Blue Eye Samurai - How to Properly Write an Overpowered Character (for the most part)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ก.ย. 2024
- Are you an aspiring screen writer? Would you like to create a girlboss all your own to show off to your friends? Would you prefer to avoid the angry 4chan mob that is sick of emotionless planks of wood cosplaying as heroines? Well, follow these 4 tips and your success is all but certain. That's a TH-camr's Guarantee.
I forgot to mention in the video how Mizu being stabbed and impaled several times and then simply shrugging it off and barely letting it bother her (even though her first stab wound causes her serious issues) reduced some of the tension in the fight scenes, since she appears to basically be invincible.
Otherwise, I have no other real criticisms not contained in the video. Mizu from Blue Eye Samurai is overpowered as ****, to be sure, but she is simultaneously an incredibly fascinating character with significant depth to her arc. The Tale of the Ronin and the Bride displays this brilliantly.
Also, her fight scenes are quite fun to watch, and that counts for something.
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I believe the Hollywood girl-boss trope is a symptom of a much larger problem; our culture is obsessed with power, and treats it as a solution to every problem. Economic power through capitalism, military power through imperialism, cultural power through cults.
These writers either lack life experience to imagine a world not defined by power; or are spreading propaganda about the inevitability of power (especially with marvel, and their connection to the military). When these writers try to write female characters that are supposed to be looked up to; the only thing they can comprehend, is that they must be strong enough to nullify any preconceptions of weakness. That side of our culture will not accept weakness and vulnerability as a virtue.
Damn, this is a great take. Hadn't thought of that, but so true when you think about it. It makes me think of how I've heard several people criticize the new Avatar the Last Airbender show, saying it kind of lost it's soul versus the original, and one of the interesting points made was that the beloved original has a much more pacifist message. The core values of the story are unity, friendship, peace. Meanwhile the new show, although being very pretty and having cool action scenes, sends a message of "I need to be physically strong so I can wipe out the bad guys". Not exactly a great message if we want to move forwards together as human beings.
Oh damn, that's actually pretty interesting, and it kinda explains why this girl boss trope became so heavily politicized, the obsession of power plus the idea of ''divide'' ergo of man vs woman, would not sit right with many folks
This is brilliantly said.
@@master_samwise Awesome! this is the first time I have been pinned on a video, Thank you!
Damn... damn.
Mizu having a photographic memory to memorize techniques is actually really clever. Her primary source of shame is her eyes, yet it's those eyes that allowed her to become so strong.
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I think what really sets Mizu apart from modern action heroines is the fact that, while insanely skilled, she repeatedly suffers serious injuries from almost every engagement. Try as she might, she isn’t untouchable.
She’s like the protagonist version of when Austin Powers fights that one assassin “WHY! WON’T! YOU! DIE!?”
I agree, but I'd like those wounds to have more weight. When she gets stabbed fighting the four fangs, it takes her a couple days to recover, but then after that she mostly just shrugs everything off, at least in the heat of the moment. Like when she gets stabbed fighting the thousand claws. She gets hurt but then kicks ass anyway as if it never happened. It's just a little less consistent than I would prefer.
@@master_samwise adrennnnnalinnnnne
@@master_samwiseWhile I see your point it actually didn’t feel like that to me at all. It felt like her getting stabbed there sets a precedent for her mortality and every other time she gets hurt on a similar it feels as though it serves to make her feats right after more impressive and highlight her determination especially.
Yeah, sure. Especially those spiketraps that should've crippled her, but barely even stopped her from fighting further.
The way I saw it, the 2nd Fowler fight is not actually "over." When Fowler "gives up" but tells her of finding the other westerners in London. It's a pause in their larger conflict. He's playing a delaying tactic. He's also gaining her as an "ally" to escape Japan after his plans of conquest go sideways.
Oh for sure. My problem with that is that I didn't buy Mizu letting him live. He told her the names and location of her other two targets. She should have killed him and moved on, based on her whole character arc thus far. Maybe I'm missing something, but I just don't get why she didn't murder Fowler on the spot. The reason to let him live paled in comparison to an entire season spent hunting him.
@@master_samwise What you are missing is that having the names and location doesn't mean she'll find them in a foreign country.
They might speak english in the show, but Mizu doesn't. Letting Fowler live is the only way she can have access to her real target.
@@arenkaithat is a very good point.
Off the top of my head, just spit balling here.
How many people in Japan at this time period know where London is or how to get there? Most likely only Fowler and a few of his associates.
I think this also speaks to Fowler's greatest strengths, his ability to strategies and his ability to multiply others around him.
By telling Mizu her last two targets are not in Japan . He's basically telling her in a few words, without me you're totally screwed.
Japan at this point in history is completely isolationist. There were only four known white men in Japan in recent history.
No one is(openly) trading with outsiders.
Thanks to Fowler, killing the Shogun. There will be stricter restrictions.
Mizu's skills are fighting, acrobatics , horseback riding,a little knowledge of first aid ,sword smithing and hiding the fact that she's a woman.
She's a wandering swordsman, I assume she doesn't know much about the world outside of Japan.
If she killed Fowler, she would have to find someone in Japan who would both know where London is and be willing to take her there. Which the vast majority of people would not.
I'm pretty sure she doesn't know English. And I don't think many people in London would understand Japanese. So there will be an almost unsurmountable language barrier.
It's not completely impossible for her to get her revenge, but it's an extremely slim chance , and it's way simpler and much easier just to keep Fowler around and kill him later .
Also in her pursuit for revenge, she lit the capital on fire. She needs to get out of dodge almost as much as Fowler does.
Mizu belives herself to be heartless but it's not true. She saves Taigen from Folwer. She didn't have to but she does it. She defends the brothel against at mafia guys because she got them into trouble and she wants to fix it. She could have ran. After all it's not like one samurai can win against an army or anything.
@@adriangeorge9197 Youre implying that a character cant have nuance. She is dead set, and she kills kids to achieve her goal. But we see that there is still a small spark of hope for her character. She let ringo come with her, she saved the brothel, she saved taigen, she smiles when she prays for the swordmaster. She has a heart, she often just surpresses her feelings to do what she needs to achieve her goal. Its nuance, not a plothole.
@@adriangeorge9197 But it is nuance? She doesnt have a single character defining characteristic, she still has troubles walking down that path. She sometimes goes in her own way to achieving her goal. Her defending the brothel shows that she is a good person deep down. But in the bloodrush of battle, all that gets thrown out. She kills a CHILD. Its not excused either, its just so that nobody notices it or is alive to tell. The viewer knows, and she does as well. We judge her for that, and she does too. She thinks shes lost all love in her life, thats why she gives in. She gave up being good when killing that kid. Im genuinely baffled how one thinks the show gives her a free pass on killing kids?
