I love how her outfit doesn't change. She just sews up the damaged parts. In a way it shows the journey and struggle she endured to get the skills she has.

Critical drinker's recommendations are ten times better than those provided by the mainstream critics. Edit: Guys this was a general statement, not directly just tied to one show!

The most surprising but rewarding part of Mizu's backstop was finding out that she wasn't just "too strong" to be a housewife but that she was a housewife for a time and she was happy. She could probably have lived out her life in that setting but it was her husband or possibly her "mother" who made that life impossible. I loved that the story left it up to the audience to interpret whether her husband betrayed her because he felt immasculated by being beaten by her in a sparring match or her "mother" who wanted her reward to buy more opium.

The animation is well done because they used a ton of live action reference. They acted out the fight scenes and animated off the reference footage. One of the producers wore period piece clothing for the animators and showed them how Japanese people walk, run and generally move within their cultured norms, and how that is influenced by the clothing they wear. There's a great behind the scenes vid here on yt.

Fun fact: Mizu means water in Japanese, hence the color or her eyes and the color of her sword's blade.

I can’t wait for season 2 but at the same time, I don’t want them to rush it. I want the same level of care that went into season one. It’s phenomenal. Truly peak artistic expression and storytelling.

The note about how Mizu can be "outsmarted and makes mistakes at critical moments" is so well put. I was so worried early on she'd be another OP power trip protagonist, but right away they show that her past traumas manifest into her weaknesses that really help drive her character home. I honestly haven't seen character development (not just Mizu) this well done in a while!

I had the same experience of wanting to pause the show sometimes just to admire how gorgeous the visual design was.

Honestly, when I saw this mini-series my biggest revelation was *"damn, I didn't think entertainment media had it in them anymore."*

Fowler guessing her identity because her "bones break like a woman's" is some seriously dark and brilliant character development.

Ringo was legit my favorite character. I love how he’s so sincere and humble, just looking for an opportunity to help others and be of service. Really exemplifies that whole “the meek shall inherit heaven” vibe

The first episode was great, and holy hell the pot was screaming by the Onryō episode! The show kept building and by the time S1 wrapped I was left wanting so much more (in the best kind of way). Such great art, sound, and voice acting.

I'm so happy you found the time to watch this and I'm even happier you enjoyed it.

It’s really crazy how recommends from “professional movie critics” never bring me the same excitement to watch something unlike The Critical Drinker.

Another Scottish person here, completely agree with you, this show was amazing and I haven’t watched anything in years that has been good enough to distract me from replying to messages on my phone… was so shocked as I only wanted something in the background, binged it in one sitting and ended up awake till 5am watching it ❤️

Its frustrating how Drinker pokes out the tiniest holes in other stuff, but here, he mentioned none of the ridiculous plot armor, nonsensical action, leaps in logic or straight up bullshit that occurred... It personally lost a lot of the good faith i initially cherished for this show

This show went so much harder than I ever expected it would when randomly throwing on the first episode, loved it

With recommendations for both Godzilla Minus One and Blue Eyed Samurai, it warms my dead heart to see the Drinker end an otherwise abysmal year on such a positive note. 🍻

No idea if you read my comment in particular (probably not) but I was definitely one of those that clamored for a review haha. Glad to see my view of the show vindicated though. I've seen some people here and there calling it "woke", something with which I vehemently disagree. What it is is what "woke", "identity politics" and "the message" COULD have been if people hadn't taken it into an entirely unreasonable direction. It touches on most of the current-year issues that have been debated for years now, but it does so entirely within the context of the story and setting, and most importantly, it doesn't preach. It shows different facets of these issues and lets the audience think for themselves instead of coming up with ready-made conclusions of what to think. A good example is Akemi: On the surface her character is typically modern-feminist (but in a setting where there UNDENIABLY are severe inequalities), but in the end, she got a taste of power and now choses to use her femininity as a path to influence. She's not depicted as some sort of flawless self-insert, she definitely has flaws, her ultimate selfishness being one of them. She's nuanced and layered, and not just there to stand in for an ideology. Or Ringo: Yes, he has a physical disability. But you don't pity him - why would you, the guy is extremely resourceful and never lets his limitations get in the way of shit he wants to do. That's not only a role-model-worthy positive representation of disabled people, it also makes him very compelling. His disability is absolutely central to his character, but at the same time it doesn't singularly define him. He's more than "Mr. No-Hands".

