Fun fact I learned from CinemaWins, but the knife that Mizu cuts the dude's fingers off with is actually one she made when she was younger. You can see her mark on it.

My sis worked on this show so I know a few BTS info and I can tell you that the Kill Bill ost choice baffled the animators too, they thought it was only a reference song for production and were not pleased it actually was what was playing. A few other noteworthy details for those curious that I know/learned from her 1. The animation studio behind this show is actually more used to making shows for very young kids (Gigantosaurus might be their more well known offering) and this was a huge change of pace for the studio in a positive way. 2. The show was originally intended to be fully produced in the Montreal studio however it eventually was split with the company’s main studio in France. 3. Some shots that last for just a few seconds had so much details packed into them that they had work in the upwards of 100 hours. 4. SPOILER ALERT FOR THE FINAL EPISODE. My sis was responsible for animating the sequence of the princess talking with her dying servant. At the time of her working on such an emotional scene, our grandfather was often in and out of the hospital and we were worried he would pass soon. My grandfather died a week after she finished the sequence and she straight up told us that she was happy she was done with it before his passing because she would not have been able to animate it after (and my sis is well known at their studio for emotional acting like that being her strength) Now as I post this sadly, the fate of the Montreal studio is unclear. The studio will by March lay off about 80% of its studio as it struggles to survive currently (my sis is a part of that 80%) and they’ll try to “weather the storm” with the remaining 20% being lended to various studios to let them rebuild. While a Season 2 has been announced, animation on it has not began yet as far as my sis knows and thus she says not to expect season 2 this year.

When you mentioned that Japanese is a language with a lot of indirect communication, I suddenly realized why there are so many instances in Japanese media (JRPGs especially) where the main conflict only lasts as long as it does because the characters involved don't just talk to each other.

To be fair to the show, the "Sword is the heart of the samurai" bit is brought up again in a later episode and call shenanigans out on themselves. And the show makes it clear it's in an alternate universe. The Emperor's personal guard not having rifles? Yeah, no that didn't happen.

Terry Pratchett has a sword made of meteoric iron. When he was knighted for his work in literature, he learned smithing and metallurgy just so he could forge himself a "Thunderbolt Iron" sword for the occasion.

Also, about Japanese people saying "you are no more Japanese because you live outside of Japan"... Well, just imagine being told that I'm not Brazilian even living here all my life and never even traveled abroad. Yeah. This happens ALL THE TIME. "I don't look Brazilian" they say...

A good video overall Gaijin, I appreciate your honesty on the show and it was very educational. However I do have one perspective on Daichi near the end. Call it my own pedantic point. Daichi states in the show that he came up from a pig farmer. So he himself likely didn't receive the kind of discipline that a proper lord would have I'd think. So maybe it's a case of him letting his son have things he never had as a child.

You know, Mizu being called an onryo makes an odd amount of sense, as she IS basically "dead" in some part inside, and also IS on a path of vengeance

