I'm on your side, but... yeah, you really shouldn't have invoked the girl from PREY. Aside from it being banal, mediocre hackwork, that film was poorly written and actually just a contributor to the problem you claim Blue Eye Samurai fixes. With all due respect: you have the right intentions, you just need more education and experience.

Thanks for addressing this, since that was the first thing that came to mind but I would say it's mostly male "action" heros that are very one dimensional. I guess we are just so used to it that we just accept it.

Pretentious. Male action stars annoy you? Rough and simple Masculine fun offends you, clearly, don't cap. Maybe seek some wisdom, before presuming to analyse male fun, or think that this netflix propaganda for feminism is valid, simply because the woman has flaws. So many simps, goddamn tragedy😕 BES isn't a deep production, it's just more leftist slop for over eager globalist femboys.

Well said. Like you mentioned before. It's not like people hate women (in fact it can be anyone of sex or color) people hate bad writing. And I dislike people who try to use it as means of why diversity doesn't work and we shouldn't have it. or as an excuse to just bash on it. Context always matters. 11/10 video

You haven’t watched Rambo.

*Mizu

Yeah. It doesn't matter to her which one sold her out, because neither of them could accept her true nature, and thought of it as monstrous. She's such a good character.

Honestly to me the show hinted that both had sold her out. The mother(or maybe maid assuming he was telling the truth) was long established to have an opium addiction, and I know all to well that people who are in it deep will do ANYTHING to continue their addiction. Even if someone they care about gets in their way, they will take out anyone who tries to stop them. I don't want to get into the details but something similar happened to someone I know, and the horrible thing was that they genuinely did love the person. Mizu had stopped giving money to her because she was worried about the negative effects on her health, so the mom was facing relapse. Addictions enslave your mind. The mom was probably willing to do anything to get her opium back, and for that she needed money. Remember Mizu stopped giving her money for drugs, so as long as she was around, the mom/maid wouldn't get her fix, so she had to go. And if she really was just a maid, how would she, the opium addict, care that she died if it was for her drugs? By selling off Mizu and getting money for it, she knocked out two birds with one stone. And I dont think Mikio was lying when he said she got new money for drugs. I also think Mikio sold her out because after the sparring, he made it clear he no longer showed any attachment to her. He ignored her, sold her horse and once again started trying to get into his lord's good graces. So how does it make sense... that after he left Mizu to die by the hands of the soldiers, after seeing that they were no match for her, he comes back and all of a sudden starts spewing nonsense about how he loves her very much? Where did these feelings of love suddenly spring up from? And if he really didn't sell her out, then why didn't he help? Both she and him were excellent with blades, he knew that together they would be able to kill all of the soldiers. And when he saw the soldiers, why didn't he look surprised, or afraid? He just wanted to get money and get in his lord's good graces again by selling her out. When he saw that the soldiers weren't going to be able to kill her, he probably panicked. He knew that she would know that one of two people could have possibly sold her out, and him running away made him look very bad. He was probably afraid of her hunting him down, or at least not being able to return to his house which would suck. So he changes tactics and shows up after the battle is over, hoping she can trust him again and maybe possibly slit her throat in her sleep later. Of course Mizu didn't fall for it. She probably killed him realizing that an innocent man wouldn't have done any of the things he just did, and it didn't matter if her mother sold her out as well because he just killed her. Or perhaps Mizu knew of the new opium as well and that was all the answer she needed. This is what I believe to be what most likely happened, but it's even more heartbreaking

@@mittenvonscrufflears7233I think it was Mikio that sold her out. After the spar, he likely felt inept after losing to a woman. He sold the horses to the lord but in an attempt to regain his honor likely gave up Mizu as well. The disappointment may be with so few soldiers sent to dispatch her. He argued with her mother (ik) and killed her to silence her. He had too many motives to give her up.

That wasn’t her mother 😂 the show explains this in episode 8.

Yes I thought it was a little corny to be honest. She had done far worse things to people already but Ringo decided to leave her because she didn’t help a woman who literally attempted to kill her? Seems like a forced low point

yes!! love this comment. his read on her at the beginning threw me off and you summed up why perfectly.

Mizu also left a woman and her child to die in the snow, she never did any of those things to be good or to bring justice. She did it because it brought her closer to her revenge. When the slave trader was actively talking abt taking women and abusing ringo, she does nothing. It isn’t until she realizes the man can give her information that she does anything. Even then she does nothing to help the slaves because she ISNT a good person. She is blinded by vengeance. There isn’t one kind act she does in the entire first few episodes. That same woman that tried to (not kill) knock out mizu to interrogate her for information, also just risked her own life to save her. Mizu also killed multiple innocents and even those that didn’t even want to fight her.

@@Viewer962 the fact that you didn’t notice that the woman and child were still breathing when she dropped the gold comb for them tells me all i need to know about your observation skills. mizu has a goal and people die for it, yes; it doesn’t mean she is without mercy or pity. she cannot show it in an obvious way that draws attention to her but in the roundabout ways she can, she does. there’s a small moment in episode 4 that shows exactly what i’m talking about; when her and ringo are entering a town and she stops someone playing music to give them money. she didn’t have to do that, she could’ve brushed right past. she has a heart, she just refuses to let it get in the way of her revenge… until it does. read some of these comments and then rewatch the show because you clearly didn’t take it in wholly the first time.

EXACTLY....Well said

The marriage and it's tragic end is Mizu's finest moment in the entire series. That completes the character, I think. It's just a letdown later on when she goes and does the video game tower castle and the mistakes later at the Shogun palace. Some have said they changed writers after the Puppet episode. I guess it shows.