I really love that you do these recommendations. Pretty much every single thing you recommend I go and watch, and it’s always a treat. Thanks, Drinker!

The whole series is incredible, but episode 5 'The Tale of the Ronin and the Bride', where Mizu's backstory is remembered as a Japanese puppet play, as an inter-cut flashback whilst she fights off a horde of assassins, is, in my humble opinion, a masterpiece.

You need to make more of these. Forget the garbage coming out of Hollywood and find the good stuff. You generally have good taste in film and so I’m interested to see your recommendations.

Drinker, just gotta thank you for putting this one out there, hands down one of the best watches in a very long time. The characters, the story, the artwork, just pure gold.

The story telling, character development, animation were great, but many times I just couldn t get past her being so OP, like carying another man on the crevices of a building for multiple floors?? Even more so, havin the strength to resist a fall as well?? She heals really really fast, she can perform 100% with multiple serious injuries....And what is it with everyone thinking she is a man? Really? I feel like its a kind of a Clark Kent situation...come on....idk...a bit too much for me not to talk about this...but again, I still think it s good, especially the episode about the ronin, damn

It won't shut up the people who say that Drinker hates things with female leads, even if it should. It's just proof that all we care about is a good story and good characters.

By the 3rd episode I was like, "finally, an original character!" This is exactly what Hollywood needs, original characters with their own story

Made my holiday season, thank you. I needed some inspiration as well; I have my film project to finish this year and this was a wonderful reminder of what animation can be.

Thank you for the heads up on blue eye samurai great show!! Happy New Years!!

Episode 5 is a masterpiece in parallel storytelling. I was floored.

I was turned off becuase of the 3D animations, but man, never been so happy to be wrong. This animations art-style is gorgeous. Glad the Drinker covered this. Easily one of the brightest silver-linings that came out this year.

Wow. Never thought I would see a KZfaq talk about this show, normally the animation quality doesn’t grab people’s attention but I’m happy you give it recognition because the story is amazing. 10/10 for me 👍🏽

My biggest gripe with Mizu's progression is that we didn't see her sparring or training against actual human opponents. It's one thing to practice sword techniques against bamboo, but entirely different to train with a person. I thought Mizu's husband in episode 5 would have been the one to give her the final lessons she needed to put her sword skills into practice, but they took it a completely different direction.

I believe it was episode 5 where you learn more of her back story and how she essentially became Oni like the story was being told. Definitely my favorite episode of the season and one of the best examples of how someone becomes obsessed with vengeance.

I cannot fathom how happy I am that you of all youtubers are talking about how amazing this show is. It deserves all the praise it's getting and more

Storytelling and animation of Episode 5... nothing can describe the awe I was so gingerly placed in from the story. The brilliance of Peace and Tranquillity locked in a battle with Duty and Honour told through a story of developed love spoke to my proverbial soul. Trust a rando misogynist from the internet who is a romantic on this one, justice will never be realized if you don't watch it for yourself!

Thank you for the recommendation, I immediately looked this up and started to watch it. Many of your points were spot-on, but I'd add some appreciation for many (maybe not all) of the historically accurate points of Feudal Japan during the Edo period.

Apparently the lead director of this show is a martial artist herself and in her own words she has a real pet peeve about martial arts being portrayed in accurately in fiction. So she has an active interest in making the fight scenes as brutal grounded, messy and realistic as they possibly could be.

The fight scenes are incredible, they’re fast, fluid, and almost feel superhuman, but still manage to pull it together into something that someone skilled enough could pull off.

I just watched this, because of you. Thank you! Such an amazing show

I didn't think I could get through computer animation but this is minblowingly good. It's so tasteful! Story and characters are absolutely amazing. The bar is so high for S2. Try Shigurui.

Finally, a reviewer with a good audience gave this one a spotlight it deserves. Another good and extremely underrated animation I would recommend is "Pantheon"

I binge watched the whole season in one go. It was a really pleasant surprise. Everything The Drinker says I could repeat. Can't wait for next season.

I cannot tell you how glad I am, that I came across this show, due to watching this vid! I love martial arts stuff/samurai/manga/anime, so this looked epic! And my god was it! I LOVED every second of it, the animation is beautiful, cannot recommend enough :-) many thanks to the drinker!

Been watching it and GOD DAMN, the show is hardcore. Bad ass main character, bad ass dark backstory, awesome animation, awesome fight scenes, music, characters...all of it.

