Remember when Will Smith teamed up with an Orc? The sci-fi cop drama Bright was met with mixed reviews upon it’s release, but there has always been talk about Netflix continuing the story. Now they’re doing just that, but taking a massive u-turn.
Not only will this new Bright movie go back in time quite a bit, it will now be an anime film. Before I share the synopsis with you, take a look at the first trailer:
In Bright: Samuri Soul: “In the time between the fall of the Shogunate and the rise of the Meiji era, a powerful bright light emitted from a wand brings an end to the long Shogunate period to avoid further bloodshed as Japan begins to shift toward a new era. Amid these circumstances, a one-eyed wandering ronin named Izou, who has lost his reason to live, and Raiden, an orc who detests murder and hopes to leave a life of thievery behind, separately meet a young elf girl named Sonya around the same time. Together, they go on a journey along the Tokaido road to bring her and the wand she holds safely to the land of the elves in the north. Standing in their path is the mysterious organization Inferni, which aims to obtain the wand and revive the Dark Lord, who intends to rule all of creation. Inferni also uses the new Meiji government in its attempt to steal the wand from Izou, Raiden and Sonya. Traveling along the Tokaido road from Kyoto to Yokohama, Izou and Raiden begin their journey to protect the wand.”
This is a Japanese anime, but there will also be an English dub. For that dub, the ronin Izou will be voiced by Simu Liu, the orc Raiden by Fred Mancuso and the young elf Sonya by Yuzu Harada. The Japanese cast are Yuki Nomura, Daisuke Hirakawa and Shion Wakayama respectively. Kyohei Ishiguro directed the script from Michiko Yokote. Atsushi Yamagata handled the character designs.
If the animation style looks a bit different, that’s because it is. It’s described as a fusion of Japanese woodblock print art with 3DCG technology. I’ll admit, it’s taking me a little getting used to, but I like that it’s a unique look. This also seems to be a much more appropriate story within the Bright universe, and makes a lot more sense than it’s live action predecessor.
Bright: Samurai Soul premieres October 12th on Netflix. Keep checking back for our review.
Photo Credit: Netflix