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Review:  “Blue Eye Samurai” Netflix series (2023)

From wiki, the series is adult animation created by and written for Netflix by husband and wife team, Amber Noizumi and Michael Green. It was co-produced and animated by French studio, Blue Spirit.

Set in Japan’s Edo Period (17^th century.) It is crucial to the understanding of the plot to know that during the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan closed its borders to trading and attempted religious conversion by foreign nations. Although not explicit in its isolationist policies, it was implicit that these undesirable foreign influences were coming from white nations.

Because of greed on the part of the rulers, they allowed 4 white men to stay in Japan on the down-low, with the condition that they remain out of sight. These white men got Japanese women pregnant without much thought or conscience, perhaps not realizing at first that these “half-breed” children with blue eyes would be reviled, targeted, and murdered if possible.

Mizu (voice of Maya Erskine as an adult) (voice of Orli Marika Green as a child) is one of those children. The story jumps around from past to present in order to tell the story of how Mizu came to be the sword master seeking revenge in bits and pieces. Mizu’s whole life has been shaped by the careless one of 4 white men who got her mother pregnant and set a series of horrific events to be visited upon an innocent child. This shaping has raised a lethal young woman thirsty for revenge. Because of her “double whammy” of being half-white with blue eyes, and being a woman, who has 2 choices in life in her world – bride or prostitute – she is forced to dress and act as a male and wear amber-toned glasses as disguises.

Knowing the yin and yang of the ways of the world, there cannot be darkness without light. As a homeless street orphan, young Mizu is taken under the wing of the blind Master Sword Maker (voice of Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa.)

In a parallel, separate story line, that at some point converges, is the story of the privileged daughter of a nobleman, Akemi (voice of Brenda Song,) who has fallen in love with a handsome, ambitious “commoner origins” Samurai, Taigen (voice of Darren Barnet,) but she learns that, although she’s daddy’s little girl, it doesn’t stop her father from using her as a piece of valuable property to politically bargain with.

The support cast is stunningly good, from Akemi’s life-long servant, Seki (voice by George Takei) to Mizu’s good-natured sidekick who is “useful” (Mizu’s term for him,) Ringo (voice by Masi Oka,) to the prime villains, Heiji Shindo (voice of Randall Park,) who plays the liaison between one of the white men and the Shogun,) and Abijah Fowler (voice of Kenneth Branagh,) the white man who looks a hell of a lot like a buffed up DJT (ick!) and is just as corrupt and heartless.

That’s enough of a plot outline to hopefully pique your interest.

What stands out for me, besides the caliber of the voice acting, is the quality of the animation. I’ve watched quite a bit of anime over the years, starting when my younger son took an interest in it in high school and roped me into it. “Cowboy Bebop” and “Big O” (about a negotiator, an android young woman with feelings, and a Giant Transformer-type robot at their disposal) were two I really enjoyed. Onward from there to Studio Ghibli. I’ve seen more recent offerings on Netflix, including Pluto. Blue Eye Samurai is from a French studio, and it shows in its style, which incorporates more realism and visual poetry, for lack of other adjectives. Honestly, it feels like it falls between anime and live action in a most pleasant way.

There’s a whole lot of killing and in creative ways, but the sword remains the primary weapon of choice for the heroes and the villains. The landscapes and architecture are very well-done. The characters themselves are well-drawn. The drama floats near the overdrawn, but the circumstances call for such responses. There’s an underlying message but no compulsion for any of the characters to acknowledge it; well, maybe one or two of them.

I binge watched this over two days. There is a set-up for the next season at the end. The series already has the green light for Season 2.

Rating: 10/10

Did I mention there’s a lot of action in it?  This trailer focuses on the action, but there is so much more to it.