It’s hard to talk about without spoiling a really good episode, but they show actually gives her a window in which she can set aside her revenge and rather than have her throw it away and carry bullheadedly on, Mizu actually embraces it, giving her a complicating dynamic of finding a scrap of joy that, for a moment, convinces her she doesn’t have to be on her quest for revenge and that her life can be more than a bloody warpath. The result of that makes her return to that quest even more heartbreaking and makes her so much more than a warrior; it makes her human because she reaches for joy rather than revenge and life makes it clear it won’t let her do that.

It’s SO SO GOODDD. I fell in love with the world, the characters, the story, the look, everything. It’s both comforting and challenging. Lovely and disturbing (in a good way). Brilliant creators and actors.

Nowadays such films as The Blue Dahlia, The Big Sleep, Casablance, The Maltese Falcon, North by Northwest, The Shootist, The Searchers, Shane, The Son's of Katie Elder, Rio Bravo, Unforgiven, Pale Rider, A Few Dollers, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Calamity Jane, Singing in The Rain and many more are more worth watching today for their sheer brilliance and beauty than anything that Hollywood can come up with. Thanks again for a good recommendation Mr Drinker.

The ronin story alongside the backstory of her failed marriage was such a great episode. It made me check the time, at 3am, and commit to another episode. Haven’t been hooked like that in a while.

I’m so happy you talked about how awesome Fowler is because he deserves way more attention. As you said, he feels like he could do whatever the hell he wants, whenever, which is such a terrifying concept. But coupled with great voice acting, terrific character design, a shockingly interesting motive and some great dialogue, DAMN. Or Hollywood might have just starved me for good villains I don’t know

I absolutely love it when the Critical Drinker loves a show, it shows that there's hope

im so glad you reviewed Blue Eye Samuri. i remember just scrolling trying to find something to watch and deciding to give this show a shot and boy was i not dissapointed.

Blue Eye Samurai looks gorgeous and its animation is simply superb. Its story, is, overall, pretty good, but the show has some issues that, in my opinion, that prevent it from being truly great. One those issues is the EXTREME amount of plot armor the main protagonist has. She tanks being stabbed, trespassed by a blade and even gunshot wounds as if they were nothing (episode 6 is especially bad in this regard). The show doesn't use an objective criteira to define whether a wound is fatal or not, so whether the protagonist is affected by the wounds she suffers is determined by how convenient that would be for plot, and this sucks.

My girlfriend put me onto this show and boy I was shocked at how well it is. Character development, the writing, the animations. Definitely worth a binge watch

Typically I am an anti cg-animation snob but i let my hair down for this one and was not disappointed. I actually enjoyed the art style very much. We might finally be entering an era where we finally surpass cell shading. Here’s to hoping. Hopefully they finally touch up Berserk so I can finally watch the rest of those. Or just get this studio to remake it!

Watched thanks to you Drinker, bloody brilliant.

Glad you noticed this one, the advertisements for adult animation that isn’t comedy is sadly not doing enough to promote shows like this one.

A good friend of mine just finished watching this himself recently. His response was "This is glorious, YOU NEED TO WATCH IT" when I asked how it was. And so it will be, I shall watch it myself soon!

A stunning piece of work. The animation, character story telling and pacing of parallel story telling is masterful. I sat enthralled through all the episode's and am watching ut asecond time as I'm sure I missed alot first time around. It's a very powerful story with the characters each having their own journey to take. Congrats to all who helped in producing this series without doubt the best streaming work I've ever seen

For me on Ep5 it went to shit. I know a lot of people liked it, but cutting up 3 different parts like this felt like stuffing with filler, especially after a lot of flashback in previous ep. But more importantly fights jumped the shark from heroic but grounded into very, very, very dumb. Bad guys became idiotic goblins. First, of all they didn't just torch the building (which they absolutely would, after she killed some of them in the courtyard). Then they didn't stream in all of them (which is exactly what happens if 100 thugs got orders to raze a brothel and somehow they are undeterred after 3 of them were killed in front of their eyes), just came inside in groups of 5 with very long delay between them. Then... half of specific engagements were idiotic, including bad guys being teleported around between cuts to give Mizu a chance. Meanwhile she had her pocket naginata all the time, and by all reason her best bet was to immediately assemble it and cut them all up - with their super short claws - in the open, her decision to go inside was also idiotic. I'd have no problems whatsoever if she cut up 100 claw wielders with a naginata - that makes perfect sense, especially with her heroic skills. That ep was very much like "Battle of Bastards" extremely stupid spectacle instead of a battle scene. It did mostly work for me with GoT somehow I got hooked, here I was getting closer and closer to "x1,25 speed" to get it over with. I've tried part of the next ep, after she insta-healed lethal 4 prong hook wound to the gut, then with the traps, one of which clearly shattered bones in her foot crippling her for life, but when there was cut away from her running unarmed into a wall of swords and somehow guys were being thrown into spikes I was out. I know a lot of people have tolerance for this, but IMO fight scenes can and should be semi-plausible. Just like in the first 4 eps.

