“Under the law, revenge is a luxury for men,” a woman tells the titular character of Netflix’s Blue Eye Samurai. “Women must be practical.”
Is it not practical to take up the sword and swear vengeance on the one who has wronged you? At the very least this path requires a lot of focus—and Mizu the samurai, voiced by Maya Erskine, certainly has that. Blue Eye Samurai, a very grown-up animated series with a star-studded voice cast, comes from Amber Noizumi and Logan writer Michael Green, and the trailer promises it will be bloody and relentless—and also look really cool.
The series is set in 17th century Japan, when, as a piece on Netflix’s Tudum notes, “borders are closed to the outside world, citizens would never see a face that was not Japanese, except in rare cases of illegal trade.” Mixed-race Mizu, who seeks to murder her white father, stands out in this world, and not just for her incredible sword skills. In the trailer, one voice claims they saw the samurai’s eyes: “He’s not human!”
Along with Erskine (PEN15), the series features the voices of George Takei, Randall Park, Masi Oka, Brenda Song, Kenneth Branagh (as the villain, naturally), Stephanie Hsu, Ming-Na Wen, and Harry Shum Jr.
Co-creator Green said:
“We would love this to cross over into every interest — that if you like The Witcher, if you like animation, if you like Game of Thrones, if you like The Crown, if you like historical drama, if you like Shakespeare in Love, if you like Tarantino movies, there’s something in Blue Eye Samurai for you.”
So: violence, romance, political intrigue, a lot of swords, no small amount of blood, plus existential crises? Sounds like a potent brew. Blue Eye Samurai premieres November 3rd on Netflix.
