Cerulean Eye Samurai

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Mizu’s Affinities with Trans Women

While many folks have drawn parallels between Mizu’s life experiences and those of trans men (AFAB living as a man, wearing a binder, deepening her voice, adopting masculine mannerisms, etc.), an under-explored topic is her affinities with trans women. 

From as early as Mizu can remember, she was forced to hide her femininity and live as a boy. In flashbacks, we see her “Mama” forcefully shaving her head, saying she “must be a boy, always a boy,” while she sadly clutches her fallen locks of hair. Mama’s supposed death in the hut fire only further cements in her the importance of living as a boy for her safety—to protect herself from the “bad men”—and it also leads her to seek vengeance, which requires her to live as a man (as Madame Kaji says, "under the law, revenge is a luxury for men like you"). In Mizu’s conversation with Mikio, she also confirms that she didn’t want to live as a man but had no choice but to do so because of the bad men and her revenge. 

Indeed, when Mizu is briefly given the opportunity to live as a woman, she takes it. Even before her marriage to Mikio, when she was reunited with Mama, she chose to dress like a woman. She no longer needed to live as a man since (as Mama explains) the bad men believed she died in the fire, and she was no longer on her revenge quest. When Mama exhausts Mizu’s savings, it’s notable that Mizu agrees to the arranged marriage instead of going back to living as a man to make money. 

Similar to trans women, however, Mizu was not socialized to live as a woman. She initially struggles to conform to womanly roles in Edo society, like acting appropriately submissive to her husband, moving elegantly (she’s shown to be clumsy while doing chores), and cooking meals. According to the Lead Character Designer, they intentionally made her women’s clothing fit awkwardly given her height. She is also self-conscious of her looks and how she does not fit the feminine ideals of her times. She’s used to people calling her ugly (including Mama, Swordfather, and Mikio). In a cut scene from Ep. 4, Mizu tries to put her hair up and gauge whether she could be considered attractive but concludes that she cannot. She exhibits jealousy toward Akemi (more on that here) for how she epitomizes feminine beauty and privilege and judges her for not appreciating the fact that she can “have anything she wants,” including the epitome of prizes for Edo women, a marriage into the Shogunate. 

Mizu’s marriage with Mikio also exhibits parallels to the safety challenges trans women can face in romantic relationships. Despite her initial struggles, Mizu is eventually able to win Mikio’s heart, in part by suppressing her more masculine attributes. For example, she pretends to not be able to throw the knife to cut down the apple. But for a little while, she is able to live a happy life, as a woman.

Her mother told her to hide her past, but she eventually trusts Mikio enough to reveal that she was raised as a boy and lived as a man. And not only any man, but a man dedicated to the most masculine Edo pursuit of swordsmanship. The fact that Mikio seemed not only open-minded about this but eager to see “all of her,” leads her to show him her masculine side as well. Unfortunately this backfires spectacularly. He rejects her, calling her a monster. Interestingly, Mizu intuited the connection between his rejection and her gender presentation. She tried to smooth things over by putting on makeup and her wedding kimono to use her femininity to soften his heart and implicitly show her willingness to suppress her masculinity and commit wholly to being his feminine wife, but it was already too late. He leaves her to be killed by the armed men (he was also most likely the one who ratted her out: see here).

The deaths of Mikio and Mama not only mark the end of her relationships with them but also the end of her life as a woman. She concludes she has nothing left in life but her revenge quest, which necessitates her living as a man. For a brief moment, she thought she could be herself and be loved, but that dream came crashing down with betrayal and tragedy. 

All of this is why I’m personally a huge sucker for feminine Mizu moments. I find them quite subversive even though she is AFAB. I hope in Season 2 she’ll be able to spend at least some of the time living as a woman since she won’t have the bounty on her head to worry about and it might actually be easier for her to present as a woman in London accompanying Fowler. Also, it would be empowering for her to explore leveraging her femininity as power rather than having to constantly suppress it. Here’s to kick-ass Mizu in a dress! 🍻 

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Dead Mothers of BES pt. 4 (Mizu)

Mizu, Taigen, Akemi, and Ringo are very different characters, but the two things they all have in common are shitty fathers and dead mothers (at least from our Season 1 knowledge). The shitty fathers part is pretty self-explanatory, but let’s dig into what we know about their dead mothers and what we might speculate.