With the crap we’ve been getting, I approached this with mid-expectations…. Needless to say, the fact I binged the first 6 episodes then forced myself to watch the last two later tells ya, I had similar enthralled emotions towards this amazing story. From the characters, to the world, the animation and the music (a note I’m surprised you didn’t touch on), it was such a fun and emotional ride. I am looking forward to season 2

Oh yeah! I stumbled across BES a few weeks ago and was already a drink or two in on a bored Friday. The most surprising part for me was that the cross-dressing/woman-in-a-man’s world aspect was handled with care. I was intrigued by the character, who wasn’t some cardboard cutout woke-puppet, but had a difficult story to tell. Hell, I was even happy to overlook some of the annoying elements of the series just to find out where it was going next. To me, a compelling series is a good series by definition.

I’m so happy to see this video. I watched this a few weeks ago and thought it was fantastic. Good to know I’m not crazy.

I’m watching this thanks to you Drinker, well done and thank you!

if I had a nickle every time Dante Basco voiced a character that went after the MC in a quest for honor, only to end up befriending and teaming up with said MC, id have 2 nickles, which isn't much but its weird it happened twice

Biggest gripe with the series was, how easily Mizu overcomes deadly wounds. Suspension of disbelief only goes so far and that felt just a little bit too off. It's good to show her her get wrecked, to not be OP, but it shouldn't be basically killing blows.

I really miss film critics like Roger Ebert, he really had perfected his craft and when he recommended a film or gave it high praise, you knew you were sitting down to watch something special. Nowadays the professional class are more worried about access given by the studios that they compromise their reviews, thankfully KZfaq creators like Drinker have filled the void. Thanks Drinker, keep doing what you do.

A lot of people in the comments seem to miss the point that there is some element of fantasy about this show.😆

One of my favorite scifi authors, Monalisa Foster, recommended this for the same reasons the Drinker recommended. An "I'll check out the first episode" turned into "why is it daylight". Highly recommended. If you know your history of cities burning you know where the next season is heading.

The series was just gorgeous. Dialogue, sword work, voice actors. . .all captured for animation. An awesome story. I've been recommending it to everyone.

Blue eye samurai was definitely solid and I enjoyed it for the most part. But if you want a recent anime that is killer across the board I highly, highly recommend Vindland Saga. This is a revenge story with a redemtion arc done right set in viking times. This is truly top-notch!

8:54 - 8:59 You brang that so often, but it was placed good that it got me off guard, and made me laugh for a second. Good job, That's ma Boiii.

I have to say that the levels of care that went into the details like how metals were worked on by the Sword Father in the foundry verged on obsessive-compulsive. This show was clearly made by people with enormous dedication. I was just blown away.

So glad Drinker talked about this show. It's a massively underrated masterpiece. It's without a doubt, one of the best shows of the year.

I loved the storyline of the husband and mom... first of all i loved that she wasnt an alphabet member lol... the story of her marriage showed her soft loving side. Then the betrayal was soo heartbreaking.. brilliant show

I finished watching season 1 , I enjoyed it , I had to stop your review earlier so i had time to watch it , didnt know if you had spoilers. Very nice anime , love it and love your review 👍

I was one of the people that asked you on twitter to watch it. So glad you finally did. It's an absolute masterpiece IMO. I KNEW you would like it :)

I feel like a wizard when I watch a show and I’m like « yeah the drinkers is definitely going to recommend this one » didn’t miss with invincible, arcane and this one 😂 Glad you liked it, I think adult and mature animation deserves more spotlight

This was an awesome series. Looking forward to season 2.

Just binged this. Loved it! Can't wait for season 2.

