During a 10-year period between 1996-2006 was a good period to grow up from a child into teenage years. Everyone looks back at the time they grew up in with fondness and I am doing the same here and this era had a selection of memories to be fond of, from the sound of dial-up, 1p sweets and the Nokia 3310.
However, the TV for kids was one of the best eras, with no holding back and little censoring but with further awareness of the influence on children growing up.
A quick dip into the past
I remember the days very clearly getting home from school as soon as possible to stick on Cartoon Network, watching shows like Dexter’s Laboratory waiting for Dragonball Z to start.
Dragonball Z is what really started my interest in Japanese Anime and Manga. But we also had Pokémon begin over in the US and here in the UK, then there was also The Powerpuff Girls, the original girl power which was developed in 1992 and rebooted again in 2016.
Away from cartoons there were absurdly interesting programmes such as My Parents are Aliens, a story of two aliens who crash land on earth and whilst waiting for their distress signal to be found, they adopt three siblings. The concept sounds ridiculous and absurd but for a child growing up it promotes solidarity, goodwill, and to care for everyone. There have been many great shows including Robot Wars, SMTV Live and of course samurai jack.
Samurai Jack is back
Voted the 42nd greatest cartoon of all-time and critically acclaimed for its well-developed plotlines and clever writing, Samurai Jack set itself apart from many of its good vs evil cartoon counterparts. It ran from 2001 to 2004, where It won 4 Primetime Emmy Awards, 6 Annie Awards and 1 OIAF Award along with a further 8 nominations.
The story is of a Samurai who, after years of training, acquired his father’s magic katana to defeat the tyrannical demon Aku. But before he could deliver the final blow, the demon opened a time portal and flung the samurai far into the future where the demon’s evil is law. The samurai, whose real name is never mentioned, gets called “Jack” as a slang term and adopts this as his name.
He then spends the subsequent seasons trying to find a portal to get back to his own time to finally defeat Aku.
It ran for 4 seasons with episodes ranging from dark, light, comical and light-hearted and because many of his foes were robots that bled oil and aliens that bled green goo, it could move around censorship rules of blood and violence. Created by Genndy Tartakovsky (Dexter’s Laboratory), he wasn’t happy with the standard of action cartoons being aired so decided to create one himself and wanted to create a series that "that is cinematic in scope and that incorporates action, humour, and intricate artistry".
A curtain call
He was a great success with Samurai Jack and it promoted all the right intentions of good vs evil and was a symbol of hope.
It taught you to work hard and even if you aren’t successful the first-time round, keep trying and never give up and to fight for a better future by defeating the demons of the past.
It is airing on March 11th, those who watched and loved it that now have kids will be sitting down, reminiscing, and showing their families what they grew up with and can share something invaluable with them. Samurai Jack returns to our screens for his last bow and it will be the fifth and final series, will he make back to his own time?
