Blue Eye Samurai, A Raw Tale Of Revenge
“A demon’s path is paved with sharp stone”
Blue Eye Samurai. Year: 2023 Genre: Action Rating: A18 Creators: Michael Green, Amber Noizumi
Review Contains Spoilers*
World-building
This is a show for adults.
Blue Eye Samurai is a Netflix show released in 2023. Set in Japan’s Edo Period in the 17th century, it explores one of the strongest human desires in an honest tone.
It invites us to question suitable forms of storytelling.
Being a result of different art forms, animation continues to spark discussions. And for many years one assumption won the stage, animation is for kids.
In a world of striving technologies, what was once known as limitations now pose as choices and opportunities. This is why we see a current boom in the use of 2D animation paired up with 3D. This mix adds just enough human imperfections and magic to make palpable art.
When technology speeds up the workflow, it is well suited. But when it denies us the pleasure of witnessing human art, it’s time to draw the line.
When not limited by purism, we allow ourselves to create masterpieces. That is the power of modern animation.
After the success of Arcane (2021), the world was brought to think of what was once said by Guillermo Del Toro:
“It’s a medium. Animation is film. Animation is art, and it can tell stories that are gorgeous and complex, and that feel handmade by humans for humans.”
Blue Eye Samurai was created in this format by choice, not by limitation. Each of the strokes presented tells a story and so does the touch of live action rules implemented.
The show is not afraid of creating a world that is bold and made of different aspects that were once thought not to interact well. They do that in its technical aspects and in its narrative ones.
The Swordsman (Chapter 1)
Mizu, the protagonist, fights for revenge.
Being the product of what was unspeakable in the 1600s, half Japanese, half white, to say she lived a life as an underdog is an understatement.
Everyone would call her a monster. Kids. Adults. Her blue eyes sparked not interest, but disgust among everyone in her village.
Denied an ordinary childhood, early on she lived as a stray dog.
Early in life, she is told to pretend he is a boy, for the one responsible for her conceiving wishes to kill her.
Pretending to be a boy protects her against some of the heavier factors that women are exposed to. But hiding as a boy did not hide her blue eyes.
Thick glasses and a big hat later would.
Still as a kid, she found solace in the mentorship of a blind swordsman who took her as his own. He accepted and trained her to become an artist of his caliber.
Being requested to create swords for powerful samurais within Japan, the blind swordsman could see more than most. He could feel the intent and examine the souls of those who came to him.
Her mentor tells her that masterpieces are never pure. The strongest blades are made of just enough impurities. Just enough differences.
Mizu starts to learn that the only way she can survive and even fulfill her quest is to learn how to make real alliances.
But first, Mizu drew inspiration from a man who tried to take advantage of her master faking his origin.
The swordsman would only forge blades for honorable men. This client in particular was an assassin who told a convincing lie.
Mizu started her quest to become a samurai after savoring guilt. She would watch the assassin train his skills as he waited for his blade to become ready.
Since her childhood days, her master would tell her she was not ready to forge a blade by herself time and again. But with this particular client, he found her ready.
Her resulting blade, though, breaks.
When delivering the broken sword to the assassin, she takes responsibility for it. He slaps her and the master finally sees the client’s true colors.
“A soul like that is drowned in blood. There’s no stopping them. They will always find their broken blade. We can only mind our own soul, Mizu.” (The swordsman)
Mizu is taught that when a samurai finds their blade broken they can only blame themselves.
A samurai’s essence is their sword. It reflects who they are from within.
The Onryō (Chapter 2)
One of the show highlights is episode five “The Tale of the Ronin and the Bride”. An intricate story shows that Mizu’s path was not only created because of her mixed heritage.
Something else was needed. Another powerful ingredient.
Episode five explores parallel narratives between the present and the past. Netflix describes its synopsis as follows:
“During a desperate battle, Mizu remembers another life — and a lesson she learned the hard way.”
Following a puppet story, it is impossible not to relate Mizu to it. She was made of so many bottled feelings and so much complexity each puppet resembles her.
After training with the swordsman, Mizu finds herself ready to begin her journey. Even though advised against it, she moves forward.
To find the white man who hide in Japan, she needs information. Inexperienced and anxious, she starts with making mistakes.
The first time she inquires people ends with her bloody guts. Nearly dying, she finds who was supposed to be a vision. Her dead mother is there. Alive.
Working as a prostitute.
They recognize each other and she finds the help she searched for.
After rekindling the relationship with her mother, who addicted to opioids, Mizu agrees to get married to an unknown man. Her fears, though, diminished each second she spent with her new man, Mikio.
He gracefully laughs at her poor cooking skills. Finds himself in awe of her resilience. Mikio witnesses Mizu build a relationship with his most stubborn horse. They fall in love and he promises her that horse.
A gift for their story. A different path. It is the first time we see Mizu being vulnerable.
Through breaking her walls, Mikio earns her trust and encourages her to show all her parts. Unaware of what was ahead, Mikio unleashed a beast.
He too had his own demons. Excluded from the presence of his old lord for an untold reason, his dream was to become once again accepted. Having a wife of mixed heritage and much better skills than him would make it harder.
One day, while asking her to show her skills, he finds himself on the ground, with Mizu’s blade on his neck.
He was not ready for that.
After calling her a monster, he goes after his own lord and brings Mizu’s horse as a gift.
Soon enough someone would reveal her location to people who wished people like her dead.
Unclear whether it was her husband or her mother, she crumbles. Was it her mother in exchange for mode opioids? Was it Mikio after having his pride hurt?
She is once again left to her own luck.
“According to the belief of Ikiryō, a person’s soul or spirit exists naturally when it is stable or in balance. When too much hatred or resentment brews, it can become separated from the body, resulting in the spirit becoming an onryō. This can allegedly also occur in individuals who died an untimely death.” (Yuji Yamada)
Mizu cannot let her guard down and each piece of her story tells her the very same. Love brought her pain. Vulnerability brought her betrayal.
Revenge brought her motivation and skills beyond compare.
With no one to trust, she split herself and died while alive. She becomes the unstoppable force of an Onryō.
“Hate is like a typhoon. It begins as a breeze at the sea that is swallowed by darknes. Then deepens.Energizes and grows even stronger, swirling and raging. Until it is ready to strike.” (Blue Eye Samurai)
Blue Eye Samurai portrays vengeance as an art. But do not fool yourself, the show does not glamorize it. There are countless times Mizu finds herself bleeding. Although prepared and devoted, she stumbles. Its realism does not lie in the extreme violence or explicit sexuality of some parts.
“How did this terrible creature come to be? Hate alone was not enough, it took one more ingredient. Love, poisoned by betrayal, to bring so much bloodshed a woe.”
For Mizu, being prepared and unattached does not mean she won’t fail. The show’s realism is in saying that no human is a stranger to failure. Even Mizu.
The aftermath (Chapter 3)
Beautiful storytelling touches souls and repairs broken blades. But beautiful storytelling might evoke raw feelings and invite us to look at our own weaknesses.
Mizu taught me that focusing on what is important can also hurt. And the loneliness of each of our journeys has the potential of sharpening the blades that cut slices of our stories.
The separation of who we are and what we desire is never that clear. And when we least expect, we can find solace in some unexpected corners of life.
Contemporary creators continue to shape powerful content. It is up to us to open ourself for the reflections it brings.
Blue Eye Samurai is available on Netflix
Rating: 9.5/10
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