Part 1: Akemi's mom

Part 2: Ringo's mom

Part 3: Taigen's mom

To close out this series, let's talk about the elephant in the room, Mizu's (biological) mom.

How do we know she’s dead?

At the end of Ep. 8, Fowler says that one of the remaining white men (Skeffington or Routely) killed Mizu’s mother. While it’s true Fowler could be lying, I personally don’t think he is. This is the piece of information he leads with when trying to convince Mizu not to kill him, so it’d be very risky if it were false. He doesn’t know what Mizu knows, so if her mom were alive and she knew that, she would just kill him for lying. In addition, if Mizu’s mom were alive, it would be more advantageous for Fowler to say that and dangle information about her whereabouts to entice Mizu to keep him alive. 

When did she die?

Assuming Fowler is telling the truth, she died at the time of the fire we see at the beginning of Ep. 3, when Mizu was an infant, assassins were sent to kill her, and she was passed to her maid to be put into hiding. Presumably her mother was killed shortly before or after that scene. 

How did she die?

Either the assassins killed her, Skeffington/Routely personally killed her, or she died in the fire.

What was she like?

The fact that she had a maid taking care of Mizu suggests that she was well-off. This is also implied by the fact that the maid was paid to hide Mizu. The maid did so for 5 years (according to the character designers, Mizu was 6 when she met Swordfather, at which point her hair had grown back, so she must have been around 5 when the hut burned down since she was bald at the time), but the maid was likely paid enough to support them for all of Mizu’s childhood if she had not become addicted to opium.

Mizu’s mom was most likely married to someone of the same race since she was able to carry the pregnancy to term and give birth without issue. This presumably would have been very scandalous if she were unmarried. Mizu thinks her mother was raped, but it’s more likely her parents were in love given that her mother took great risks in going through with her pregnancy and had the means to terminate it.

If Mizu’s mom was Japanese, she must have been a noblewoman who fell in love with one of the white men. If she was white, she must have come to Japan with one of the four white men, perhaps as his wife or sister. In this case, her father was likely a very high-status Japanese nobleman given the size of the bounty put specifically on Mizu’s head. Assuming Fowler is telling the truth about either Skeffington or Routely killing her mom, it’s more likely that she was the wife of one of them, so the killing was motivated by betrayal at her infidelity. 

The fact that Mizu was carried to term, not killed by her mother shortly afterward (once she saw her blue eyes), and put into hiding also implies that her mom loved her deeply. She knew her daughter’s existence and her blue eyes would cause huge trouble and danger for both of them, but she decided to keep Mizu anyway. This is also why I tend to believe Fowler that she’s dead. Given how much she loved Mizu and wanted to stay with her, it seems unlikely she wouldn’t have tried to find or contact Mizu if she were still alive.  

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Dead Mothers of BES pt. 3 (Taigen)

Mizu, Taigen, Akemi, and Ringo are very different characters, but the two things they all have in common are shitty fathers and dead mothers (at least from our Season 1 knowledge). The shitty fathers part is pretty self-explanatory, but let’s dig into what we know about their dead mothers and what we might speculate.

Part 1: Akemi's mom

Part 2: Ringo's mom

For Part 3, let's discuss Taigen's Mom.

How do we know she’s dead?

This is heavily implied by the facts that: Taigen doesn’t mention her when telling Mizu his backstory, he ran away at 12 after his dad died, he tells Mizu he tries to forget Kohama, and he didn’t visit anyone in Kohama when he returned as an adult. 

When did she die?

My guess is that she died when Taigen was very young, possibly right after giving birth to him, or else he would have mentioned something about her. For example, did she try to prevent his father from beating him? Did she feel as stressed as Taigen’s father about their finances? Taigen’s negative feelings about Kohama (“fish guts and fish minds”) and desire to forget it also suggests that he doesn’t remember anything about his mother. If she was mean like his father, that should have come up in his story. If she was kind, that should have been at least one positive association with Kohama. 

How did she die?

