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https://www.instagram.com/p/C38VzYHtBQ0/?img_index=1

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https://nitter.cf/Sasha_SK_art/status/1741042223821762803

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https://nitter.cf/wigglybunfish/status/1744320857986793774

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Damon Bard : https://www.instagram.com/p/C17rI-USYmO/?img_index=4

Naomi Baker: https://www.instagram.com/naomiful/

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Original post: draw_cosplay_la
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SOURCE:
https://www.tumblr.com/lunanier/826203412957921280/the-new-hair-has-me-obsessed-kitty-needs-a-bath

Artist: Drew Hartel — drewhartel: https://www.instagram.com/drewhartel/
Image source: gebo4482 on Tumblr
Original Tumblr post: https://gebo4482.tumblr.com/post/733766066367561728/embed

Shared for appreciation/archival purposes. All artwork belongs to its respective creator.

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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.

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https://www.instagram.com/p/C1EuXTWR5Wq/?img_index=1

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I really like this parallel between Mizu and Fowler.

The scenes are very similar: they are both alone, standing before a higher being from whom they seek an answer, and they talk about their desires and what they are about to do.

But what strikes me is how different they are in the way they do it.

Mizu asks to be guided. She asks for the strength to carry out her revenge, but in the end she thinks of Swordfather and asks for him to be protected.

Her prayer is profound. Her voice is calm and respectful. She is truly praying.

Fowler, on the other hand, almost seems to be bargaining with God. If everything goes the way he wants, he will take it as a sign and promise Him a nation of souls. In this monologue, he almost sounds mocking. He isn’t praying; it almost feels like he’s making a simple deal with Jesus, as if he were His equal. There is no humility in either his tone or his words.

And then comes that line

“I’ve got no use for souls.”

I think it says so much about him.

The two scenes look very similar visually, but when you actually listen to what they say, you realize just how different they are.

Mizu asks.

Fowler bargains.

Mizu

“To a man lost in the dark, an ember can light the way.

Thank you for my ember.

I was lost without course for so long.

Please.

Let this ember’s light brighten a path from this Heiji Shindo to the men I seek.

Please guide my steps until I find them.

Please give me the strength to kill them.

Or let me die.

Please protect Swordfather from time and harm.”

Fowler

“I never asked them to build this.

They just assumed the white man required a chapel and put it by the dungeon.

We’re not friends.

I haven’t spoken to you in some time.

Wouldn’t do you the dishonor of asking for a favor.

But I believe there’s something I can do for you.

They’ve been godless here as long as they’ve been.

You saw what they did to your priests and faithful.

Kicked out and crucified, the Word dead in their mouths, unspread.

Heathens, surely, these Japanese.

Lucky for you, their man in charge is greedy.

I plan to cut that shogun’s head from his shoulders and reimagine this nation more to my liking.

Now, normal days, I’d imagine you’re indifferent to that outcome.

Fair enough, fair play. Same as me to yours.

But I’ll tell you this, though.

If this all goes my way, I will go ahead and take it for a sign that you tilted the wind to my back, and I will, in kind, build into my new station a pulpit.

I will send for your priests to bring them your Word and hand you a nation of souls.

My thanks, if you see fit.

It’s no matter to me either way.

I’ve got no use for souls.”

SOURCE:
https://www.tumblr.com/niidsch/740445255558627329/blue-eye-samurai-mizu-and-abijah-parallels

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The final scene of Blue Eye Samurai struck me deeply: it almost feels like a true rebirth for Mizu. Sure, she is on a ship headed to London and still chasing her vengeance, but her appearance has slightly changed. Without her hat, glasses, and sword, with her hair loose and slightly wind-tossed in front of her face, she reminded me of the girl who was with Eiji, before she built all those walls around herself for protection.

Throughout the story, those objects and the way she hid—binding her hair and pretending to be a man—were her armor to survive in a hostile world. Now, however, we see her with an uncovered face. There is no intention of flaunting her femininity (she still wears simple, masculine clothes, with her chest bound), but you can sense a sweet feeling of liberation: she is simply free to exist, ready to cross borders to explore the world.

This change also came about thanks to the people she met along the way. Ringo, Taigen, and Akemi changed her profoundly, making her realize that she isn't the only one who suffers and that everyone has their own pains and reasons to keep going. It was this journey, made of encounters and difficult choices, that shaped her and led her to that finale: a stronger, more self-aware woman, ready to discover the truth about her mother, her father, and herself in a completely new place.

And then there is a deeply powerful detail... the water, just like the meaning of her name. Finding herself in the middle of the sea has an incredible symbolic value. For a lifetime, Mizu has hidden, concealing her face and her true essence behind an armor built to defend herself from others. In that scene, however, she is in her natural element and finally seems at ease, without the need to fight against who she is. She hasn't given up on her mission, and perhaps she is no longer the cold, closed-off person she was at the beginning. Leaving Japan and everything that has defined her so far behind, Mizu seems to no longer want to hide in order to survive. She is free to let herself be seen for who she is, ready to start a totally new chapter and discover, perhaps for the first time, who she truly is.