Bright: Samurai Soul (2021) User Reviews

Decent film, but nothing great about it

[siderite · 6/10 · 24 February 2022]

If almost every live action adaption of an anime or animation film was a disaster, does that mean that creating animes based on live action films will yield better quality? This film argues that it is not the case. I liked the 2017 Bright film which, much maligned, combined the present buddy cop formula with a fantasy concept of a world shared by humans, orcs, elves and what have you. However this felt like one of those lazy productions made for the sole purpose of maintaining an IP.

The animation was decent, but also a combination of traditional anime drawing and 3D that made it look fake. The story, for some reason dealing with samurais and the Meiji restoration, was also about a human and an orc bonding to save a Bright elf, but less interesting than any anime fantasy story set in the same period and also less engaging. I bet that if this was a traditional hand drawn anime I would have felt better about it, but even if it was, how could it even approach something like Ninja Scroll with such a simple and formulaic story? And the editing was atrocious.

Bottom line: nothing was above average in this film, and many things were subpar. I like the Bright universe, but they have to try better.

Much is missing.

[jonfmac · 6/10 · 13 October 2021]

"Backstories missing" pretty much covers this review. Tremendous lost opportunity. Unlike some other reviews, I did like the 3D cgi and the choice of using earth tones for the colour scheme, which provided a warmth to all the scenes. In fact, it was beautiful! The musical score, although uninspiring, was adequate. The characters were probably engaging but it's hard to tell when you don't understand their motivations. In all, I did want to give a higher rating but couldn't, even though the story was good. It's just that context was missing on why the characters did what they did. Another 20 minutes would have added a lot and could have placed this in the top tier of anime. Instead, I watched a medium tier effort that barely made an average grade. Sigh! I am honestly saddened as this could very easily, with very little effort, been so much better. :-(

Worth a watch if...

[hazlemartin · 6/10 · 27 October 2021]

Anime should have been a bit longer to establish some backstories, some motivations were unclear but the action and art style were good but the score was terrible.

Missed opportunity

[pcjphcwz · 4/10 · 13 October 2021]

This could have been good.

But honestly it just wasn't developed enough. I get the themes, the goals, where they were trying to go with it but just not enough dev. The animation could have been great but it needed editing, refining. Script could have been great but it needed-again, refining. It felt like SO much content was missing. Why make a movie that has a story that should be 1h40m into 1h20m?

It just felt incomplete. I get the push to be good enough and get content out fast but this movie was definitely a failed by-product of that philosophy.

Netflix serving up raw cake and expect us to be excited about it.

Decent Samurai prequel to Bright movie :-)

[stevebondi · 7/10 · 26 December 2021]

Decent animation, good action, and a simple but effective story. Like the original movie, the growing bond between the human hero (a Samurai in this case) and an orc is interesting. And their protection of a young elf girl is heartwarming :-)

Horrible looking anime

[keithomusic · 3/10 · 16 May 2022]

Where do I start? This anime has the worst animation I have ever seen and I used to watch 'Clutch Cargo', I have seen better animation in 60s anime. The character art is poorly done, and the characters do not seem to be a part of their environment, nor do any of them move naturally. This movie looks worse than the back screening of 50s movies, the background is completely separate from the characters. The story line is average, the voice acting is good, and the best part of the movie is the music. The movie feels incomplete though, as if they put together the first few episodes of an anime. It also feels a bit rushed. This anime was made in 2021 and should be much, much better.

Boring

[Sh31kh_H0kv5 · 6/10 · 21 October 2021]

Come on even with the story line it's a joke, no comparing but not even fit or worthy of the name samurai talk less of the soul. In other words the whole thing was annoying.

Bland carbon copy of the first movie

[gsm-jansson · 2/10 · 17 October 2021]

A human that hates orcs has to work with an orc to save a young elf and her wand from evil elfs.

It sounds like the plot for the first move, and it is, but it's also the plot for the second movie. If you though the first one was ok but needed more sword fights and less Will Smith this is the movie for you.

Spectacularly Bad

[LeAvantGuardian · 4/10 · 13 October 2021]

First off let me say for the record that I am one of the rare anime viewers that loves CG anime. But just because a studio opts for a 3D approach doesn't mean they can skimp out on coloring. This movie looks like it was done in technicolor. The shading is so poor that the forest scenes look like they were done by one guy using Adobe flash.

The fight scenes are very well done, but they are so few and far between that you have to suffer through the movie just to see them.

