Samurai Jack Triptych
November 2020
Illustrator
Physical Medium
Traveling back to the past—to childhood—Samurai Jack was my favorite show. This triptych was made in honor of Genndy Tartakovsky’s masterful animated series.
The triptych reads from the right to left in reference to Jack’s Japanese origins. The dominant colors of the show’s main antagonist, Aku, cover the entire piece—save for the tranquil blue and pure white.
The right panel covers the initial attack on Jack’s village as a child, the middle shows the 50 year journey he went on to defeat Aku, and the left panel shows the end of the story—Jack, with his quest complete, is left to himself in a bittersweet ending.
When mounting the project, I chose to divide it with thick black lines for two reasons.
In the show, Genndy would divide the screen with similar black bars to draw the viewer’s attention directly where he wanted them to look. The second reason is to emphasis Aku’s dominant presence in the story. This darkness covers the entire page, the black bars making him even more monstrous. Even after his defeat, the black branches of the tree form tendrils that loom over and isolate Jack.
The magic sword, Aku's only weakness, looms and stretches across every panel. Aku—constantly attacking Jack to pry the sword from him grasp, and Jack—seemingly a breath's away from losing it.
What does this piece mean?
Right panel
The inciting incident: Aku attacks Jack's village. The ground, castle, sky and clouds tainted permanently by this traumatic incident. Aku celebrates, completely blind to a fleeing child we would come to know as Jack.
Middle panel
The middle, fittingly, covers the majority of the story. The middle section is divided into its own 3 act structure. The top right covers seasons 1–4 of Samurai Jack. Through his travels he is focused on returning to his past and finishing his fight with Aku. The wisp-like shapes are the remnants of the castle fire. The fires of his family home burning to ash looming hollow in the background as a permanent reminder of what he is fighting for. His family crest looms just above his shoulder—his purpose to keep fighting.
The top left of the middle panel covers season 5. This season was made 12 years after the conclusion of season 4. 12 years of viewers turned out to be 50 years for Jack on his journey. Jack is at his lowest point. Seemingly no way to return to his home to defeat Aku and without a purpose, Jack is less amicable to the people he saves. The deep red sky and fiery clouds return. Jack is stuck in the trauma of his failures. The family crest is replaced by the symbol of season 5's main threat: The Daughters of Aku. These are the first human enemies Jack has ever faced that he could never hope to make allies of. However, one of the daughters, Ashi, does become an love interest after a while. Those hollowed out embers are now replaced with cherry blossom petals to symbolize hints of growing affection. Towards the end of Jack's journey, that deep, red hatred that surrounds him lightens up to orange and the petals turn to red—symbolizing Jack and Ashi's relationship bursting into full passion.
In the dead center of the middle panel is Aku—his antlers extending from one side to the other. Aku is the bookend for Samurai Jack. His influence is felt from the beginning to the bittersweet end. Despite Aku's monstrous presence and Jack's inner turmoil, Jack—now at peace with his past—is enveloped in that tranquil blue and is finally ready to face Aku once and for all.
Left Panel
In the final panel, Jack is left alone. Aku's influence is still felt, despite the monster's defeat. The red sky is now a lessened orange. The cherry blossom tree resembles birth and death, beauty and violence, and the fleeting nature of life—especially as a samurai. After the fight with Aku, Ashi did not make it out. Jack, now hollowed out in white, stands alone on a black hill where a black tree and tendril-like branches loom over him. Despite his victory, the effects of Aku's reign is still omnipresent. Despite the ending not being ideal, the clouds are also white—slowly etching away Aku's influence. The world is healing and Jack along with it. Even after all of the things Jack endured for 50 years, he is healing and looking towards a better future.