liar-leth

[liar-leth]

Funger Dream Team

(Wait for more!)

[liar-leth]

Ao3 wasn't made for antis it was made for proshippers

Ao3 wasn't made for antis it was made for proshippers

Ao3 wasn't made for antis it was made for proshippers

Ao3 wasn't made for antis it was made for proshippers

Ao3 wasn't made for antis it was made for proshippers

Ao3 wasn't made for antis it was made for proshippers

Ao3 wasn't made for antis it was made for proshippers

[liar-leth]

As I take a flower with dirtied hands

I wonder if I can live together with you

In a dream of destruction at the other side of time

you can hear it, right?

A far away alleluia

—Red Moon ; Kalafina

i'm not dead guys, i'm just an slow artist

and happy bday to me hehe

[liar-leth]

😜

[liar-leth]

Rewatching Blue Eye Samurai again (this will be my fourth watch) and I really do love the four main characters equally.

Yeah, Taigen is my favorite because h’es a dick and he’s funny and he’s genuinely a good person. But I love the other three just as much when I truly think about it.

Mizu (imma use he/him) is amazing and I love him because he’s witty and has a really good grasp on society. He knows what its like to be a man, to be a woman, to be Japanese, and to be mixed. His perspective is very broad. He kills and has no problem killing but he is still a deeply empathetic person.

Ringo is so sweet and so compassionate. Despite being raised in a society that views women as less than men, Ringo follows Mizu despite knowing he is a female. (Maybe because Ringo is disabled, but still). Ringo chooses to follow Mizu because Mizu is at a disadvantage, like him, but leaves when Mizu acts dishonorably. And then he comes back for Mizu.

Akemi is so intelligent and badass. Because of the setting, her badassery is found in her ability to manipulate people to get what she wants. But she is also brave and kind and loving.

I love the whole cast so much.

[liar-leth]

I was having fun drawing all of them

And close up

[liar-leth]

Mirrors in Blue Eye Samurai

They symbolize looking at one’s true self and discovering what kind of person someone wants to become. They also reveal the truth about people and relationships.

Mizu

When Mizu looks into the mirror, she takes off her glasses, which symbolizes her deeply hidden wish to just be herself – not only a mixed-race person, but also someone who is kind and compassionate, not only ruthless and determined (In deleted scene she also unties her hair and explores her femininity, which symbolize her desire to be seen as a woman)

In the very same episode we see Mizu showing her “softer” side for the first time in the series. She slays a bird which was a mother to unhatched eggs. She kills Kinuyo who was important to Madame Kaji. Both of them were innocent beings, eliminated out of necessity. It makes Mizu sad and shaken. She even allows herself to quietly weep in private.

Mizu believes she doesn’t have the luxury of showing this side of her to anyone – that’s why she quickly puts the glasses back on when Akemi enters the room (metaphor of Mizu putting on her mask), that’s why she tells Ringo harsh things at the end of the next episode And it’s hard to blame her, because whenever she showed her softer side, it ended really badly (being betrayed by Mikio, being snitched to Boss Hamata by the young boy she had spared).  

Check my other post about different circumstances in which Mizu takes off her glasses and what it tells us about her (the link will be added later).

Taigen

When Taigen looks into the mirror, he sees himself for the first time since Mizu cut his topknot. The bald spot on Taigen’s head symbolizes emptiness – without the social status, the respect of his peers and the reputation of being undefeated Taigen is nothing. And he knows it. When he looks into the mirror, he sees his true self – and he doesn’t recognize this person, he doesn’t really know who he is deep inside.

Deep down he understands that he needs to change, but a part of him still wants to cling to his older self. That’s why we see Akemi in the mirror – she represents the tiny voice at the back of Taigen's head (she is even positioned right behind his head!), providing him with excuses: “that’s alright, you don’t need to understand why it happened to you, you don’t have to look for a deeper meaning, just allow your rich fiancé to settle things for you”. And although Taigen seems to give in at first (he loses himself to the fantasy of beating Mizu, gets hard and allows the sex to happen), eventually he chooses to leave. It marks an important shift in his character and the beginning of the journey to truly discover himself.

Check my other post about Duality of Taigen and how he gradually changes his view about social expectations, friendships and honor.  

Akemi

Out of all characters in the series Akemi is someone who has the most scenes with the mirrors. That's because she's trying to find her own path, her true calling, because right now she doesn’t really know what she wants “for her fucking self” (the fact that was cleverly noticed by Madam Kaji).

At the end of episode one Akemi glances at the picture of a noblewoman with blackened teeth. It’s very important that the noblewoman in the picture also gazes into the mirror, because it shows her parallel with Akemi.

Akemi mimics woman's gesture in the mirror, showing her teeth, which are white - not black like that woman's. It doesn’t tell us what Akemi wants to be – it only tells us what Akemi doesn’t want to be! She doesn’t want to be the wife of a rich nobleman, so she projects herself as the wife of a sweet man (Taigen) instead. But guess what?

She doesn’t like the image. She’s just got precisely what she had wanted. She has successfully persuaded her father to allow her to marry Taigen, and even though Taigen has just been beaten by Mizu, Akemi doesn’t know about it yet. She should be happy. She isn’t. Why?

She looked at the image of the wife of a rich man and rejected it. She looked at the image of the wife of a good man and rejected it too. That’s because deep down Akemi wants to be more than just a man’s wife.

What she doesn’t understand yet, is that for her to become MORE than just a man’s wife she first needs to become… a man’s wife.