@@MrEmpireBuilder0000 I can see the change, especially with the over-the-top battle sequence in episode 6. Gone is the (relative) realism of the action in the first few episodes, replaced by a Mizu who seems basically indestructible, as well as possessing superhuman strength, able to carry the full weight of an adult man while climbing a sheer wall. It did seem like a videogame, with the actual story of it tacked on just at the end. And Fowler felt more like a final boss than a proper character. He was superhumanly powerful, but with little explanation why he could so easily defeat a character who'd just beaten so many underlings. That said, I think episode 7 is one of my favorites, as it shows the culmination of Akemi's journey. She's a warrior too, just like Mizu, but her skillset is the machinations of personal and social power rather than a sword. And unlike Mizu, she's still a novice, having never before really needed to fight for her needs. But over the course of the series, she picks up the necessary skills quickly, finally learning to take control of the situation she's been forced into rather than escaping it. Madam Kaji gave her the key insight, that she'd been seeking a man to save her, instead of acquiring power of her own. I'm actually more excited about her upcoming battle of wills with her mother-in-law than what happens with Mizu. My guess is that the Shogun's widow was the power behind the throne all this time, maybe even the reason the Shogun was trading with outsiders in the first place.

Madam Kaji is one of my favorite characters in the show. The way she takes control of her life, even in her situation, is deeply admirable.

Almost murdering your husband isn’t badass. Jesus, women are doomed at this rate.

@@MrEmpireBuilder0000 Yes, the ending felt incredibly rushed and forced.

More male archetype humiliation "men have no justification for fighting and go fight for nothing, but lo and behold the strong woman chooses the noble humble path but has such a terrible past" It's propaganda, you just like it.

I Jesus Christ it was just that crafted well

@@ireallycant4416it was very hard to miss

@ireallycant4416 this show is a work of art. And most people probably didn't think of it that way first showing. It was implied they are trying to leave immediately and she decided to become a hero and stay with her people. But the deeper meaning is. She's becoming like her father and probably will be the next big antagonist. My guess for Taigen future. His relationship with Mizu will grow, and probably will have a repeat of this moment he had with Akemi but this time Mizu. And it's up to Mizu to learn to let go of her need for revenge and be happy with him or to go forward with her path until she dies. Mizu was already given a chance at happiness and chose revenge once. It'd make sense to give her that same choice again but with Taigen. That's my guess

Would that mean that Taigen’s future (maybe as a ronin) will be bright, prosperous and hopeful with his new beginnings while Akemi’s will be just as dreadful and destructive as the shogun’s downfall leading to her becoming just as mad and cruel as them later down the line?

Also. She burned down the whole city in her revenge.

Love this. Where does that quote come from? In episode 7 when Taigen learns about the plot against the Shogun, he's just flabbergasted that Mizu doesn't care. He can't even fathom that the Shogun means nothing to her. But why should it? Though he grew up abused, there's still a massive gap between his experience and hers as an outcast. The Shogun is the symbol of civilization, and civilization still offers benefits to Taigen. He has (or had) the option to rise to a high position, to "succeed." Mizu never had that option. Civilization isn't meant to benefit her, and everyone around her makes that plain again and again throughout the story. Taigen thinks Mizu honorless for having no reverence for the Shogun, and by extension, the society he rules. He keeps getting little insights into her life experience, and the hand he had in making it a living hell, but he stubbornly refuses to see the world from her perspective. He knows that no one but has ever behaved honorably toward her, except Master Eiji. Yet he still thinks the she owes loyalty to a society that has shown her none. I think this is what them woke folks mean when they say "check your privilege."

@@rottensquid the Quote “A child that is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth.” is an African Proverb

@@SilverCrow0101 I think it's swahili

It seemed from just watching the trailer, that it was another case of Netflix' 'white man bad' crap, like every other show they put out.. But if not, I'll def check it out

please don't give traits a gender....there is nothing feminine about being soft or about cooking...it's just a trait ;)

the woman is allowed to be successful and competent as long as it’s less than the man

I also like that while Mizu is a spectacular swordswoman, she's not invincible. She gets the absolute shit kicked out of her constantly and takes hits and wounds nearly every episode.

ABSOLUTELY, she's not a god, she's not infallible, she's incredibly skilled and so is everyone else. And she needs the people in her life who have intervened when she's been injured to survive.@@patrickwaldeck6681

​@@elivenya-theautisticbookwy9638 we may not, but society does. And those traist are considered inferior pricisely because society genders them as female.

There's also the oftentimes overlooked fact that Mizu had just slaughtered an entire army by herself and is probably a little tired right now

@@finbororshe need a nap 😴

@@gorb688 the samurai is very tired. she is eepy. the samurai has had a very long day of splashing thousand claws and wants to take just a small sleeb

​@@finboror...and dripping much needed blood everywhere

The big thing is she is not Akemi's friend or sworn swordsman, or really in any way connected to her to the point she should listen to orders. She's not there to do what Akemi wants. She was indeed trying to prevent her getting killed by a brutal gang that was hell bent on massacring them all, and might even be thankful that Akemi saved her. That doesn't give Akemi any room to suddenly treat Mizu as her personal swordsman. So if Akemi had asked for help instead of demanding it, I feel there might have been some cooperation from Mizu. But that plus the fact it was indeed her own family's men come to find her means it's not worth getting into one more fight.

She had one guy turn on her and now she could never find any man that would accept her huh? Three men already accepted her. The blacksmith, the cripple, and the bully. Not for marriage but still. There's bound to be others she could potentially form close bonds with romantically.

they did not portray the husband's disgust as unjustified as you seem to think they did. if you can recall the scene, she had her sword at his throat and kissed him. you can analyze that any number of ways. but it was not okay to me, even if it was her genuine self.

@@treacherousjslither6920Sure, if Mizu’s mission was to settle down and be happy then maybe EVENTUALLY she’d find someone. But the damage was done at that point.

