Trailer for The Blue-Eyed Samurai/Netflix
There are inherent and fascinating contradictions already in the raw concept of Netflix's new series, "Blue Eye Samurai." The adult animated and action series was created by an American couple: Amber Neuzumi, a mixed-American, Japanese and white, and Michael Green, a white Jew and son of an Israeli mother (among others, the writers of Logan - Wolverine and Blade Runner 2049). These American duo wrote a work set in 17th century Japan, whose heroine, Mizu, is a blue-eyed Japanese. She embarks on a quest for revenge to kill the only four white men in her country, because she considers them responsible for her mother's death and her own situation - a vile hybrid.
The roots of the series began 15 years ago, when Neuzumi looked at her newborn daughter. "Why am I so excited about my daughter having blue eyes?" she recalls in the promotional materials for the series. "What's the big deal about that? And why am I so excited to have a baby who looks whiter?"
Supporting characters crack the hard armor. "The Blue-Eyed Samurai"/Netflix
This very personal ambivalence permeates beautifully into "The Blue-Eyed Samurai": the heroine's quest for revenge is a physical, violent and sweeping embodiment of soul-searching and complex questions about identity. The series is set in the Japanese Edo period, at a time when borders are closed to the outside world. Japanese citizens will never see a face that is not like theirs, except in rare cases of illegal trafficking. Mizzou (voiced by Maya Erskine, better known as the comedian, "PEN15"), born into this reality, seeks revenge on the person who created her, the man who forced himself on her mother and turned her herself into a "creature of shame." Since the possibilities for women are almost non-existent, she embarks on her journey, hiding both her gender and her blue eyes.
"The Blue-Eyed Samurai" moves between the past and present of the series to describe how Mizo grew up as a rejected child who was abused by other children, and was accepted by only one person - a blind swordmaker. The elderly blacksmith just couldn't see her telltale signs, the ones that make her a monster for anyone else. What is powerful and touching about the way Mizzou's past becomes clear throughout the series' eight episodes is that the burning and dangerous hatred that surrounds within her is necessarily a channeling of the hatred that others feel for her. An internal conflict that she forces to become external, self-loathing expressed in the shedding of the blood of others.
On the surface, the plot skeleton is one we've seen enough times before – after all, every revenge story is about the same – but the creative choices draw freshness from the series' starting points. They always manage to surprise, demonstrate humanity and coolness: Mizo is a mixture almost never seen on the Western screen, for the simple reason that the plot takes place in the East; The goal she sets for herself makes her a woman who rebels against all the conventions of her time for purely practical reasons; Characters who look like a certain thing turn out to be something else entirely, and in general it is possible to change even in a reality that pushes people (especially women) into very narrow squares.
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Some of the most spectacular action scenes seen recently on screen. "The Blue-Eyed Samurai"/Netflix
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Comedian in a dramatic role. Maya Erskine/Getty Images, Phillip Faraone/Getty Images
Of course, the animation of "The Blue-Eyed Samurai" cannot be taken lightly. It is full of meticulous historical details that bring the past to life and add depth to it - the landscapes, the clothing, the movement, the food, the architecture, the entire culture. The action scenes are some of the most spectacular seen on screen recently. Animator Jane Wu, who serves as the series' executive producer and director, created them using flesh-and-blood choreographers and stuntmen, giving the battles a believable and gripping roughness. Although these scenes often turn Mizzou into something of a superhero – again, like many revenge stories – they are also exciting, dizzying and inventive.
The hard armor she wears on her soul is cracked by the supporting characters who accompany her on her way, all voiced by some of the top Asian-American actors, including George Takai (Star Trek) and the legendary Kari-Hiroyuki Tagawa (The Man in the High Castle, The Last Emperor), Massey Oka ("Heroes"), Brenda Song ("The Beautiful Life of Zack & Cody"), Darren Barnett, "Truth or Dare", Ming-Na Wen ("E.R.", "Agents of SHIELD"), Randall Park ("Sweet Sour," "Veep") and Kenneth Branagh as one of the evil white men Mizzou hunted.
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A fascinating character. "The Blue-Eyed Samurai"/Netflix
Mizo tries to shake off the vast majority of these characters, and in some cases get rid of them in practice, but most of them insist on staying and challenging her perceptions and goals by not rejecting her. Sometimes quite the opposite - they insist on remaining in her presence. How can she allow them to do that when what has made her who she is, that has tempered her very being, is the aversion of others to her?
Mizo is a fascinating character, a wonderful axis for the sweeping story in an already effective genre and the rich and beautiful animation of "The Blue-Eyed Samurai." A series that gets better as it progresses, and Netflix's best in a long time.
Important note:
Despite such a remote place and time, the series includes several scenes that may resonate with the current reality in Israel and trigger mental triggers. It is advisable to take this into account before watching.
The season of "The Blue-Eyed Samurai" is available in full on Netflix.
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