>>92147245The whole plotline with Ashi is an obvious, blatant tool for Jack to become reinvested in the world. I was hoping for them to go the Daughterfu route a la The Last of Us or Bioshock Infinite, but romance works to the same ends of getting the old jaded fuck to care about life again.
Ashi's character arc is honestly pretty rushed, but she isn't really the focus, it's her effect on Jack. Setting her up with Jack gives Jack something to care about beyond simply killing Aku in the finale.
This episode is pure humor and comedy, and it's pretty funny. Dorky romcom humor in an otherwise action-filled episode right before the climax of the season works perfectly with breaking up the flow of the season.
My only disappointment so far with this season was how rushed Jack's spiritual journey was. There should have been more to the Ghost Samurai, and his journey should have taken a full episode, not 5 minutes. Outside of that, I definitely see where Genndy's going with this.
It makes way more sense if you see the whole thing as one long movie and not a series of independent episodes.
