Season 5 (2017)

"Fifty years have passed, but, I do not age. Time has lost its effect on me, yet the suffering continues. Aku's grasp chokes the past, present and future. Hope is lost. Got to get back. Back to the past. Samurai Jack."

- Samurai Jack

Season 5 is the fifth season which premiered March 11, 2017.

On December 2, 2015, Adult Swim announced that it would be airing a new season of Samurai Jack on its Toonami programming block. The fifth season of Samurai Jack will be the final season and will officially conclude the story with a proper ending. It also consists of the least amount of episodes; a total of ten as opposed to the usual thirteen.

Genndy Tartakovsky, the series' creator, returned as executive producer for this season.

Background
Created by Genndy Tartakovsky, Samurai Jack originally aired on Cartoon Network from 2001 to 2004, comprising four seasons. The series was left open-ended since 2004. Tartakovsky previously expressed interest in a film adaptation of the series to provide a genuine conclusion, but the project never materialized.

Production
""Technology is different, we're using computers now, instead of hamsters like the old days.""

- Craig Kellman (character designer)

Starting in 2014, reruns of Samurai Jack were aired on Toonami, an action-oriented programming block on Adult Swim. The network released a short teaser in December 2015 after it green-lit the return of the series with Genndy Tartakovsky as executive producer and Cartoon Network Studios as the season's production company. Artwork used in the teaser derived from the cover of an issue from IDW Publishing's comic book adaptation of the series. The new season received further mention ahead of the network's 2016 upfront press release. The fifth season was announced for the 2016–17 television season. Work-in-progress excerpts were shared at the 2016 Annecy International Animated Film Festival.

Voice Cast

 * Phil LaMarr as Samurai Jack, Mad Jack, and Jack's Conscience
 * Greg Baldwin as Aku
 * Mako as Past Aku ("Episode CI")
 * John DiMaggio as The Scotsman
 * Tara Strong as Ashi / Avi
 * Grey Griffin as The High Priestess / Flora / Olivia
 * Sab Shimono as The Emperor
 * Lauren Tom as The Empress
 * Tom Kenny as Scaramouche / Chritchellites
 * Kari Wahlgren as Ami / Aki
 * Mae Whitman as Ari
 * Aaron LaPlante as The Omen / Odin
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as Woolies / Three Blind Archers / Demongo
 * Keegan-Michael Key as Da Samurai
 * Daran Norris as Ra / Rama / Spartan King / Max
 * Keone Young as Monk
 * Rob Paulsen as Rothchild
 * Jeff Bennett as Monkey Man

Additional Voices

 * Kari Wahlgren
 * Grey Griffin
 * Phil LaMarr
 * Chris Parnell
 * Keone Young
 * Tara Strong
 * Corey Burton
 * Aaron LaPlante
 * John DiMaggio
 * Greg Baldwin
 * Kevin Michael Richardson
 * Tom Kenny
 * Keegan-Michael Key
 * Daran Norris
 * Billy West

Episodes
See also: Episode Guide

Home Media
The season in its entirety released on DVD and Blu-Ray on October 17, 2017, making it the only season in the series to get a standalone Blu-Ray release.

The same day, a full-series box set, containing all 5 seasons was released on Blu-Ray.

Trivia

 * A five-second teaser was released on YouTube the same day of the announcement.
 * Artwork used in the teaser derived from the cover of an issue from IDW Publishing's comic book adaptation of the series.
 * Work-in-progress excerpts were shared at the 2016 Annecy International Animated Film Festival.
 * The new season features more mature themes and writing, featuring actual gore and blood (as opposed to merely robots and oil from previous seasons) and slight sexual themes.
 * Season 5's episodes form an ongoing story rather than a single plot per episode. The story picks up fifty years after the end of the original series and follows Jack on a journey that ultimately concludes the story.
 * The promo image for season 5 shows a silhouette of Jack wearing his new armor while holding his sword. In the actual episodes however, Jack never uses the sword while wearing the armor, having adapted it long after losing the weapon and losing the armor prior to retrieving the sword.
 * This is the shortest season of the series, having only 10 episodes instead of the usual 13. The episodes also lack actual titles, going only by their order number.
 * In an interview, Genndy Tartakovsky revealed that he had anguished over the voice of Aku following the passing of Mako, Aku's original voice, in 2006. He stated that, for the new season, he had initially contemplated using a completely new voice for Aku so as not to ape off of Mako's take on the character. However, over time he came to realise that Aku's voice is such an integral part of the character that he decided to go with a close imitation by actor Greg Baldwin, who was an understudy of Mako. Genndy went on to say that he didn't believe anybody could replace Mako.
 * This parallels what occurred during the final Season of Avatar: The Last Airbender. The character of Uncle Iroh was voiced by Mako up until the actor's passing, and the role was taken over by Greg Baldwin for the majority of the final season.
 * The season was expected to air in 2016, but on October 11, 2016, Chris Reccardi announced on his official Facebook page that the new season will premiere on March 2017. However, there were conflicting reports of that date, as Toonami's showrunner Jason DeMarco has said there was no definite premiere date set. Reccardi later deleted his post.
 * Later on, Adult Swim re-confirmed the rumor, in response to a question. The premiere date was set to be March 11, this time being true.
 * "JackIsBack" was used on various platforms to promote Season 5 of the series.


 * Tyler Bates provided the music score for this season.
 * This season was co-produced by Williams Street.
 * This is the first season that is co-produced by Williams Street despite Seasons 1 till 4 were co-produced by Cartoon Network Studios.
 * The episodes of Season 5 start with the Roman numeral "XCII", or 92. This is a considerable gap from the previous episode, LII, which is 52 in Hindu-Arabic numerals. The reason for this was to emphasize the considerable time gap between Season 4 and 5. This would also seem to suggest that the time in between LII and XCII would comprise roughly 40 episodes.
 * This is the only season in the entire series where Jack and Aku never come into combat with each other.
 * Viewers should be aware that this season contains real blood unlike in the previous seasons.