Michael Green, Amber Noizumi and Jane Wu On Blending Action with Bunraku Puppetry for ‘Blue Eye Samurai’

Blue Eye Samurai creators Michael Green and Amber Noizumi and director Jane Wu reveal the decisions behind their Emmy nominated episode submission, “The Tale of Ronin and The Bride,” and what made it so special as a representative of the show.  They also detail how Bunraku puppetry played a key role in that episode as well as the characters themselves, and how grateful they are for how audiences, voters, and their peers have connected with their work.

Awards Daily: What was it like for you getting the Emmy nomination?

Amber Noizumi: Well, it was very exciting. Michael was hiding in the gym because he didn’t want to know, and I texted him that he could come out of hiding.

Michael Green: Working with Netflix is amazing because they have such great reach and are great partners. But you don’t really know who is watching and who is responding because you’re not in the theater with them. So it felt like for the first time we knew that people had actually seen the show.

Jane Wu: I was in the middle of a meeting and then my phone blew up.

MG: We are all working on season 2 now but that day we realized that shit isn’t going to get done. It was a gloriously inefficient day.

AD: Jane, I looked over your filmography.  It looks like you took a big break in between directing, with the early 2000s being the last time you directed, What made you come back to it for this show?

Jane Wu: It was the material itself.  I left directing because I wanted to explore live action and I did that. I story boarded a lot of sequences for Marvel, Game of Thrones, what have you. Part of it is when you direct and undertake a team in animation it takes a long time and it is a huge responsibility. I started to realize it’s not the title that I wanted, but the story that I was giving my life to. So when Blue Eye Samurai came up and I read it, it was just so hard to say no. Because it  would use 100% of my DNA to make this show.

AD: Speaking of the directing in general, what are the challenges in directing a show like this with all of its action sequences,  the sound work and the dialogue intermixed?

JW: I think the major challenge was this was going to be a show that no one had ever seen before and really push for the uniqueness. In the space of this kind of storytelling animation hadn’t had the  opportunity to do that. This was the opportunity to create a show that no one had ever seen before. Aside from all the technical stuff, that’s all stuff I’ve known how to do from my past. But the creativity part of keeping this was unique so that we build a lane for ourselves and stand out. That was the biggest challenge.

AD: I saw that the episode that you guys submitted for the Emmy was “The Tale of the Ronin and the Bride.” Why was that  the episode chosen?

AN: It seemed to be the episode that people responded to the most. That was the episode that we got the most feedback on. It blended the Japanese traditional artistry of Bunraku puppetry, and we were very proud of that.  Then the episode also went into a very personal character’s backstory, and then just our crazy action scenes. The episode synthesized the three things we were doing best, focusing on culture, character, and action.

MG: When we were looking at that one it felt like that was when the show really became itself. The show that we had set up to make up all along, and it has the most personal set of stories in it.

AD: It is also the episode where we find out Mizu’s backstory is a lot more complex in terms of what her vengeance is about. Was  that always the plan for her when you were coming up with her? Plus this episode airs in the middle of the show and I’m curious what was behind the decision to give us that information then.

MG:  We always planned that in the middle of the season we were going to reveal the secret history of Mizu. We were going to reveal some part of her that would surprise the audience about what made her who she is. The problem was we didn’t know exactly what it was. We didn’t know what it was but we knew that was the spot for it. We knew this was going to be one that Amber was going to write solo, and we were in the very early stages of talking about that episode.  We were splitting up that day to do different things and I said, “Start thinking about what that secret history will be.” So no pressure there!  I came back a few hours later and Amber just said what if it’s this, and told me the story that we eventually see in the show. It was one of the most moving moments for me. It was right, it was perfect, and then it was just how do we blend that with different timelines.

JW: I loved that it was from a woman’s point of view. Because that is a story that we women know really well. So when I read it I was, like, yeah, we’re going to full on do this.

AN: We had seen Mizu at this point be so hardened and so cruel. The episode before she has just killed an innocent girl, and we needed the audience to go along on the ride with Mizu. So when you see why she is the way she is, I think everyone can connect with the idea of being betrayed by a lover or rejected by a parent or someone they respect and look up to. Everyone can channel that feeling of heartbreak, and some people go to therapy, and some people kill a hundred people. So choose one or the other!

MG: To compliment Jane endlessly, I remember very specifically the day we went to our team and showed them the script and told them we’re going to put a puppet show in the episode. Then the team asked, confused, wait, we’re going to shoot live action puppets?  Then telling them no we’re going to animate puppets. The  nesting doll of implausibility. But Jane just jumped in and said I know how we’re going to do this because the character design was very much inspired by the look of Bunraku puppetry. So the chance to absorb that into the storytelling was really exciting.

JW: I definitely embraced that challenge because I grew up watching Bunraku puppets and a lot of our characters’ contortions and the way they move are inspired by those Bunraku puppets.   I knew the feeling I wanted those puppets to convey.

AD: I’m just thinking of that final shot when Mizu offhandedly just throws that knife into her husband. Was that shot planned right from the start?

AN: When she meets him he tries to impress her by throwing a knife at a peach and says, You try. She just pretends that she doesn’t know how to do it. So the final insult is that she didn’t even need to look to hit him.

MG: That shot was always in the script.  Everything from the look on Mizu’s face with the blurred background, and she just offhandedly throws the knife and shows how much she was holding back all along.

AD: Where the show ends Mizu seems to be heading off to a different place, and I’m certain you do not want to give away too much information on season 2. But are we leaving all the other characters behind? Are they still going to be part of the story? Or do you want to say nothing at all about that?

MG: I wish we could push play for season 2 for you right now. But I think the audience will enjoy being surprised by what they expect and what they see.

AN: Everything that people got invested in will have a reason to come back for season two.

MG: We are not letting go of everything you love, don’t worry.

AD: You guys swept the Annie Awards, and I’m curious what it is like seeing your show embraced by your peers that much?

AN: Fantastic!  I lost my voice by the end of the night. We walked in having no idea, thinking we dressed and showed up, and maybe we’ll win something.

MG: We felt grateful to be nominated, that the people who care about animation and are always out there evangelizing its integrity had even seen it. Then finding out they liked it as much as we hoped they would was really touching.

AD: Any final thoughts?

MG: I wish we could spoil everything for season 2, but that seems un-prudent. I have a lot of gratitude that the fans were able to take a shot on a show that’s so unlikely. One of the best compliments we’ve gotten from people, especially older audience members, was we didn’t know animation could do that.  Guillermo del Toro says so well and so often that animation is cinema. So being able to show that animation is cinema for all ages and all kinds of stories, and a great delivery system for emotion and character is very satisfying. Then the fact that the audience was willing to give us a shot.  We are so grateful, and it was such a wonderful surprise.

Blue Eye Samurai is streaming now on Netflix.