My speculation is that she died giving birth to Taigen. This would provide some explanation for why Taigen’s father became an alcoholic and why he beat Taigen so much. If she just died from a different cause when Taigen was young, his father might have felt more nurturing or protective of his son. Of course, it could just be that Taigen’s father was a really horrible guy all around, but it is notable that Taigen didn’t run away from Kohama until after his father died, which implies he still felt some degree of attachment to him. Maybe he felt like he owed his father due to being the cause of his mother’s death. 

What was she like?

There’s not evidence in canon to go off of, but as a Taigen fan, I’d like to think his parents were not completely horrible people. Maybe his mom was very loving, and his parents very much in love, such that his life would have been completely different if she had not died so young. 

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Dead Mothers of BES pt. 2 (Ringo)

Mizu, Taigen, Akemi, and Ringo are very different characters, but the two things they all have in common are shitty fathers and dead mothers (at least from our Season 1 knowledge). The shitty fathers part is pretty self-explanatory, but let’s dig into what we know about their dead mothers and what we might speculate.

Part 1: Akemi's mom

For Part 2, let's discuss Ringo’s Mom.

How do we know she’s dead?

This is heavily implied by the fact that we only see Ringo’s dad, Ringo hates home and runs away with Mizu without telling anyone, and then we see his dad running the soba restaurant by himself.

When did she die?

Ringo is remarkably confident, cheery, and skillful for someone with such a mean, judgmental father who is constantly criticizing him. His incredible dexterity and ability to make and use tools to compensate for his lack of hands must have started at a young age. My guess is that his mother helped him when he was young, perhaps making his first tools for him, so he never felt like he couldn’t do something because of his disability. This suggests she died after he was old enough to make tools on his own. That said, it seems like Ringo and his father have been running the shop together for quite a while and neither seem to have been recently mourning, so I don’t think his mother’s death was in the past several years. Overall, my guess is that she died sometime between when Ringo was 7-15. 

How did she die?

Like Akemi’s mother, it’s possible she died due to pregnancy complications considering Ringo does not have a sibling. That said, since Ringo is a boy, there would have been less pressure for her to have more children, and his father might have been worried about having another disabled child. Another, more likely possibility is that she died from a chronic illness, which would help explain why Ringo has such an impressive ability to provide medical care and forage and prepare medicine. These are not typical skill sets for someone who makes soba noodles for a living. 

What was she like?

Given how dour and unsupportive Ringo’s father is, I assume she was very positive, like Ringo, and instilled in him a lot of self-confidence. In Ep. 3, Ringo talks about thinking from a young age that he was destined for greatness. The fact that he doesn’t hesitate to pursue greatness in the form of becoming a samurai despite his disability also supports this. 

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Dead Mothers of BES pt. 1 (Akemi)

Mizu, Taigen, Akemi, and Ringo are very different characters, but the two things they all have in common are shitty fathers and dead mothers (at least from our Season 1 knowledge). The shitty fathers part is pretty self-explanatory, but let’s dig into what we know about their dead mothers and what we might speculate.

This is a four-part series, starting with Akemi's mom.

How do we know she’s dead?

In Ep. 4, Lord Daichi states that Akemi’s mother is no longer around. Seki confirms this in Ep. 7 when he says he tried to prepare Akemi for the world after her mother died. 

When did she die?

The evidence we have points in two different directions. One possibility is that she died not that long ago, when Akemi was already in her teens. Akemi’s half-brother Tomoe is not that old (pre-verbal), and Lord Daichi likely remarried and had his second child shortly after his first wife died due to the need for a male heir. Indeed, when he talks about Lord Saito being on the market for a new bride, he mentions blithely that Lord Saito’s wife just died in childbirth, suggesting that new brides are sought quickly afterward. In addition, Lord Daichi in Ep. 8 says that Akemi used to look at his with admiration. This is definitely not the nature of their relationship when we first meet them, so it could be that Akemi’s regard for her father changed when he remarried. Young children typically are more accepting of step parents, and Akemi might have been especially upset at her father if his new bride wasn’t that much older than her. 

That said, it seems like Seki has been taking care of her since she was little. He, not her mom, brushed her teeth, taught her to read and paint, and was the one who let her sneak into her father’s library to read books. That said, the fact that he replaced her mom (instead of a nursemaid) implies that Akemi was not young enough to need breastfeeding. Either he started taking care of Akemi when she was around 3 and her mom died around then, or he was taking care of her even when her mom was still alive. 