And she saves taigen from that big tower, risking her own life twice, barely making it out. And after her defeat, she realized her mistakes, and tries to be good. She apologizes to ringo and accepts that she cant do it all alone. She comes to save akimo (or however that princess is called). Its a character arc.
She started a lone wolf, cocky, arrogant and barely human. But there was a sliver of hope for her. She didnt kill taigen, she took ringo in, she tried to defend the brothel. But in battle emotions just piled up and she saw herself again as an onryo, killing a kid because she thinks shes done trying to be good. She lets that princess be arrested and leaves ringo. In the tower she realizes her wrongdoings and tries to save taigen while jumping down. She knows she needs friends to achieve her goal and genuinely wants to do good as well. Thats why she saves the princess and places ringo to help her.
@@adriangeorge9197 I was as well expecting that to happen to her in the end, but I dont see a problem with a redemption arc? And the show never excused her actions, it clearly showed how despicable she was when killing the kid for example. Just because there havent been repercussions, doesnt mean the actions are excused.
@@adriangeorge9197 No, I never started reading mangas, I also never watched anime. But I heard good things about berzerk and dont care about being spoiled.
The biggest incident of her displaying compassion is definitely how, despite having killed countless, we can see that killing Kinuyo rocks her to her core.
Despite being over powered, we still see her struggle and we are never sure how things will turn out. There are real stakes.
Not only that, we've seen her pass out, get knocked out, struggle, limp around, use items to balance with and take breathers. Mizu has been shown to lose, take the loss and stride on. Its so refreshing to actually see a character take time to recollect their thoughts and refocus in their encounters while the overexertion sets in on the body.
Yeah… but her abilities are so far detached from reality that I honestly don’t root for her
@@MaticTheProtoelaborate
@@chris.48 the fact that no matter your skill, taking on 3 opponents at a time is already deadly af and trying that with 30+ should be suicidal
I agree with the fact that we see her struggle a lot but I disagree with the real stakes part cos she keeps surviving these impossible odds. One was that she literally dodged a bullet being shot at her point blank but . Ig we can say it's all just fictional but the fights and settings of the story has a realistic approach. After the end of the season I can 100% conclude she has some sort of superpower or its just plot armour.
I'm not sure how right this is, but I think the reason the final fight with Fowler is so uncreative is to highlight Fowler's personality. Like he says at some point in the show that the japanese have mastered the best ways to make swords, while his people (back in Britain) keep creating the best ways to kill people. In the same way that the appearance of fire arms in japan completely nullifies the mastery of all the swordsmen in the castle once the coup begins, just like how the bullet obliterates the art of swordsmanship in war, so does Fowler obliterate his final confrontation.
So of course their duel isn't a masterpiece of swordsmanship and martial arts, Fowler isn't an artist. He even tells his business partner how sick he is of learning every beautiful art that japanese culture has to offer. Fowler obliterates art. Yes he mastered swordsmanship during his time in Japan, but he probably hates it and is as sick of it as he is of painting.
Yeah, that's how I see it, Fowler is a POS with no sense of honor or integrity, he fights dirty & runs because he is a coward, and drags Mizu down w him because he exploits her need for revenge(I think it's revenge anyway).
Honestly I think you couldn't be more right. The final 'duel' is the brutish, bloody brawl of two pragmatists, one of whom is satisfied only by the destruction of the soul. Fowler even says outright that he has "no need for souls" in the chapel scene. He is flesh, huge and rude and ugly and shameless, and all the sick cunning of the oppressor's bootheel.
And I think he wins that fight-by corrupting Mizu away from the ones they love, by surviving, by escaping to the British isles.
He runs away even though he has Mizu and Taigen knocked down because he knows they won't stay down for long and he doesn't really give a shit about them anyways. Because he doesn't give a shit about anything outside himself.
Abijah Fowler is, above all, a man who came to understand the systems of oppression that ruined his life and decided to *become* those systems. He is the man who was forced to eat his own sister's liver and decided to dedicate his life to doing the same to others.
An artistic, beautiful duel would miss the point of that.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on that fight. This makes me see that last episode in new light and I like it even more now!
very well said! (2nd time I'm telling these words to someone in this comment section, what a great place). their final fight being a struggling fist-throwing mess somehow made sense in my head but I haven't been able to finalise it with words. and you did just that, thank you 😊
@@cptpropane Cheers mate
12:01 - while I do agree basically, that her agression is self-destructive, I think the key point is how her agression is framed as opposed to male aggression. This series goes out of its way to show that every single male character gets away with incredible violence of every possible colour, no one bats an eye. But take a woman with the same attributes and she it's perceived as problematic, public enemy number one so to speak. If you look at their fight between Mizu and Mikio closely, it is literally the ONLY fight in which Mizu is NOT ACTUALLY AGGRESSIVE, but playful. She's careful and only gradually showing off her skills. What she does, however, is hurt her husband's ego, and see how quick he is to condemn her. It's not that Mizu is not in control in this fight - it's the opposite! She feels comfortable enough around her husband to banter, to sparr. The smile in her eyes says "See? You never saw it coming from me, right?"
And THAT'S why he condemns her. Just imagine the same scene with two men sparring. If you have difficulty picturing Mikio calling a fellow man a monster, you already get my point.
And I think that is the point of this entire episode! An angry woman can never just be an angry woman. They reframe her as something dangerous, an actual monster, an Onryo. Because no matter which culture we look at, women are never allowed to be angry. In western culture they call it hysteria, and here we have the onryo. Bot serve to dehumanize the female experience.
And yes, i hear you saying "But hardly anyone knows that Mizu is a woman" - true. But not in this particular scene. And beyond that, Mizu is perceived as the "other", which places her in almost the same category as women. Neither are allowed to make mistakes, neither are allowed their human nature.
I 100% agree with you on this. I do feel that Mikio's reaction to Mizu's playful aggression and her winning their sparring match is because his ego is bruised, and he doesn't expect a woman to be aggressive. You literally encapsulated my thoughts on that whole scene!
@@caitlin5742 I think there's a little more to it. Mizu lets Mikio see a hint of her darkness. She doesn't just relish the fun of sparring, or showing off her skill, though it's mostly that. But There's also just the tiniest hint of bloodlust in her smile when she puts the blade to his throat. We love her for it, of course. But it clearly freaked Mikio out. Especially on top of her crazy skill level, which of course, he took a bit too personally.
