Taigen abandons Akemi in search of greatness, honor, and pride. Akemi leaves her life of royalty and power to pursue her happiness in Taigen Then Taigen wants to leave behind his status, ranking, and title to pursue happiness with Akemi And Akemi, seeing the cruelty of the world, seeks power, status, and greatness in effort to change it. Yo these are just supposed to be side characters!

I just want to state, the mother and child at the gates.. Everyone says that Mizu is uncaring and cold towards them, that she should have done something.. But it must be remembered, Mizu wants to blend in, to not be seen. Pretending to be a man, hiding her eyes.. If she were to help them right at the beginning, she would have stood out from the crowd. Instead she waited until no one was there to witness her giving them the gold comb. Also, said crowd of people could have done anything to help as well. But no one for the entire day did anything to help the mother and daughter. Mizu helped. Was it late? Yes. But did she kill them? No. We see the mist from their breathe, they're still alive.

I just realised Mizu went to protect Ringo after he was called a "dog" the same insult she heard her entire childhood....coincidence I think not

Its crazy we got Arcane, Edgerunners, and now Blue Eye Samurai in 3 straight years. Truly special animated work and its a shame Netflix wants to move away from it

8:30 you COMPLETELY misread that scene. She couldn't do what needed to be done with them in tow. She thought about it, but wisely chose her battle. The gold hairpin at the end wasn't an afterthought for Mizu. It was setup to show Mizu does care, is compassionate.

I haven’t known Mizu long, but she’s already cemented herself as my second favorite ronin with glasses. First is Jin (“Gene”) from Samurai Champloo

I enjoyed your commentary very much. As a 73-year-old American woman, I’m pretty sure I’m far outside the intended demographic for Blue Eye Samurai, but this series affected me deeply. It’s gorgeous visually, and it’s wrenching narrative weeks after watching it still haunts me. You didn’t mention the strong sexual content that coupled with the also very graphic violence, makes this a series meant for adults, and I think that would be good information to have for those who may not have seen it yet. I wouldn’t recommend it yet for my anime-avid 14-year-old grandson, for example. That said, your review is not just accurate, you spotlight some of my favorite elements in the story: Taigen’s character arc, and Mizu’s backstory and unfolding humanization. This series is simply brilliant, and my favorite viewing experience of the year.

I also love how Taigen and Akemi switch roles. At the start, he wants to be great and she happy. At the end, she wants to be great while all he wants is to be happy. I love it!

Ringo is definitely the MVP.

As a mixed race person... yeah, Mizu's experiences echoed with me. Not surprised to find out the creator is also mixed. You get hit with a lot of things that are just unrelenting and don't have a basis in logic. Mizu's eyes being mocked as round/kids bullying another kid just for something that small reminds me of how my brother, who is both dark-skinned and redheaded due to a fluke of genetics, was once chased through the woods behind our house, pinned down by other kids, and forcibly stripped by them because they wanted to see if he had red hair inbetween his legs, since that would prove if he had or hadn't dyed his hair to look like "a freak". He was 10. This show hits different for you but it hits different on a separate level entirely for some of us.

Ringo is forever immortalized in my heart.

another great breakdown of this masterpiece of a show! when creators focus on developing the characters - magic happens:) Ringo best boy!!!!!

You know one thing I find funny about these shows, is that they always show how both sexes strive and find peace when there isn't violence and just do home work like raise kids and take care of farms. No mater the sex when you are hurt and turn violent things always goes south. For the longest time women were put as the peaceful ones because they were not allowed to get mad and fight or get violent in general of course. We really need to stop categorizing people, unless it will affect your health. Because many women can do what men do and vice versa. We can all do each other's jobs for the most part, although the execution might be different the result will be the same. Both can cook eggs you just have to try. Both can build a house you just have to try. I'm a women and I have made a wooden table from scratch and can make kanzashi hair clips with ribbons. Categories just put limits to the things that we can do. Thank you for the video though this is definitely an anime I will watch!!❤❤❤

Fun fact: the mother and child at the gate in episode one are seen in the flashback at the bridge in episode 5 (before Mizu reunites with her mother), refusing to help an injured Mizu.

They did the one thing Disney can’t do: create compelling characters.

finally I found a good video-essay about my favorite show

I am so glad you decided to make one more for this series with in depth character discussion. I am head over heels over this anime and can't waut for season 2.

Nice breakdown of an epic show. Just a pointer. You plosives are maxing out the dynamic range of your mic and make headphone listening rather uncomfortable. It might be time to move onto a superior microphone with masks and filters to reduce the impact of direct air incursions. If a new mic is out of the question, maybe consider moving your microphone out of the direct line of your mouth, to the side and a little lower I have found generates the best sounding voice.

Kenneth Branaugh really lets out his sinister side as Fowler. Very much breaking out of a typecast.

Does not a single person notes how tall Mizo actually is here? She is taller then most Japanese man, only shorter then the Irish Devil, Definatly a sign she is from European heritage. and a tall lad at that

LOVE IT! THIS SHOW IS AMAZING

Keep in mind that Akemi's father is a good example of someone who managed to break free from humble heritage. There are a few more characters like that in the show. Fowler himself being one, though he's not Japanese, of course.

Good stuff bubba. Glad I happened across your video. Thank you for the work you put into this.