​@@treacherousjslither6920​​ You are approaching this through the eyes of a man in the modern era and not a WOMAN in EDO JAPAN PERIOD. Also not approaching this with any full understanding why someone would withhold themselves in an environment that treats them like sh*t. Anyone can rat you out and take away your freedom and or worse ABUSE or KILL you while doing so. She tried that happiness route as a wife but got betrayed by someone she grew to love. THAT shakes the core in someone who has never loved before or trusted before. I don't mean slightly vulnerable but COMPLETELY vulnerable. This was BEFORE meeting the other men in her life. And even so only one out of the three mentioned know her identity by accident. So after suffering profund betrayal and seeing how easily someone can try to ruin your life, you think she would be easily willing to trust and love again? It would be incredibly unsafe for her and can be a threat to her survival in the world and time period she lives in.

@@treacherousjslither6920 Not in 1600's Japan. Everyone sees her as a monster. And do remember how her relationship started with the other three. And it's not romantic. That's not the point of her existence. The damage has been done. Her husband and mother betrayed her. You should not be using a modern perspective here. NO SHE WONT FIND SOMEONE ELSE, nor will she let herself be that vulnerable again

My thoughts exactly. These places of intersection of social identities are full of character and story potential. Blue Eye Samurai saw that and executed it excellently.

The majority of my family members are women. What I've noticed is that they are very strong, some of them are very strong physically as well but what makes them feel very comfortable is that they feel safe to be vulnerable around us (the men) and that run both sides and we feel relief from that balance. Edit: I want to clarify that this has not been always this way, men in my family used to be disconnected or not present.

Thinking that because she is presenting in a femenine manner, Mizu is presenting as herself is a pretty interesting thought given that she was in an arranged marriage and the whole society pressured women to dress femenine. Also, if she presented how she actually wanted (hypothetically in a masculine way) she could risk mikio leaving her and having no other options. So I greatly disagree that her time with mikio was her "true self", just another side of the coin, the pressure to be the perfect wife changing her behaviours, vs the pressure to escape womanhood because of how horrible it was (trying to pass as a man) at the end of the day both coping mechanisms come from the same horrible societal rules that they had for women.

She presents herself as a man not because of "betrayal", but because of independence & to be treated better. During that time period on that setting women didn't have many rights. Also she was raised as a boy, because someone wanted to get rid of a female child with blue eyes.

I fully disagree it's a COMPLETELY different time for women then. Disguising herself as man was a smart choice, especially for her mission. Going through life as a man is tremendously easier than doing so as a woman.

What you have already commented here are beautifully put together "The performance of gender" is just the perfect description and please consider this quote stolen. I'm gonna use it a lot going forward.

Very good analysis of gender in the show ! There’s a lot of literature on this topic in sociology & gender studies. Gender is performative. It’s not something natural or biological. It’s a social construct. If you’re interested, I’d definitely recommend the work of Judith Butler. Their big work is Gender Trouble on the performative aspect of gender. There’s also a lot of literature on identity and society in sociology and anthropology in general.

Not just gender. Specifically edo japan gender roles a lot of stuff doesnt apply to modern day. But ic ur point

​@@landofthehazymisteven today, gender is a performance but it can be hard to see when you so entrenched in it.

​@@eonstarto the point that it seems to be no longer a script to us, like actors delving deep into playing their roles and forgetting that it's all just something others told them to play out

And I think it was empathy in both situations. The young girl had an STD that could not be cured in that time, and she was suffering daily at the hands of an evil man. She had no options but for de@th to release her, and was at peace when she did. As for Akemi, Akemi tried killing Mizu and was inexperienced in life. Why would Mizu k*ll innocent guards trying to bring a princess back to her royal privileged life simply because Akemi didn’t want to follow protocol. Everything she did was to do the right thing and stay on her mission. I think Mizu k*lling the girl was honestly showing her good character, and it was clearly difficult for her.

I think it’s pretty telling that more people mentioned that compared to when she murdered the innocent boy Edit: everyone trying to justify shows everything you need to know about the mentally ill fans

@@ExpertContrarian Which innocent boy? You mean the gang member?! From the gang that literally tried to murder her a second ago? Just because he kept his head low, doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have jumped her once she turned her back on him.

⁠@@megalodon4586 Imagine actually going out of your way to defend killing kids. You are insane

@@ExpertContrarian A fictional kid. If you can't even stomach a story told in an anime, you shouldn't watch it my guy.

I loved that scene so much because it subverted my view twice. She didn't help at first, but in the end she gave them what they needed to get through. It boggles my mind but also inspired me how well-written that scene was. I've never seen that in media before, most of them write their characters outwardly being nice or doing the right thing, maybe I haven't watched a lot of media but that was perfection.

@@Orchidlettux If it was your regular mainstream tripe(*cough* marvel), she would have caused a ruckus, beat up the guards and have the scene will end with the people clapping for her.

Also, she allowed akemi to be taken back because: A) she physically couldn't fight anymore, but akemi and ringo selfishly expected her to defend them mere moments after defeating a hoard B) she truly thought that Akemi is much safer in the castle and that she's needlessly making her life harder than it should be C) this is 16th century Japan and she is "Bill Clinton" of the story. This is story of the survival and she needs to survive whichever way possible, that means often leaving other people behind or you both go down

@@MELLMAO It's B. Akemi had a absolute top-level position in society most women would switch for in a heartbeat.

@@g.v4848I think it’s kinda mix of B and C, I think if Akemi was going to be killed or something she would of saved her but let’s say she was being brought back to a town were she would live but it kinda sucks I don’t think Mizu would of helped

Yeah, being a woman wont help her to get where she wants or get the things she needs.