But it has to be the Right Man – one that will allow her to have her own power and influence, and to unleash her full potential as an intelligent, well-educated woman (Check my other post, where I explain why that man for Akemi ISN’T Taigen)  

When Akemi looks into the mirror for the second time she stands behind Taigen and talks to him while he checks his own reflection.

I’ve already explained the meaning of this scene from Taigen’s perspective, so now let’s analyze it from Akemi’s point of view.

When she looks into the mirror in this scene, she plays the role of a perfect (future) wife, taking her husband’s side and raising his confidence through insincere flattery (she correctly guesses Taigen lost to Mizu in a fair fight – the fact proven by her later statement “what if he kills you this time”).

Then, she has sex with her fiancé. She decides to take such a bold and risky move for a practical reason (persuading Taigen to stay with her, perhaps even to persuade her father she cannot marry another man since she’s already lost her virginity) but also to reassure herself: THIS is what I want, I chose this man, I want to be this man’s wife, I will have sex with him and I will enjoy it.

Afterwards she glances at the mirror again and just look at her expression:

She’s disappointed. She has just lost her virginity and... nothing changed. She doesn’t get what she really aimed for, which is the assurance that this is the path she wants for herself. I bet that’s not how she expected herself to feel after offering herself to the man she apparently loves so much.

So, she is experiencing uncertainty, but she brushes these feelings off by glancing into the mirror and smiling:

In my opinion the expression she wears here is her telling herself: okay, maybe that’s not what I expected, but at least it’s something I CHOSE myself. Right now I want Taigen and I ALWAYS get what I want.

Except...

She doesn’t get what she wants. Not this time.

Her shock in the mirror marks the moment she realizes things won’t always go the way she wants. She fed Taigen’s ego, she offered him her virginity but it still wasn’t enough to keep him. Taigen didn’t even look at her during sex. His eyes were closed the whole time, which proves he didn't really see Akemi, just the fantasy she provided him with (opposite to Takayoshi who looks at his wife the entire time when they make love).

Bonus Mirror Scene

The one that happens just after Taigen and Akemi have the sex.

It is so very meaningful, because Taigen and Akemi are quite casual about the whole event. The way they both just get up, without even looking at each other, gives me the vibe of sex friends, for whom it was just another hook up, nothing special really. But we (the audience) know it WAS special, because at the beginning Taigen says “are you sure”, which means he is AWARE of the fact that this is Akemi’s first time and he’s reluctant to take initiative because of it. If they were really in love, something like this should bring them closer to each other (remember how Mizu and Mikio had a pillow talk after THEIR first time?). But it doesn’t and the mirror delivers a nice metaphor of Taigen and Akemi “going into separate directions” (literally – they move into separate directions in the reflection).

ANOTHER Bonus Mirror Scene

Teenage Mizu discovering (and trying to reject) her femininity.

Interesting thing is that her feminine side is reflected in the BLADE of all things. That’s another nice metaphor because it shows that Mizu’s fighting style will ALWAYS be connected to the fact that she’s a woman (she cannot rely on physical strength like Taigen – she needs to be cunning, fast and agile).  

[liar-leth]

Sometimes the urge to play automata again just comes over me

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Cinematic parallels

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Her Knight

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Whatever gender thing went on in Blue Eye Samurai,, I need more

[liar-leth]

[liar-leth]

I know that you can love me

When there's no one left to blame

So never mind the darkness

We can still find a way

better late than never 🥹 traditional drawing this time

[liar-leth]

HEY GUYS I FORGOT TO SAY I'M MAKING STICKERS

[liar-leth]

Blue eye samurai 💙

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Art by ME _.makkimelafattofare._ Do NOT repost WITHOUT credits

[liar-leth]

"you're my familiar, i chose you."

[liar-leth]

hating taizu just bc they would be "hetero" couple is really weird.... it also ironically neglects mizu's inherent queerness. she presents like a man despite being born a woman. and after her experience with mikio there is little we know about her relationship with her gender. isn't it a little laughable to discredit that aspect of her identity?

i understand hating taigen himself as well. he's a flawed person, but it discredits his character to say he would hate her once he finds out she's not a biological man. or at the very least it discredits his relationship with mizu as a whole--maybe he would be taken back when he knows. but the difference between him and mikio is that taigen genuinely admires mizu's abilities with the sword. they connect with one another on a level that literally has bordered life and death.

taigen doesn't entirely understand himself, and his seeking out his honor reveals bits and pieces to himself. like that he doesn't actually want to be great, just happy. that he is attracted to mizu in a different way than he expected. he has grown a softer with these experiences, as is evident with his softness towards mizu. he cares about her as an individual.

it's immature to call the ship baseless or stupid. i don't personally care whether or not it turns out to be romantic, or if their relationship lasts at all; i just have a bone to pick with the people that simply assumed mizu was sapphic and resent that her narrative is different than what they imagined.

it's also inaccurate to say that mizu doesn't need anyone. it defeats her entire storyline.

what blue eye samurai does well is restore the characters' integeity; in a way, it criticizes the all-consuming nature of ambition. at least, ambition that is fueled by apathy or hate.

mizu's story is about reclaiming identity, softness, and humanity. in a path where she has been dehumanized by everyone, including both akemi and taigen, mizu is being told to hold intimacy, integrity, and love sacred by swordfather and ringo. they admire and love her in ways that are essential to her well-being. that are essential to her growth.

she needs them. she is foolish to think otherwise, she realizes, time and time again, particularly when mizu is reunited with swordfather near the end of s1.

anyway it's almost 12 am and i don't remember where i was going with this