Netflix has released a trailer and poster for Bright: Samurai Soul, an upcoming anime set in the magical world of David Ayer's live-action, Will Smith-starring film Bright.
Netflix recently offered fans a slice of the action by dropping the first trailer for director Kyohei Ishiguro's anime spinoff. The story revolves around Izou, a Ronin, and Raiden, an orc, who work to bring a young elf girl and the wand she carries to the land of the elves in the north during the early years of Japan's Meiji Restoration. Check out the first trailer below:
The English-language voice cast of Bright: Samurai Soul features Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings star Simu Liu in the role of Izou, the one-eyed wandering samurai. Netflix revealed that Liu is joined in the cast by Fred Mancuso as the orc Raiden, who attempts to redeem himself from a life of thievery; and Yuzu Harada as the young elf Sonya.
The Netflix Geeked Twitter account also shared a poster for Bright: Samurai Soul, which is set to premiere on the streamer on October 12. The upcoming anime explores an all-new setting and era while introducing a fresh bunch of characters, many of whom are featured on the poster, with the film's human ronin, orc assassin, and elf orphan taking center stage.
Last year, Netflix announced its plans to produce more anime content after noting an exceptional uptake in anime streaming on the platform, with statistics showing that over 100 million households globally watched at least one anime title on Netflix between October 2019 and September 2020 — a noted increase of more than 50% on the previous year's figures.
Bright: Samurai Soul is just the latest addition to a growing list of anime titles on Netflix, with many more still to come. It joins several other planned titles at the streamer, including a Tomb Raider anime series with Hayley Atwell as the voice of Lara Croft, an anime prequel series of Zack Snyder's Army of the Dead, and a new horror sci-fi tale called Make My Day.
Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.