Speaking as someone with a disability, you'd be surprised how pretenses of subtlety and formality drop when someone believes that you are lesser than them, and speaking as someone who also spent time & has friends from there, it's not surprising that the dojo students dropped pretenses to directly insult Mizu. As for the prostitutes not recognizing the statues, its important to remember that in addition to rural ethnic Japanese, many trafficked women that became prostitutes (as is the case with most TRAFFICKED prostitutes) during this period were from ethno-racial minorities, or regions not directly under the geopolitical control of the modern Japanese state. Examples I can think of off the top of my head: Obeikei, Ryukyuan, Ainu, Matagi/Emishi peoples , mixed race persons from places like Nagasaki, enslaved Koreans, unfavored daughters of Min Chinese merchants, peoples of religious minorities such as Tenrikyo (and crypto-Christians), Sakhalin natives such as Tunguska, Altai, Oroks, Nenets, and again Ainu (due to Sakhalin, Hokkaido & the Kurils originally being culturally & politically contiguous before Japan & Russia split them through conquest), peoples such as the Chukchi and Tlingit who had regular trade with Japanese merchants (and were prolific slavers themselves), descendants of Koxinga's extremally ethnoracially mixed fleet, captives from Wokou raids, and people either emigrated or enslaved from traditional Japanese spheres of trade (Taiwan, modern Kamchatka, Manchuria, Thailand & Myanmar under the Sukothai dynasty, parts of modern Indonesia, the Philippines, and Polynesia/Melanesia/Micronesia). Oh, and of course, burakumin of every stripe. So many 'untouchable' women. All of them represent demographics of women forced into prostitution in Nagasaki, which was a major focal point for Japan's skin trade both domestically and abroad during the Edo period. One of my friends even explained to me how after the ban on foreigners entering the country began, brothel owners would bribe officials to ignore prostitutes of foreign origin, and their great-something grandmother was one of those prostitutes (a Taiwanese aboriginal woman). It makes sense, because even with all of the daughters being sold off to the industry, Japan didn't have a stable enough population to meet the manpower demands of an industry with as ahigh of a turnover rate as prostitution, even when you factor in the unusually high rate of open male & transgender prostitutes. Most prostitutes were not Courtesans with personal security forces, and the modern concept of low-level Escorts with retinues of bodyguards or pimp-affiliated gangsters personally protecting them is precisely that, MODERN. Lethal violence against prostitutes has only really seen a significant drop within the the last 50 years of history. And with how widespread prostitution was recorded in Japan (and violence against prostitutes), when compared with the population records & projections, I can tell you that said industry would not have been able to persist without a constant influx of foreign & otherwise marginalized women. In addition, its part of the reason why the eventual Brazilian trade of enslaved Japanese women (and later men for labor) became so prolific, because the infrastructure for flesh trade with the Portuguese merchants (and Dutch ones, because as often as they feuded with Portuguese colonially, they also regularly kept trade open because both were scared of Spain regaining influence over them) was already there. Speaking as a former bouncer & history major it's depressingly rare for historians to care about the history of prostitution despite its prevalence since humanity first came into being, even when it can tell us things about demographics that a census or similar compilation of data could not. Also, I don't think I need to tell you this but anyone that tells you that pre-WW2 Japan was entirely culturally homogenous either is lying or bought into Meiji ethnofascist propaganda. The unified 'Yamato' ethnonational identity is as manufactured a concept as Italian and German ethnonationality are (not so coincidentally, also nations that were taken over by ethnofascist regimes at one point). Yes, there was often political unity through feudal conquest, but places like Kyushu had 'dialects' so divergent that there have been campaigns to recognize the former 'dialects' as separate languages (although they will likely face the same issues that Ryukyuan peoples have faced on that front). Or how there used to be stereotypes based in colorism about Kyushu people being darker skinned (in the same way such stereotypes are applied to modern Ryukyuan and Obeikei peoples). Or how half of Honshu was controlled by the Emishi (ancestors of the modern Matagi) and their descendants. So props onto the show for getting that portrayal right, which sadly a lot of native Japanese media doesn't. Tl;dr - Flagrancy of disability prejudice is cross-cultural, prostitutes not recognizing significance of religious statues is not that strange due to the demographics of people involved in the industry during said period, and disperse notions of Japan being culturally homogenous because it is built upon carefully tailored Meiji & WW2 Japanese propaganda irrespective of reality.

I think you are missing context from later on in the show. I believe the script referring to Mizu as an Onryō is not meant to be taken literally, as in “The Tale of the Ronin and the Bride,” Mizu is likened to a bride killed by her husband. In the story, the bride becomes an Onryō, and this story is compared to Mizu’s emotional death. Her path of revenge makes her an Onryō.

It's been years since I've done blacksmithing but to try to answer why with the paper wrapping to the blacksmith billet it's to hold grass and a wood ash slurry to it to kinda insulate it so it heats evenly and protect it for a bit while in the forge to keep out impurities from the coal or wood and only allow a certain amount of carbonization or decarbonization to happen more or less

I think these points of cultural whiplash happen because the show is aimed to an American/western audience, that doesn't has all this context and needs some ground to work upon. Also, weirdly, this "narutofication" process is approached by a very prolific Brazilian author and "theologist" (Rubem Alves), in his book "What is Religion". Basically, one generation built altars, pilled stones, wrote texts and such, then said these things were sacred. People that come after assume those things always were there and it amplifies the holiness of these things. The following generations can't see these things, at some point of history were created. By human hands, no more holier than any Big Mac.

