are some barely-larger-than-human titans we have never seen before and never since to keep them busy, but not kill them (although everyone else dies). Oh, also half of your class are also titans, but no one else. What a coincidence…

And then there’s Eren. The “protagonist”. He isn’t even a character. He is barely a tool to further the plot. Really, he only consists of his burning rage against anything titan and the ability to turn into one. There is nothing else…
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  I do not disagree with you on any particular point. I’ve never felt AoT was the greatest thing since sliced bread, and I have no strong love for any of the characters, especially since we know so little about most of them and their characterization tends to be limited. But season 2 is covering some of the best character moments in the story, such as they are, and some of the biggest reveals up to that point. Also, I love Hiroyuki Sawano music, and AoT is arguably his best soundtrack to date, so the music in the show does a great job of adding tension and emotion to the story. There’s also a lot of energetic animation and big set piece moments. So, like I say, I’m really digging season 2! It’s a quality thrill ride anime.
  
  And even though there are a lot of plot holes with the mechanics of the world, such as implausible terrain, nonsense function of government and military, and inexplicable character actions, at the heart of it is a really compelling world setting and mystery. It’s a GREAT HOOK, and I think that’s the lynch pin of its success. Heck, after having read Vol 21 of the manga, which answers some of the series’ biggest mysteries and basically casts off the hook, I can already feel the tension of the story telling deflating. But at this point I’m in it for the long haul unless the story takes a turn in a direction where it’s very clearly setting up a transformation into the next Naruto or One Piece, an unending shonen slam fest, which seems unlikely
  
  Also, AoT avoids A LOT of the anime tropes I’ve come to despise over the years, especially in the way it treats its female characters. Mikasa’s obsession with keeping Eren safe is the closest thing it has to a harem anime/waifu complex going on, but it’s never sexualized so I’m not really off put by it. There’s also no random super deformed stuff, or ridiculous hair. It’s all fairly grounded in terms of its visuals, which I like. So, overall, AoT is not a great anime, but I do think it’s a good anime. It’s very watchable, and the second season is very well paced and exciting. END OF THESIS!
  - SKy
    
    Sorry, I don’t feel the “well paced and exciting” of season 2. :/
    It kind of drags on at this point. All big reveals are pretty obvious when they finally straight out tell us – or don’t like with Longarm McMonkeypants. I feel like barely anything happened at all. They react to some strange phenomenon that goes against anything we thought we knew about the setting, then the two guys reveal themselves, have a little fight with everyone else and then run away. And the cliffhangers are just bad. I know what they want to accomplish with them, but come on… Do you HAVE to always interrupt the interesting parts? That’s just frustrating at this point…
    
    And about avoiding tropes: They used to be good about it, but now they’re starting to run into more an more of those. Most notably plot armor. Season 1 went almost Game of Thrones on us and killed multiple established characters; it even faked the death of the “protagonist” and got away with it. You didn’t know who would return from a fight. Now the only ones who even get seriously injured are those with titan healing or red shirts we just met…
    And then there’s my favorite one: They’re all so god damn oblivious. It’s so frustrating to see pretty much everyone making the dumbest mistakes and misunderstanding everything even though you as the viewer can clearly see that they have all the information they need… Even Armin – the stereotypical intelligent wimpy nice guy – only gets to be smart about stuff we didn’t know before.
    - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
      
      Ha, SKy, I can’t figure out if you loved the series and now hate it or if you went in ready to hate it! But clearly you know AoT backward and forward. You must be interested in it enough to keep up with it at the very least! I honestly started watching/reading AoT out of a morbid curiosity based on all the crazy giant naked people visuals (and that great opening theme music). I had no real expectations because I had no idea what it was about, other than people freaking out because the main character ‘apparently’ died in the fifth episode. And that mysterious world/human survival hook got me!
      
      Also, ugh, everyone compares everything to Game of Thrones’ seeming character mortality, but even GoT has central characters with plot armor that has become more apparent as the series continues.
      - SKy
        
        Neither really. I went through season 1 positively flashed at first,
        but overall with about the same opinion you have currently, I’d say. So a
        good solid series, that has a different approach for once. However
        since the hype hasn’t died down at all since then I got a little annoyed
        with the fandom. People keep calling it the best ever and whatnot… I
        might be a bit harsh on it because of these people and because I really
        dislike when they actively deny weaknesses and mistakes. It’s maybe kind
        of a reflex to balance the overall opinion back out against all the
        cries of “such a deep character!” (you can describe in 10 words) or
        “surprising reveal!” (which was hinted at for half a season). Or I am
        just an asshole who can’t deal with people being happy with something I
        see mistakes in – can’t rule out that one either… xD
        I’m not all
        that informed about it. Might just be my good memory for narratives. I
        only ever saw each episode once and outside of that never read up on
        anything.
        I started watching it mainly to see what the hype was about
        (probably around episode 4 or 5) and enjoyed it. With some time and
        distance I went into season 2 expecting a good waste of time. And that
        it is. Nothing more though.
        
        Also I don’t know anything about GoT, only used it because everyone else does… xD
        (Also also: FU Disqus for deleting my post before I could post it!)
      - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
        
        Most media is likely a waste of time, good or bad, I suppose. I totally get the desire to swing the other direction when something mediocre gets a lot of hype (you may have noticed me complain about Star Wars stuff on occasion). Still, I don’t see a ton of AoT obsession now days, but I can’t say I’m a part of the fandom. I would be interested in hear what you predicted in the story! Until the most recent manga volume (which I started reading after season 1 ended) I could not have guessed what was going on with the Titans or their origins. Well, okay, I did guess, but it turns out I was mostly wrong.
      - SKy
        
        I meant “waste of time” in a positive way. Kind of in contrast to “religiously obsessing over something”. ^^;
        
        After season 1 my guess was that either the titans are an experiment that (probably quite literally) ate its creator or we have some rather advanced antagonist (organization?) that wants to purge the world from humans (regular humans? Non-superhumans? Or just all of them?). Annie working with the titans would suggest the latter – a try to engineer better weapons after humanity has proven rather resilient. That would have made Eren’s father either someone who stumbled upon research notes and went from there or even a traitor from the antagonist group.
        