@@akodaah13-e32 So she hides it whenever possible. Like Mulan from the classic story. I would imagine she'll need to do the same in Season 2.

The show makes a point to show you that her quest is unnecessary and destructive to herself and others. She could have stayed with the blacksmith. She could have become a relatively popular whore at a brothel. She could have found someone decent to marry and live a quiet life somewhere. With her intelligence and courage she could have done any number of things. But instead she chose the path of blood out of some misplaced anger at being born. It's understandable but a bit silly.

Ok?

No, she doesn't. It's an American character in an American story, it has nothing to do with the Japanese society, their history or mentality.

Absolutely agree, fantastic take 👏

i throughly enjoyed reading your comment! i completely agree. she’s really kind but she never loses sight of her purpose

I agree! I think in the beginning she isn’t “soulless”, it’s just that’s how other people see her due to her extreme determination and ruthlessness when it comes to getting what she wants, but those little bits are added to show us that she’s not what people assume she is.

yes i remember my second rewatch i was like omg she left his golden comb for them to trade in and i thought it showed a lot about her that she doesn't make obvious to everyone

Well said 👏🏾

She told Akemi*. Seki was the elderly father figure but yes, agreed

Arcane did this really well, too and I think She-ra did it well too. All the characters have a back story, are authentic and show their "human" side.

​@@BoochanShe Ra was Garbage. Comparing to Arcane and Blue Samurai is Comparing Nursery rhyme to Tolkien.

Her character archetype is stereotypical, but alright

@@ExpertContrarianI get where your coming from and I agree the roots are of a character archetype that’s commonly used but I think one of the things that sets her most apart is how biased she is and how much of a horrible person she can be, she wants to kill all the white men in Japan for no other reason than the fact she was told white peoples were evil, she killed an innocent girl and burned down a palace just to get her revenge that might even be misplaced, he’s fowler says they were evil, but I think one of them is going to turn out nice and mizu is going to realise how she wasn’t in the right

Wow!! Beautifully said!

Actually it wasn't the Seven Years' War but the Nine Years' War in Ireland. Great analysis tho.

impaired people being mistreated by everyone in the past is a myth (or a projection of our own failures) people were much more caring for each other because they knew that alone they will certainly die very very easely.

@@thefrenchspacer That is a myth. Japan has a word for marginalized groups that basically translates to "Over the window." That word is madogiwa, people with disabilities were hidden away from society, it's only recently that our societies have made an effort to treat disabled people with respect. Modern Japan has a great deal of technologies that can help people traverse through the city with ease.

I like how Mizu genuinely asks for her God's strength and wisdom and is greatful when the tides are in her favor, while Fowler talks to God like he's making a deal with a Mafia Boss. Mizu is genuinely willing to humble herself while in prayer hoping to get what she wants, while Fowler casually talks to God like it's just a business deal. Small differences like that between characters serve to show that even though Mizu isn't a good person, she still is more human than Fowler.

Imo quite a bit of the show's writing was done for marketability to an audience outside japan, with preconceived notion of the culture. Elements that if we change to be more historically accurate, wouldnt hurt the show. Like referring to mizu as samurai instead of ronin or just a vagabond. And acting like the japanese army didnt have matchlock (which is still far less advanced than what Fowler brought). Because the moniker samurai is more marketable than others, as well as the idea of a non gun japan perpetrated by hollywood.

@@mdd4296 - I doubt that any of the elements you mentioned were done for marketability. That was my point. It's one of the reasons Kurosawa's films work so well: they aren't concerned with historical accuracy, something virtually impossible to have everyone agree with. Sure, it might be more plausible to have the show set during the Muromachi, when the social mobility of the time might allow for a gender-indeterminate individual to walk around freely with a sword in their obi. I salute the show's creators for not burdening their story with such banality.

@@jachyra9 The problem with that train of thoughts is some anachronism brought the show quality very very slightly down when we examine other elements of the show: Mizu, in the very first episode implied there were Japanese made guns already. The shogun disobeyed his own laws for greed. We are meant to believe he didnt equip his capital troops with the best technology he could mass produce on his own soil? Ringo insist on referring to Mizu as a samurai while everybody else say otherwise would be a nice touch for his characterization. Romanticising from historical inspiration is very fine. But it's another thing when you go against what you established early on. There was great effort from the showrunners to put the "banality" of the time at the front. They are more than aware how thing was back then. And the directing proved they can handle those elements with great finesses while taking artistic license. So why still resort to certain preconceived notions produced only for western audience... decade ago? To bring the quality slightly down? While it has established itself not just wanting to be romantic but very gritty and cynical as well? The only reason I could think of is marketing. For example, the 2014 admiral Yi movie. It's about the korean perspective, so why was a samurai front and center in western promotionals? Because that is better for marketability over here. Mizu would work in any time period: be it more or less egalitarian than edo. She has always been an outcast, always been pretending to be other gender, social norms just don't apply to her.