How did she die?

She could have died from illness, but my guess is that she died from pregnancy-related complications. Akemi was her only child, so there must have been significant pressure for her to bear a male heir. The fact that Akemi doesn’t have a younger full sibling suggests that her mother might have struggled with subsequent pregnancies, perhaps having miscarriages/stillbirths, which were much more dangerous at the time. 

What was she like? 

Lord Daichi said that Akemi’s mom was like her in that she talked back. That said, she knew how to please him as a wife. My guess is that she was a strong woman who knew how to influence her often pig-headed husband. The fact that Seki took over from her as Akemi’s “mother” suggests that he was close to Akemi’s mother. Otherwise it’s a strange position for her father’s counselor to be put into. In addition, Seki raised Akemi to be a future leader, which is very progressive for the time, so my guess is that he had high regard for Akemi’s mother and was perhaps her advisor as well (especially if she was the one actually pulling her husband’s strings). This would also inform the direction Seki pushed Akemi into—marrying up and working within her constraints as a wife to become a leader through her husband. 

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Symbolism in Taigen and Akemi’s Gifts

One of my favorite aspects of BES is all of the rich symbolism. An early scene that typifies this is when Taigen and Akemi exchange gifts.

Taigen gives Akemi a piece of candy, symbolizing the freedom that Taigen would provide to Akemi as a relatively open-minded husband. Seconds before this, Lord Daichi said to Akemi (after agreeing to her engagement to Taigen) that he hopes Taigen is better than he is at denying her candy. 

Akemi gives Taigen a gold comb, symbolizing the wealth and status that she would provide him. The gulf in the monetary value of their gifts also serves to emphasize the role this marriage would play in securing Taigen’s rise. This monetary value is further emphasized when Mizu takes the comb and gives it to the basket weaver and her daughter outside the gates of Kyoto, reducing the comb to its purely economic function.

The gifts thus richly illustrate the Taikemi relationship dynamic. They reflect the fact that their relationship is primarily motivated by the practical value each will gain from the other. Although their goal at the beginning of the season is to get back together, they each quickly lose sight of that. This is also highlighted when Mizu quips to Akemi that Taigen seemed more upset about losing his hair (and hair piece?) than his engagement. What hurt Taigen the most was the loss of his honor and status. And Akemi at the end of the season turns down Taigen once she sees an alternative path to freedom (leveraging her marriage to attain greatness). 

In addition, they are very impersonal gifts that emphasize that Taikemi do not actually have much in common or know much about each other. Taigen loves swordsmanship, Akemi loves poetry. They are shown to put on masks when around each other. Taigen doesn’t show Akemi any of his rough edges. Akemi pretends to believe in Taigen to get him to stay, but her facade breaks when he is at the doorway (“what if he kills you this time?”). The gulf between them is also emphasized when Akemi berates her father for trying to marry her off to a “whoremonger” only for us to later see Taigen enjoying himself with two prostitutes.

Thus, although the first scene with these two on initial watch looks like a classic romance, it is already full of symbolism illustrating the more complex dynamics at play. 

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Final Scene for BES: Healing & Family

In yesterday’s post, I wrote about what I think would be a satisfying ending for Mizu. For today’s post, rounding out the last day (Healing | Family) of @taimizuweek, I wanted to share my ideal final scene for the series.

Mizu and Taigen are living a happy peaceful life on their ranch together. Ringo (and Swordfather if he’s still alive) is visiting since Mizu recently had her first baby—a girl. The baby is around 4 months old, and Mizu looks down into her eyes and sees that they are still blue, meaning they will most likely stay that way. While part of her is scared for her daughter’s future, she is filled with an overwhelming feeling of love and hope for her. She will be surrounded by a loving family that adores her (and her eyes), and thanks to recent policy changes (driven through by Akemi with Mizu and Taigen’s help after taking down xenophobic Lady Itoh), their daughter should have a much easier time than Mizu did growing up. 