It is important to remember that the Smith in the show is legendary, and he devote his entire soul existence and prayers into submitting his swords. It's all he does, all he knows how to do. I think it is fair to chalk up the minor differences as just his own personal ritual for making a sword. Especially given his talk about impurities. Because as you said, Japanese Smith's at that time try to keep out impurities. For him, it was just another quality of the metal

The complaint you made in regards to the kyoto prostitute calling the local temple statues creepy- makes sense in the context you raised earlier- many of those sex workers would be outsiders sold into the position, and they may not have been in kyoto for very long at all, and being resentful about that situation would perhaps diminish their propensity for respect?

13:33 Simple explanation: Swordfather sells swords. This is just his marketing strategy.

My daughter is half Japanese and lived out there from birth. I worry about her a lot, especially since the recent earthquake. I wonder a lot how she's fairing out there dealing with her mixed heritage. Plus she is 15 now and I've been to Japan and I know how creepy some guys are out there can be.

Speaking of East meets West, I couldn't believe my ears in a later episode when they had a fight choreographed to a Japanese cover of Metallica's "For whom the Bell tolls."

It might be a bit of a "No Prize" answer, but Akemi's father being an ignorant boor of a noble does work with the overall story of the series. Spoilers for later in the series... Akemi is eventually arranged to marry one of the Shogun's sons, and we eventually learn the son she's betrohed to has a stutter, which the show has established is a "deformity". Marrying him to a desperate family on a collision course with ruin not only earns the Shogun a loyal political puppet, but allows him the opportunity to cover up his family's shame.

Man I really enjoyed this. As a person of mixed heritage in Asia (But not East Asia), whose parents grew up and studied abroad before coming home, being told I was not "one of us" was a constant reminder of who I was, and who I didn't want to be, growing up. And since my parents had adopted aspects from western culture, I was unaware of the indirectness that I was supposed to show growing up, garnering more disdain from people around me in school and such. It took me a long time to learn how people wanted me to act, and watching this made me remember just how difficult it was for me back then, and how difficult it can still be. I can't imagine what it would have been like if I had been born with the same behavior, but as a girl

Mizu's soul and her sword end up linked either way because she's both the smith and the wielder (Side note, how common was that? It feels like it'd be fairly rare?)

Once again, thank you so much for watching the show. When I read the script on my first day I had a feeling you would go on an immense deep dive on the cultural mannerisms which I'm really grateful for. I definitely learned a whole lot of other cultural aspects that I wasn't aware of while on the show so I'm super happy to watch this xD So to answer a couple of your concerns [mind you its been a while since I was on the show so I'm going to do my best in trying to remember] when it came to the dilapidated shrine, I recall the amount of back and fourth on the statue and whether it would be Shinto/ Buddhist. I think due to time constraints [mind you this show was made during the pandemic years] they decided to leave it as ambiguous as they could. As for Sword Father's line about the sword being the soul of the samurai, I wouldn't take it too seriously since its suppose to just be a metaphor for Mizu in general, because in episode 2 [SPOILERS FOR THOSE THAT HAVENT SEEN IT YET] its as you said that the sword is the soul of the sword maker. Since Mizu was the one that made the sword for Chiaki and the sword breaks, she immediately confesses because she wasn't pure the sword ended up breaking. Its also implied that Sword Father knew how to wield a sword/ was a samurai in the past as seen in Mizu's training montage [though thats my theory that I came up with while working on the show haha] and yes I agree the music choice for her montage also threw me off. I remember watching that animatic and thought that song choice was just temp music; didn't think they would actually keep it. I know there were other concerns you had but I guess I'll rewatch your video and see what other stuff I can remember..I really do hope you would cover the other episodes cause oh man they do go ham/ balls to the walls crazy..again I'm really happy you enjoyed the show...the entire team worked their butts off and I'm so happy it paid off.