@@mdd4296 - “The problem with that train of thoughts is some anachronism brought the show quality very very slightly down when we examine other elements of the show” Very, very slightly? Hold on while I fetch my magnifying glass. :) “Mizu, in the very first episode implied there were Japanese made guns already.” That’s because there were. “The shogun disobeyed his own laws for greed. We are meant to believe he didnt equip his capital troops with the best technology he could mass produce on his own soil?” Because the show makes it clear that they lacked the “best” technology for said mass production? You are thinking for the characters, who may not be as intelligent as you, who didn’t have your access to the information provided by the show’s writers, who may have been led astray or misinformed when making certain decisions, etc. Sorry, but this is Monday morning quarterbacking on your part. It’s okay, we’re all guilty of it from time to time. “Why didn’t Obi-Wan just flat out tell Luke that Vader was his father from the get go?” “Why didn’t the Eagles fly the Hobbits and the One Ring to Mordor?” Sorry, but I prefer not to indulge in this sort of behavior. It find it joyless and pointless. “Ringo insist on referring to Mizu as a samurai while everybody else say otherwise would be a nice touch for his characterization.” I agree. “Romanticising from historical inspiration is very fine. But it's another thing when you go against what you established early on.” Inconsistency is a human trait. I can live with that. “There was great effort of the show to put the "banality" of the time at the front. They are more than aware how thing was back then.” Are they? Historians and scholars don’t agree on even when the various periods of Japanese history begin and end. What we claim to know, to agree upon, about pre-modern Japan has a lot of speculation and fantasy flavoring it. “And the directing proved they can handle those elements with great finesses while taking artistic license. So why still resort to certain preconceived notions produced only for western audience... decade ago?” I think a better question would be: why not? Fiction is not under any obligation to placate our ideas about reality. “To bring the quality slightly down? While it has established itself not just wanting to be romantic but very gritty and cynical as well?” It only brings the quality slightly down in your estimation. Blue Eye Samurai isn’t 100% historically accurate, and no fiction is. But it’s still light years away from the comedy that is The Last Samurai, for example, a film seemingly designed as a chew toy for historians. “The only reason I could think of is marketing.” Forgive me for coming across as just another garden-variety Millennial hipster who enthusiastically devoured every David Foster Wallace treatise he could get his grimy little hands on, but… everything is marketing. “For example, the 2014 admiral Yi movie. It's about the korean perspective, so why was a samurai front and center in western promotionals? Because that is better for marketability over here.” Undoubtedly. “Mizu would work in any time period: be it more or less egalitarian than edo. She has always been an outcast, always been pretending to be other gender, social norms just don't apply to her.” She wouldn’t “work” now. And she did experience life as a female and a wife.

@@jachyra9 You can open carry guns around s lot of states nowadays. Openly carrying a melee weapons are legal in even more jurisdiction. And telling people to use your preferred pronouns is also much more accepted. Mizu would have no need of that in modern time though. The show also established early on that drifters with weapons are common enough sights. The very first scene set the story in 1633, at this period, Japanese matchlock has already went a long way from when they first mass deployed them during sengoku. The show never made it clear that they cant manufacture that btw. There is a lot of disadvantage matchlock has over flintlock, and the bow was still an important military weapons due to those issues. There is no mistaken of the time period here. I am not making it about historical accuracy as is. But the resorting to certain anachronistic elements specifically made for western audience because that's easier for marketing. And you realise "Everything is marketing". So yeah, my point is... proven? "Why not?" because why do artists have to bow down to business pressure to create arts? Don't answer, we all know why. I could stop here since I never tried to persuade you any further than that. But undermining the showrunner's effort in the research they done for the show wouldnt sit right wit me, there was indeed great efforts to put banality like how they cook, walk in different clothing, pattern of speech, transports, architecture, medicine practice... alongside the bonker artistic license. Last Samurai was outside the point. It was intended to be a far more romatic view of Japanese tradition than Blue Eye ever was. If anything, Blue Eye wanted to criticise those traditions.

Yeah, being a born female comes with so many set of...issues and feelings and self hate sometimes. It spoke to me in many magically ways. Especially cuz I have been dying for something like the Manga Berserk or Vinland Saga with a female lead and WHAM, this show gave me both Akemi and Mizu.

At this point i dont really label myself as anything but this show is awesome at portraying female characters with pretty different ways of expresing and living with their femininity. Mizu dresses as a man because is easier for men to get the sort of things she needs, but its not that she hates being a woman, or that she wishes she could be a man. Akemi on the other hand takes advantage of her beauty and femininity and men's... Not fragility but susceptibility to seduction and sex, and she learns to push the right buttons to get the things she wants And neither of this different ways of exeriencing womanhood are presented as better than the other.

@akodaah13-e32 would love more shows like this. Women can powerful in SO many different ways and this show captured that. Like it really captured that "Sex is why females are oppressed and gender is how they are oppressed" thing but neither of the lead females let that keep them down. I frankly love how Mizu still desired to be more like a traditional women in some ways in the Onryo episode and how Akemi has this thrist for power but is not going about it in the "needs to get buff and beat up men" approach. This show just MASTERS its female characters. All the characters really.

What are your struggles with being born female?

​@@froggylegs1499love vinland saga -btw , but when you both say born female... you mean you're a girl who dealt with some identity issues growing up? Being into sports or something, or like tomboy esque feelings? Or.do you guys mean you're no longer female...?

She tried to murder him while they were sparring. Literally psychopathic shit but of course you don’t see a problem with that.

He also betrayed her by riding off after seeing the soldiers, leaving her to fight alone. And her “mother” stayed inside the house until all the soldiers were dead, too. I think that’s why it didn’t matter who sold her out, see saw that they both failed to have her back when it counted. Given their behavior, I think the maid and Mizo might have sold her out together…

He is a true master indeed

Definitely, the show makes this clear - he cuts Mizu off when she has something she must confess. "You came to me as a boy and you will leave as a man", or words to that effect.

She certainly does, but I found Guts to be way more believable in his own universe. I mean, my dude was a genetic freak able to lift a 200 kilogram sword and swing it all night. On the other hand, Mizu didn't really have anything that was special about her and that could potentially make her able to do all the crazy things she did. Since she's not physically special, there should be more focus on how her skills got as high as they did. For example her backstory should be more focused on training, since they really only ever showed her lifting weights and swinging her sword by herself, sometimes watching others fight or train too, but what I think was really needed here to not make her feel like Rey Skywalker was some kind of training master to spar with her. Also she really does resemble Wolverine at times with how her injuries affect her. Episode 6 was peak, when her foot got completely destroyed, but she forgot about it a few seconds later and even managed to run/make super long jumps/beat 10 guards at once like nothing happened. I wish the writers had more control over creating mindless action just for the sake of it.

