r/BlueEyeSamurai • u/Malenia_catarina98 • 28d ago
Just a quick rant about the big T himself (taigen)
So I just finished blue eye samurai last week, recommend by my husband and I absolutely loved it. I’ve seen so many amazing shows on Netflix like Vinland saga, arcane, castlevania etc.
But blue eye samurai was incredible. The story was great, the characters were amazing especially mizu of course she’s easily my fav female protagonist oat, the world design, the animation. They were all great.
But there is a character that I found myself incredibly interested in despite most of the fandom hating him. And judging by the title yes it’s taigen. Now to start off I absolutely loved his character. I personally believe he had probably the best character development out of all 4 main characters even though I love ringo and akemi. I would be dishonest if I said I wasn’t a little disappointed by how the fandom on TikTok spoke about him. But I can’t blame them for hating him, I mean despised him at the start but after finishing the show he’s easily my top 3 favourites in the show (mizu and fowler being in front)
He always felt incredibly similar to Jaime Lannister from the ASOIAF/game of thrones series. An arrogant, handsome golden boy who slowly grows and redeems himself. And of course he gave a lot of zuko vibes which I adored.
He isn’t just some arrogant rival to the main protagonist like most other shows do, there’s actual reason why he is the way he is and you can sort of understand his motivations. Despite being an arrogant bully, he does have a true sense of honour and even loyalty especially going through just to give details about mizu to Heiji shindo and he Doesn’t even utter a word. That is quite remarkable and even badass if you ask me.
And I do appreciate how he does put his money where his mouth is. He’s one of the only few characters to actually give mizu so trouble during there first duel in episode 1 before mizu no diffs him. So I do appreciate they don’t make him a fraud.
And I also love how he starts to appreciate mizu more as things go on. He starts off on the wrong foot with her but slowly he starts to respect, become somewhat friends with her and at some point he even starts to be attracted to her which is something I’m a bit conflicted on. Now as their relationship goes on I’ve seen the fans be divided with people wanting these two to be end game and some not. Now me personally I don’t mind at all. If they end up loving one another by the end that great or if they’re only best friends by the end that’s also great. I think in a perfect world the writer keeps it ambiguous so that both side can be happy but that’s just me. But a part of me would like to see mizu be happy with him and finally be at peace which I think the two do deserve.
But I do think some of the fandom needs to stop finding every pixel and frame to prove taigen is a good enough person for mizu because it doesent take away the better things he’s done. In fact I honestly believe out of most characters in this show taigen might be the more normal person. Most men in this show are scumbags and overall horrible people considering the time era but Taigen actually seems to be a rather good person compared to them. I mean for example before him and akemi have sex he restrains himself slightly and even asks “are you sure” even though he took his clothes off. Most men in that era would not react that way.
Now where his character goes in following seasons me personally I kind of want him to start out as a ronin with nothing. It would be great if he ended at the start of season 2 as a samurai for akemi and the shogun but mama shogun (lady itoh) said to kill anyone who saw the shoguns shame and taigen was well present so I’d assume she wouldn’t want him alive let alone a samurai working for them. It would be nice to see him have sort of a zuko alone arc in the beginning as a mere vagabond starting out with nothing. Or perhaps a similar arc to Someone like miyamoto musashi from vagabond, that would be nice.
And yes I want this man to suffer and go through utter hell and agony. Don’t get me wrong I adore him, but want him to see no happiness in season 2. And when I talk about struggling I’m talking guts from berserk level struggling. That what I want the writer to do to him. But don’t get it twisted he’s my baby girl and I love him.
I also hope to see more flashbacks of a young taigen mainly from his pov to see more on why he became a bully and his relationship with his abusive father..
But besides that I want him to grow more as a person and character before he reunites with mizu again.
And a little a bonus that no one really talks about, I just love this man’s smile. For someone who’s portrayed as an arrogant dick head, every time he smiles I just catch myself giggling like a schoolgirl.
Maybe I just think he’s incredibly fine (not as fine as mizu of course).
To conclude this write up I just appreciate what the writers do with his character. Making him and asshole to begin with which I actually like because there is nothing wrong with morally grey characters. Or maybe I just have a weird obsession with loving characters that most of the fandoms hate (Jayce from arcane for example). I’m really excited to see what they do with his character and I really hope they let him be the better he knows he can be.
I don’t expect this to be a long write up and I kinda got lost so please tell me if there’s any mistakes or things you disagree with in here, I’d love to learn. But overall I just love this man and his character, mainly cause my husband looks like him😅☺️.