With regards to burning the talisman, the only thing I can think of is maybe he isn't allowed at the temple? Or it could be the smithy is HIS temple? And with regards to wrapping metal for the fire welding, the way he does it is definitely odd, but that's not uncommon for reforging a sword. When you have all these loose pieces and you're trying to bring them up to temperature, which can get close to melting, you want to protect the steel from getting overly oxidized and potentially burned, so you would wrap the steel in cloth or paper and clay. This protective cover won't contaminate the steel, and will actually prevent it from being contaminated during the initial fire weld. It's a similar concept to a crucible steel vs a bloomery steel. When the materials are combined in a crucible, often a sealed clay pot, the materials can reach higher temperatures without becoming oxidized and contaminated, unlike a bloomery which aimply melts steel down through various layers of coal to settle at the bottom in a large clump of loose and impure steel. To clarify, I'm saying steel as a catch all because in my understanding, many fire welded swords Japanese would use iron for the spine as the softer metal, as iron is a lot more flexible and malleable before its combined with carbon or other elements to form steel. But on that note, an impurity is an impurity, I get that they're saying impure in perhaps a different context? But still. On that note, many meteorites that have iron in then also typically have other rare elements in them, though a blacksmith from several hundred years ago probably wouldn't understand that in the way we do now. So this impurity they refer to could be something like nickel or something that actually turns the steel into a stainless steel, which is much tougher and more resilient. I also think that the meteor is a nice touch for where the metal came from, as it came from outside Japan, its a foreign object, but it likely got combined with iron that was sourced in Japan, creating a fun parallel to the protagonist. The whole blacksmithing scene could potentially have been done a bit better, but I like it overall, theres a lot to read into.

Honestly its one of the best shows I have ever seen.

I would imagine the part where he’s raising a spoiled son is because Daichi is a recently made lord. He was pretty much a commoner not too long ago and still has some of the intimate traits of one

I'm glad Blue Eye Samurai and you are talking about, as you put it, "the darks of Edo." It shows just how much the Edo period wasn't a paradise as a lot of media claim. There's always a dark reality, even in our own modern world, that people don't like to talk about or think about, but it's there. Makibi is still going strong even if it exists under different label.

Your "This doesn't feel Japanese but more American" feeling for this show reminds me of how I felt when reading the Ultraman comics Marvel put out a while back. So much of it was focused on the personal drama of Shin Hayata rather than Ultraman's usual collectivist "together we can do it" defense team thing that it felt more like Spider-Man than Ultraman. Not bad comics, but it was still noticeable.

When writing the main character of my story, a yokai who got named Kuishinbo, I tend to write her commonly clashing with Japanese culture. Even as she becomes less monstrous in behavior and begins participating in society more, she still gets treated like an outsider that muscled their way in. Fast forward from the Edo period to the Showa era, and she's still treated as an outsider. She considers herself Japanese, but never, at any point, gets treated that way, because she never behaved Japanese, and so never fitted in Japanese society. The most accepted she's ever felt was finding a shrine dedicated to her, on the complete opposite side of Japan from where she roamed, despite having been outside the country for over a century. But even then, the shrine maiden, who looked up to Kuishinbo as an actress, still treated her like a dangerous creature that might kill her at any moment and, knowing Kuishinbo prefers directness, said as much to her face, "You are dangerous to be around." Now, the US, on the other hand, she fits in like garlic butter on Texas toast. Sure, there's the occasional culture shock, but, overall, she meshes well with others who are so loud, brash, and direct as she is. She calls Japan home, but it's in the US where she feels at home.

[spoiler alert] I know this is just a review of Episode 1, but it seems weird to talk about it being weird for Mizu to be referred to as an Onryou without at least mentioning that there's additional context in episode 5. Like I understand it still being a strange thing to randomly call her, even with an in universe reason later, since he probably wouldn't know it, but I feel like it's a caveat worth mentioning.

"It's for the audience" is the only answer to every bit, but still fun to watch you ramble.

I interpreted the burning of the prayer in the fire as him blessing his forge.