​​@@dominiorrr6510Well at least I don't think it had anything to do with her being a woman. They just wanted to give really good and interesting action. I mean, in real life, literally no one on earth would be able to do what we've seen her do. It's amped up for the enjoyment of being able to witness something cool, and I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. I mean, that's what the entire fantasy genre is literally made for. I think taking some creative license is okay. And to be fair, she at least possesses some good genes. She's tall, especially as a woman, which objectively offers benefits for fighting. She also has wide shoulders for her gender, at least as wide as the average man's, which helps with arm strength, and of course she has trained to be physically fit. Learning the ways of the sword is also basically the only way she can survive, so she definitely has the drive to become amazing. So her being one of the best in the world I don't think is that unbelievable. I mean one time I saw a woman who was literally like 6'7, with wide shoulders, meaty hands, looked strong as FUCK. I wouldn't be surprised if she had Neanderthal blood lol. She would definitely have been able to beat at least like 90% of the men I've ever seen. It's uncommon, but it is possible for women to have amazing genes for fighting

​@@mittenvonscrufflears7233 I don't really care whether she's a man or a woman, it just doesn't make any difference to me. My point is that her feats in the show are simply hard to believe considering how the world has been built up till episode 5 or so. I'd rather have less action and a more coherent story. To be more precise, I don't care if a show introduces things that are impossible in our world and that's why I like fantasy, but when a main character does something that shouldn't be possible in her own world, then it's just bad writing. I expected way more realism and maybe that's why the show left me disappointed. Let's compare Mizu to Guts from Berserk: Guts winning a 1v50 fight was just more believable, not only because he's physically far stronger than any character we've seen in his own universe, but also because he barely sustained any injuries during that fight. How it happened is left to speculation instead of throwing some cheeky and unbelievable fight scenes, but it's not hard to imagine what actually happened since we've seen him crush countless enemies with his 2 meter long sword. There are many problems I had watching Blue Eyed Samurai and Mizu having terribly written action scenes is just one of them.

@@dominiorrr6510 So what, in Mizu's world, did you deem as impossible?

@@mittenvonscrufflears7233 Well, so far the broken foot mambo jambo was the main thing I can think of that should not be possible. Why even show the scene where she gets her ankle pierced if it has no real effect on her? She also got stabbed multiple times and got just fine within the matter of screentime minutes. I get it, she's really determined and blah blah blah, but there's only so much you can stretch a character's capability. By the end of episode 6 they basically got rid of any stakes the show had left and the only reason for that was to get some cheap action. Cheap not in the visual way, I think the action scenes looked good.

it is cute

Broke my heart a little. Ringo has no hands and only seems to want to be helpful to those around him. He feeds Taigen and politely declines, while Taigen arrogantly imagines a world with Ringo as a house servant. Having worked with amputees, I love this character for his ingenuity and perseverance. He's always underestimated and always useful. He represents fortitude, plucking our hero from death when all seems lost.

They have announced season 2 so hopefully the story is getting the recognition it deserves

This is true of everyone

I honestly have no idea how the show is going to balance the continuation of Akemi's story in Japan, and Mizu's story in London. But they kinda have to. Akemi is absolutely the number 2 character in the show. I have no idea where Mizu's story is going, but I can tell Akemi is about to face a massive power struggle with her mother-in-law, who I strongly suspect has been the real power behind the Shogun, the reason he was in bed with Fowler, etc. Regardless, I think like the whole "social justice warrior" complaint, the "strong female character" problem tends to be a disingenuous way of saying and idea can't work if it's ever done poorly. Or worse, if the motive behind it is too obvious. I was stunned to learn from a dozen half-baked UKposts hot-takes of Blue Eye Samurai that, despite being a deeply feminist examination of the cruelty of patriarchal society, it is, none-the-less, not "woke," and not feminist. Apparently, it's only woke if these viewers don't like it, or have the wokeness spelled out for them so clearly they can't ignore it. Lucky for them, BES keeps all that annoying thematic stuff down in the subtext. They're impressed with what a bad-ass Mizu is, so long as they can ignore how they're the villain in her story, the reason her life is such hell. They're Taigen.

Exactly. Several male characters are shallow one dimensional muscle heads but there is a double standard for femal protagonists. They shouldn't have to be better to be enjoyed. And no shifting on this show. I absolutely loved it but I think Arcane also did really well with tackling female characters in their environments. I do not like Taigen 😅 I'm sorry. I feel like the story was trying roo hard to redeem him from his wrong doing.(making him seem remorseful in his flashback of bullying Mizu). It's an amazing show. I'm glad it's been renewed for season 2 and I hope it continues to deliver wonderfully. Watching this the constraints women had in Edo Japan were so tight, yet it was amazing to see how the 2 female leads worked their way through them.

​@rottensquid oh you are so right about the 'woke' thing. Taigen literally got hard for someone he is under the impression is a guy. I saw a comment saying his body knew 😂😂😂. Delusion is the path foward I guess 😂

U READ MY MINDDDDDD, these "strong female protag analysis" videos annoy the hell out of me, like Why don't I see this desperate energy of dissecting the strong independent cold female protag irritating everyone becuz they're strong and independent and have feminism in them (and also apparently with them being written "badly") but the strong independent cold male characters is sometging that everyone stays silent about, like Where's this burning passion when it comes to the boring ass male protags. I still don't get the hate for brie, cuz I enjoyed her being cold asf with less to no weaknesses, idrc, I in general enjoy flawed characters like there are all kinds of peole in society not everyone is righteous, yall get to enjoy the toxic male characters yet you draw the line when you aren't even interested in it??

