Blue Eyed Samurai

Netflix NAILED IT with this animated series!

Nov 18, 2023

If you haven’t watched Blue Eye Samurai on Netflix yet, then hopefully this little review will push you towards watching it.

And, if you haven’t heard of this, even, then maybe it’ll convince you to go watch the whole series (8 episodes) this weekend!

Here’s my mostly SPOILER FREE review.

The Premise

Okay, lemme admit that when I first saw this in my “You May Be Interested In” list on Netflix, I first poopooed it as a mature audiences Mulan. “Meh,” I said.

And then I decided to give it a try — I mean, the trailer animation looked pretty dope, and I love all-things Japan (even if this isn’t a Japanese production). Oh. My. God!

Okay, before I get too excited, here’s the premise for you: a Japanese woman is [apparently] raped by a white invader — potentially one of only four white men in known to be Japan during this time — and gives birth to a “half-breed” daughter. Note that this takes place during the Edo-period (17th century) in Japan. This child, as expected, grows up with a rough life: no father, half-blooded, blue-eyed, and a girl. Ooooof. The quadruple-whammy. Oh, and then her mother dies.

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Alone, the child runs away from her village to stumble upon the humble home of a blind bladesmith who, ultimately, raises her.

The tale opens with a grown up Mizu (Japanese: 水) out for revenge. revenge on the man who co-produced her, as it were, and who is ultimately responsible for her mother’s death and her own lifelong suffering, as she sees it. Revenge blinds, and Mizu is no different. This is her biggest flaw: revenge-laced myopia.

FUN FACT: Mizu means “water” in Japanese and this is a theme throughout the show if you pay attention closely enough.

The Adventure

Mizu is an unparalleled fighter. Her training is teased out across the entire series with really good storytelling. It isn’t dumped on you all-at-once in some Rocky-esque, 80s music-filled, training montage, but it’s distilled into the finer components and delivered in a slow drip like an ideal coffee or tea made with patience and delivered only when the cup is full and ready to be consumed.

I haven’t seen a ton of “Mary Sue” complaints online, but I have seen a few. First, I hate that phrase. It’s demeaning and lazy. Every big hero is a “Mary Sue” by definition, whether Spider-man or Hercules, Luke Skywalker or Jason Bourne — there’s nothing they can’t escape or defeat. So, kiss my ass. It’s the story that makes the hero, not the abilities. And Mizu is plenty flawed.

She’s angry. She’s blinded by revenge. She’s lonely. She’s arrogant. She has plenty of flaws, equal to her strengths. It’s the situations that the writers deliver that make her the hero she turns out to be. Oh, and her “sidekicks.”

The Production

Holy biscuits the quality on this is PHENOMENAL! It’s better than The Dragon Prince and most of the other CGI-heavy, animated shows on Netflix today. Like, by a lot.

The animation is near-flawless. The characters were mo-capped in a modern-Disney manner where you can feel the muscles flex and see the fluidity of the human body in motion through the art. The cloth flicks, flows, and rests in such subtle, perfect ways that you’re pulled in further towards the believability of it all.

The backgrounds are ridiculous. I found myself listening to the dialogue sometimes while absorbing the scenery. Colors, music, thematics all come together in a sensory palette that was clearly well-thought out.

I haven’t been this excited for an animated show since The Legend of Korra. It’s that good (no, it’s not Korra-good, it’s just the best thing since then, IMO).

And the music. Every scene had weight, thanks to the score. So good.

The “Ending”

This story builds a terrific crescendo that makes you wonder, “How TF are they gonna wrap this up in the last two episodes?!?!?!”

But, they do it. And it’s very satisfactory. Yes, there are some obvious moments like betrayal and other common tropes, but this doesn’t detract from the quality of the final production. It’s really, really good.

So, set aside the sophomoric annoyances that everyone seems to have these days about “believability” and just enjoy the movie. There are a million things about this series (and really, every animated series) that are unbelievable, so suspend your disbelief and enjoy this wonderfully animated, beautifully choreographed, and perfectly told historical fiction piece for about 8hrs. You won’t regret it.

I’m probably going to go watch it again now…

LMK what you thought of it! Give it a watch and drop me a comment on this post!