It is a rudimentary revenge story, but with enough twists to intrigue and suck you in. By episode 5 and 6 when it really delivers, you will forgive it anything because it has you so engrossed. I can't believe how stunning it was, almost like it had a master cinematographer in a real-life film. After I watched it, I looked up the cast and realized another reason it was so good.
Maya Erskine as Mizu, a mixed-race blue-eyed rΕnin.
Masi Oka as Ringo, a sheltered, disabled cook who idolizes Mizu.
Darren Barnet as Taigen, a promising but arrogant swordsman of humble origins.
Brenda Song as Princess Akemi, the pampered but strong-willed daughter of a nouveau riche lord.
George Takei as Seki, Princess Akemi's tutor.
Randall Park as Heiji Shindo, Fowler's nominal jailor and accomplice.
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Swordfather, a blind blacksmith who raised Mizu.
Kenneth Branagh as Abijah Fowler, an Irish smuggler and inventor who is allied with the Shogun, Tokugawa Ietsuna in secret defiance of Japan's Sakoku closed-door policies.