I was surprised that he wasn’t proud/turned on by her prowess but I gave him too much credit.
@@thejuliakitchen Yeah, it's a different world now, or at least, we're trying to make it a different world. But it turned out that Mikio was just trying to affirm his masculine superiority, and Mizu ruined that. Poor Mikio, he just wanted to show off what a man he was, and Mizu went and destroyed his whole paradigm. So thoughtless of her.
@@rottensquid This is how I took it. Poor girl enjoys the thrill too much now due to her life being nothing but the sword. It's her version of flirting. Which is why I worry her and Taigen are gonna end up together. Dude literally got excited from play fighting with who he currently thinks is a man. 👀 Drama ☕️
I also like that Mizu also uses skills she as a woman has over men. We don’t see her being stronger than a healthy adult male (when she also had a life of neglect and lack of food etc). We see her use her speed that being lighter (especially when the weight it taken off) and seeing her use how limber she is. I’m all for men and women being equals but in different ways. I’ll never be as strong as a man by my nature, but fights can be won in different ways. I like they use that and being an all male society in fighting they are not used to what she can do.
you have lower center of gravity. its a huge advantage if someone can teach you to use it
"We don’t see her being stronger than a healthy adult male"
She carries Taigen on her back up a vertical fortress wall.
To be clear, I don't mind, it's about showing how determined she is, more than her strength; and, it's a legend, after all.
@@Hohum37 Purposely missed the point. That's not an example of being stronger than a healthy adult male, just a feat of equal strength that I'm fairly certain is more difficult for a woman than a man. Mizu would lose in a contest of pure strength, which is why she doesn't typically overpower her opponents the way a man in her position would.
Akemi's entire character is a good example of this too. She demonstrates on multiple occasions that not being able to fight does not make one powerless. Once she embraces her advantages of manipulation and status, she becomes an incredibly interesting character.
@@zacharychristy8928I was thinking the same. Akemi used her feminity to get information or to manipulate others for her survival.
I think the reason Fowler acts the way he does in the final fight is simple: fear. He's lost everything that has given him an advantage up until now, and without it, he's lost and afraid. Because of this, he starts making irrational decisions and just tries to run and survive. It shows just how much of a demon Mizu is, and how no one, not even Fowler, is immune to fear.
Also, imho, Fowler is depicted as that "shameful westerner" who has no honor and just wants to survive and fulfill his desires. If kicking and fistfight is more effective, then I think it's really in his character to do so.
And Mizu, again, adapted.
I kinda felt like Fowler was a bit overpowered from the start, and then it kinda evaporated when the plot decided it should. But that's a minor nitpick of a masterpiece of a show.
@@eslee_alien I think it's unwise to assume the show itself has prejudices, especially prejudices against westerners. The people in the show have prejudices, for sure. But the show itself is just depicting people. And there are plenty of people like Fowler in all corners of the world. His honorlessness has nothing to do with where he came from. And he was no worse in that regard than Haiji Shindo. He certainly fit the Edo period's myopic view of westerners. But after all, because of the country's isolationism, the only westerners they're going to meet are ambitious criminals like him. So it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. If the show has a bias, it's against having a bias.
@@rottensquid but that's what I wrote. That he is depicted as, and most probably for the reasons you provided not that all of westerners are like that. And probably, it will be shown in the second season.
I began watching the series alone until I finished episode 5 and thought "Oh, my wife needs to watch this with me".
if she starts asking about naginatas, run.
@@sbj2k1what’s that 💀
@@chris.48 it's a spear that mizu's husband had
@@paxonite-7bd5 alright thanks mate
@@chris.48 A type of spear with a fairly long, curved blade at the end, that's also effective at slashing, not just stabbing.
It's possible the goons want to avoid hitting each other so they try to assess an opening to attack. When I play the Sifu game, it's somewhat easy to get enemies to hit each other because I dodge an attack while someone else gets hurt. Alternatively enemies can be thrown at each other, taking 1 or people out of the fight temporarily because they tried to group up.
Wolverine said it best that everyone else has to avoid hitting their teammates but he can hit anyone he wants when outnumbered.
It's also a trope known as "Conservation of Ninjitsu", iirc.
Meaning: the more enemies at ounce, the less powerful they are individually.
It's present in basically every martial arts movie, really every action film ever made.
And _Blue Eye Samurai_ very much wears it's inspirations on its sleeve.
A lot of truth to this. I remember reading about a green beret or some instructor in that world, and he said he'd rather face 10 men than 2.
I remember seeing videos of kenpo practitioners who basically say the same thing. As long as you aren't completely surrounded, your enemy can only attack with 1-2 people at a time.
@@zacharychristy8928 Exactly. It's not nonsense to attack sparingly simultaneously. It's practical to avoid hitting your teammates. We're talking about weapons like swords and spears in Mizu's fights that can easily harm or kill someone even if it's unintentional team injuries.
There's an even simpler explanation. They're just fucking scared. Sure, ten spearmen can surround one guy with a big fuckoff sword, and if all ten just rush right in, point forward, the swordsman will 100% die as a kebab. But at least one of those spearmen is ALSO going to die, and none of them wants to be the one to take the fall.
“The worst thing you can be is predictable. If you’re predictable, you’re not nearly creative enough”
I understand what you mean, but I also think this is an oversimplification and a bad general take away without exploring it more deeply. Yes being unpredictable can be a great show of creativity, however being predictable can also be an amazing display of narrative consistency and implementation of cause and effect.
I think a better way of paraphrasing the point would be “the best subversions are finding unorthodox solutions within the established rules of the story”
there are scenes in a show where I predict what will happen next that makes me say "ugh" when I'm right and then there are scenes that I will predict and feel excited for being right about it. I feel like there is anticipation and there is predictability. The two differences.
@@RustinMarkJandongan I personally wouldn't use the word predictability. both of these were predictable as evidenced by the fact that both outcomes were predicted. predictable isn't good or bad. it just is or isn't. the way many people use predictable is as a synonym for boring or overused. a clearer distinction would be anticipation or dread, opposite emotions that can both be invoked by predictability.