There are a few reasons I love this possible ending. It bring Mizu’s arc full circle. Mizu's quest is not a typical revenge quest motivated by death (someone killing someone the protagonist loves) but rather by creation (the birth of the protagonist). Her life goal was to kill her father for giving her blue eyes, so passing that trait to a child of her own would show that she has learned to accept and even love that side of her. In addition, the better life that the child can look forward to would represent hope for societal progress. While in other stories, the idea of a badass independent woman settling down and becoming a mother might seem regressive, I think it’d actually be empowering for Mizu given this close connection between her struggles for self-acceptance and her feelings about parenthood. This would more profoundly illustrate her growth and healing than just killing her father (which the creators have teased is what Mizu wants but not what she needs for her arc). 

Finally, it would be fun way to reference the origin story of BES. In every interview about the show, Amber Noizumi talks about how they first came up with idea for the show when she saw their baby daughter’s blue eyes. In that moment, she was thrilled that their baby had this “white” characteristic that is coveted in modern Western society as being beautiful, which led her to reflect upon her own internalized racism as a half-Japanese, half-white person. This inspired her and Michael to imagine a blue-eyed girl in the opposite context, where blue eyes made her reviled as sub-human and demonic. 

Mizu learning to love her blue eyes and feeling positive about passing them onto her child would thus be a powerful way to wrap up her journey, showing that she has overcome her internalized racism and achieved self-love and happiness. 

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A Happy, Satisfying Ending for Mizu

For Day 11 of @taimizu week, I wanted to discuss what would be a happy, satisfying ending for Mizu. When asked about future seasons, the creators have teased that even though Mizu is hell-bent on killing the four white men for her revenge, that’s not what she actually needs—what would make her happy. Instead, Mizu’s journey is ultimately one of learning self-acceptance and the importance of human connection.

To me, the most satisfying ending to the series (after Mizu completes her quest) would be for Mizu to be in a happy long-term relationship with Taigen, living in the countryside, doing some combination of running a dojo, raising horses, and/or forging swords. Although some might think of such an ending as regressive—Mizu ending up as a man’s wife/partner—that’s not how I view it. Mizu is not a Disney princess who was predestined for marriage and whose triumphant arc would lead her to be a single girlboss. When we meet Mizu at the beginning of Season 1, she is already alone and on a lonely path: she is a social outcast who was consistently treated as subhuman and made to feel unworthy of love. That is precisely her motivation for her revenge. For her to be in a stable, loving relationship would be revolutionary. 

Yes, the relationship is with one of the people who made her feel subhuman, but that’s part of what would make the ending so potent symbolically. Little Taigen represents the cruelty of the society Mizu was born into. As a child, Taigen did not know any better but to regard Mizu with contempt. For him to become a source of unconditional love and support would show not only personal growth on his part, but also represent hope for societal transformation. Already throughout Season 1, he continuously showed that he values her life (even over his own), views her as being better than him in the thing he cares about the most, and wants to help her fight her fights.

Also, most importantly, I think such an ending would make Mizu happy. Throughout Season 1, the happiest we see Mizu is when she is married to Mikio and living peacefully on the ranch. Her life there was by no means perfect—she had to deal with her mother’s constant judgment, and Mikio’s love was predicated on her hiding her abilities as a swordsman—but she was happy. In hindsight, her brief life of domestic bliss was a fragile house of cards, but she can build a stable version of this with Taigen. He has already been set up as a foil to Mikio in key dimensions: he is turned on by her fighting prowess, and he is brave and loyal to a fault. He on many occasions offers up his life to protect hers, even when they are “enemies,” in stark contrast to Mikio leaving her to be killed. Moreover, Taigen has already shown that he is happy to play a supporting role to Mizu, so if they are endgame, Mizu would be able to pursue her goals on her own terms instead of subsuming herself to support her husband like in her first marriage. It would be her forge, her ranch, her dojo—not just his.

Finally, there is a bit of evidence suggesting the creators might have such an endgame in sight. The kanji for Taigen’s name (泰源), which you can see written by Mizu in the screenshot below, means peaceful fountainhead/wellspring. This is an interesting choice for a man who is portrayed in Season 1 as anything but calm and peaceful. He is an angry ball of hatred and frustration for most of the season, but by the end, he wants a simple, happy life. Could he have this life eventually with Mizu? The connection with water/mizu is interesting too—he is literally a source for peaceful water. I hope we see him manifest his namesake by the ending, providing Mizu with the peace and love that she deserves.

