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Blue Eye Samurai Season 1 Review

Blue Eye Samurai is an animated action streaming series that premiered its first season of eight episodes on Netflix in 2023. It’s a great show for all fans of adult animation.

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“To a man lost in the dark, an ember can light the way“

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During Japan’s Edo period in 17th century, half-white half-Japanese samurai Mizu quests for vengeance against four white men, one of whom is her father, who illegally remained in Japan during the closing of its borders by the Tokugawa shogunate. This is the most Japanese series that the US has ever produced, so much so in fact that I would call it anime without a second thought. A production country shouldn’t matter, but rather style and subject, and this certainly qualifies as an anime series, and the best one of the year for that matter.

The score is strong and fittingly Japanese as it evokes its time period and setting so well through numerous traditional instruments of the country utilized. The animation is particularly superb with strong character designs, a great color palette and meticulously detailed backgrounds and interiors. I did not quite care for the 3D characters, but the hand-drawn animation was otherwise beautifully timeless. The architecture, food, costumes and overall culture of the country was so wonderfully depicted and explored.

The basic premise is familiar – a revenge tale where the protagonist would ruthlessly kill numerous people in her unstoppable quest for vengeance. But the reason why it worked lies in its execution as the pacing was excellent for the most part with only a couple of slower episodes feeling like they were dragging (the theater one with flashbacks being the prime example). But for the most part the flashbacks were well utilized, giving is necessary insight into the backstory of our protagonist/antagonist.

Yes, I would barely count Mizu as a protagonist – she killed so many innocent people in her quest, her friend stating that she is not an honorable samurai at all. While that certainly made her unlikable, it also made her more interesting as her arc has the potential to be fantastic in the later seasons as it’s already pretty strong.

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Going in, I’d expected a toxic, overly modern examination of race and gender (two favorite subjects of today’s liberal media), but the series actually handled these issues surprisingly well. Every single scenario was grounded in reality as nothing seemed to stick like a sore thumb. And having the protagonist be a mixed-race woman at this time in history was intriguing as she had a double secret that she had to keep from everybody. Mizu is a terrific anime creation overall and her fight scenes are incredible.

Ringo is this wonderful sidekick character that felt familiar in his naïve, wide-eyed innocence, but his infatuation with everything and everybody never ceased to amuse me. He’s a very good sidekick for sure. Taigen is rather familiar and this type of narrative – I will fight you but I will first join you in your quest – felt awfully similar to Thorfinn’s story in ‘Vinland Saga Season 1’. I loved their sexual dynamic, but he was not my favorite character overall.

Princess Akemi is one of the highlights. This is a show that takes the time to properly develop both female and male characters. Taking a glimpse into the world of Japanese brothels was very interesting and the women there had a lot of agency while still being restricted by gender norms of the period. The show was so admirable in its feminism that was very much rooted in reality of the era.

Seki as her tutor was such a kind soul and of course Master Eiji was another wise old man on the roster. The scenes between him and Mizu were wonderful. As for the villains, they are all quite memorable and they posed genuine threat. I loved Fowler. Yes, his goals and monologuing were cartoony, but in the best way possible. He was such a cool, powerful villain.

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Blue Eye Samurai is at its best during the action scenes. They were bloody and too violent, but undeniably thrilling and a sheer spectacle. The realism was gone in many of those battles, but the entertainment factor was high without a doubt. My highlight was climbing the tower episode that pleasantly reminded me of ‘Dragon Ball’. The dialogue and its handling of themes was pleasingly subtle. This was such an engaging season that ended on a great note, but I did find it to be a bit rushed in its final stretches.