I think what makes Mizu work is two factors. One is there's always a nice push and pull with her powers and capabilities. Like her initial fight with Taigen she's challenged only for the reveal to be that she is still holding back so it excalates and she practically shows off. It means that scenes aren't always the most predictible and allows her to showcase her skills, experience etc against other opponents. The other side is how it's used to characterise her. One key aspect constantly brought up is how Mizu's pursuit of power is a one-way path to destruction, how her quest for vengeance has transformed her into a monster who will inevitably get herself killed since she doesn't look after herself. It's a nice thematic element that almost acts like a 'cost' for her power. She's strong and skilled but what she's doing isn't necessarily good for herself or others, she only really stumbles into taking moral actions sometimes for convenience, because she wants something. And in the end she doesn't even really get what she wants. I think this latter thing is what these other protagonists tend to lack, a bit of character that comes from the power, ways they change or things they represent. It allows the power set to be more than spectacle, there's a purpose behind them being as good as they are be it good or bad. The inverse of this would be like Superman and how he's used to represent the very best of mankind.
Ooo, framing her self-destruction as a "cost" is a really good point. It does sort of function like that.
Thank you! I think many people miss the point that her revenge quest is not good for her or others. It is a character flaw. Not the message of the show.
@@Eilonwy95 I agree. She thinks she's on a revenge quest. But though she doesn't know it, the show is actually about her quest to find a greater meaning for her life.
@@rottensquid
Agreed. I think that is where it will eventually lead. Pretty much all revenge quests need to go to complete tragedy or discovery for the protagonist that it is unfulfilling and there is more to life.
Not to 'um, akshully' ~ because I do rather agree that Mizu is presented as extra powerful in her abilities and there are times it feels like a stretch that she didn't die ~ One thing that I remember learning about specificually being trained as a fighter in this era of Japan is that a lot of the training is actually about learning to hold back and show restraint. Basically, to wait - because in this era simply getting a cut could be fatal, so going through the actual process of a sword fight was something that warriors would train UP to their entire lives for - it was supposed to be a big deal to finally do it 'for real'. Which isn't to say they didn't have fights, but the number of swordfights a single, average fighter that was say paid to protect a gambling house or den would be minimal in their average lifetime. Clearly that's not exactly the world that we're portrayed with in Mizu's case, swordfights are presented as somewhat more commonplace, but the idea that lesser trained fighters that haven't reached renouned samurai status with many battles under their belt might sort of hang back and 'wait their turn' because they're honestly hoping someone else takes her down first is actually somewhat reasonable and would fall in line with attitudes and teachings of the times (in that, it was just seen as wise to not engage in needless fights and put yourself at risk like that, which is true.)
Also friendly “fire” is just always an issue when you’re playing with swords. Certainly don’t want to slash your friend!
I think your initial aside gets back to the problem with the whole argument against "strong female characters." Why do men get to be unkillable superheroes like John Wick or Ethan Hunt, but if women have the same amount of plot armor, it's "woke"? Mizu is extra powerful and unkillable because this is a story about an extra powerful and unkillable bad-ass. Where's the problem?
But to the rest of your point, I wholeheartedly agree. Anyone who asks "why don't they all rush in at once?" has clearly never been part of a bukakke. That's how you get hit with friendly fire. 😉
The trust me, I'm a TH-camr line killed me lol
So *youre* the guy she killed at the end 😅
😂😂
I was confused on the ronin and bride episode, couldn't tell which one she was suppose to be, I never realised she was both
Same
I. Love. This show. And I cannot stand the overpowered strong independent female trope of today. My summary for why she works as a character is “she earned it.” She earned her power and skills, she earned her talents and abilities. And when the show sorta drops the ball in maintaining all of the principles, I have less of a genuine problem with it because the show worked hard earlier to earn a little reprieve and unrealistic flair. Like when the guards kinda stand around, or when she is pinned underneath 100 guys and none of them get her… they are few and far between moments of being ridiculous, with dozens of amazing moments before and after. It’s a mere spot on a canvas you can overlook rather than a splash dumped all over the canvas, especially when compared to most modern shows and movies.
By the time you get to the later episodes the whole story has been so damn good that they were able to get away with a lot more... She reached super human levels but it didn't take away anything because you were already balls deep in the story
I think something a lot of people don't take into account is numbers plus weapons plus space doesn't equate to a good rush on one person. Yeah all the warriors guarding Fowler could have rushed in at once but there would be crowding a friendly fire. Prime example is the Fleet battle of Cape Ecnomus from the first Punic wars saw a numerical advantage to the Carthaginians, but were too crowded and couldn't move efficiently. So I understand the whole "oh everyone wait there turn to fight the one person is dumb", it doesn't always work practically
I think you really hit the nail on the head here on what sets Mizu apart as one of the best female action stars in recent fiction. It’s not just that she’s not a Mary Sue, that she is badass but not immortal - sure that’s important to making us invested in her struggle, but it’s not what makes her such a brilliant character. What makes her a brilliant character is how her power and mastery as a warrior is both deeply ingrained into who she is as a person and what makes it impossible for her to find connection with others. It’s her greatest strength and her greatest weakness, which is a really tricky needle to thread but I think this show pulls it off flawlessly. Frankly even some of the less impactful fight scenes don’t bother me that much, because it all serves her characterization so well.
I also agree that ‘The Tale of the Ronin and the Bride’ is the best episode of the whole series so far. I was on the edge of my seat during pretty much every episode, but I was literally slack jawed by the end of that episode by how well written and executed it was. One of the best episodes in animation I’ve ever seen.
Would have loved to see Fowler bust out a fucking Zweihander and make some comment about white people knowing how to wield a blade too, would have been very in character for him
Also definitely need a parallel video for Akemi, because I thought she was one of the bright spots of the last episode, as well as the invasion of the castle, it felt very heavy.
I think it's important to understand that Mizu is also meant to represent two themes within the story:
1.) Difference
2.) Revenge
And to also understand how these themes incorporate into her fights. I'll start with difference.
Blue-eyed Samurai makes their audience aware of the fear and loathing it's society has against anything that doesn't conform with the established normality. Mizu's biracial appearance has most people immediately assume she is dangerous and evil demon - an onryō. This perception of society thematically adds to her abilities and skills; because those around her believe she is capable of supernatural power, then the story supports that. It's why I believe her first fight with Fowler is incredible - he does not have the same mindset as the Japanese society. To him, Mizu is just another man who can bleed and die. (I think there's also another cool point to add that those who don't see Mizu as all powerful tend to be her allies because they are aware of her limits and lack of mystical abilities but that's a whole other rant).
The second theme is revenge. Revenge is rarely ever portrayed as a heroic and just theme - unlike vengeance -and again the story makes it very clear that revenge comes with a hefty cost. It is brutal and consuming and destructive, and because it is embedded so deeply into Mizu's character, she also adopts these descriptions. She is the theme itself within the story, and thus her power is emphasised within her fights.
I agree that it is sometimes frustrating to see fights where clearly the character can be beaten in someway if the baddies just rub their two braincells together but I also think it's super cool when characters are op because they represent themes and narratives within the story.