Bonus: Regarding whether Taigen can make Mizu happy, Taigen in Season 1 wins the award for prompting the most number (3) of genuine, non-sarcastic smiles from present-day Mizu (see below). Also the only present-day Mizu laugh (tumble at the forge)!

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Blue Like the Sea & Sky

For Day 10 (Devotion | Apology) of @taimizuweek, I wanted to share my fic Blue Like the Sea & Sky, in which Taigen follows Mizu onto her ship to London and shows his devotion to her. When writing this fic, I wanted to explore what it would mean for Taigen to really confront and apologize for his bullying, not just how he bullied Mizu but also his broader tendency to put down others as a way to prop himself up. This fic features my OC Aoi to help facilitate this growth. This is a slow burn with smut at the end.

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

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The Second Day of Autumn

New fic for Day 9 (Acts of Service) for @taimizuweek! The inspiration for this fic was that I realized all my previous smutty Taizu fics featured Taigen taking the lead in pleasuring Mizu. While I do think this would be the dominant dynamic for them, I wanted to imagine what a scenario might look like where Mizu is trying to return the favor.

___

“Fantasies often reflect alternative versions of people in a world different from their own. You coming to me now suggests you have moved beyond being the monkish samurai who first sought me years ago. Perhaps you see now that sex can be art.The sword is the tool for your art form. Fantasy is one of the tools for mine. Let yourself enjoy the make-believe, if only for tonight.” ___

With help from Madame Kaji, Mizu has a treat for Taigen for their wedding anniversary.

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

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Dancing in the Moonlight

For Day 8 (Rest) of @taimizuweek, I wanted to share my fic where Mizu and Taigen are recovering and resting at the forge before heading to London. This is a slight canon divergence from the end of Season 1: Mizu told Taigen to go find Akemi, but what if he goes after Mizu instead? This is my most popular fanfic, so I hope you all enjoy!

____

Taigen grabbed Mizu’s hand. It was the first time he held Mizu's hand so tenderly, immediately stopping him in his tracks.

“We’re not done yet.”

“I know.”

Taigen loosened his grip and let Mizu pull his hand away as he sprinted after Fowler. Taigen had to use every ounce of his willpower to fight the urge to get up and run after him.

Mizu had told him to go to the north sewer to find Akemi and run away with her. He had told him that honor was meaningless and the path of the samurai only leads to death. But his reason for wanting to run after Mizu was not honor. He wanted to fight next to him, to protect him and ensure he could kill Fowler without dying in the process.

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

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The Tomb of the Unnamed Samurai

For Day 7 (Greatness) of @taimizuweek, I wrote a new fic! Set in the immediate aftermath of Season 1, everyone in Edo believes that Mizu is dead. Mizu has attained "greatness" in death. Taigen visits Mizu's tomb and mourns.

The other fics I wrote for the 12 Days of Taimizu are fluffy and smutty, but this one is pure angst to balance things out.

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

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Lord Daichi & Taigen as Foils

On the topic of Growth for @taimizuweek, I’ve been thinking about how Lord Daichi and Taigen are foils in Season 1, illustrating the tremendous growth Taigen experiences as a result of his relationship with Mizu. Taigen’s rise reminds Daichi of his own (son of a poor fisherman vs. pig farmer), they both give Akemi “sweets,” and they both fail to see Akemi as someone capable of having her own goals. If Mizu had not burned down everything in Taigen’s life, he probably would have joined the Tokunobu clan and become a man similar to Lord Daichi. A social climber driven to pull himself out of the mud at any cost. A man who was happy with his wife who "talked back," as long as she knew how to "please him." A man who was enlightened enough to initially allow his daughter to marry a poor man she loved over a much wealthier man (albeit not over the Shogun’s son), but not enlightened enough to view women as autonomous beings with independent goals, let alone equals.

Digging in a layer deeper into the similarities between Lord Daichi and Taigen, they both pursue self-advancement agendas in Season 1 that are technically favorable to Akemi, but they do not allow her to have input into their plans and ultimately treat her as a means to an end. Lord Daichi believes he is a good father since he is "giving Akemi everything that she wants." His plan was for Akemi's husband to be dead shortly after their marriage such that she would be free to do as she pleased. He never intended her to be stuck in a marriage with a brute. He notably keeps her in the dark about these plans though and expects her to dutifully play her role (declaring her support for her father to be the new Shogun after the coup) without consulting her.

