2023-12-08 07:58:00
To continue to attract new subscribers in a sector as competitive as streaming, Netflix knows how to diversify. Still far from being able to compete with the catalogs of animation specialists like Crunchyroll and Animation Digital Network (ADN), the American platform continues to expand its offering in this area. The latest in-house production, Blue Eye Samuraidepicts the adventures of a warrior ready to travel all over Japan to satisfy the desire for revenge that consumes her.
Critical success was once again achieved, as was the case for the other in-house production, Pinocchio, released in 2022. This interpretation of the classic of Italian literature by director Guillermo Del Toro was even rewarded with the Oscar for best animated film last March. Enough to finally fill Netflix’s trophy cabinet after four unsuccessful nominations (Klaus, Journey to the Moon, The Mitchells against the machines et The Sea Monster).
READ ALSO Mangas: how the profusion of “deluxe” editions is dusting off the market To establish itself in the sector, the streaming service does not only rely on its creations labeled “Netflix original” which, like, Blue Eye Samurai, are produced internally, but also through external enrichment of its offer. Numerous feature films from Ghibli Studios have been added to the catalog, including the most famous works of master Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited away, Porco Rosso…). Netflix is also eyeing essential manga licenses and offers on its platform Demon Slayer, Vinland Saga or Hunter x Hunter.
Further proof of this interest, in 2022, the streaming service acquired the independent animation studio Animal Logic. In a press release following this acquisition, Amy Reinhard, vice-president in charge of studio operations, did not hide the ambition of the streaming service in the field: “Netflix has invested in animation in recent years, this which reinforces our commitment to building a world-class animation studio. » This growing interest has led to great successes, such as the series Arcane, Pluto or Cyberpunk.
READ ALSO Mangas: our selection of the 6 best titles for teenagers and adults for Christmas (and for dummies)This dynamism does not prevent certain projects, such as an adaptation of the novel The Twits by Roald Dahl, to be canceled. Animation is no exception to the rule: in terms of creation, Netflix only invests in values that it considers safe. The Californian firm, however, hopes to strike a new blow with the sequel to the most profitable stop motion in cinema, Chicken Runexpected for mid-December, while numerous releases, such as that ofUltraman, are planned for next year.
In the meantime, the American platform can count on Blue Eye Samurai to attract aficionados of the genre into its nets. It’s an understatement to say that the adventure of this young woman with blue eyes is unanimously praised in the press as well as on specialized sites (earning, for example, a 4.8 out of 5 from the public on Rotten Tomatoes). Blue Eye Samurai even became, in a few weeks, Allociné’s highest-rated animated series. A success which can be explained by different factors.
Blue Eye Samurairefreshing tale of a wandering samurai
At first glance, following the adventures of a solitary samurai in search of justice is quite classic. We find the elements that make the success of chanbara. These stories of gifted swordsmen are similar to swashbuckling films: a main character with a painful past, mystical katanas and bloody duels. The series also does not ignore some déjà vu, between a somewhat clumsy secondary character, as comical as it is endearing, and a romance between two completely opposite beings.
But if the series is part of a Kill Bill on the big screen or a Vagabond On the manga side, it incorporates a good dose of new features. Mizu is a woman and hides it as much as possible. Behind her tinted glasses, the heroine hides a second, much heavier secret: her blue eyes, which betray her Western mix. This singularity allows the story to evoke racism, the place of women within traditional Japan, while dealing, in the background, with power games.
Blue Eye Samurai, endearing and complex characters
Faced with the worst, the characters adapt. The trials accompany the protagonists in their evolution and sometimes cause situations of discomfort in the face of the ambient brutality. The secondary characters, like Akemi, a young princess promised to a rich heir but who chooses to live her life as she wishes, prove to be just as, if not more, endearing than the heroine.
READ ALSO “The Crown”, “Everything is fine”, “Daryl Dixon”, “Sambre”: which series to watch this weekend? The series avoids Manichaeism. A madam can thus be as benevolent towards one of her geishas as she is cruel towards the others. Even Mizu, who is alternately compassionate and bloodthirsty, cannot be reduced to the state of monster thirsty for revenge to which many refer her.
Sex, blood and drugs: the daring cocktail of Blue Eye Samurai
Like a Kill Bill, there was much bloodshed. Heads cut in half, fingers and arms severed… The red flows freely, justifying the “from 16 years” recommendation issued by Netflix – especially since subjects like drug addiction are treated there. This brutal staging of the duels is reminiscent of the universe of Quentin Tarantino and the iconography of manga fond of hemoglobin.
READ ALSO “The Boy and the Heron”: why you have to go see the new MiyazakiThe series is not stingy with sex scenes and nudity. And for good reason, the fourth episode takes place in a brothel and suggests twisted inclinations – around octopuses and other festivities… The treatment of sexuality does not fall into gratuity, however. He enriches the story by presenting, for example, the weakness of a gifted and violent swordsman who becomes gentle and submissive through contact with courtesans. A tool of women’s power over men, it remains above all one of the faces of the latter’s oppression and violence.
In the credits of Blue Eye Samuraia couple of inspired creators
At the head of the project, the association of screenwriter Michael Green (Green Lantern, Death on the Nile, Logan) with his partner Amber Noizumi is a success. For a first immersion in animation and a Japanese universe that they had never explored, the duo is very inspired. Perhaps also because the story is more personal than it seems: the couple explains that they were inspired by their daughter, born with blue eyes, and Amber Noizumi is half-Japanese.
The beauty of animation Blue Eye Samurai
Cock-a-doodle Doo ! France is, once again, behind an animated gem. After Arcane, for which Netflix had called on the French from Fortiche Production, the platform entrusted the reins of Blue Eye Samurai to the Blue Spirit tricolor team. The fight scenes between swordsmen are very fluid, the colorimetry is very careful. In a feudal Japan where the snow never stops falling and where assassinations often take place in the dark, the chiaroscuro is total.
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