I grew up mixed race on an Indian reservation. I’m enrolled if you know that that means. But I’m white passing because my mom’s pretty much German Irish. Life on the Rez was hard and I was never accepted, bullied daily and ostracized by my my same age relatives growing up. But I never grew up hating them or that side of my people or culture. I’ve now been to many different countries and see the worst and best of people. But Americans and especially westerners believe that other cultures and peoples are kind and accepting. To outsiders some of the time(westerners), but physically deformities or be from the wrong tribe or religion. It could mean death. The world is pretty harsh outside the western world. So then next time you think America is racist. We are pretty far and above most of the world for kindness, understanding and acceptance.

Although they modernized some aspects, especially deciding to go with English as the main language, I saw that they put a lot of time and effort into the sword smithing scene. A lot of people dedicated to historical Japanese sword smithing have come forward loving the attention to detail of them getting the process pretty correct. I do think that there is a stark difference between episodes where it's written by both the Japanese American woman and her white husband vs say episode 5 which is written just by her.

“Considering how the internet is”, “I swear I love this show, don’t be mad” It’s at times like these I loathe the internet. I wish it didn’t have to be like this.

Would definitely enjoy a whole series overview from ya! There's a lot to love about Blue Eye Samurai, despite being pedantic nerds, there's a ton of heart & soul put into this show that's worth examination.

It's so cool hearing your critiques of this show, and how there are problems, but they get "resolved" a bit or at least are more consistent as you watch more of it. For example Gaijin brings up the delapated shrine showing a increase of neglect for a culturally religious site. That observation coincides with how the prostitutes talks about the 1000 creepy statues; an example backing up that observation of increasing neglect. I would love to hear more on your thoughts on the rest of the show, because it's one of my favorites now. I need to hear all your thoughts pedantic or gigantic! I love love you realization that you had towards the end too saying how it's written for a western audience, with a great deal of knowledge of Japanese culture weaved into it! When you hear and watch some of the behind the scenes they categorize this show a "western eastern" style of show, or a western meets eastern, and that to me basically aligns with your realization. There's so much to love about this show, and I know that when people critique things, it's out of care!

If possible could we make this a series cause it would be amazing to see your thoughts on this show with each episode. Cause at one point I remember singing "Real Ninja wear Blue"

I know you continuously apologize for your deep dives because you want people to understand your passion for a project, but for me at least, it isn't necessary. That is why I watch your culture videos. I don't really care if there were undisciplined lords and spoiled children who were undocumented, I'm sure there were. What I want to know, and you gladly provided, is how likely such a thing would exist within historical context. Now, I haven't seen the show that you just analyzed so I'm certain I've missed quite a bit, but guess what, your video has interested me into watching it. I'm not worried about spoilers because I feel a good story can't really be spoiled as any information passed along should serve to strengthen it. So yeah, grown up "Mulan", I'm in. thanks for the videos.

"the white devil" ah yes Mizu's dad is the RX-78-2 Gundam.

I actually heard this earlier today, American media focuses on the "melodrama". This centering of individuals unique circumstances and triumph's through struggle obscures the underlying systems that created these conflicts.

"Sword is the heart of the samurai" as I'm sure other commenters probably said get addressed later like mizu being called an onryo makes sense later but like you said this is episode 1 review

Comin' at ya with a pedantic critique! Using the one-off Takeshi Kitano portrayal of Zatoichi instead of the decades long, character defining portrayal by Shintaro Katsu?! As a weird internet person once said, "Son, I am disappoint."

Loved the video! If I can be pedantic myself, the only person that mention the sword as the “heart of the samurai” is the swordmaker, who is the one that passes that philosophy down to Mizu. As you’ve mentioned in the video, it makes sense that the swordmaker values the blade so highly. Others, mainly Taigen, point out that the blade is only a weapon. Additionally, the comment about onryou in the first episode is later expanded upon, providing the full rationale for the analogy. Perhaps it’s still strange to have it used in here, but the context would better inform the reasons for this writing choice. Also, Ringo’s birth deformity is clarified in a later episode. I’m assuming you only watched the first episode for this analysis, but I think it’s still really solid! Hopeful to see another video covering more of the show!

The points about the Japanese language being used in a completely different manner to something like American English reminds me of the whole debate of anime localizers. Specifically about the people who argue “Just give us direct translations.” Imo it just shows how ignorant they are of different languages and culture.

The show itself is much like the metaphor used in it; it contains some (western) impurities in the right places.

