There is a constant saying that nothing is original anymore, Id say that nothing has been new in the dawn of cinema. Anime about Samurai is a dime a dozen, but once every decade there’s a series That blows you away, not just its action but also its story and the characters involved. Blue Eye Samurai (BES) One such gem from Netflix has suddenly blown away fans of anime.
Setting
The series is set in 1653 during the early years of the Edo period in Japan. During this time Japan has begun Isolating itself from the rest of the world, Europe in particular. Children of mixed race were considered subhuman, demons to be shunned from society, to say the least.
Our main Protagonist Mizo is a mixed-race woman disguised as a man who has spent much of her adult life roaming the country seeking out the four white men people known to Japan to murder knowing one of them is her father. Along her travels, she encounters several Characters including a disabled noodle chef Named Ringo, a Broken swordsman named Tengen, and a princess-turned prostitute Akimi.
Despite these distinct characters that form unique relationships with Mizu this is far from a fellowship. and indeed by the end Mizu becomes once again alone with no one but her arch-enemy to guide her on her quest.
At the same time, one of Mizu’s targets, an arms merchant named Abijah Fowler a massive and dangerous man is plotting a coup to overthrow the shogun and reopen Trade to Japan.
Mizu
It’s often an unspoken rule against having the main character be your favorite. Mizu however is one of those few exceptions and so much of that has to do with not just vocal performance but also the expressions and the amazing writing they give her that makes her stand out from other female leads.
When developing a strong female character it has to be handled with the right balance of personality, strength, but also relatability. If she is too hardcore it comes across as too unlikable, and if she effortlessly defeats enemies left and right it removes all tension. Most importantly if She had only one emotion, the character could come across as unrelatable.
Fortunately, Mizu is made with the right balance of characterization Not afraid to make morally questionable choices
Mizu is what recent “strong female characters” tried to be and failed, unlike Captain Marvel in the MCU, Or Galadriel in Rings of Power Mizu is a fully fleshed-out character resembling a real person. While much of her scenes have her as often harsh there’s just enough vulnerability to connect with.
Mizu also has a very distinctive build being taller and lankier than other women which better enables her to hide her femininity. It also allows her to more believably go toe to toe against men her size.
The key thing that Mizu has that these other characters don’t is she has genuine motivations and a huge belief in her cause. She can feel love and compassion but is buried by betrayal and anger believing that such feelings are distractions. You understand everything about her and why she acts the way she does and you are not just shown these moments, you feel them.
Mizu is a very cold character but not wholly heartless. She accepts help from allies when she has and does try to show compassion and even then her actions are still questionable from giving money to a frozen mother and child to putting a sex slave out of her misery.
We see later on how far her detachment from other people can go. She leaves Ringo because she doesn’t want him to follow the path she did, she lets Akemi get recaptured because she believes Akimi takes her life of privilege for granted.
Throughout the narrative, Mizu is never framed as a hero, but as a lost soul possessed by vengeance, she believes there’s no turning back. By the end of the season, Mizu’s vengeance ended up burning half of Tokyo.
The episode that perfectly symbolizes Mizu as a character was episode five (worthy of an article of its own). We see through flashbacks where she reunites with her mother after being wounded in a brawl gone wrong. After recovering Her mother arranges for her a match with a disgraced Ronin. For a time she begins to enjoy her life with her husband and nearly abandons her quest until she is reported to the authorities, unable to decide who betrayed her, Mizu has them both killed. She resumes her quest no longer attached by love or friendship, or so she keeps telling herself.
Her main arc is not just learning to open up to others, but also reconciling with mixed race believing her impurities to be a curse what she eventually comes to learn through sword smithing is that in the right circumstances, such flaws can also make her stronger. Which was shown
Other characters
There are several characters Mizu has an impact rather than necessarily for the better.
One character that accompanies Mizu much to her annoyance is Ringo a noodle Chef Who was born with no hands his hands. Ringo does lean into the comic relief type character that can be annoying, but he does quickly warm you over with his determination and the clear care he gives to his perceived master. Ringo knows he can’t be a great warrior but can help those who can be. When Mizu attempts to send him away saying he’s never known battle his response is simply “My whole life has been a battle.”
When Mizu writes prayers on her body to help forge a new sword the level of trust she gives to Ringo to finish writing on her naked body reveals how far their relationship has gone.
Taigen however is where the plot between characters thickens. Another important element and that’s true for all stories is Characters have to have consequences and that was reflected with Taigen who was one of her bullies as a child. Through a chance encounter in a dual Mizu defeats him but in the process ruins his chance of a marriage to a Princess named Akimi.
Despite several chance moments to kill Teigen becomes a reluctant ally knowing there are a lot of people trying to kill her. Now Teigen’s relationship with Akemi is all but over it’ll be curious where his story is going to go.
Japanese women only had 2 real prospects in life, marriage to a prominent family or prostitution. A prospect that for some women is impossible. This is the case with Akimi, originally fleeing from a forced marriage into the shogunate.
