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Though stories of revenge have long been rife fodder for fiction, every once in a while, a tale of vengeance comes along that shows the subgenre still has plenty of life left in it. Case in point: Netflix’s “Blue Eye Samurai.” The stunningly beautiful animated series currently has a perfect score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and a just as impressive 96% from fans.
However, given the specificity of the historical setting of “Blue Eye Samurai” and its unique tale of a female mixed-race protagonist on the warpath, fans may be wondering if the story was inspired by a real-life figure. While there is no Mizu in the history books, or at least not one like this, there is a character who could be seen as the inspiration for Mizu (Maya Erskine) and her father in equal measure.
William Adams was a British navigator who traveled to Japan in the early 1600s and has been nicknamed “the blue-eyed samurai.” The series co-creators, Amber Noizumi and Michael Green, clearly knew the story of William Adams, which is almost certainly how the series got its name. With this in mind, the real-life figure could easily be seen as the inspiration for Mizu. However, since “Blue Eye Samurai” is a story about a mixed-race Japanese woman trying to kill her white father, Adams could also have inspired the antagonist of the story to some degree.
How did William Adams inspire Blue Eye Samurai?
Still, most of the time, William Adams has inspired heroes in his other depictions. The figure is the inspiration for the character Richard Blacktorne in the novel, “Shogun,” and for a character who is even named William in the adventure RPG game, “Nioh.” Both are Westerners who eventually become samurai, and both characters also have Adam’s trademark blue eyes, something that would historically have made you stand out in Japan.
Amber Noizumi has acknowledged that other pop culture staples like “Kill Bill,” “Lady Snowblood,” and “Yentl” were also inspirations for “Blue Eye Samurai.” While “Kill Bill” and “Lady Snowblood” may be more obvious precursors to this kind of story, being that they’re both about women wielding samurai swords who are out for revenge and seeking multiple targets, “Yentl” may be lesser known to modern audiences. Still, the movie follows its titular character, played by Barbara Streisand, who dresses as a man to more easily walk in a society that constantly looks down on women.
Finally, the co-creators also acknowledged the similarities between Mizu and Clint Eastwood’s Man with No Name. This is especially notable because of Eastwood’s blue eyes and the fact that the trilogy set around his character began as a reimagining of Akira Kurosawa’s crime film, “Yojimbo.”
Mizu was also partly inspired by the co-creators own experiences
Amber Noizumi explained to Polygon how her own experience as a mixed-race woman would come to inspire the story of Mizu. She also spoke about how she imagined people may have looked at her if she existed during this time when Japan was more closed off from the rest of the world, and outsiders were looked down upon.
“I think so many mixed-race people feel caught between two worlds,” she said. “Just to imagine living in the world that I’m not in and what it would be like to have people look at my white features and be shocked. It’s just an exploration of that, an exploration of identity,” Noizumi explained.
The “Blue Eye Samurai” creator also noted that the team drew from the experiences of the cast and crew when designing Mizu. “There were many, many, many, many conversations about [how Mizu would look],” Noizumi said. “Various members of our team were also mixed-race, and everybody was on board with trying to find this perfect version of her that read Asian, that read white, that read feminine, but also a little masculine.”
Well, considering how well-received “Blue Eye Samurai” has been on both sides of the aisle, it looks like Noizumi and her husband and co-creator, Michael Green, absolutely nailed it with their series about how outsiders exist in a rigid society. Here’s hoping for a Season 2 of the popular series.
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