The thing that drew me about this project
is how complicated the characters were.
It was a real collaboration, just trying to figure out
how are we going to translate the script to the imagery.
It's incredibly choreographed and the artwork is so beautiful in it.
It's mind blowing 'cause it's better than I
ever could have imagined it to be.
It's something that no one's ever seen before.
Hi, I'm Toby Wilson.
Hi, I'm Amber Noizumi.
I'm Michael Green.
This is Jane Wu, and this is
Behind the Animation of Blue Eye Samurai.
Blue Eye Samurai is about Mizu,
a mixed race master of the sword.
She doesn't look like everybody else.
Society has told her she is evil.
She goes on this path to exact revenge
upon the people who she feels put her in this situation.
For me personally, it was a lot about growing up mixed race
and that feeling of not belonging,
not being white, not being Japanese, that seeking wholeness.
When we met with Jane Wu,
it was a meeting of the minds and we immediately clicked.
My approach to this production
is a philosophy of diversity in everything.
I took the philosophy from our character,
Mizu, who is biracial.
In early Edo, Japan, women didn't really have many choices.
She then had to be in disguise as a man to have choices
and to complete her revenge.
When I find the men I've set out to kill, I won't waste a second on ceremony.
Most productions are either fully 2D or fully 3D.
We were one of those special cases where we're a little bit of both.
I wanted to show people that animation isn't just for kids.
Animation isn't just a genre.
Animation is a storytelling vehicle as well.
That just takes care from our animators that make it feel alive.
When I started thinking about the visuals
I wanted to have an elevated feel to this.
I wanted this to look like a moving painting.
We took inspiration from Zatoichi,
and Akira Kurosawa movies.
We worked with researchers,
some who know about architecture of the time
and some of whom know the social lives of people at the time.
We spoke to one of the world experts on Edo period food.
Costume designer Suttirat Larlarb went
deep into libraries and pulled out fabrics and looks and kimonos
that people haven't seen in public for hundreds of years.
And they're being worn by characters on our show now.
You'd learn so much about the culture
and we could use that as part of the story.
From there it's putting that research into practice.
So then I pick up my brush and start painting or drawing
and just feeling it out.
It's my responsibility to ensure that
all of the aesthetics on the show
are all in service of the story.
The characters themselves
I've really designed them after Bunraku puppets,
and Bunraku Puppets is a traditional Japanese puppet performance
that dates back to 200 years
and these puppets are about three feet tall,
and they would dramatize
a lot of stories that are very adult based.
I remember watching these when I was young
and they were so haunting.
We wanted to make sure that the visuals
looked like the Ukiyo-e prints of Hiroshi Yoshida san.
And then that was the challenge is that we use these 3D characters
but we make them look 2D.
We really wanted a hybrid where
we used a lot of the tools of a traditional live action drama
and brought that into animation.
So that's why when you're watching it,
it does feel cinematic and it feels like it has a filmmaking aspect to it.
Normally on an animated show, you'll storyboard
and then you'll build a set based off of the storyboards.
In Blue Eye Samurai, we'll build the set first
to make sure it's going to do what we need
for the story team and the pre-vis team to use.
And then I went in with a lens and we discussed with the director
and the storyboard artists what lensings
we were going to choose,
really understanding where the camera needs to be to tell the story.
And we could revise the set based off of their feedback.
So if they said, "Oh, we can't get this shot,
can we move the ledge or can we move this rock?"
And we could do that.
In that process of translating it for animation,
what I had the storyboard artists focus on was
how an actor would really perform this bit.
There were certain moments where
we saw something come back for the first time and went,
"This is going to work," and it's just a gasp moment.
The first time we saw Blue Spirit's animation test and went,
"Wow, okay, there's emotion on these faces.
These feel like real people."
The other aspect was how Japanese people moved
is a very specific way of moving.
So I performed out all the movements
that were culturally accurate to my storyboard team.
And then I flew to France with a suitcase of kimonos,
put everything on
and showed them what a walk is like
for a Japanese woman in a kimono, how to sit,
how to get up from a stance.
And then I also made them do a little martial arts class with me
'cause I wanted them to feel what it felt like to throw a punch
or wield a sword.
I must become the greatest swordsman alive.
Is that all?
Being a martial artist myself that studied for many years,
I wanted authentic martial arts movements.
So bringing the stunt choreographer in the beginning was important.
When I choreograph,
I start focusing on the storytelling,
on the character developing.
There are so many amazing stunt artists
who can give you fantastic fights and thrilling moments.
But he comes at it as "What is the person experiencing?
What's the story here?"
In 101,
when we had Mizu versus ten, the fight in the dojo,
I wanted things that people could relate to painfully.
So that's why we choreographed it to teeth.
And I found that to be a little bit more unique
in developing the action choreography.
That was always the first rule,
come up with something fresh.
It's a lot of things all at once,
but it also shows that Mizu
is as good as you thought she was.
She will do whatever it takes on her path of revenge.
In the episode 105, you learn a little bit backstory of Mizu.
She was a very closed off person,
she didn't trust anybody, but she had a husband.
When he understood that she learned martial arts
and she had to disguise herself as a man to get by,
he was curious about her.
So he said, "Show me what you got."
Their relationship has matured with the changing of the seasons,
and so we've got those nice fall colors.
When Sunny and I sat down to talk about this, I said,
"It's between two lovers, so it really should feel like a tango."
Mizu thinks it's fun and then it goes a little sinister.
Her being her true self made her a monster to him.
What inspired me is always, like, emotion first.
What is the character facing?
How is this character feeling?
I kind of follow the character's journey
and now I can figure out
what kind of like body movement
or style to matching that journey.
Is your soul at rest?
It is.
Animation can be a piece of art.
Animation can be mature.
Animation can tell very, very complex stories as well.
The best thing you can do as show creators is just create a space
where the most talented people you can meet
are excited to get to work.
It's very rewarding to see it come together.
It was a refreshing change for me in my career,
and I hope that audiences will see this and find it as refreshing
entertainment that they can open themselves up to.
People have come to us saying, "This is a live action story.
Why animation?"
Why not animation?
Why pick any medium for art?
It has its own beauty and its own process.
And I just feel so fortunate to get to be a part of it.
I hope the audience will want more.
Just be inspired by watching
the beauty that's in front of you on the screen.
I think we did manage to do that,
so I think that's why it was
very much worth the journey.