Samurai Jack is an American animated action-adventure dystopian television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network and Adult Swim. The show is produced by Cartoon Network Studios. Tartakovsky conceived Samurai Jack after finishing his work on his first Cartoon Network original series, Dexter's Laboratory, which premiered in 1996. Samurai Jack took inspiration from Kung Fu, the 1972 televised drama starring David Carradine, Tartakovsky's fascination with samurai culture and the Frank Miller comic series Ronin.
The titular character is an unnamed Japanese samurai prince who wields a mystic katana capable of cutting through virtually anything. He sets out to free his kingdom after it is taken over by an evil, shapeshifting demon lord known as Aku. The two engage in a fierce battle, but just as the prince is about to deal the final strike, Aku sends him forward in time to a dystopian future ruled by the tyrannical demon. Adopting the name "Jack" after being addressed as such by beings in this time period, he quests to travel back to his own time and defeat Aku before he can take over the world. Jack's search for a way back to his own time period transcends Aku's control, but Jack's efforts are largely in vain due to the way back to his home ending up just out of his reach.
Samurai Jack, originally airing for four seasons comprising thirteen episodes each, was broadcast from August 10, 2001, to September 25, 2004, without concluding the overarching story. The show was revived twelve years later for a darker, more mature fifth season that provides a conclusion to Jack's story, with Williams Street assisting in production; it premiered on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim as part of its Toonami programming block on March 11, 2017, and concluded with its final episode (the series finale) on May 20, 2017. Episodes were directed by Tartakovsky, often in collaboration with others.
The series has garnered critical acclaim and won eight Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Animated Program, as well as six Annie Awards and an OIAF Award. It is widely considered as one of the greatest animated shows of all time.
Premise
Samurai Jack tells the story of an unnamed young prince (voiced by Phil LaMarr) from a kingdom set in feudal Japan, whose father, the emperor of Japan (voiced by Sab Shimono as an elder man; Keone Young as a young emperor), was given a magical katana from three gods — Ra, Rama, and Odin — that he could and had used to defeat and imprison the supernatural shapeshifting demon Aku (Mako, and later Greg Baldwin for Season 5). Eight years later Aku escaped, took over the land, and held the Emperor hostage, but not before the prince was sent away by his mother to travel so that he could train and return with the magic sword to defeat Aku. On his return, the prince-turned-samurai faced and almost defeated Aku, but before he could land a finishing blow, Aku placed a time travel curse and sent him into the distant future, anticipating that he would be able to deal with the samurai by that time.
The samurai prince arrives on Earth surrounded in dystopian retrofuturism ruled by Aku. The first people he encounters call him "Jack" as a form of slang, which he adopts as his name. His given name is never revealed. Jack only has his kimono, geta, and sword to his avail in his adventures. Most episodes depict Jack overcoming various obstacles in his quest to travel back to his own time and defeat Aku, and his quest is prolonged occasionally by moments where either he nearly succeeds in returning to his own time, or conversely, Aku nearly succeeds in defeating Jack, only to be undermined by the unexpected.
Setting
The retro-futuristic world is inhabited by a variety of denizens such as robots, extraterrestrials, talking animals, monsters, magical beings, and deities. Some areas may have advanced technologies like flying cars, while others resemble ancient times or industrial conditions. Moreover, Aku has brought aliens from other planets to inhabit Earth, after destroying the habitability of their home worlds. Criminals and fugitives of all kinds are very common on his Earth. Mythological and supernatural creatures make regular appearances and coexist among the technologically-advanced inhabitants.
Despite exponential levels of technological advancement, there are still uninhabited areas of the world. Those include forests, jungles, and mountains, which have remained largely untouched even as Aku began his conquest and reign over every sentient being. A few communities of intelligent creatures, like Shaolin monks, have also remained largely untouched in spite of Aku's reign.