Blue Eye Samurai

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. Mizu is joined on her journey by Ringo (Masi Oka), an overeager soba maker who dreams of greatness; Taigen (Darren Barnet), a pompous samurai whose rivalry leads to an uneasy truce; and Princess Akemi (Brenda Song), Taigen’s betrothed, whose gilded life seems a foil to Mizu’s. Her revenge quest leads us across Edo-era Japan in a provocative series that immerses the viewer in vivid adult animation with a live-action edge.