I don't see anyone mentioning on the ofada so here's my take: Its the blacksmith's prayer or their version of it in this show. Black smiths would 'bless' the weapon they make some way some form and each culture is different. case in point Brok from the God of War : Ragnarok game

In fairness to Daichi, the lord you talked about, I believe he does mention how he earned his lord title and wasn't born into it. So, not being typical about being a lord is pretty on point.

I really enjoyed this one, and I appreciate the restraint you had not making this into a which samurai before talking about his deep understanding of guns or how being masterless he would be a ronin rather than a samurai. I would love to see/hear your thoughts on the rest of thr show.

Even if you don't do the whole series, I think it would be very cool if you did the bunraku episode.

The only thing I can think about with the smith burning the ofuda is like you said, it was to bless the metalwork he was doing, and might have been homemade, could have even been a year old. As to the practice of burning ofuda at temples, it could possible be that he considers his forge similar to that as a temple to the metalwork, but that is probably more of a Western concept and not an accurate interpretation on my part. In any case, the smith trying to burn a blessing into the metal might just be a ritual practice as a concept that makes sense to him, even if it's not historically accurate or even a good idea for the metal, like you said. And regarding the girl calling the temple statues "creepy," it could be her dropping her politeness and being dismissive of something that isn't really important or useful to her, especially if she was sold into her profession at an age where she wouldn't have had a strong connection to anything spiritual or religious. Again, just my interpretation of what I saw in this video, and I be completely wrong.

Was waiting for this video to come about. I've only gotten to episode 3 or 4 -- been stymied due to the holidays -- but I LOVE this series! Beautiful art design. Stellar animation. The story does have its hiccups, but they don't detract too much from my enjoyment! Thanks for sharing, Goombah!

Daaaamn! You had a lot of the same critiques I did. This is exactly why I’ve been waiting for you to do a video on this. Also it’s refreshing to hear a legit criticism against the show for a change.

This is the kind of content that I keep coming back for. Solid proof that just because we like something, doesn't mean we gloss over it's flaws. Or that it can't bother us in other ways. A lot of the stuff I love the most, I'm the most pedantic and granular over my analysis and explanations of to other people... because I care enough about the topic to *be* that invested. And it's always fun to learn new things!

Having watched the whole season, I'd say it's definitely more Kill Bill than Mulan. In fact there are specific references to that movie and other revenge stories like it later in the series. Being someone who also lives in Japan as a foreigner, I completely relate to most of the cultural whiplash you experienced throughout the show. You're not the only one. I have the same problems with the dialogue. It's being very clearly written for a western audience or by a western writer. I even switched to Japanese dubs and they sounded more weird because it seemed more out of place (if that makes any sense). But I'm gonna have to differ from you in the sword-making scene. As a student of material science and having watched way too many videos of swordsmiths making katana, I can definitely say that I've seen them writing inscriptions on the paper wrapping before. Though I can't point to a specific one right now. I also don't know if this is "historically" accurate (this show is depicting an alternate history anyway) but the practice exists. Also, purely from a sword-making perspective, writing characters with charcoal ink on a piece of binding paper dipped in a mix of clay slurry and straw literally does nothing to add more impurities. The scientific explanation would be too long but, you literally need those things to protect the metal from oxidizing too much in the fire.

As someone with a bachelor's degree in japanese language and culture and a love for japanese history and traditions, especially martial traditions, I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed this man. Instantly subscribed

GG, ya don't gotta flex the credentials, we know your GOATed. Also I love describing this as Japanese, R-rated Mulan. And I believe "Fate-ization" would be more accurate than "Naruto-ization". Naruto messed with one culture's historic figures/text. Fate does it to everyone. But I guess Fate-ization doesn't roll off the tongue very well?

You make a very good point here. I had a feeling that something is strange with the show, when I watched it, but could not put my finger on what it was. You did that very well. This is an American show, and no worse for it, but I was expecting a Japanese anime.

i do know there were various rituals around sword smithing. lots of purification of the smith and tools, but i do remember something in the back of my mind about the fire. but there were many different rituals that changed essentially by the smith, and were often kept a kind of trade secret. but TBH it's been years since i've done any research on historical japanese swrodsmithing.

