From swift kicks to the seductive, tinny ring of a deadly sword slash, soundscapes are one of the building blocks of great television, and that’s true of Netflix’s Blue Eye Samurai . The adult animated series follows Mizu (Mayra Erskine), a young mixed-race warrior driven by vengeance while living as an outcast in Edo-period Japan. Her unique blue eyes symbolize her as an outsider in Japan, as they closed their borders to foreign invaders long ago, while her gender prevents her from legally taking revenge on those who would shun her.

In July, Blue Eye Samurai picked up two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Animated Program and Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation for episode 6, “All Evil Dreams and Angry Words.” Nominated sound editing duo Myron Nettinga and Paulette Lifton talk to Deadline about all the hard work that goes into the layers of crafting compelling, emotional twists befitting a vengeful ronin.

DEADLINE: Sound mixing and editing are not to be confused with composing. In the context of the series, how would you explain your role to the people at home?

PAULETTE LIFTON: Well, there's editing and there's mixing. So music is part of the mixing process. There's also a music editor, so there's a music editor who [presides] over sound effects, dialogue, Foley, ADR. So there's a number of different types of elements that need to be edited. What sound editing does is we put all of those elements together and they get prepared and sent to the mixer.