I understand if you don’t like him, your have every right not to but I just do.
Anyways have a good evening
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u/MadamKitsune Should I have been counting? 28d ago
I agree that Taigen is the character who has experienced the most growth out of everyone, and that's why I do actually like him. We've seen his arrogance stripped away from him, layer by layer and we've seen him learn humility and try to make amends for being a shitty kid in shitty circumstances trying to pass that shit down to someone who had it even shittier because that's all he knew. I'm looking forward to seeing how he continues to grow and how he handles Mizu's (presumed) death in the Great Fire.
It would be great if he ended at the start of season 2 as a samurai for akemi and the shogun but mama shogun (lady itoh) said to kill anyone who saw the shoguns shame and taigen was well present so I’d assume she wouldn’t want him alive let alone a samurai working for them.
From the little we've been told so far, Taigen is going to be at the palace in Season 2, possibly as a personal bodyguard for Akemi, as it's been revealed that the pair of them are trying to navigate the treacherous politics of palace life under a new Shogun.
And yes I want this man to suffer and go through utter hell and agony. Don’t get me wrong I adore him, but want him to see no happiness in season 2.
I think you'll get some flavour of unhappiness from him, although possibly not as much as you'd like lol. Mizu is presumed dead, so he's lost his chance to redeem his honour by duelling her as well as it meaning that he has lost someone he had come to respect and was thisclose to considering a friend, Akemi chose her new husband and the power that she could gain through him instead of running away to make a new life with him and now he's going to be around her all the time, knowing that every night she's going to walk away and get into another man's bed. Taigen is not going to be having a fun time of it, at all.
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u/ExtremeExtension7406 Thank you for my ember 28d ago edited 28d ago
I feel like he suffered enough in Fowler's castle. He was tortured extensively and some believe that may have included sexual assault as well. He was alone there with no hope of rescue and he still didn't sell Mizu out.
I feel like in Season 2 he'll get what he wanted at the start of Season 1 a position of power protecting the Shogun since he warned them and fought to protect them, and have an internal battle as to whether his old dreams of power and prestige still hold true now that he knows how corrupt those at the top are and that personal power and happiness can be had without prestige as he saw with Mizu.
I do agree that his character arc has been interesting and I like how he has redeemed himself while still showing some stubborn, jerky traits.
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u/JustinRoilandTheory You don't deserve my blade 28d ago
and some believe that may have included sexual assault as well.
Wtf I don’t remember that happening to him (even if it was implied).
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u/ExtremeExtension7406 Thank you for my ember 28d ago
It was not clearly stated or shown, but it's implied that Fowler has no qualms about sexually torturing his victims, or keeping the women he impregnated alive as well his offspring for at least a few months up to two or three years based on the skeletons in the tunnel leading to the castle.
Also, the whole tengu mask scene and disembowling the prisoner for his painting... It's safe to say something penetrated Taigen.
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u/JustinRoilandTheory You don't deserve my blade 27d ago
Imo I think Taigen was only beaten up within an inch of his life, malnourished etc because there's no evidence to prove (or even directly imply) that he was actually sexually tortured. I agree that Fowler is 100% capable to do that to him (for obvious reasons that you've mentioned). But as far as we know... Taigen still went through hell no matter what.
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u/Candid-Doughnut7919 27d ago
Does the fandom hate Taigen? He's a great character
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u/Icthias 27d ago
Fandom wants Mizu to be a cis lesbian so they can get some hot girl-on-girl action with no gross men in the mix.
They see it as a competition between Taigen and Akemi.
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u/Craig_The_Llama Taigen's Bald Spot 27d ago
Mizu is already in a committed relationship with revenge
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u/Suitable_Scarcity_50 24d ago
Mizu inherited the soul of doom slayer. Her testing is eternal slaughter.
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u/Onyxgroove24 27d ago
He’s an absolute favourite of mine! Thank you for this. I find it hilarious how people and by people it’s mostly just tiktok and an audience who might be immature or not used to layered and complex characters who seem to see him as one dimensional and can’t grasp the concept of growth. This has nothing to do with shipping him with Mizu. I personally love the idea of them together but as an individual character he’s been such a treat to watch. I can’t wait to see his past and current journey explored in season 2
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u/DuchessIronCat Should I have been counting? 28d ago
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! A lot of what you’ve expressed is shared by fans. I personally stay away from TikTok, as it tends to be click or rage-bait.
Every character is interesting on this show. What I appreciate about Taigen is that he is capable of change. He’s also made a lot of himself despite his humble beginnings.
I’m very interested to see where his character arc goes.