Akemi is very much the opposite of Mizu in the sense that she has to use her femininity to achieve her goals. She believed fleeing to be a prostitute was the only way she could pursue a more free life. However, she discovers there’s no way out either way and learns to take control within the confines of her status. In the end, her goal is to achieve power through her weak-minded husband who is one older sibling away from the shogunate.
And then you have the show’s main villain, Irish armes merchant Abijah Fowler voiced chillingly by Kenneth Brannagh. His evil plan is to overthrow the shogun with the help of envious lords to reopen Japan to the West. Fowler Is everything a great villain should be, he is ruthless, highly intelligent, and resourceful whos not afraid to get his own hands dirty. This combined with his kingpin-like physic makes for an imposing threat onscreen.
Animation and action, and Boobs
On a Visual level this show is gorgeous It wastes no time in immersing you in Edo period Japan. BES takes full advantage of the fact that its animated and martial arts lead to some greatest action sequences I’ve seen in years. Being set in history the fights are still fast-paced, but still believable So much thought and preparation was done that they filmed live-action choreography to draw on for the scenes to make the action feel more authentic.
Such effort was made from top to bottom that Director Jane Wu Even Filmed herself in Japanese Dress to demonstrate how women at that time moved.
It’s a blending of 2D animation design fused into a CG environment that has been used in more recent projects like Dragon Prince, except hardcore.
The way Japanese people move, and the design of their costumes are very accurate. The backgrounds of metropolitan life, and ceremonies, and accurately show how Japanese Swords are made are beautifully illustrated. Which makes you appreciate the amount of effort from top to bottom. Despite being animated there’s extensive use of live-acted choreography to bring it to life.
The show also gradually reveals how far Mizu’s capabilities can go. Already an accomplished swordswoman she also caries other discreetly hidden devices to give her an advantage against her adversaries. Notably early one she wears metal bracers that at first I thought were just worn for the protection of her limbs and to make her move more like a man. It then revealed their collapsible socket that can be attached to her sword hilt. Turning her Katana into a Naginata to fight multiple opponents. Something impossible to show in real life perfect for animation.
Some may criticize some scenes for being too improbable such as Mizu holding onto a brick wall with just her fingers while carrying a half-dead Teigen on her back, however, one important this to keep in mind is “is its animation stupid”. In animation, you can get away with some of the physics so long as it matches the tone your show is going for.
The animation really gets to shin in episode 6 where Mizu infiltrates Fowler’s fortress she inhales flowers causing her to hallucinate creating some unforgettable visuals. Ep6 itself is practically a video game with stealth levels, boss battles, and even a checkpoint if you can believe it.
Ohh and boobs
Yeah, one more thing about this show is it gets Game of Thrones levels of sex and nudity, full frontal at all with no discrimination. Makes you wonder what was going threw these storyboard artists and animators making that.
It Pushes the limits to what some would call gratuitous. However once again because this its meant to reflect the themes of this series. Gender oppression, sexualization, and excesses of the ruling class. As hard as times were for men back then it was far harder for women as shown onscreen. Any depiction on screen whether it’s violence or sex nudity no matter how graphic is art acceptable as long as it has a point.
Issues and the Ending.
As great as BES is it does have a few small issues. After All Even a Masterpiece has specs on it if you know where to look. For one, Mizu learning sword fighting by simply watching her smith’s buyers practice seems to be a stretch. Making and wielding swords are two very different things and this show didn’t do a good enough job explaining why she’s so skilled. Perhaps in season 2, we can dive further into her backstory. Perhaps she trained with another master offscreen we haven’t met yet, I don’t know just add something.
The ending also feels a bit rushed mainly how Mizu was able to defeat Fowler holding him at knifepoint where he reveals her other two targets are in London. That would make for a suspenseful cliffhanger given how far it is, but in the next scene we see both characters on a ship bound for England, Did Mizu keep this this massive brute hostage singlehandedly? In addition, how did they get a ship? It feels like there was a scene we’ve missed to get to this point.
Despite the rushed nature of the ending I’m eager to see where this show is going. Imagine what they could do with Mizu and Fowler heading into 1650’s England. Considering the period be it’ll interesting with Fowler’s story goes considering how much they mention his Irishness. England was at the cusp of a civil war and Oliver Cromwell, a war that was particularly devastating to the Irish
Overall I love this show and it is easily among the best shows of 2023. Almost everything from the characters, the animation, and the storytelling makes you gripped to your seat the entire run. Blue Eyed Samurai is a perfect example of diversity and female empowerment done correctly. An achievement very few media outlets have gotten right in recent years.
With the confirmation of a season 2 in the Works, I am even more eager to see where this story is going to go. Blue Eye is shaping to be a brilliant take on the Samurai Genre and I pray Netflix doesn’t cancel this masterpiece (rip Dark Crystal).
