“Blue Eye Samurai” Animation Inspired by Bunraku Puppets

“Blue Eye Samurai” is set to collect a trio of juried awards for achievement in animation–for character design, production design and storyboard–while vying for two competitive awards including animated program at the upcoming Creative Arts Emmys.

The stylized Netflix series follows Mizu (Maya Erskine), a mixed-race vigilante with piercing blue eyes who lives in disguise while seeking revenge in Edo-period Japan. “We really had to try to make this animation the show standout,” director and exec producer Jane Wu says, adding that she sought inspiration from “what [has] moved me [in a] magical way … because there is a magic to animation.”

This included drawing inspiration from Japan’s distinctive Bunraku puppets, which have carved heads and hands with elaborate costumes, co-operated by a trio of puppeteers dressed in black. Wu says she was drawn to them for “the stylization in their movements, and how that was so incredibly emotional.” 

She adds that they aimed to create an “East Meets West” composition and look, and additionally took cues from artist Hiroshi Yoshida, known for his paintings and woodblock prints. “He was a Japanese artist that was trained in the West, and so he really had that fusion that we were looking for in the show,” Wu explains. “It’s just very culturally-based materials that we were inspired with.”

The Mizu character was designed with a strong body, reflecting her warrior training. And her face, according to Amber Noizumi, who co-created and executive produced the series with Michael Green, “was going to be, not monstrous as she thinks she is, and also not overly beautiful. She was just going to be her own very unique person, trying to just exist in this world that that represses her and rejects her.”

A second season has been announced.