Similarly, Taigen leaves her right after they have sex to track down Mizu. This is ostensibly to save their engagement (what Akemi wants), but he similarly does not involve her in his plans (she wants him to stay and let her negotiate with her father). In addition, at the end of the season, when Taigen asks Akemi to run away with him, he assumes that all she wants is to be with him. When she says they should stay in Edo, he says, "I don't need to be great," implying that the only reason they would stay is for his greatness. He had not conceived of the possibility that she might have her own differing goals.

By the end of the season though, Taigen is on a very different path from Lord Daichi. Mizu has taught him about the emptiness of status and the samurai honor code. She will eventually teach him that women can be not only equal to but better than him.

Bonus: the first two images above are Lord Daichi and Taigen giving Akemi "sweets/candy" and the third and fourth images are them giving Akemi what they think is good for her/what they think she wants.

___

For Season 2, I wonder if the creators will set up a similar dynamic between Lady Itoh and Akemi, where Mizu will somehow prevent Akemi from becoming a cold, manipulative political operative like Lady Itoh (who rules Japan via her husband/sons), either by supporting or by blowing up her plans. 

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Jealous Mizu

It’s Day 5 (Banter) of @taimizuweek! Like many in the BES fandom, I’ve been thinking a lot about love triangles since the creators have been unrelenting in their teasing of a Mizu-Akemi-Taigen love triangle. In particular, recently I’ve been thinking about jealousy. Although some ship the trio as an endgame throuple, “love triangle” typically implies an unstable arrangement that can be leveraged to create juicy drama through sparking feelings of jealousy, betrayal, and abandonment. 

While I personally don’t like the idea of Mizu suffering from such negative emotions, thinking about Season 1 through the lens of love triangles has made me realize that perhaps we have already seen inklings of jealous Mizu through her banter with Akemi. 

In particular, I’ve been intrigued by the moment in Ep. 4 when Mizu tells Akemi that she “begs to eat trash.” On first watch, this seemed really harsh (is Taigen really “trash”?), but I just figured, Taigen’s station is way lower than the Shogun’s son, and he was Mizu’s childhood bully, so she has reason to think poorly about him. Upon further reflection though, I think this moment actually shows some romantic jealousy on Mizu’s part.

In the episode before this, she left Taigen a very flattering letter that showed that she greatly respected him (and did not actually think he’s trash). She left him her the broken blade, took his scarf, and told him they’d meet again. Shortly before Mizu and Akemi’s conversation, Mizu fantasized about Taigen when seeing the male prostitute and swordsman kiss. And in the cut scene right before they talk (https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0KFcvrRedc/), she was looking at herself in the mirror and wondering if she could be considered sexually appealing. 

In light of all of this, I think the reason she so venomously chastises Akemi is that, on some level, she felt like she had a special connection with Taigen—even a potential romantic one—but feels threatened upon learning that Taigen’s fiancée is the beautiful, high status, and extremely feminine princess Akemi. Who could compete with that? There’s a tinge of injustice in her voice, like, why do you have to go after *this* trashy dog (whom I have conflicting feelings about but have begrudgingly come to see as sort of being *my* trashy dog), when you could have anyone else? Insulting Taigen is probably also a way for Mizu to suppress her own burgeoning feelings.

This comparative dynamic also comes up in the forge scene, after Mizu hops off of Taigen. For a moment, she feels a possible romantic connection to him, and it seems like she’s about to reveal her gender to him, but then he brings up Akemi. Mizu seems to believe him—that his boner was due to thinking about Akemi—which makes her confess instead to watching Akemi being taken away. I imagine in that moment, Mizu tamped down any hope she might have for a spark with Taigen, reminding herself that he’s in love with the beautiful Akemi, with whom she could not possibly compete. 

