Today, Netflix released its official trailer for its upcoming adult animated series, “Blue Eye Samurai,” co-created by the couple, Amber Noizumi and Michael Green.
The series boasts a star-studded cast, with Maya Erskine voicing the protagonist, Mizu, a half-white, half-Japanese master of the sword who seeks revenge. Picture this: It’s 17th-century Edo-era Japan. The nation’s borders have been closed off for quite some time. And as such, Japan is nearly 100% homogenous and not a single soul looks like Mizu (who was cursed with piercing blue eyes). Born “a creature of shame,” Mizu identifies the four white men living in Japan at the time of her birth and sets out to kill them for subjecting her to this alienating existence — all while under disguise, of course.
And this wouldn’t be a classic hero’s tale without some friends made along the way. Soba maker Ringo (Masi Oka), samurai Taigen (Darren Barnet) and his betrothed, Princess Akemi (Brenda Song), join Mizu on her journey. Additional voice cast includes: George Takei (Seki), Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (The Swordmaker), Randall Park (Heiji Shindo), Stephanie Hsu (Ise), Ming-Na Wen (Madame Kaji) and Harry Shum Jr. (Takayoshi). We weren’t lying when we said this casting was impressive. “We weren’t looking for people who had a ton of voice-over work experience. I think most of them did, but we wanted to make sure that everybody was actually Asian. We didn’t want to cast anybody who wasn’t,” Noizumi said on Netflix’s Tudum blog.
“Blue Eye Samurai” releases on Netflix on Nov. 3 in all of its bloody, action-packed glory. Take a look at the official trailer here.