As a person who used to get ruthlessly harassed only to watch that same person end up living an abject poverty. This was one of the best animes that I could ever come across. I am 28 years old now but at 18 I was hell-bent for revenge the girl who started the trend of ruthlessly physically and verbally abusing me. And encouraging my female classmates to do so at least 99% of them to join on the ruthless, harassment bandwagon. Had social opportunities that I didn’t get. No I was not an outcast like Mizu what is, but her story of getting teased resonated with me, as I to once felt like I was a string on harp being plucked by the fingers of Destiny. But after so much has been done to me. I have been as far as falsely accused for faking a family members illness for attention. Because I was jealous of the girl that used to encourage not only herself, but so many of my fellow high school classmates to blindly follow her like lemmings. Into popularity. Into a life of abject poverty. Into a life of entering parenthood too early. Abusing substances and becoming a special needs kid(s) mom way too early. Watching this beautiful anime made me realize one thing. If heard people found some strange solace in hurting me when I was only 15. Then it hurting me let them hurt a little less because of their broken family or life. Whatever made them hurt. And then that’s OK with me. Not because I am OK with being a doormat. but because finally at age 28 years old, revenge does not drive me. I have since then learned through many other life experiences. That I am no longer a string on the harp being plucked by the unknown fingers of Destiny. If only I could encounter these girls to tell them that nobody’s life is like a string on a harp being plucked by the unknown hands of destiny! I wish I could tell them that. But their mothers. My classmates mothers are now the ones who are suppressing their teenage daughters anger. And jealousy, and doing whatever they can to show that they really hate me. If only I could tell the mothers the same thing

thank you for talking about this powerful show 😭

Also I want to point out a historical context of Fowler’s story, he grew up during the Nine years war also known as Tyrone’s rebellion in Ireland. Hugh O’Neil, Earl of Tyrone and Hugh Roe O’Donnell Lord of Tyrconnell lead a rebellion against the English and both won two victories against them however in retaliation the English would start burning crops, taking away cattle, and killing the civilian population it caused a famine so you can imagine the conditions of Fowler and his family had to deal with when the English burned their crops.

I soooo hope we get a s2

You deserve more followers. Love hearing poeple talking about this show

the De-meow'! so cats are in the social pyramid...cool! hahaha

Great analysis, but you missed something with Taigan. He literally gets a chub while wrestling with Mizu. That's why they stop fighting and he immediately mentions that he must have been thinking about Akemi, "no-homo" style. I think it would be funny if Taigan tried to "test the waters" with a gay character only to realize he's definitely not gay. Leaving him even more confused about his feelings for the demon, Mizu.

Great video!

Mizu doesn't abandon the mother and child at the gates, she simply cannot help them, as she herself bribed the guards, and thus cannot deal with even more scrutiny. She drops Akemi's comb for them later, but who knows if that'd be enough for them as they cannot sell it. That said, this same mother and child did nothing (as shown in the flashback in episode 5) when Mizu was hurt and was asking for help from people who walked by, before meeting her "mother" on the bridge. edit: why are you calling Ak*E*mi Ak*A*mi?? presumably you have watched the entire show? So why?

Great Video!

I don’t watch Netflix and I thought that’s so good probably the best I’ve ever seen and for you to say it’s one of the best and probably the best makes me feel good for not using my time watching mediocre ones❤

I'm glad somebody is talking about this amazing show. All the big name cinema reviewers on UKposts have seemed to not notice BES. I'm so sad because this show is up there with shows like Arcane or Edge runners. But its gotten a fraction of the attention. I truly hope that with later season (at this point in time season 2 is confirmed) that it gets more mainstream attention by larger creators and gets more eyes on it. I love the creator. I believe he was a writher if not the main writer on Logan and Bladerunner 2049. Like what more of a resume do you need to get people to watch your show. Blue Eye Samurai is amazing.

I like that Mizu is cold and borderline heartless, she reminds me a lot of the best Clint Eastwood characters

Blue Eye Samurai is a peak next to Oni: Thunder God's Tale!!

ironic when its gonna turn out it was mizus mother that was western and her father a damiyo the shogun executed for trading with the westerners

I hope we get a lot more seasons of BES and this paves the way for more original adult animated shows! This also made me hope that one day we'll get an animated show set in ancient Persia. A girl can hope! But, coming back to your video, I don't think Mizu is hateful at all! And I don't think she hates japanese people. She just hates the fact that she exists. She has completely believed and internalized the narrative that she's shameful, so she's not out there to take revenge on everyone who bullied her and was horrible to her, she's taking revenge on the reason she exists in the first place:)) which makes it even darker! Also the sexual tension between Mizu and Taigen was top notch!

Excelente video

Great Video! Love this series

8:54 the mother is died, you can see only the daughters breath.

barbara cartland parody set in old timey japan

I thought Taigen knew Mizu was a woman. He makes a comment how she doesn't need hands to pee, I forget exactly what he said but I thought that alluded to it. I could be over thinking it though!

The support characters stories in this are stronger than Mizus, as the series treated Mizus injuries like a joke. I only came to like Mizu at around the last 2 episodes.

great video but by the gods do you need a pop filter

Is the host of this channel the kid from Nickelodeon in the 90s?

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Mizu and Seki take usually giveb rolls for diffrent genders. I would say it's no big jump to considder then both as gender divers or even trans*. Togather with teigen I would say they made the biggest character development two by braking one big thing and one by getting more in touch with himself. This series is simply amazing.

except you keep calling it "Anime" it's not Anime.

Yo maan i can't finish this vid maan yall are all saying the same things about this show.. it's gettin ridiculous.

Most brutal show you have ever seen? Really? You should go check some anime from the 80 )))

I skip into the video and immediately hear Mizu being misgendered. I love to see it.

Its good BUT the fact alone that the bad guys aren't either portuguese or dutch kinda grinds my gears. The writers should have read a book... or two. I mean, the portuguese are the number one reason why they shutdown to all foreigners, after founding the port city of nagazaki and bringing the guns and worse: christianity. The dutch still remained a couple decades till they also got expelled. This anglo-saxon centrism is super innacurate

Her name is AkEmi, not Akami:) There was another guy on UKposts who called Taigen "Tiegen". Like... why?)) You haven't watched it in English?