This is a dark and tragic story involving prostitution, sex slavery and rampant racism. Every character is a bad person and some varying degree of unlikable. It may be called bright, and be brightly colored, but there are no happy endings to be had here.

As much as I enjoy samurai flicks and cool sword fights, I cannot rate this higher than a 4. It feels unfinished. The lord feels randomly thought out. This is not the best intellectual property and I think Netflix ought to just move on.

Please make more of these

[scottamac · 8/10 · 14 October 2021]

I loved the Movie BRITE . I was hoping for a series , but I'm sure Will Smith made that a buzz kill on the budget. I was glad to see a new version on it. I like anime. This turned out better than I thought it was going to be. I wanted more. Several aspects of older stories mixed with the Brite characters, but Still I was entertained. Please make more.

Sonya has the worst voice acting I've heard so far.

[mail-99377 · 4/10 · 14 October 2021]

The story had good potential, but the voice acting, specially of Sonya is beyond terrible. It really throw off all the good that could come from this animation.

At Least Music Was Good

[AJx91 · 3/10 · 18 October 2021]

Yo, despite the animation and overall story being bad. That OST was fire. However, if you do manage to like this. I recommend Netflix's Yasuke.

Anyways, this puts both anime, and the Bright franchise to shame.

disappointed storywise

[Chris_Ego · 4/10 · 14 October 2021]

I liked the "live action movie" this CG anime is based on and I expected further narrative. But "Bright: Samurai Soul" disappointed storywise.

People are critizing the bad coloring for a reason. Somehow this 2021 anime has the graphic touch of a late 80s anime. And that's what I found cool. Also the score is rather unusual and consists of some Miyavi-eske guitar work. But the composer quartett is named "Lite".

I watched this Netflix production with the mindset I have when I watch Studio Ghibli films and just wanted to be carried away to a different universe without questioning everything. This way I found the film amusing.

I can't believe this came out in 2021

[jaimegiant · 2/10 · 14 October 2021]

The camera work is nauseating zooming in and out while panning around and the coloring detail makes it look like some kids cgi cartoon from the early 2000's. 5 minutes is too much time to waste on garbage like this.

elegant art, yet poor narrative

[merischanghi · 5/10 · 26 October 2021]

The art is really to my taste, and the music is good, but the story is implausible bland... You'll know the ending when you watch the beginning. No plot twists, no surprises, no...

I enjoy every second of the film

[DaegT · 10/10 · 16 October 2021]

That's the best 2-D animation I have ever watched. Yes, a 2-D anime in 2021. But don't get me wrong, a 2-D anime nowadays could me even better than 3-D ones. Truly the production team has made an iconic one by their heartfelt efforts. Every picture is a beautiful masterpiece and the soundtrack composed by LITE simple show the sincerity and seriousness of the production.

The movie theme has been carefully chosen so that there can be a marvellous blending of east and west. One example: sword fighting aboard with European n Japanese swords, something we won't see everyday, huh? A very creative mind indeed.

Forget about the Hollywood style. This film is nothing Die Hard. U won't see superhero swordsmanship or John Wick gun fight. It's a humble story of a couple of lost souls and their determination.

Everything to make it great...except the linear story.

[lumiens · 8/10 · 16 November 2021]

Artwork: great Music: okay Voice acting: great Voice Over Dubbing: okay Story: A to B and no inbetween...unengaging.

A very linear story that is only slightly different than the original Netflix film "Bright." I suspect that this doesn't follow the original mythology either. When did the dark one come and give a poor reputation to all the orcs?

Great 1st episode...but where is the rest?

[garabedian123 · 14 October 2021]

Seriously. This did not feel like a movie, it felt like 1 episode to something larger.

So i was confused about a few things.... So Bright's can bring the dead back to life? Really? Not just heal but also bring back the dead. The Orc "was" dead wasnt he? I was like why is the human abandoning him?

And I dont understand the light/dark thing. If the show started in the dark, that means the dark one used the wand right? Then years later a bright used the wand and a pillar of light somehow makes the sun come back yeah? But in this world, if dark is equal to light and not really evil...then why is everyone with a dark aura evil? Why is there only 1 dark lord. Who made the wand? Is there only 1 wand? Its like star wars. The darkness makes no sense because there is no purpose for it.

Did the art style make anyone thing about SABLE I wish there was more to look at. There are only a few scenes really.