I mean, show me one action show where the character doesn't have a bit of plot armor.
Curious what distinction you draw between revenge and vengeance. I always considered them the same thing.
@@rottensquid
I mean, I may be wrong but I think revenge revolves more around personal injustice whereas vengeance is done on behalf of someone who has been wronged.
Both are very similar - choosing pursuit and (sometimes) violence as their resolution but I believe vengeance is often treated as the more socially and morally acceptable theme than revenge.
And, yeah your so right about plot armour. Sometimes, plot armour is necessary to a story. Sometimes it's fine to have characters survive against the odds. Imo, as long as it leads to the character having a satisfying arc and conclusion, then I'm cool with it.
What in the show suggested that Fowler was anything more than a competent swordsman at best? So far as I can remember, he is never set up to be anything more than that; his power lies in wit, technology, moveny, and connections.
Mizu notices a flower cut by Fowler and says that only a master could have made such a cut. Also Fowler says that he has had so much free time that he has mastered many arts, which probably includes swordsmanship, if he wasn’t already a master before being in Japan.
Yeah Mizu says it out loud.
In episode three, Fowler is told that the Four Fangs failed to kill Mizu. In a tantrum, he takes a sword and slices a table in half, but he also slices a flower from a flower on the table in that same swing. He takes the flower and pins it to Shindo's robe before telling Shindo to go take care of Mizu.
Later on, Mizu notices the flower and says "only a master swordsman could have made that cut."
Why that cut was so special is beyond me though.
@@johnleonard9102 i think the cut was special because it was on a flower stem. Something flimsy, fibrous and thin. Yet it was a straight cut and at a rather shallow angle no less. cutting through much more of the stem that was strictly necesary, but still cutting straight
@@carloguerrero6583 Right. I imagine it takes exactly the right thrust and speed. And the blade must be perfectly sharp. Otherwise, the fibers wouldn't cut evenly. Of course, only a well practiced swordsman would notice.
It's also important to remember that this is all ridiculous. It's highly unlikely an actual swordsman could tell the skill of another but the cut of a flower stem. But it's the kind of exaggerated mastery common in martial arts storytelling. It's like when Sherlock Holmes learns a man's life story by studying his hat. You have to just accept the rules of the story's universe, or you're not going to have fun.
I also think of All Might as an amazingly written Overpowered Character. An analysis from you would be amazing. You seem to be insanely knowledgeable. Wish you well on your videos.
There's a scene I like in the first Man of Steel movie, it's one of the first scenes where "Clark" is on a boat. Clark makes a mistake and is almost crushed by a metal cage falling over him, but one of the sailors rushes to save him, pushing him out of the way. The guy screams at Clark to be careful and to keep his eyes open, but doesn't make a big deal out of it. The thing is, Clark knows that the guy could have died, but he didn't even hesitate when trying to save him. To Clark/Superman, saving others from impossible things means the world to them, but to him everything is easy, with almost no risk. Brushing his teeth, walking a dog or going inside a volcano are all about the same to him.
I think one of the reasons Superman tries his best to save everyone is exactly because he wants to compensate for the fact that, to him, he's not risking his life at all, it's all the humans around him who are the real heroes in his eyes, putting their lives on the line every day. As someone who wishes to be accepted as a "human", he must believe that using his powers to save others is the least he can do.
"One of the worst things a story can be is predictable."
I can't say I entirely agree with this.
One of the things I enjoyed most about the tv-series V(2009), was the fact that I could see Anna(the leader of the aliens)'s plans coming a mile away, but despite that I still couldn't think of effective ways of stopping said plans.
This is just one example of being "predictable" not being a bad thing. So while I agree on it as a general rule of thumb, it is worth pointing out/mentioning, that just like any other rule, exceptions are entirely possible.
Also predictability isn't inherently a bad thing in that it can also showcase very good foreshadowing. The audience being able to piece an outcome together though subtext or small clues dropped here and there is fun and engaging. To attempt to avoid predictability altogether ends you up with writing where characters will do inane things that make no sense at all just for the sake of catching the audience offguard and to be praised for being unpredictable.
Such an interesting and largely well done show.
This was a really good video. I get the feeling I would disagree with a lot of your takes, however you're also really good at media analysis and I appreciated this video a lot.
I just wanted to say I always appreciate seeing people who can compliment and see the good in people they may disagree with on a number of things. Good for you.
Idk man, I find the struggle with self doubt and need to be defined by others more relatable and close to human nature than thirst of revenge ( I am the weird person who really liked Mrs Marvel, it isn't society it is her own assumptions btw) but I really liked your point about the fights needing to be creative and entertaining. It does make all the difference
1. Reasonably interesting origin for the character's power 0:49
2. The character's power cannot be absolute 2:04
3. Displays of power by the character must be creative (includes design of fight + character's own ability to innovate) 4:13
4. Don't make the character's power the entire point of their character 9:08
Just a very strong analysis of a series I very much enjoyed while talking eloquently to the issues of storytelling I've had difficulty describing for a while now. Thank you, absolutely wonderful and informative watch!
Something I noticed in my third rewatch (this show is just...SO GOOD) that elevated the writing even more:
Because she learned ONLY from sight, never from practice (two very different things in martial/weapon arts learning), her guard is terrible. She has excellent blows, her form is perfect, but she gets injured the same way every time: Her left side is weak.
At first, I thought this was just to give her a weakness...and then I learned how much the animators learned from the fight choreographer.
When you learn how to spar, you learn your patterns first (usually against a pells or in front of a mirror), and then how to use those patterns for defense. Then offense. The patterns teach you when and how to balance the two. Through that process, you also REALLY learn your weak points- either your guard too much (afraid of pain), you leave yourself open (overconfidence/overstretching), or even if you have a dead side (a lot of right handed people see their left hand/side as a dead weight. I, as a leftie, have had to learn how to be ambidextrous-- but it can happen to anyone).
Mizu, having never fought against someone during her foundation years, never learned her weaknesses. She never learned to strengthen her left side, and she never had an opponent to teach you how BADLY YOU NEED TO GUARD CORRECTLY. She would never have anyone to teach her how to strengthen both sides, regardless of what hand she fights with.
So. She repeatedly gets KO'd in her left shoulder. Or her left arm.
