In 17th Century Japan, Mizu’s blue eyes give her away as the child of a ‘white devil, branding her an outcast. Posing as a man, she embarks on a bloody quest for vengeance against the four white men responsible, one of whom is her father.

I suspect I won’t be the only person to have missed the superb Blue Eye Samurai on its release in November last year. If, like me, you’re not a regular consumer of anime, then it’s unlikely Netflix’s bone-headed algorithms will have sent it your way. I had to seek it out after encountering a respected British animation producer who told me it was his must-watch recommendation.

So, if you’re already smugly across this, you’ll already know that this eight episode revenge saga is not only beautifully rendered in visual terms, but has a script worthy of a top-end live action HBO drama complete with meticulously crafted episodic and series structures, and a voice cast who genuinely seem to care about their fully-rounded characterisations, with Maya Erskine channelling Mizu’s blue-eyed vengeful glower; George Takei being, well, George Takei; and Kenneth Branagh chewing the animated scenery as the monstrous Abijah Fowler.

The squelchy blood-soaked foley is also pretty entertaining in its own right.

Blue Eye Samurai is a delightfully gory watch, although perhaps there are just a few too many last-minute sword-through-the-chest moments. After a while it’s more surprising when someone doesn’t get eviscerated at the last possible instant before they can do serious damage to one of our heroes. My other caveat is the sex. TV sex is ridiculous at the best of times, but animated TV sex just makes me giggle.

I think the industry needs to get real. Screen sex has never recovered from Team America. End of.

Verdict: I don’t want to say much about the story, because that’s yours to enjoy when you find yourself bingeing the series, but in short Blue Eye Samurai is the crossover masterpiece (dodgy anime sex excepted) for people who never thought they’d spend the best part of eight hours watching – and caring about – animated Samurai chopping each other into little pieces. 9/10

Martin Jameson

www.ninjamarmoset.com