        However with everything season 2 brought us – the intro showing prehistoric animals with glowing hearts, the beast titan with his ability to turn regular people into titans, all the confusion about affiliations and the overall lack in answers – those kind of crumble… The beast titan obviously doesn’t know about humanities weapon systems as he’s very interested in studying them, but if this was a controlled strategic assault he should, right? Plus he strongly differentiates himself from humans and can perfectly talk in titan form… An absolute wild card.
        And what’s up with all the sudden life symbolism? Is this about to become some “Mother Nature vs evil humanity” bullshit? But then why do the two titan guys behave like a small tribe acting up against the invading army? And the hell has Christa (sorry, “Historia” – whatever makes that name so special) to do with all of that?
        
        I’m at a loss here. Which isn’t a good thing, usually. With most settings – even the unpredictable ones – I can at least see some kind of pattern and a direction they’re coming from, if nothing else. Here, each direction I look into either ends in a dead end or a bunch of rushed clichés. That’s something I only know from series that don’t know where they’re going themselves – which I highly doubt AoT is…
        I hope the conclusion is logically solid and explains all this. At the moment I have no idea how that’s going to work though.
      - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
        
        Yeah, my guesses were very similar to yours and I was just as lost as to where it was going. If you’re going to keep following the show, I’ll just say that there is so much stuff going on off screen that there’s almost no way anyone could guess what’s going on from the clues given. I’m not sure if that means the story telling was sloppy and required a lot of exposition to make everything consistent, or it was planned out with such complexity that all this off screen stuff was taken into account and intended to be revealed at a much later time. I’m more likely to believe the former.
      - SKy
        
        Heh, reminds me of Kill la Kill where they went from “superpower high school struggle” to “evil alien clothes enslave humanity” because they needed something to justify all this. But at least that setting didn’t give a damn about realism from the start… xD
        Let’s see if they manage to make sense of all of this. If not you’ll probably see me rant about how gods damn aweful it was… ^^;
- Fenrir329
  
  As I have always said about Eren. He is not a character he is an angry football to be fought over by the different factions.
tinwatchman

Jack found the Guardian’s glasses at one point, I think.
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  Not good enough!
  - tinwatchman
    
    … yeah, okay, I’ll admit, I was a little let down too.
endplanets

Dude is all “there is no need for Bushido”
Like older bro like little bro.
AGV

I really want Nataku to fall into a very, veeeery deep pool of mouse traps
- George Paterson
  
  If you’re lucky, that’s what Eijiro’s trying to accomplish. Right now Nataku has too much power in the relationship. Eijiro really needs to find a way to put Nataku in his place. That may be part of what’s going on here.
Arkone Axon

General Nataku will probably scream and rant and snarl at his young lord for being “weak” and “soft” by not being eager to murder one of their own soldiers to cover up their own crimes.

And I hope his young lord will stick to his guns, given that A: that would even more monstrously dishonorable (in a “every time you speak of honor after that you’ll either squirm inside or you’re a hypocritical sociopath” sense), and B: this way will boost the morale and loyalty of the men. “I was going to kill myself… but Lord Eijiro would not permit it! He spoke highly of me! I will walk through fire for him!”
- purplelibraryguy
  
  Maybe. Or maybe they actually planned the whole good bushido/bad bushido thing to manipulate their image. This way, the general reinforces reputation for being a hardass, so the men will keep running scared and maintain discipline. And the future lord fosters a rep for tempering justice with mercy, laying down a baseline for future popularity.
  - Turul
    
    Nataku is a cunning old fox. I could totally see something like this happening.
  - Arkone Axon
    
    I don’t know that Nataku is smart enough to plan that (he was completely oblivious and contemptuous towards the possibilities presented by the firearms, for instance). I think he ascribes to the “three can keep a secret if two of them are dead” school of thought, and thinks Eijiro was foolish for not wanting to tie up the loose ends.
    
    However, you could very well be right. We’ll have to wait and see.
    - purplelibraryguy
      
      I actually think you’re more likely to be right, frankly. My way is an interesting scenario, but I agree that it may well not be Nataku’s style.
EBeth

Considering that Eijiro now has his hands on the hilt of the sword & it is still pointing at the soldier’s midsection, I half expect Nataku to foot-shove Eijiro forward to impale the soldier…
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  OH GODS! The mental imagery is priceless! And horrifying.
Nos Rin aka CTCO

I was really excited for more Jack but all the things I’ve heard….. Just not interested anymore.
All I want is to get my hands on the dvds for the entire original series and watch that, then maybe watch this finale.
Everything I heard about it just isn’t to my liking and while I’ve been told the original creators always wanted to make it darker. What it was with killing robots not living beings was perfect for my tastes.
Natalia Klimaszewska

I’m here just to say that I like Eijiro. Seriously! He’s like, my second favorite character in this comic!
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  Now I want to know your first!
dr pepper

In keeping with the irreverent style of this comic i’m surprised there wasn’t an extra panel that shows the soldier stopping his seppuku and peeking, hoping for this exact result.

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