Netflix’s Emmy-winning series Blue Eye Samurai was one of the best shows of 2023, a gorgeously animated mashup of Kill Bill and Mamma Mia! following Mizu (Maya Erskine), an incredibly talented warrior on a quest to find and kill the four white men who could be her father. The first season ended with Mizu leaving Japan to seek two more of her prospective dads in London, and Netflix has provided a taste of what’s to come in season 2, which is currently in production.
In a behind the scenes featurette, the show’s creators Amber Noizumi and Michael Green reveal that Mizu is still focused on revenge. The teaser shows her hacking her way through a monastery and slicing limbs off ninja. Executive producer Jane Wu offered a glimpse at how French studio Blue Spirit works with stunt people to make the show’s incredible fights come alive.
While Mizu might be leaving her home behind, the co-creators promise we’ll still see key supporting characters including Mizu’s helpful follower Ringo (Masi Oka), the blind swordmaker Master Eiji (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), Princess Akemi (Brenda Song), and the arrogant swordsman Taigen (Darren Barnet). Noizumi also revealed that some characters viewers thought died might be still alive.
A sequence from the beginning of the new season shows Mizu as part of what seems to be a peasant rebellion, holding a pitchfork in a crowd of people besieging a heavily fortified castle. As the mob gets shot with flaming arrows and doused with boiling oil, Mizu tosses the tool aside for her sword. Since the weapon was broken in season 1, that means this is a flashback, possibly showing how Mizu killed the first of her prospective dads. Mizu shows off her skills and ruthlessness as she uses a body for cover from arrows, then rips the arrows out to climb the wall.
We’ll have to wait to see what she encounters there, but just this glimpse is a reminder of how stylish and dramatic Blue Eye Samurai is and why I’m so happy it’s getting another season to continue Mizu’s journey.