Mizu’s jealousy also comes out in her not-so-subtle jabs at Akemi and Taigen’s relationship. When they first meet, she tells Akemi that Taigen seemed more upset about his hair than his broken engagement. Later, even when she’s trying to bring Akemi and Taigen back together (and hyping up Taigen as a potential "great man"), she tells Akemi that Taigen BELIEVES he loves Akemi very much. For such a straightforward person, such veiled language stands out. She's a wingman with a conflict of interest.

Mizu is not the only one feeling tinges of jealousy. Akemi explains that she wanted to meet Mizu to see what power Mizu has over Taigen to make him run away from her. It’s interesting to see this comparative dynamic between these two women, who in many ways could not be more different, yet who are brought together by Taigen, who notably is their only topic of conversation in Season 1 (sadly Akemizu Season 1 doesn’t pass the Bechdel Test, but I imagine that’ll change in future seasons).

As the writers further develop the love triangle in subsequent seasons, I’m curious if we’ll see jealousies intensify and who will be jealous of whom.

[ceruleanskies48]

The Broken Blade & Mizu’s Femininity

It’s Day 4 of @taimizuweek! For the theme of Blades, I thought I’d share my meta about the broken blade and its incredibly rich symbology. 

Mizu has two main struggles throughout the series: grappling with 1) her mixed race heritage and 2) her gender and femininity. Her two swords represent and break due to these struggles. Her space sword was brittle since it was too pure, representing Mizu’s inability to accept the strength of mixed metal, which in turn mirrors her inability to accept her mixed race identity. The broken blade snapped since Mizu’s mind was not at peace during the firing of the blade. She had just been confronted by her burgeoning femininity and the dangers associated with it (Chiaki calling her "soft"), leading her to bind her chest too tightly. 

The broken blade is thus not only special because it’s the first sword Mizu ever made but also because Mizu sees its imperfection as being a result of her own impurity as a woman disguised as a man.

“The broken blade fits well in your hand,” is thus symbolically a very touching thing for Mizu to say to Taigen, showing the progression of their relationship. When Ringo remarks that the broken blade is a good fit for Taigen, Mizu is initially annoyed that the blade that has so much personal meaning for her is now being wielded artfully by her former bully, who incidentally doesn’t seem to view the blade as defective at all. While Chiaki uses the blade to almost kill Mizu, Taigen uses it to protect her when Okiyama first finds them and also when the arrows are raining down on them. When Mizu gives the blade to Taigen as a surety for their duel, she leaves him with what is the closest to a love letter that we can imagine Mizu writing at this point in the series. She compliments his skills as a swordsman and promises to meet him again to provide him the duel he deserves. 

The broken blade also captures some of their relationship dynamics. Taigen awakens a part of Mizu that she has repressed since her marriage—a more vulnerable, even romantic side to her when she lived as a woman. Taigen is the only character that Mizu is completely unfiltered around. She also subtly shows her attraction to him when she takes his scarf in exchange for the blade and wears it around her neck. My guess is that in future seasons we’ll see Taigen trying to revitalize this softer side to Mizu. 

The association between the broken blade and their relationship also makes it especially sad when Taigen throws down the blade after calling Mizu a demon and storms off to Edo. He is throwing away the one gift she has given him, one that has much more symbolism than he realizes. It is also poignant when Mizu places the blade into the fire. While she tossed the other items in easily, she pauses with the broken blade, holding it up with a mournful expression on her face before letting it fall into the flames. 

Given all of this symbolism, I’m sad that the broken blade won’t be around in Season 2. I wish Taigen could have learned more about its significance to Mizu. But hopefully we get more richly symbolic Taizu items in subsequent seasons!

[ceruleanskies48]

Day 3: Words

My first new fic in a while! Written to celebrate @taimizuweek, this piece of gratuitous smut is set on Taizu's trip back from London. It's inspired by the pain words like "monster" have caused Mizu and how she might be able to reappropriate such words. Hope you enjoy this cutesy fic featuring soft Taizu in an established relationship.

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[ceruleanskies48]

Day 2: Play/Laughter | Touch

For Day 2 of @taimizuweek , I wanted to share my fic Night at the Ball. Set in London, after Mizu and Taigen are in an established relationship, the fic starts with a fair amount of playfulness and laughter before getting darker and angsty. There is quite a lot of touch throughout though since this is a smut-filled story.

Side note: will start posting new content written for the 12 Days of Taimizu tomorrow!

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works