And so this show is in my Top 5 forever, because whether intentionally or otherwise, they revealed her greatest weakness through her injuries: Being alone does not work forever.
honestly i liked the second fight between mizu and fowler, it wasn't cold and calculated like their other engagements - neither had the upper hand or home advantage either. it's a desperate adrenaline fueled scrap while fleeing from a collapsing building and being hunted down. they make dumb choices in that situation and thats very humanizing to both of them - fowler is not just a one note villian here, he's a desperate person making some dumb choices under extreme pressure he's not used to being under. they both need to get out of dodge, theyre both severely injured, and mizu can't let him get away. Fowler gets a moment to think and uses his old ploys to get out not just alive but protected by someone who "needs" him alive.
this is fantastic writing and an excellent exploration of them both being stripped of their usual power /together/
THANK YOU! I saw so many people arguing online about who betrayed Mizu, and all the while I was thinking "It's both, and neither, and it doesn't matter. What matters is that Mizu feels betrayed by both of them. And it doesn't matter if she's right, it just matters that's what she perceived."
This series has quite homages and similarities to ( 1973 ) Lady Snowblood movie snd Samurai Champloo anime which I think anyone who has watched these two can understand and see the similarities in Blue eye samurai and how these have big influence in the show and one thing I have also noticed is that Mizu have some similarities with a certain female character from Demon Slayer anime is Shinobu Kocho. Both female characters want revenge for what happened in their life, their portrayal of female rage is very well done and both are very well written characters but the difference is the Shinobu constantly smiles because of her sisters wishes but if Shinobu didn't do that her personality would have literally been like Mizu.
Yes to everything, I also want to add how important it is that Mizu is not morally perfect. She absolutely is a victim of oppression, but she is also hellbent on vengeance and willing to sacrifice anyone for it. She's not "100% right and morally correct and everyone just hates her because they're bad people", she's kind of fucked up, and it's awesome. It gives her so much depth, and the fact that her quest for vengeance is ruining any chance at happiness for her is especially interesting. So often female characters have to be paragons of virtue to justify their place at the top of the call sheet. It's almost like people are overcompensating for misogyny: "oh I don't hate women, women are perfect!" It's almost as dehumanizing as misogynistic hatred. We're as complex as men, we are just as capable of anger and cruelty, but also heroism and kindness. We are humans, not plot devices.
Exactly! I’m all for a paragon of virtue if a character is truly virtuous. But women characters can and should be just as complex and well as men. It’s more fun for everyone
Just to be clear: Movie Katara, that’s all everyone have a nice day
I would say that the way the character gets power must be not just be unique or interesting, but also earned. That's the most important point. That can either be through training as in Blue Eye Samurai, or it can be at some great personal cost to the character. What it cannot be is just hand-waved or given for free. That, by definition makes the character non-relatable and/or boring. This one point is the biggest tripping point for most modern female leads. They are suddenly better than everyone else, and they did not earn it. They try to cover for that by making the sense of "responsibility" be the cost or "no one acknowledges how great I am", which are both completely stupid and unrelatable.
Also I agree on your points about the final fight in the series. I greatly enjoyed the series, but I also found Mizu's sudden amplification in ability to be unrealistic and annoying, but it wasn't a fatal flaw. I wish they'd have found a more creative way for her to take on the IronClaws instead of just raw fighting strength. Same with the Samurais a the season finale, but I could at least somewhat justify that in the sense that she had a whole season to prepare and also didn't care to survive per-say.
One last thing I think that really helped this show was that her power did not come at the expense of the side characters and we see lots of other powerful individuals and we see our protagonist saved by others pretty regularly (you briefly touch on this).
Also, I love your videos, MS, keep it up!
This show is one of the few that I am not bothered by the “enemy’s wait their turn to fight the protagonist” because it makes sense for the show. Japan during that time period samurai were taught to only fight one on one because fighting 2 on 1 was not a honourable duel and not an honourable kill. So this is one of the few shows that it makes sense
I'm willing to excuse Mizu effortlessly defeating goons because it plays into a power fantasy that is fun to watch. As you pointed out, when facing a serious opponent like the four fangs, the combat is more realistic in terms of power balance. This allows the audience to feel hyped when the character is a badass without making stakes too low. The final battle was just bad though.
Agreed. I think there are a lot of fantasy stories where random goons are easily defeated to show just how awesome the heroes are. Avatar, lord of the rings, Star Wars, and really most superhero stories come to mind. You need fights against more intimidating opponents, but it’s fun to watch (and still makes enough sense based on what we know of the skill of the hero) the hero cut through a lot of goons in creative ways.
@@Eilonwy95 "It was just so unrealistic that a teenage water farmer from the ass-end of the galaxy was a better shot than clones trained from birth to be soldiers," said no one.
Fowler was always unnecessarily overpowered, as a lazy way to make him seem more intimidating. In the final episode, they ran up against this problem, and ended up nerfing him at the last minute so they could hand Mizu a win. But he shouldn't have been such a skilled sword fighter in the first place. It would have been more than enough for him to be a brute who used his strength or his cunning to win all his fights, and never needed to learn the finer points of swordplay. That would have been enough to give Mizu the edge in the final showdown. And it wouldn't have made Fowler any less imposing.
Still, this is a minor complaint for an overall excellent show.
@@rottensquid
I see your point I think. And I don’t like when people complain about realism in fantasy. Of course the women characters, like the men, can be unrealistically strong or win. It’s fantasy.
The pedantic Star Wars fan in me needs to point out that the Stormstroopers aren’t clone troopers any more. They were replaced with regular humans. But still trained for a long time I’m sure so I see your point. Additionally, Luke being a better shot is really just him using the force.
@@Eilonwy95 Ah, right! I still haven't watched the Clone Wars show. It's in the queue.
I mean, a viewer can come up with a excuse for a character like Luke having plot armor. The real reason, of course, it's that it's their damn story. Of course, Game of Thrones got a lot of mileage out of setting up character like Luke Skywalker, with magical powers and a Destiny with a capital D, and then he gets shot by Stormtroopers randomly because in GoT, "any character can die at any time." Which is why I never particularly enjoyed that show. Plot armor is really there to make sure the story has a point, and actually gets there.
Of course, this gets to the core issue. People who look for reasons to question the plot armor rather than excuse it are doing so because they like the point of the story, and don't want the protagonist to succeed. They blame the unbelievable plot armor for this dislike. But in fact, it's the other way around.
Thank you. I found the final episode so disappointing that my brain dismissed the other seven. Its nice to be reminded that most of this show was excellent.
The "side" characters are equally important in defining the moral shape of the story and Blue Eye does a solid work there. Equal to Episode 5 are the interactions with Sword Father and the powerful nature of humility that comes with the attempted forging of the meteorite, the cunning ruthless compassion of madame kaji, the earnest clear hearted Ringo. They all add depth by their varying answers to the world, they aren't mere props for the main character.