3:25 due to how competent he was, I didn’t even notice he lacked hands until episode 5.

I think your content is way better when it's "oh, actually...!" than when it's "but aktchyually....." still love the cultural-easter-egg breakdowns

i am SO confused why he keeps saying stuff like "Which i assume ringo lost at birth" or Its up in the air why Mizu disguises herself since the show explicitly answers both

I’m really hoping to see more from you on this show! Some statements tell me you haven’t finished it yet, and I get the hoops you’d have to jump through, but I would love to hear more!

BES is such a perfection in animation, story and characters. It's just that damn good show.

Once i finished this show, i immediately checked your chennel to see if you made an episode, and sad to see you didnt. A month later and here we go!

Later episodes explain the onryo thing further, but I am not enough of an expert to say how much that explanation holds up.

I fully agree with your opinion on how blunt this show is with it's commentary being depicted in world I loved this series just felt like I was being punched in the gut and hit over the head when ever the princess scene happened cause subtlety is just too hard when dealing with different cultures to the intended audience cause I'm sure people who have Netflix that don't watch anime or Japanese/Japan set film will pick this up

Oh man Gaijin, I really needed this video after I finished Blue Eye Samurai! You listed all of the little problems I had throughout the show but couldn't put my finger on. I would even be great if you posted your personal thoughts of the show as a whole on Patreon, or at least talking about Episodes 5 and 8 which are the two most stand out for me (both for good and for ill). Great work as always!

Finally finished the series so I could watch this video and be informed about the cultural references. First off Gaijin, I'm sorry if people give you grief for your viewpoints. You were so apologetic at the beginning of the video about your feelings. I want and enjoy your honest and direct opinions. Second, while I understand some of your grievances with character actions in this first episode, I feel like they are somewhat explained by the character's motives much later in the show. I won't say much more due to not wanting to spoil it for others. Finally, I completely agree with your last points that this show is made for a western culture. In the first episode, I looked to find the Japanese dub with English subs for the show, but realized the animation was made for the English language. That made me realize right away this was more for Western audiences.

Starting off with the disabilities thing, funnily enough, first thing to come to my mind is Samurai Champloo with the blind bard woman. The background behind the video player in the video even has the same weapon as she used

I really did almost close out this video a couple minutes in as you were giving your warning about picking it apart. I LOVED this show so much, that I didn't want to spoil the illusion for future rewatches. I'm so glad I leaned into learning and listening to what you had to say. If anything it makes me appreciate the show more. You rock man thank you

I really enjoyed this show and I'm very happy you talked about it. Will we be so lucky to have you talk about the whole of season 1?

Thank you for daring to share your perspective, mr. Goombah! I always find your videos informative (the Japanese background more so than the Orcs, but that's personal preference and I enjoy either content!) and I wish people wouldn't give you such a hard time over it. I hope this new year brings you more opportunity to freely talk about the things you want to talk about (with a bit of nudging from your Patreons)! ^^

Well that was a lengthy disclaimer before the start, go to know I subscribed for the right reasons😉, anyway loved the chonker video and can't wait so see what you have in store for 2024!

Half-blood lady samurai Mizu, the short-fused new money family, the handicapped smith and apprentice, etc... the whole show's American framing around Japanese culture goes absolutely hand-in-hand with the themes of the show as a whole. Your eyes aren't the only ones worth seeing through. This "Naruto-ification" you speak of is exactly how history and mythology work. Events occur, people record it, time passes, records are lost, destroyed, translated, re-written, exaggerated, and reworked. This repeats until history becomes religion, and again until religion is mythology, and eventually to mystery. The same thing that happens to all information. It's a feature of reality, not a bug. The information that lasts the longest is whatever best captures the heart of the people being recorded, as in whatever is the most entertaining.

YOU USED THE TENCHU Z THEME IN THE BEGINNING. THIS IS WHY I LOVE YOUR CHANNEL. YOU ALWAYS USE THINGS THAT IVE LOVED IN YOUR VIDEOS

I was hoping to see examinations of Blue Eyed Samurai here. Thank you.

