Blue Eye Samurai creator wanted to tell a different type of mixed-race story

07.11.2023 - 15:31 / polygon.com / Michael Green

Blue Eye Samurai’s Mizu, the mixed-race swordmaster at the center of the show, wants to kill the four white men who were in Japan at the time of her birth.

The story takes place in 17th-century Edo Japan, a time of isolationism for the country, which meant no foreigners. Because of that, Mizu’s white features — particularly her striking blue eyes — alienate her. She hides her eyes behind yellow-tinted glasses and does her best to pass as fully Japanese, lest she be called a half-breed or a demon. It’s a compelling character motivation, and also a neat subversion of how we typically see biracial characters portrayed: namely, Mizu is a biracial character grappling with her identity in a setting that’s not primarily white or European.

Even though there are more multiracial characters on screen than ever before, they’re still overwhelmingly portrayed through a white lens. Often, the characters will be half-white and struggle to connect to their white family in predominantly white settings. This is especially true when it comes to biracial characters in historical movies and TV shows (or even fantasy settings inspired by history). Both 2013’s Belle and 2023’s Chevalier focused on the true stories of half-Black, half-white individuals proving themselves to their white peers — admirable and inspiring stories, but we rarely see how the opposite situation might play out. If biracial characters are depicted at all, it is usually in a majority-white-populated setting, be it Europe, North America, or some Euro-inspired fantasy world.

[Ed. note: This post contains spoilers for Blue Eye Samurai.]

That’s where Blue Eye Samurai subverts expectations. Unlike in what we typically see, Mizu disguises her white features. It’s her Japanese peers she must prove her skills to. And, oh, the reason she wants to murder the four white men is to kill whichever one could possibly be her father.

Amber Noizumi, who co-created the show with her husband, Michael Green, tells Polygon that she drew on her own experience as a mixed-race person when making the show. And she specifically chose to avoid a Western setting.

“I think so many mixed-race people feel caught between two worlds,” she explains. “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.”

Multiracial people (myself included) are all too familiar with the constant interrogations from others about our physical appearances. Strangers, friends, and family alike all point out which features “belong” to which part of our identities, like our faces and bodies are a collage instead of one cohesive picture.

For multiracial people who