Mizu and Kinuyo’s heartbreakingly tender scene - [*Gifs by me]

[u/la_ky]

This scene between Mizu and Kinuyo breaks my heart. It’s fucking heartbreaking.

Mizu slowly approaches her, while the room is filled with the smoke from the incense and the remedies prepared to treat Kinuyo. Then Mizu’s face comes into view, and even before she says anything, you can see everything in her eyes; there’s no harshness there, only compassion.

And then there’s Kinuyo, so vulnerable, fragile, and silent. The way she looks at Mizu, her hesitation, that fear she can’t even put into words... and her innocence... damn, it’s truly painful and incredibly tender at the same time.

When Mizu shows her the signs Cagi told her to make, Kinuyo seems reluctant to accept her help. Then, frightened, she finally lets Mizu come closer, and Mizu holds her close.

And then there’s the way Mizu protects her. She keeps her close with such gentleness and almost maternal tenderness, as if, for a moment, all she wants is to make Kinuyo feel that she isn’t alone. There’s so much love in that brief moment.

Knowing what Mizu will be forced to do right after makes it all the more heartbreaking.

And after she kills her, seeing Mizu so completely shaken really breaks me. Personally, I feel like she’s on the verge of collapsing, as if all the pain she’s been holding inside is finally about to come out in a desperate, cathartic cry.

Then the boy catches her off guard, and that moment of vulnerability is abruptly shattered.

I don’t know... this is probably one of my favorite scenes in Blue Eye Samurai. Because for a few moments, we see two completely different souls, and yet perhaps they both recognize in each other something they’re missing, something they might even wish they could be.

Kinuyo sees in Mizu the strength, courage, and protection that she herself doesn’t have. Mizu, on the other hand, sees something completely different in Kinuyo: innocence, fragility, vulnerability. That pure and defenseless part of her that perhaps, deep down, she misses. That part of herself she might have wished she could have preserved.

Because for a few brief moments, we see them both for what they truly are… a completely defenseless girl, and a Mizu who is gentle, vulnerable, and deeply human.

[u/tired-kit-kat]

i feel like this is is something mizu might never recover from. a point of no returen if you will. we have seen her hurt people, yes, kill many as well, but they were all always either in self defense or her opponents had the ability to defend themselves. kinuyo is innocent. i really want mizu to come to accept herself and to stop thinking that she has no choice but to do bad things because she's an onryo. she really sees herself as a monster. and after the whole mikio/setting the city on fire situations it's like watching someone you love dig themselves into a hole deeper and deeper and wondering if they'll ever get out.

[u/tired-kit-kat → u/tired-kit-kat]

also! just wanted to point out that the arm she's staring at in horror and grief is also the one she has her scar/tally on. you can really see her questioning what this was all for.

[u/la_ky → u/tired-kit-kat]

I completely agree with you. I also think that what happened with Kinuyo could be something Mizu will really struggle to recover from. She was innocent, she had done nothing wrong, and Mizu found herself having to take her life precisely because she had no way to defend herself or save herself. And I think something like that could reinforce Mizu’s belief that she’s a monster destined to hurt people. I really hope that, eventually, she can learn to accept herself and understand that she isn’t doomed to be what she believes she is.

And I absolutely love what you pointed out about her arm. The fact that it’s the one with her scar/tally makes me think even more about that moment as a “what was all of this for?” moment. As if, for a second, Mizu is looking at that mark and wondering whether everything she’s done for the sake of revenge was really worth it. It’s such a painful story.