Samurai

Samurai (侍) were the military-nobility and officer-caste of medieval and early-modern Japan.

In Japanese, they are usually referred to as bushi (武士, [bu.ɕi]) or buke (武家). According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning "to wait upon" or "accompany persons" in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau. In both countries the terms were nominalized to mean "those who serve in close attendance to the nobility", the pronunciation in Japanese changing to saburai. According to Wilson, an early reference to the word "samurai" appears in the Kokin Wakashū (905–914), the first imperial anthology of poems, completed in the first part of the 10th century.

By the end of the 12th century, samurai became almost entirely synonymous with bushi, and the word was closely associated with the middle and upper echelons of the warrior class. The samurai were usually associated with a clan and their lord, were trained as officers in military tactics and grand strategy, and they followed a set of rules that later came to be known as the bushidō. While the samurai numbered less than 10% of then Japan's population, their teachings can still be found today in both everyday life and in modern Japanese martial arts.

Gor

Gor /ˈɡɔːr/ is the parallel universe Counter-Earth setting for John Norman's extended series of sword and planet novels inspired particularly by Barsoom series and Almuric but also known for its content combining philosophy, erotica, and science fiction. The series has been variably referred to by publishers with several names including The Chronicles of Counter-Earth (Ballantine Books), The Saga of Tarl Cabot (DAW Books), Gorean Cycle (Tandem Books), Gorean Chronicles (Masquerade Books), Gorean Saga (Open Road Media), and The Counter-Earth Saga (DAW Books, for novels with a protagonist other than Tarl Cabot) whereas they are known popularly and in reverence as The Scrolls in the fandom. The customs, terminology and imagery depicted in these books inspired a Gorean subculture, with lifestyle adherents online and off. The science fiction inspired books have taken in influences from alternate genres, such as fantasy novels and other works.

Series description

Background

In an interview with the speculative fiction anthology Polygraff, John Norman spoke at length about the creation of the Gor universe and his influences.

Samurai Jack

Samurai Jack is an American action-adventure chanbara animated series created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network. The series follows Jack, a time-displaced samurai, in his singular quest to travel back in time and defeat the tyrannical demon Aku. The series is known for its cinematic atmosphere, masking-based animation style, and battle scenes which pay homage to samurai films.

Tartakovsky drew from a number of influences when creating the series, including the 1970s series Kung Fu, classic anime, and the works of directors Akira Kurosawa and David Lean. The series premiered on August 10, 2001, with a TV movie called The Premiere Movie. The series ended on September 25, 2004, after airing 52 episodes.

Samurai Jack has since garnered high critical acclaim. It won 4 Primetime Emmy Awards, 6 Annie Awards and 1 OIAF Award, as well as eight additional nominations. All four seasons have been released on DVD by Warner Home Video.

Overview

Plot and characters

-Aku, in the opening title sequence