Bright: Samurai Soul Director Explains What Attracted Him To The Franchise

Bright: Samurai Soul is set to land on the streaming service of Netflix on October 12th, giving the world that was established in the live-action 2017 film starring Will Smith a big makeover by taking the world and placing it not only into the medium of anime but also into an environment similar to that of Feudal Japan. Recently, we here at Comicbook.com had the opportunity to chat with the director of this original animated film, Kyohei Ishiguro, to discuss various parts of the movie, with the creator also exploring what interested him in expanding on this world.

Kyohei Ishiguro went into detail regarding his relationship with the film’s animation studio, ARECT, as well as what he was attempting to accomplish with this new story in the universe of Bright:

“The reason I got involved in this production is that the 3-D Animation studio of Aract talked with me and invited me to direct, but I was attracted by this opportunity because the original story of the film was great, it was a great work. I was particularly interested in the combination of magic and the contemporary setting with different tribes. For this new version, I wanted to add something new to the lore so the setting is Japan.”

During our chats with Ishiguro, the anime director had also explored the idea of returning to the franchise with a potential sequel, stating that he’d like to explore the universe of Bright during the era of the Japan Civil War and instead of focusing on samurai, would instead focus on ninjas. While a sequel has yet to be approved by Netflix, it will be interesting to see if Samurai Soul gains enough popularity among viewers to bring back Kyohei into the director’s seat. 

Netflix has released an official description for Bright: Samurai Soul, which is set to land on the streaming service in just a few days time:

“In the early years of Japan’s Meiji Restoration, a human ronin must unite with an orc assassin to save an elf orphan from their common adversary.” 

Are you excited about this new story in the universe of Bright? Do you think we’ll eventually see a live-action sequel to the 2017 film? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of Bright: Samurai Soul.