Blue Eye Samurai Season 1 Recap: When We Last Left Mizu…

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It’s been three years since Blue Eye Samurai debuted on Netflix, and not only is the wait finally almost over, but the second season will be well worth the time taken to develop its return. Created by Amber Noizumi and Michael Green, the award-winning animated series follows a vengeful samurai named Mizu (Maya Erskine) during Japan’s Edo period. Blue Eye Samurai season 2 will up the ante as the narrative scope goes global, all while the action gets even bigger. So let’s take a look at Mizu’s journey so far.

Enemies New and Old

Growing up as a mixed-race Japanese/Caucasian woman, Mizu faced a grueling amount of adversity and discrimination. This fuels a deep-seated fury within her and leads the budding samurai to train under Master Eiji (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), a swordsmith who forges Mizu’s blade from a glowing blue ore found in a meteorite. As an adult, Mizu travels across the Japanese countryside, putting her expert swordplay skills to use while being tracked by a number of old enemies looking to settle their respective scores.

Among Mizu’s most prominent rivals from Blue Eye Samurai season 1 is Taigen (Darren Barnet), someone who bullied Mizu as a child. In the series premiere, Mizu defeats Taigen in a duel, and the young swordsman becomes obsessed with reclaiming his honor and recovering his wounded pride in a rematch against her. Taigen’s vendetta derails his romance with Princess Tokunobu Akemi (Brenda Song), who instead proceeds with an arranged marriage to the shogun’s son.

Mizu on the Move

Mizu is on her own quest, targeting the four European men who stayed in Japan despite its closed borders, with one of the men being Mizu’s biological father. Mizu blames this quartet for the mark of shame that has plagued her upbringing and vows to track each of them down, including their apparent ringleader, Abijah Fowler (Kenneth Branagh). Fowler plots to overthrow the shogunate and replace it with one more open to foreign influence in Japan, putting Mizu in the surprising position of determining the future of the country as she moves to stop him.

It’s not only enemies and rivals who follow Mizu along her journey. The quest is joined by Ringo (Masi Oka), a handless cook who is inspired after witnessing her in action. Despite her misgivings, Mizu agrees to take on Ringo as an apprentice, and he accompanies her on her adventure like a squire. Though Ringo is shocked by how single-minded Mizu’s thirst for revenge is, he continues to help both her and Taigen when they face a mutual threat in Fowler’s explosive scheme.

A Fiery Victory and Departure

The end of Blue Eye Samurai season 1 is riveting, with Fowler shattering Mizu’s sword before enacting his grand plan, successfully assassinating the shogun, despite Ringo and Taigen’s best efforts. However, Mizu directly confronting Fowler allows the rest of the shogun’s family to escape to safety. However, the fire that she sets to stop the villain also rapidly spreads across Edo. In the aftermath, Akemi decides to remain with the shogun’s family despite Taigen pleading with her to rejoin him. Meanwhile, Ringo relocates to the home of Master Eiji, believing Mizu died in the fire.

Never Alone

Cornered by Mizu, Fowler claims that she will have to travel all the way to London to track down the remaining two men on her hit list. Furthermore, Fowler makes the shocking claim that the woman Mizu believed to be her biological mother was someone who was hired to raise her, triggering even more questions. Mizu is last seen sailing toward London with an alive but captive Fowler in tow as she moves to face the last two figures in her lifelong feud.

To Parts Unknown

Even with this expansion of global scope in the story, Blue Eye Samurai season 2 still has deep roots in Japan. An early clip released from the new season revealed an apparent flashback, with Mizu participating in the storming of a Japanese castle, back when she still had her sword, as deadly as ever. And despite how fiery and intense the season 1 finale was, there are still plenty of living characters poised to join the new faces being introduced throughout the second season.

Blue Eye Samurai has all the intensity and sophisticated storytelling of any number of live-action samurai stories, while taking advantage of the bombastic possibilities of its vibrant and atmospheric animation style. Those qualities are only heightened in a second season that will not just go bigger and bolder with its narrative but deeper into the raw emotional arcs of its main characters. Mizu is out on the high seas, headed for strange lands, but no less determined and utterly driven. And there is still plenty of unfinished business and open questions waiting for her back in Japan, ready to dive into when Blue Eye Samurai returns this year.

The post Blue Eye Samurai Season 1 Recap: When We Last Left Mizu… appeared first on Den of Geek.

Blue Eye Samurai Season 1 Recap: When We Last Left Mizu…

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