​@@Rotuwam_1Your comment mad me laugh so hard. 😂

THIS IS THE BEST COMMENT I HAVE EVER READ IN MY LIFE YOU DESERVE AN AWARD I bet the person who wrote this is the most coolest person of all time innit

I adore how every character feels like its own complete and flawed person And i love every single one of them

​@@mrgreenpickuptruck i totally agree with you! the characters are made in such a way that you don't have to love/agree with everything they do/are, but there's still something about them that you can admire

@@kazu9445 thank you pookie

@calif0rme it's kinda fixing the idea that you can't like a character if they are evil or bad Mizu isn't a good person Akemi is incredibly selfish But they are so interesting to watch because you wanna see where they end up BECAUSE they aren't perfect and pristine characters that can do no wrong

No. If it were about strength than shitty characters like Rey and Captain Marvel would be considered good characters according to your definition. It’s not about strength it’s about growth through adversity and having a multifaceted character

"She earned her strength through sheer force of will" you understand that this means nothing? Its just a nice placeholder when you dont bother to make a good story.

@@thefrenchspacer Correct. The real game changer was depicting a life of hard work and struggle. Working as a swordsmith's apprentice, learning from all his customers, the dedication that came from the vow on her presumed mother's grave... Thing is, to avoid the Mary-Sue-trap, all of this can be handled in a much shorter form. A few lines of dialogue is all it needs to establish some sort of warrior background, when a complex story doesn't matter, at least during the introduction of a character. Which is why it is so upsetting that this problem exists at all. Even an idiot like me can dream up solutions for it, so we have to assume that the writers who created characters like Rey from Star Wars or the new She-Hulk WANT viewers to get mad at their hero.

@@Volkbrecht it needs a LOT of talent to do it properly AND the will to do it. When your goal is just to have a "strong female caracter" you dont bother with this kind of "details" in their mind female are great per see, period.

What are you talking about? She's totally a Mary Sue character! How is she able to climb with another person on her back while severely injured, bare handed, a smooth wall? How she able to defeat multiple armed men wearing armor EMPTY HANDED with a severe injury that should limit her movement abilities? How is she able to come off unharmed and alive from being pressed and crushed under a door with several men on top of it? She has several feats of completely unrealistic feats, that are there because she has made stupid decisions and writers couldn't find any smarter way of keeping her alive in those situations. It is never explained, how she can be so unrealistically physically strong and how she can endure her injuries so unrealistically well. None of her training should have made her capable of climbing a smooth wall with another person on her back. I don't think there's a single human being on this planet, that would be capable of pulling that feat of. She's absolutely a Mary Sue character.

@@vyli1 episode 5 is so full of marysue moments it even surpasses the Rey bullshit

Looks like it's renewed for a second season! Hyped to see how they continue to develop this story, particularly as we travel to new settings.

But why is she so extremely unnaturally strong? It doesn't make any sense. The only reason she is that strong is, because show writers have written her into situations where no person would be able to survive, so they had to resort to supernatural deus ex machina feats of strength and endurance to make her survive. I don't understand, how people are oblivious that the story is written horribly and that her character is the very definition of a Mary Sue character.

​@@vyli1 Worst Troll Bait Ever.

@@vyli1 I assume you have the exact same complaints about John Wick, Rambo, James Bond, Batman, Call of Duty, and like every martial arts film ever.

@@julianrosas9134 In fact EVERYONE, not only me, criticizes fight scenes in movies, where one person defends against a large group of opponents, but opponents approach the defender only one at a time. Indeed I disliked in the newest Batman movie the fact, that Batman survived a high-speed crash into a bridge when he was escaping from police by gliding from the roof of a police station. I have not seen many of the movies that you mention, but I do criticize these things in other movies as well. But where many other movies have only a very small amount of such moments in their story line, there are those movies and TV shows, that are solely based upon such special rules applying to their main characters and Blue samurai is one of such stories. And it wasn't even necessary to add those elements to the story in case of Blue Samurai. For example there was no reason for the scene of climbing a smooth wall and carrying another human being while doing it, it just makes the whole thing unrealistic for no good reason. I don't mind, that the character is able to defeat multiple opponents (although it would certainly help if the number of opponents wasn't unreasonably high as is the case a few times in the series), she can be depicted as extremely skilled, that's fine. I haven't seen Rambo actually, but my criticsm wouldn't be that Rambo can defeat many opponents on his own either.

@vyli1 I’m not reading that buddy. Have a great day

Well, its not wrong though... I think the author just wanted to elevate the writing of this character here, in a story where gender has such a grand role, due to the story's setting (japan, old)

You're right Korra is very good. Unfortunately most of the other characters fall flat.

@@Sandkasten36 I wouldn’t say fall flat we get info throughout the books and are very touching, it’s just hard as atla has 20 episodes whole korra has 12-14 and it’s different as in atla it was a continuation of the big bad and goals but korra has 4 different situations that have to be built up to so there stuff doesn’t get as much attention but it’s ashame as Nickelodeon kept messing around with only green lights 1 seasons so made a story that wraps up then to get more , to changing the times it’s show and the different platforms to cutting the budget so that is also to take into account 🤷🏼‍♀️

@@millieboon I don't care if ATLA had more episodes. Compared to Mako, I cared more for Sarah in the Last of Us after 30 minutes of screentime. They could've easily given him more nuance. And yes critique on Nickelodeon is fine, but that doesn't excuse poor development and depth to our main cast.

YES!!!

@@Lulu.Cthulhu well I think episode 5 does the most development which has her mainly as her female presenting self so🤷🏼‍♀️

I found this really interesting. She’s on the path of revenge without constraint, and at first doesn’t care who else gets hurt along the way, but by the end she starts to realize she can’t do everything alone, and she has other people that matter to her

I don't think that is true here. Gender has a great role in this story!

