After weeks of teasers, Netflix has released the first official trailer for Blue Eye Samurai, set to premiere on November 5, 2023. The story follows the mixed-race female samurai (onna-musha), Mizu, who was conceived out of rape. Her past puts her on a course of revenge for the men responsible while her enemies, believing her male, only know her by her stand-out blue eyes. Watch the new trailer for Blue Eye Samurai below:
The cast for the series was previously announced. Alongside Maya Erskine who voices Mizu are actors who have appeared in the biggest action films and TV series, including Ming-na Wen (Mulan [live-action]) who voices Madame Kaji, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (47 Ronin) who voices Swordmaker, and the voice of Chiaki, Mark Dacascos (John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum). Masi Oka (Ringo), Harry Shum Jr. (Takayoshi), Stephanie Hsu (Ise), Kenneth Branagh (Abijah Fowler), Brenda Song (Akemi), George Takei (Seki), Christine Ko (Kino), Darren Barnet (Taigen), Alain Uy (Hideyoshi) and Randall Park (Heiji Shindo) also feature.
The series was created by Michael Green (Logan, Blade Runner 2049) and Amber Noizumi, who are both executive producers of the series alongside Erwin Stoff (The Matrix, 47 Ronin). Noizumi and Green will write and serve as showrunners. Blue Spirit is the responsible animation studio. Jane Wu serves as supervising director and producer. Wu described Mizu’s character arc in an interview with Vanity Fair:
“Mizu does not have the capacity for kindness at first. It is a very hard lesson for her to learn. We were careful balancing stories in the first half of the season and the second half of the season, that all of her moments of mercy, kindness, or just acceptance of other people end up having a negative consequence for her. And then, towards the end of the season, the lesson comes in that maybe being vulnerable is okay and pays its own dividends.”
Netflix has been building anticipation for Blue Eye Samurai through teasers. Check out the upcoming “Cliff Showdown” below:
Teaser art for the series:
Blue Eye Samurai joins Netflix’s growing catalog of exclusive anime and anime-inspired series alongside Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, Naoki Urasawa’s Pluto, and Devil May Cry, who have all released trailers in recent weeks. Netflix Tudum describes the plot of Blue Eye Samurai as:
In 17th-century Japan, when borders are closed to the outside world, citizens would never see a face that was not Japanese, except in rare cases of illegal trade. Our hero, Mizu (Erskine), knows there were only four white men in Japan at the time of her birth and sets off to kill these men, one of whom might be her father, who made her a “creature of shame.” But revenge is not an option for women, so Mizu must forge her revenge quest while hiding her gender as well as her blue eyes.
Source: Netflix
