Netflix's Blue Eye Samurai Showrunners Gave Content Warnings To Their Animators
Set in 17th-century Edo-period Japan, the new Netflix series "Blue Eye Samurai" follows Mizu (voiced by "Pen15" star Maya Erskine), a mixed-race master of the sword who lives a life in disguise seeking to deliver revenge. "It's an Edo-period tale of revenge — Kill Bill meets Yentl," co-creator Amber Noizumi told Tudum. During this time period, borders to Japan were closed to other countries, with the exception of illegal trade. Knowing that there were only four white men in Japan at the time of her conception, Mizu decides to track them down and kill them in the hopes of enacting revenge against the man who made her a "creature of shame." Her quest requires her to hide not just her blue eyes but also her gender, because as is narrated in the series' trailer, "Under the law, revenge is a luxury for men. Women must be practical."
/Film's own Jenna Busch-Henderson attended a "Blue Eye Samurai" event at Netflix, where showrunners Amber Noizumi and Michael Green ("Logan," "Blade Runner 2049"), in addition to director Jane Wu, who directed two episodes, spoke about the process of bringing the new series to life. When talking about assembling their team behind the scenes, Green said:
"It took finding people who were excited for ambition. And in the animation space, we learned so many people seemed to have spent, I don't know, decades in the children's space and we all love children's animation, but U.S. animation productions tend to tilt that way. So we had to find people who were excited with the temperament for this."
Working on any project that depicts graphic violence can be a challenging task, but when it comes to animation, it can be doubly difficult considering a person is responsible for depicting every frame of a scene by hand.
The SEAL team of Blue Eye Samurai
In order to make sure the animators were up to the task, Green said that they checked in with the artists every step of the way, and never kept on an artist who wasn't fully comfortable or on board with what was required for the show. "Blue Eye Samurai" is a series in the same vein as female-fronted vengeance films like "Lady Snowblood," which isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea. As Green explained:
"We definitely shook some people who saw what we were doing, and suddenly, when we were giving assignments out, some came with a content warning, 'Are you okay with this?' Giving it the context for why these more visceral things were going to be on the screen. But what came together was an incredible team that — I mean, every one of them, Jane [Wu] always refers to them as our SEAL team. Every one of them, Navy SEALS, just the best at their jobs."
The warnings were certainly welcome, because "Blue Eye Samurai" does not hold back. Bodies are severed in half, blood erupts from chest cavities as swords pierce through organs, limbs are chopped like vegetables for a stew, and there's no shortage of ichor spewing out like a fountain after meeting with Mizu's blade. This series is not for the faint of heart watching at home, let alone a person bringing the visuals to life. But for those who can handle it, "Blue Eye Samurai" is one of the coolest animated series of the year.
"Blue Eye Samurai" is available to stream on Netflix.