Blue Eye Samurai’s Second Season Is A Victory For Adult Animation

I gave up hope of Blue Eye Samurai getting a second season before I had even published my review of the bloody yet beautiful animated Netflix series. The creators, Michael Green and Amber Noizumi, sounded similarly dejected when I talked to them about its future ahead of the premiere. A lack of marketing for Blue Eye Samurai and the slim chances of an original property breaking through the noise had established a baseline of apathy, one that a miracle would be needed to break through. I guess dreams can come true, so it’s time to start pinching myself.

Reviews ahead of its debut were incredibly positive, but it wasn’t until the first episode was released in its entirety on YouTube that people realised how much of a gem Blue Eye Samurai is. And how, despite its tried-and-true samurai visuals, is ultimately a story about womanhood, acceptance, and the tumultuous nature of revenge in a society where our lead character must shield her entire identity in order to even be recognised.

TikTok only turned the tides further, with thirst traps focusing on lead character Mizu and her penchant for slaughter quickly attracting millions of views and likes from fans and newcomers alike. They saw a cool, androgynous warrior in buckets of crimson blood flirting and/or killing everything and signed themselves up.

Chatter around Blue Eye Samurai was quiet immediately when it was released, but it was thanks to word of mouth and social media that it was able to break the chains of cancellation. Now a second season is in production and will follow Mizu to London as she tries to seek revenge against those who wronged her and potentially brought her into this world.

“We all sit here saying why isn’t there more original stuff and the answer really is because the audience doesn’t show up for it in the same numbers,” co-creator Michael Green told me last month. “Or with the same certainty, so if people want more original stuff to be made they need to show up and watch this within its first 20-day window and show Netflix that they want more original material.”

It took Netflix a smidge longer than usual to deliver an ultimatum this time around, but at least it turned out to be positive. It looked beyond the statistics and saw that discussion on the show was fervent, and a fandom was beginning to form that showcased the potential of Blue Eye Samurai taking a traditional aesthetic and blending it around modern themes and characters that are easy to relate to in spite of being grounded in a specific historical period.

Green added that only a single script has been written alongside a general outline for the next season, so it’s still several years away. But knowing that it’s coming, and this story I’d come to terms with being left on an alluring cliffhanger has a chance to spread its wings is exciting. I hope it ventures further with its excellent characters and themes of femininity and gender, exploring the blurred lines certain classes and people must navigate to exist in Edo-period Japan.

It is the most viscerally grotesque animated show I’ve seen in recent years and a heartfelt examination of what it means to live with nobody to turn to, unpacking layers of trauma to figure out who you want to be and if it will ever be okay to trust anyone ever again. That is Mizu’s journey, and one that, in multiple ways, has only just begun.

We occupy a stagnating creative landscape heavily dependent on existing IP because the huge corporations responsible for giving original characters and stories chances are so risk-averse that few break through. As a consequence, fanbases are rarely able to foster around newcomers like Blue Eye Samurai, helping them to reach their full potential and go beyond where the creators ever intended. This would have persisted if the second season was greenlit or not, but now it has, the possibilities are endless.

Blue Eye Samurai is one of many shows that deserve a chance to tell stories, and for it to be an exception after several years of cancellations warms my heart. At least until Mizu rips it out of my chest and beats me to death with it. Check this show if you haven’t already.

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