The last episode was really perplexing as it abandoned so much of what the story had built leading up to it.
Totally agree.
I had to stop the vid midway through to go actually watch the show now. This stuff looks exciting!
Edit: I'm back from binging it all night and cannot wait for Season 2!
I binged the show just to be able to watch this vid. Worth
Congrats on 100k!
i love how you broke this down, well balanced, logical, yet fair and understanding to the genre themselves, when creativity meets logic and empathy
Absolutely loved this show, can't wait for the next season!!!
Anyone who has a problem with how unrealistically good at fighting Mizu is, must not watch enough anime.
The theory behind not everyone attaching at the same time is you can hurt your own people more than person you’re trying to hurt. Friendly fire is not turned off lol sometimes you can get in the way more than being efficient. That’s why the 1v1 me bro lol😅
There's a reason I grew up loving Mulan. She was a character I was able to relate with and look up to. And not becauee she was some perfect op charcater, it was becauee she never gave up, she was brave, she was at a disadvantage, but she worked extra hard to succeed. I was not naturally gifted in many ways, so always watching characters just being perfect at everything was t boring and in some ways disheartening.
Jet Lee was a small guy and he didn't rely on his strength to fight, he relied on his speed, precision and skill; you have to.know your weaknesses and your disadvantages, and try to overcome them in other ways.
Mulan is truly awesome!
This dude does have some points honestly……..like when I heard him say “Mizu is an Overpowered character” I was like……wait hold on now that I think on it he’s right……the show never made me think that because it honestly does so well with how Mizu is still human…..Plus the action and gore is just too much fun to watch
It occurred to me during your description that Blue Eye Samurai is actually very similar to Samurai Jack.
Jack is another amazing swordsman skilled in many forms of combat but it works because you see through flashbacks how he travelled the world and learned from different cultures. Similarly we see Mizu struggle with her training and since she has no master she's able to learn a bit of everything.
Both shows are so entertaining in their unique battles that it doesn't matter if (most of the time) the protagonist winning is a forgone conclusion because you still want to see HOW they pull it off. Mizu and Jack are powerful but they also fight *smart*, which makes all the difference. And they can still fail/lose.
EDIT; And like the Bride from Kill Bill too! Which also gives us another "dont bring a sword to a gun fight" moment.
I also find the "wahmen strong" trope really irritating (it feels like producers digging for brownie points but that's beside the point.)
So it really surprised me when I watched Alita: Battle Angel and genuinely respected the character and her unmatched combat skills. Like the samurai, she does come up with creative ways to win and gets help from others beside herself. She also has losing conditions that are not her dying: She has fragile people that she cares about that she is trying to keep safe. It was only with the help of an adversary-turned-good that she came up with a clever way to save her love interest and get her rival, who was trying to kill the love interest, to back down.
(In case you haven't seen it or forgot, there's a bounty out for her boyfriend, so she basically fakes his death and takes credit for it, so she is protected by enforcement because you cannot steal someone's kill)
I haven't seen that, but have heard it's good. Will have to check it out some day.
Indeed it is, @@master_samwise! Iirc, it's directed by Robert Rodriguez and written and produced by James Cameron among others (a rather explosive combination if I do say so myself)!
Fragile isn’t the way to put it. And beyond that, the movie covers VERY little compared to what the source material has, so reading it is highly recommended.
Another thing with Alita is she’s not overpowered in all aspects, and like all well written characters has quirks and flaws. She and Mizu come off as mentally fortified, but have a clear limit and are not nearly as stoic as you initially believe (at least for the latter).
I didn't hear about this show! I have a kind of OP character I wanted to write, but I didn't feel I had the experience yet so I'm writing a different story right now. Thanks for making this!
Bro that castle infiltration sequence was like a video game. My mom doesn't even play video games but she said it too which shows smthng i think
I agree on your take with the later fight scenes, I had to suspend my reason after they did a great job making some of the fights somewhat reasonable within a fantasy context. But I liked the plot and characters enough to look past it. Looking forward to season 2
While listening to this outline of why this overpowered character works in this story it reminds me of the 1982 John Milius directed Conan the Barbarian that largely cemented Anold Schwartzenneger’s fame.
Many if not all the same points you make apply there. The chief similarity is that the character is supremely powerful but forged through great personal tragedy and hardship and at the cost of almost total distrust and development of close bonds with others.
I probably watched a different series. In the one I watched, I only felt some tension in the first episodes. Then I learned from experience and did not feel any tension anymore. Mizu "struggles" almost to exhaustion, get all kinds of injuries, but continues on that 1 last hitpoint quite successfully. There isn't really tension, it's simply waiting for another dazzling display of "creativity" against another horde of clueless goons.
Still more fun to watch than some of the content you mentioned. But not really subverting those expectations (which are: main characters are op, they win, just go with it).
The kill la kill duo protagonists are also a very good example of how to write overpowered characters.
I've never watched that show but I love how the artistry looks. The way the animations looks.
I think something else is that for Mizu her power is a direct foil and hindrance to the things she truly needs to do. She hides behind it and uses it as an excuse not to have to confront herself and grow as a person. It is such fascinating and tragic. Her power in itself wont get her what she needs, indeed the quest she is on in many ways keeps her away from redemption.
Another good example of overpowered characters is in the book series Arcane Ascension. In Sufficiently Advanced Magic, the character Keras Salerian is shown to be incredibly fast and powerful and fights basically a god in one of his first appearances, but the amount of restraint and character Andrew Rowe put into him is incredible. He even wrote a prequal to establish rule number 1 in your video.
The full series isn't out yet and a lot of mature topics are in the books so I personally don't recommend for under 18
This series felt like a very clever subversion of dreaded expectations by creators who are keenly aware of the current cultural BS. Everyone felt like a human in it, not just a paper hero or dimestore villain. Great breakdown of a great series on your part. I am so impatiently excited for the next installment!
the other good thing about the sword breaking on the bullet scene is that the show acknowledges that katanas are really kinda shit metallurgically. they're making the best of a bad situation, that being the lack of available decent steel, but they still are not all that. that the samurai can do that they did with those swords is a testament to their skill and training
I also like how her name which means water shows she is more than power as well. Water adapts to whatever container it is put in, she learns from every situation and knows what she can or cannot do. She reminds me very much of Balsa from Moribito.
I don’t know if I’m just dense but I never really thought Mizu was over powered, it’s written so well that she isn’t (in my eyes) “over powered” she’s just insanely skilled from years and years of training. She constantly gets hurt and almost never walks away from a fight in a good state. She is usually limping or at least very very worn out.