Japan irl wasn’t wholly shut off from the outside world during this era. Nagasaki bay had a man made island that the Dutch used to trade with the Japanese. The tokugawa shogunate kept foreigners mostly out because the government maintained power by keeping the various domains across Japan divided and easier to maintain control. Allowing western influences in would’ve likely led to back room deals between domains and western countries to overthrow the government. When the Perry Expedition forcibly opened Japan, this actually kinda happened. A couple clans who had historically rebelled against the shogunate allied with the British to supply guns and munitions leading to the Meiji restoration.

I’m so happy this show wasn’t buried and is actually getting all the recognition it deserves

Hello Drinker Happy Holidays! I would like to recommend you a few great anime shows the I don't see anyone ever mentioning. #1 Inuyashiki Last Hero, Dying old man becomes super powered and sacrifices himself to save earth. #2 Saga of Tanya the Evil, A little girl ends up isekai'd to a world similar to ours, but decades before WWI, and that world is following similar events of our history except Tanya knows how to navigate the events to gain an advantage. And #3 Terror in Resonance, 2 teens terrorize Japan to get the Police to investigate an organization that experiment with children to turn them into weapons, which is where they escaped from. Hope you find them entertaining as you have entertained us so much! God Bless!

So i watched midnight mass because you recommended it, and it was quite good. I enjoyed it. It would be really nice if you keep on making recommendations like this for tv series/miniseries of movies. You seem to know your stuff.

I'm so glad this show has been renewed for a second season and people are starting to talk about it, I truly believe it's the best animated series of the year, and whilst the animation might not quite be on the level of spiderverse, I think the story might just beat it out

You can tell what kind of mood a piece of media put drinker in, by how pleasant or venomous his “go away now” is, and this one was pleasant indeed. Also, you sold me, my man. I have to catch up with the second season of reacher, but I’ll definitely check this out.

I was pretty conflicted on this one since the animation's stunning and it's thematically interesting, but although it is an animated show I felt the groundedness of the story felt at odds with how overpowered she was in fights, both in dishing out the damage and in taking it. Uniquely skilled and resourceful swordswoman who can consistently win one-on-one or even two-on-one is one thing, but winning a dozen-to-one multiple times broke my suspension of disbelief.

I'm going to close out the season tonight. Looking forward to it

Perfect example of “strong female character.” This could have been a perfect vehicle for “the message,” but instead they’re just telling their story, no preaching. Just perfect show in my opinion. So glad you watched and enjoyed it. Take their time for second season.

I loved this series as well. Every episode is unique and builds upon the characters and the story. Episode 5 was absolutely stunning -- it told the story in two ways at the same time: via an allegorical puppet show that describes in real time what we are seeing on the screen. And the artwork is just mesmerizing.

Just finished this. Holy crap. That was awesome. Can’t wait for season 2

Just watched the first episode! Wow! Stunning! What a well done piece of work.

Between this, Blade Runner 2049 and Logan, Michael Green is easily one of the best writers working today!

I tried watching this and couldn't make it past the first episode. I normally like your recommendations, not this time.

Considering the plot, protagonists, antagonists, and themes did you dye your hair blue before you made this recommendation?

I just saw this and its one of the best series ive ever seen. Thank you so much for the recommendation.

I love how even more minor characters still have strong personalities, flaws, virtues and motivations. Akemi's manservant, Seki, genuinely tries to do his best to encourage the princess to rebel against social boundaries, encouraging her to read improper literature, escorting her when she runs away - but because of the vast array of privileges he enjoys as a man against even a royal woman (no one ever forces him to blacken his teeth), he doesn't comprehend the terrible and suffocating life Akemi is being forced into. It's a really good illustration of the gender based differences in society, _without_ grinding your nose into it.

YES. I'm so happy this show is getting the recognition it deserves

That was really refreshing to hear. I'll check it out thanks mate

The one thing I didn't like about the show was that she really didn't have a proper training arc. It was basically like Shang Chi's sister, she didn't have an instructor or a sparing partner, she just watched the demonstrations of the sword master's clients and then figured it out from there. It would have made more sense if the sword master was like a retired samurai who trained her. There is a French show called "Last Man" and in the second season there is a girl, Siri, who goes through insanely gruesome training and ultimately becomes the strongest warrior. That's a training arc I can get behind.

As a woman, it just feels so good to see a well written and executed strong female lead :'). I wouldn't be saying this if Hollywood didn't churn out a hundred let-downs every year, it's kind of like finding a unicorn.