In a sea of shows where many anime-influenced Black animated projects feel cloyingly recycled, Netflix’s new sci-fi animated series Bass X Machina stands out as genuinely stunning. Instead of arriving as a derivative mimicry of Toonami-era pastiche, the biggest compliment is that it’s hard to compare directly to anything else.

Bass X Machina feels wholly its own, effortlessly cool and unapologetically Black. But more than anything, Bass X Machina feels like the long-awaited example of original Black genre animation that isn’t merely riffing on existing anime aesthetics but is building its own enveloping mythos, remixing fantastical steampunk westerns with real-life history.

Animated by Studio Mir (Devil May Cry/Legend of Korra) and Studio IAM (The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep) and created by LeSean Thomas (Cannon Busters/Yasuke), Bass X Machina follows Bass Reeves (Brian Tyree Henry), a Black bounty hunter roving about a post-Civil War steampunk America. When he’s offered the chance to become a U.S. Marshal, Bass leaves his pregnant wife, Glory (Janelle Monáe), and children behind to go on one last job in search of a missing inventor.

In tow is his Lone Wolf and Cub-esque sidekick, Dana Starr (Tati Gabrielle), an aspiring inventor herself who’s also the niece of the MIA inventor. Along the way, Bass’ shoot-first pragmatism and Dana’s technological ingenuity and pacifism give the unlikely duo the spark they need to turn shootouts with outlaws and hulking automatons into a surprisingly fantastic adventure.

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