Episode XCVI digs deeper into characterization while ramping up violence

Blood has never looked so beautiful in a cartoon.

As grim and dark as the season continues to get, this is by far the most emotionally driven episode.

 Just from the look of things, it seems the writers are very comfortable in making a show like “Samurai Jack” very continuity driven.

Once again, the entire episode carries plenty of turmoil and stakes for our hero, with almost no dialogue in a majority of scenes.

However, audio does find a way to really drive the episode home. Just hearing the sounds of a fresh wound bleeding and the agonizing moans of pain were able to humanize Jack more than any inner monologue could.

The artistic overlay of red, black and blue were able to convey Jack’s transformation from an honorable hero to a savage survivor.

Three things that concerned me from the previous episode came back to tell me how wrong I was for even worrying about them.

 For one, this episode let me know that every detail will come full circle every time.

 As Jack survives every conflict, a looming horseman serves as the catalyst of the ever looming mystery. That metaphorical wolf that served as a parallel in the last episode was not just a one-off plot point.

Also, bringing back past characters is going to continue happening. But, the less restrictive rating of the show has given the creators plenty of liberties, especially to move the plot in an incredible sense of character development for Jack.

After years of killing robots, the vicious onslaught of the Daughters of Aku has forced him to make a moralistic choice that will hopefully progress and continue to haunt Jack in later episodes.

The last concern erased by this episode came from how repetitious the locations may become as the season moves on.

We got some desert ruins and autumn forests in the first episode, forests and interior temple locations in the second, and more forests in this recent episode.

I was afraid seeing the same locations would not satisfy my longing for old “Samurai Jack” episodes that featured varied locations of lush jungles and cyberpunk cities.

However, I was wrong once again.

 This snow-filled forest was incredibly detailed, thanks to the editing and incredible work done for the fight choreography. It uses a very nostalgic technique of white backgrounds that really pleases the eye.

If any viewer has missed out any previous episodes, be sure to catch up in order to enjoy the full impact that this episode offered with powerful action, art and storytelling.