Blue Eyed Samurai Season 1 Review( PG 18)

Blue eyed Samurai follows an incredible revenge mission that takes a mixed race samurai living in feudal Japan (Edo). The series chronicles the protagonists vengeful quest to kill all the white men in Japan.

The story focuses on the main character's vengeful quest to kill all the white men in Japan. This is because one of them is definitely her father and he did the unspeakable by birthing the main character into a world that does not accept them.

Even in modern day, Japan isn't very welcoming to outsiders and it is racially homogeneous society. So, back in the day, simply existing as a white man with a completely different cultures was considered taboo.

The protagonist of the tale was a mixed breed, half Japanese and Half white, considered unclean, doomed to be an outcast. After being born, the protagonist was cast aside, having to toil for scraps, live off the earth as an urchin and find ways to survive.

The interesting thing about this vengeful story is the character didn't blame Japan because Japan is a society where they grew up in after all and as a mixed breed you have to accept that you're in fact an abomination. This self loathing as a result of upbringing, coupled with ostensible white man features including moonlit blue eyes made the main character absolutely disgusted of their existence and the father.

The plot also unfolds various layers of pain and sorrows that the main character experienced that eventually turned them into the Onryo(demon) that they truly are.

Characters

The main character is the blue eyed Samurai. Although far from being a samurai and fighting with no honour, the samurai murders their way through Japan to reach their goal. Not caring who they hurt or stomp on, the samurai inadvertently affected the lives of people around them.

The Samurai encountered various people from the past and present that influenced their lives. One of which is also a Samurai who actually encountered the blue eyed Samurai as a child.

The blue eyed Samurai also adopted a student who was on his own quest for greatness. Despite having no hands, this chef intended to make a name for himself through the vengeful quest of the samurai.

Princess Akemi's story was also interesting as it showed this royalty's coming of age. She was a feminist, fighting the good fight for women and trying to emancipate women from cultural slavery. Her encounter with some prostitutes transformed from an innocent and oblivious child bride into a streets smart woman cutting her teeth at the echelons of power.

Rating and opinion

This was an exquisitely told story with many subplots and flashbacks to make you appreciate the journey of all the characters.

Naturally, there was more emphasis on the main character but the side character's arcs were drip fed into the story. Leading to a robus and interwoven set of stories that made for awesome watching.

I'd like to point out that while it is an animation, it is rated 18 and is meant for adult viewing only. There's violence, bloodshed, sex scenes and a lot of hanging dicks, so don't watch it with kids around.

Overall, I'd give it a solid 9/10 and it was truly deserving of the emmy award it got. My only query is with Netflix not having it in Japanese dub. As an anime nerd, I like watching animations in Japanese, as it tends to give more life to the story because a lot gets lots in translation.