Overview (Spoilers Below):
Set in Japan’s Edo Period, mixed-race swords master Mizu (Maya Erskine) is on a quest for vengeance.
Our Take:
They say that revenge is best served cold. However, in a swordsman’s case, revenge is served on a sword with a decapitated head on the side. This has been an interesting week for Netflix, as we got not one but two CGI anime-influenced shows that take place during the Edo Period. While one is based on the classic video game franchise, the other I’m looking at appears to be a piece of original content from the streaming service. Considering that I enjoy some of the action movies based on Japanese culture, I have no complaints about receiving two packages for the price of one. The question is, which one is better or worse than the other? Well, based on my experience with the first couple of episodes, it’s safe to say that this series made a killing.
The only thing that got me intrigued about the show was the people behind it. The series was written and created by Michael Green and his wife, Amber Noizumi. There’s a good chance you might remember his name from somewhere. If so, you’ll know that Green is responsible for writing scripts for films like Logan, Blade Runner 2049, The Call of the Wild, and the three Hercule Poirot movies from Kenneth Branagh, who’s also in Blue Eye Samurai. So, you can say that Michael Green has a pretty good track record with his screenplays. He’s also no stranger to writing television shows, but his latest one happens to be his first approach to animation since the direct-to-video film Green Lantern: Emerald Knights in 2011. Since I loved most of the movies Green wrote, including Logan, I couldn’t help but be curious about this adult animated series.
Heading into Blue Eye Samurai, I knew what I would expect based on its premise. It’s a traditional revenge story centering on a samurai traveling to find those who did her wrong. Of course, I’m not talking about just any old samurai we’ve seen in multiple samurai movies and shows. I’m talking about one whose skin is a bit darker than the rest and is a woman. Of course, not everyone knows the latter part of her secret since she bandaged herself to hide her boobs. That part alone is enough to give me Mulan vibes, which also involves a woman being a man to survive. However, upon watching the first episode, I realized that there’s more to this series than just another samurai-involved series.
Blue Eye Samurai is a revenge action thriller that reflects racism and discrimination in Japan. The series’s setting is set in a time when the country barricaded itself from the outside world, and anyone who isn’t white-skinned is considered an outcast or, in this case, a demon. The main character, Mizu, is born mixed due to a tragedy involving four white men and her mother. I’ll let you guys put those pieces together. Along with her being discriminated against, her past sends Mizu on a revenge path to kill the men responsible while also making new enemies and allies along the way. One of the allies Mizu comes across is Ringo (Masi Oka), a waiter born without hands who dreams of being a samurai. It’s a pretty deep reflection of the topic that resembles today’s society, where people are judged by their skin color.
Its themes were more than enough to get me hooked on the remaining episodes, and boy, was I glad I stuck around. Some episodes can be beefy regarding their lengths, and the soundtrack choices it made were odd regarding its concept. However, they never felt longer than they should regarding the narrative and characters. Every minute of each episode is spent illuminating the show’s beauty and even its Japanese-influenced style, but it always retained its character depth, especially Mizu, and themes through its pacing. It’s highly entertaining for its presentation and action, but it’s also thoughtful and immersive for its depiction of honor, discrimination, and hate.
The series is also jam-packed with an impressive lineup, including Maya Erskine from PEN15, Brenda Song, George Takei, Randall Park, and even Ming-Na Wen. Each actor in the cast gave their best efforts in giving life to its complex characters, and the result is as sharp as a blade. I only know Erskine from PEN15, which I thought was surprisingly good, and a few episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Based on how she did in those shows, it’s great that she’s still able to get more roles, including this one. Erskine was stellar in portraying Mizu’s hatred toward her detractors, but she also isn’t afraid to express the character’s vulnerability and sadness, especially in its fifth episode, “The Tale of the Ronin and the Bride”. Brenda Song was also surprisingly good as Princess Akemi, whose desire is to be free and choose her own destiny. Think of her as a Japanese Jasmine from Aladdin. Masi Oka did pretty well in balancing the humor with the drama regarding his role as Ringo. Then, there’s Kenneth Branagh, who successfully delivered Abijah Fowler’s conniving and despicable personality.
Finally, we have the animation, which utilizes CGI from Blue Spirit. Long story short, it looks terrific, not just for its vibrant Edo period settings but also for its presentation and engaging action scenes. With its wide-shot cinematography and lighting, the animation paints a bloody yet sublimely gorgeous painting resembling a traditional martial arts film. The best example of this comes from “All Evil Dreams and Angry Words”, where Mizu infiltrates Fowler’s castle. It utilizes a few long-shot takes and camera angles to capture the full immersion of Mizu’s struggle to reach the top. Plus, it has one of my favorite action scenes of the show, in which Mizu battles an army of guards.
Overall, Blue Eye Samurai slices and dices past its traditional revenge plot to provide another fantastic addition to Netflix’s animation library. Aside from its soundtrack and cliffhanger ending, I was surprisingly impressed at how engaging and well-animated the series turned out. I thought I was getting another samurai series that’s all spectacle within a formulaic plot akin to Onimusha. Thankfully, Blue Eye Samurai easily proved me wrong by reinvigorating its revenge tale with a depiction of racism and discrimination. Regarding its voice cast, animation, and storytelling, the series is another piece of animation content from Netflix I’ll gladly go back to, assuming that the streaming service plans to renew it.