@@GustavoIto my point wasn't that the characters' gender didn't serve a role in this story. My point was that to make any character, male or female, compelling, they must have flaws that they must deal with. Too many writers and movies make their female protagonists too perfect/Mary Sueish.

I think you’ll like the third video

No. People hate it because it comes off as a cringe power fantasy that reflects poor one dimensional writing and obvious pandering to the hyper woke agenda. These “strong female” characters often are literally just toxicly masculine characters put in a Female body. Which obviously subverts real, feminine strength and says women can only be strong if they have dominant masculine qualities.

nobody care about strong female, the point is female that are stronger than men in every way possible. Women were always strong in their ways but it means nothing for the woke propagandists

Thank you

No, it's because things like the new Star Wars and Captain Marvel are massive blockbusters that completely ruined what makes ANY protagonist strong and worth rooting for. Writers in big budget productions are scared of writing female heros who actually have faults and who fail, along with making the men in their path dumb and useless. This show spits on those types of terrible female protagonists and highlights what's missing in modern movies that make any hero actually work. She has faults, she fails regularly, she has an insanely dark backstory, AND the male antagonists she goes up against are actually really smart and powerful and interesting characters. This show is a masterpiece.

Preach. I always find these commentaries tiring.

Yeah, there's definitely an element of sexism in how "Strong female" characters are criticized. I know people like to say that it's just the bad writing they're complaining about, but bad male characters don't get this kind of criticism. How many male characters have just been strong with no depth, yet get praised? While the female equivalent that does the same, is considered bad. For some reason, they have to be MORE. No matter what people say, there is a group of individuals who see a woman or any minority character as what make the writing bad. They blame wokeness as the reason for bad writing when the reason is just...bad writing.

I mean gender is an important part of the Blue Eyed Samurai's story. I'd say in this case it is relevant.

So true! We always put so much emphasis on female characters embracing 'femininity' in order to be seen as well-written and complex, but there is no similar push for male characters to do the same

@@heywhat6676 I think it's valid to a limited extent since a lot of female characters don't really depict feminine traits at all (which is fine on its own to be clear) but it becomes an issue on a wider scale. But the criticsm also annoys me because nobody talks about male characters being masculine unless it's in the context of them not acting traditionally masculine or acting in a manner associated with femininity.

violet evergarden 💀

you're forgetting the women of atla, they are soo good

I was so surprised how much I loved Princess Mononoke. It felt like a message that could be done very cringey, very pessimistically or both at the same time, but it is one of my favourite movies.

​@@theaizerewhy?

Idk about AOT

Yeah I too think swordfather knew

It has been officially renewed for new season.

Two shows with plenty of non-trope strong women of all kinds include The Expanse and Star Wars: Andor.

​​@@kirkdarling4120The Expanse is the truth ❤

Good news, they've renewed the show for season 2. I totally agree that Master Eiji must know. He sees a lot in people, as he demonstrated with "Blood-Soaked" Chiaki. And he only had a few days to figure that guy out. Anyway, I don't see them getting much story out of him never having known. If it turned out he didn't know, what difference would it make? Would he reject Mizu? I doubt it. But if he did know all along, that pokes a hole in Mizu's notion that no one could ever truly accept who and what she is. After all, so far, the only person who knows her secret, apart from Fowler, is Ringo. And as a fellow outcast, she doesn't worry about his acceptance. I totally never made connection between the woman who rejected her and the woman stranded in the cold with her daughter. I don't know if I'd call it "revenge," because I don't think it was personal for Mizu. She just gives back what she gets from everyone. And in a way, she's more merciful and benevolent than almost anyone she encounters, simply by dropping that comb at their feet. When I first watched the show, I didn't notice the comb, or the steam coming from them. And they were so still, just figures painted on the screen, not 3D models. So it occurs to me that they director might have intended that they had frozen to death, and reconsidered after watching the completed show, and realizing Mizu might lose too much sympathy. That comb is the show's "save the cat" moment. Regarding Mary-Sue characters, I agree that pedestals are for objects, not people. But find that people throw that particular critique around way too freely. No one complains when Tom Cruise plays a super-spy, or jet pilot, or whatever else, who's effortlessly good at everything.

good point there! I miss the good times of GoT

Actual garbage video including including being condescending and hating female characters

@@croc2112 if those female characters were written well we wouldn't be talking about this right now

The child survives, but the mother…. We don’t see her breaths. Only the childs

@@AFlyingWalrus You don't know that

That was at night, there is no way they thawed in the morning and went on about the day all good and dandy! Try freezing over night outside and see how alive you are in the morning 😅

@@BaDazai They were still breathing.

@@pauldhoff in the middle of the freezing night, in the cold, no fire, no warmth, no shelter. You think anyone can survive that by just breathing? 😅

Glad you enjoyed it!

I think placing all emphasis on women being unable to be invincible like this is a huge double standard Men aren't either. Critically, people should be looking into both ends equally, instead of emphasizing and focusing on female leads. I think John Wick is extremely comparable to Mizu here as an example, and is a very good one to look at for the standards male leads should be on as well.

You accepted a fictional pre-modern Japan that doesn't murder a newborn baby without hands. You can't have a problem with how that now adult without hands engages with said fictional world. Pick a lane.

Being treated as half witted or subhuman because you’re handless or work slower, by his own father and other characters like Taigen at first? Imagine going through that your whole life, no woman would want to marry him probably, in that time period. Even Akemi doubted him when she heard that Ringo is the guide outside the castle. His disability was brought up many times, even when Taigen offered him a job. Taigen still affirmed that he can only work in the kitchen because of his disability or looks. Swordfather also asked Ringo if he made the tools and why.