Would you believe the best anime on Netflix isn’t actually an anime? The show I’m talking about is Blue Eye Samurai, and it’s an anime-inspired adult animation guaranteed to blow your mind. If you’re ready to finally see what the hype is about (and trust me, the hype ain’t lying on this one), it’s time to stream this Emmy-winning show on Netflix today.
The premise of Blue Eye Samurai is that our titular character is a half-white, half-Japanese woman on a quest of vengeance through Edo-period Japan. Along the way, she recruits some unlikely allies, each of whom has the skills needed to help her dispatch the men she has sworn to kill. But some of her enemies command small armies of their own, which threatens to turn her righteous quest into a suicide mission.
A Perfect Cast For a Perfect Show
The cast of Blue Eye Samurai includes some major Hollywood veterans, including George Takei (best known for Star Trek: The Original Series) as the wise tutor to a pampered princess voiced by Brenda Song (best known for the Running Point TV show). Kenneth Branagh (best known for Henry V) plays the mustache-twirling Big Bad of the show, while Masi Oka (best known for the TV show Heroes) plays the bumbling cook who dedicates himself to helping our main character on her quest.
That main character is played by Maya Erskine (best known for the PEN15 series, though I prefer her in Mr. and Mrs. Smith), and she is pitch-perfect as an expert samurai who has been forced to hide both her gender and heritage from a world trying to tear her down. Erskine gives the character a stony resilience that masks a passionate anger, and her righteous rage is downright infectious to watch. As written, this samurai is a character that could have been wooden and one-dimensional, but Erskine breathes such vivid life into her samurai that I half-expected her to jump out of the TV to slice me up!
By the way, if you’re worried about Blue Eye Samurai’s politics clouding its writing, don’t be: while the idea of a gender-switching, mixed-race samurai might scream “woke,” the show never uses these aspects to wade into the culture war. Rather, these are important plot details that set up how our hero is an outsider twice over, someone who will never be able to achieve acceptance as a woman or a warrior. Instead, she lets her sword do the talking, and her legacy is written across Japan in a trail of bleeding, broken bodies.
An Emmy-Winning Critical Darling
Blue Eye Samurai certainly cut its way through critics: on Rotten Tomatoes, it has a rating of 97 percent, making it one of the most beloved animated shows on Netflix. Critics had special praise for the show’s beautifully rendered animation that makes every frame look like a work of blood-spattered art. They also commended the show for its top-notch characterization, and the consistently top-notch writing ensures that this hit show is more than just a perfectly animated pretty face.
With so much critical acclaim, it’s not that surprising that Blue Eye Samurai swept some very prestigious awards. The show brought home six Annies (the preeminent animation award), including Outstanding Achievement awards for Animated Effects, Character Animation, and Writing. The show also earned four Primetime Creative Arts Emmys, including three for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation and a well-deserved award for Outstanding Animated Program.
Even Better Than the Buzz
When I first watched Blue Eye Samurai, I had no idea what I was walking into; I had somehow avoided the buzz and just went in blind. I was subsequently blown away by the animation, all of which felt more like an animated painting than any kind of traditional cartoon. I know I’m reaching peak fanboy here, but seriously: just hit the pause button and any given frame of this show looks like a ready-to-frame work of art.
Fortunately, Blue Eye Samurai pairs killer animation with engaging writing, and our protagonist feels simultaneously archetypal (she’s like a wandering cowboy character with a sword instead of a gun) and innovative (in personality and mien, she is like nobody else in TV or film). The characters are all very engaging, and the first season does a perfect job of building up a compelling fictional world. If the plot should somehow bore you, don’t worry: you never have to wait too long for another mind-blowing action scene to slash its way across your screen.
Will you agree that Blue Eye Samurai is secretly the best anime (even if it’s not really an anime) on Netflix, or is this one action extravaganza that you’d rather cut up with your favorite sword? You won’t know until you make the trek to the other side of the couch, grab the remote, and queue this bad boy up on Netflix. After the last episode, you’ll be able to understand the one bad part of this show: having to wait so long for another season!
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