I was hooked from the first episode, and I've recommended it several times. When making the recommendation, I say it's like a mixture of Rouroni Kenshin (historical vehicle that helps mold the plot & characters) and Kill Bill (a revenge tale where the morality of the protagonist is in question...and hyper violent fight scenes lol) So far I haven't had anyone get bored or dislike Blue Eye Samurai

Only few pictures due to the meta. If they want to search the classical works of ancient Japan maybe some other websites rather than search of images.

Thankyou for covering this, I hope you get to do more of the episodes, I always love learning what I can, like you say it gets more and more difficult to learn about the source material of things nowadays & I knew while it wouldn't be perfect this series would be full of interesting things for you 😁 the way I described this show to my friends was "think Mulan meets 47 ronin meets John wick meets shrek

Blue Eye Samurai is easily one of my favorite shows of 2023, and Mizu has become one of my favorite anti-heroes since Spawn, Ghost Rider, and Swamp Thing. Luckily, the series got renewed for a 2nd season, and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next. Also, Mizu would be a great guest fighter in Mortal Kombat.

Amazing video, man! Also sidenote - I had no idea you knew about Xiran Jay Zhao! You two should definitely collab!

As someone studying archivism, that last section about culture being buried really spoke to me. It's why public facing skills are so important, so we can plan big events to raise awareness about history.

Great video Gaijin! Would love to see you do a episode by episode analysis. But I know that would be a HUGE project.

Happy new year!!!

Ningo was born without hands he says as much a couple times in the show most notably to the blind swordsmith

I’ve been waiting this vid for a while.

I freaking knew it. The Mulan parts and the Kill Bill. The Kill Bill part clicked in my mind fast.

I already had this show on my watch list on Netflix but now I know that I DEFINITELY want to see it! Thank you for the great video!

I just finished watching this series, is now time to see your video! Sorry it took me this long

It seems odd that you're so surprised that a group of prostitutes either didn't know or didn't care about the statues. there have always been, regardless of cultural values or religion, people who just didn't care for various reasons they just don't get talked about, so they dont show up as much in the historical record

great stuff :) Id love to see more for the show :D

Show was dope. Way better than most of the complete slop we get

I think Osamu Tezuka's Dororo was the first real pop culture that treated someone missing limbs, but as a revenge fantasy. I lived in Japan 22 years myself and taught Japanese Society & Culture at a university there. I also had an initial visceral push back from the show, but overall fell in love with it.

Dude, you really need to watch the *whole* show! Mizu is disguising herself so that the men looking her wont find her.

You should talk about the Afro Japanese children and what happened to them in the Congo in the 1970s and 80s

I think, at least for Mizu, their sword is absolutely their soul. Because they are both smith AND samurai. And you see their acceptance into these roles and more throughout the show. And when the blind smith wrapped the metal before putting it in the fire I think I have seen that done before as a means of turning the metal slag into an ingot to be smithed. The writing I think was the teachings of Buddha, he mentions that they are important to calming the soul and becoming pure for the smithing process. And the paper used to start the fire may have been an offering to the gods/spirits to bless the work to come. Im no expert or anything tho so if I'm off base ignore me. But as a half-japanese, non-gender-conforming, sword studying, blade smith I cant help but love the show so much! I even plan to make a video dedicated to Blue Eye Samurai someday soon!

Wether your takes hold up in the context of the rest of the show or not, I appreciate your perspective on it ❤ I have seen the whole season and know some of the points you bring up become moot as the show goes on, but i still learned stuff about Japans hostory i didn't know ❤ so no complaints from me

Thanks Goomba, this explains a lot.... Also, the fact the mention to Xiran Jay really makes me want a colab XD

Loved this show. I was sold from epsiode one but when I got to "The Tale of the Ronin and the Bride" I knew this was something truly special. That episode by itself is a cinematic masterpiece.

Indeed, Blue Eye Samurai is American-made with an American perspective. Just as with me as a member of the Hmong minority, I watched Gran Torino and found enjoyment in it, despite its cringe-worthy flaws regarding Hmong culture-quite the experience, haha!

i have to thank you gaijin, for speaking talking about blue eye samurai as this video alerted me to to series and its a hell of a ride