My main issue with over powered characters is when they literally never seem to be strained from anything. It makes it boring to watch, it’s why I hated captain marvel. What is fun about watching a character constantly end up on top, it’s clear there is no one who can match them so there is no stakes. There’s no “are they going to die?! How are they gonna win!?” It’s so bland, it’s less how will they win, and more what kind of bs are they gonna pull out to try and make it look like there are stakes for the main over powered protagonist.
The narrative that she was a demon, driven purely by revenge and undefeatable was compelling. I read episode 8 as almost as though she was fighting as a mortal for the first time.
"write a character, not a woman"
The problem with some of the recently written female characters is that the writers forget that they are writing a woman. The way that you're biologically designed affects the way you think, act, and the way you're seen. Even if they identify as something different (trans, non-binary, fluid, etc.), their biological sex affects them. When you're writing a character, you can not completely disregard their gender.
Rey, from the Star Wars sequels, could easily be replaced with a man, and it wouldn't make a difference. Her gender does not add to her character. It does not affect her in any way, and that is not believable nor relatable, and that is part of the reason so many people didn't connect with her character.
Gender should add, not take away from a character, or just be there for the sake of being there. Use a woman's being, not a woman's shell. Use a man's being, not a man's shell.
@@shootingstars6762bro the character in question her being a women plays a role in her character and what you said is weird and disrespectful im sorry your take is small minded 😭
@xiao1841 Can you please explain how my take is small-minded and disrespectful? I don't understand what I said that was offensive. It wasn't my intention. Perhaps my interpretation of what I said is different from yours. Could you please explain it to me?
@@shootingstars6762 For me it seemed like you were saying if you’re born female you will act and think a certain way no matter what treating everyone who is born female like they all share the same mind to me that seems small minded since everyone is different even putting those down who don’t identify as their sex at birth but I can understand gender can play role in things but the way your worded your take did rub me in the wrong way but if you didn’t mean to give off that vibe then im sorry It’s just I dislike seeing things that put people down in a way hopefully this doesn’t come off negative since I can understand what you meant
@xiao1841 Well, I definitely didn't mean for it to come off that way, and I'm sorry I hurt your feelings. I was trying to explain that biological sex is more than just reproductive organs. Males and females, while they do have a lot of similarities, they do think and act differently from each other because of their biology. Not to say that all women are the same and all men are the same, but biology affects the way we act. Obviously, we're more than our biology, but I guess I needed to make that clearer. We're affected by our biology, environment, and DNA, but in the end, we still make our own choices.
I understood the final fight with Fowler to be that he wasn't worthy of her revenge. She cut herself off from love and happiness for someone who's just a bully, like Taigen was at the beginning. And that's the thing she's actually been fighting this whole time, being thought of as an abomination and rejected. And given her absolute distrust about anyone who loves her, losing herself in the animalistic violence at the end just brings home that she's enough even without all the skill she thought she needed to have.
I admit that I remember the final duel less than the rest of the show but it was an amazing journey.
The tragedy of Mizu is, once she found out that the woman she thought was her mother, wasn't her mother, the self righteous hatred of a man she'd never met turned inward into extreme self loathing.
Mizu hates the fact she exists so much that's willing to kill and butcher hundreds of people just to kill four white men, 3 of which might not even be her father. Mizu is truly a villain but the beauty of Blue Eye Samurai is that we grow to love her because she's so tragic.
Orphaned and bullied terribly by village children only to be raised by a blind old blacksmith who didn't show affection outwardly but you could tell Mizu loved him whenever she called him Sword Father. Her interactions with Ringo and Taizen proves she's a good person at heart but her ability discard potential allies when they get in the way of her goal reminds us that she hates more than she loves. We want her to be better but she has to want it too
I never heard of this series before now. The only reason I got here was because I'm writing a personal project, and searching through TH-cam for tips and ideas.
However, these little pointers has been very helpful and insightful. Plus I have something to look for later to watch!
Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I'm actually writing something (a book though, not a movie) that features a strong protagonist and Blue Eye Samurai may give me some thoughts for how better to flesh him out. I got most of the principles you were talking about down, 4 in particular, but it never hurts to have a better understanding of things. I struggle with principle 3 especially, since although I actually do practice HEMA I'm not very creative combatively; victory to me is a mixture of superior skill and good luck (which can and will turn against you at some point). I may have to break that mindset going forward.
“Happens to have…peaches” I see what you did there…
I liked the show much more than I thought I would. As my mother was Japanese, I tend to scrutinize western depictions of Japan (as with Assassin's Creed Shadows). It was more interesting than I thought it would be. It was easier to suspend disbelief than I anticipated. I look forward to the next season.
First of love the video, love blue eye samuri! I would add/expand one more principle that I think u largely missed out (maybe touched on). The aesthetic of the show is not total realism. Its art and that can be as simple as "wow its so pretty". I enjoyed the visuals as well as the narrative and personally I'm happy to sacrifice a small part of the realism of the goons not just reaching around the door and instead allowing it to be a metaphor displayed in an awesome visual
Mizu is not overpowered, so it's really not the best example for "how to write overpowered" characters. How she developed and portrayed is pretty much like Netflix Daredevil. Her skill is earned, her motivation is very strong, and she struggles in fights, and she adapts.
These are great writing advice, it just doesn't really apply to overpowered characters that much besides they should have limits that they are consistent to, and that power should not be their whole thing. The problem with overpowered characters, in any gender, is very often they do not work as main characters unless the story is less about the power and more about characterization.
An overpowered character works when throughout the story you show us how they got there, the challenges they faced to developed, whether or not their ability came by easily or not. Guts from Berserk is one example here.
They can also work as main characters if their power is not the point of their story. This is a little bit distinct from your advice in a sense that their entire characterization revolves around something else instead of the use of power. This is why Superman works, because he is hope. This is also why Frieren works, because her story as covered is about reconnecting with her past and learning more about humans and mortality. You also have Mob from Mob Psycho, who was taught that power isn't the point, it's about hard-work, striving to instead not use his power.
Finally, characterization through perspective also works. An overpowered character works as a main character when we can experience them through the lens of a different character. Some Punisher stories work well when he is portrayed in the perspective of a criminal, as an unstoppable deliverer of vigilante justice.
But overpowered characters work best as foils and side characters. Benchmarks to aspire to, like your All Mights, your Zero in his first appearance in Megaman X1, you got your Gojo Satoru; or challenges to surmount--your Darth Mauls, horror antagonists, etc. Even making their power a major thing in the context of the story and the implications for their existince--once again, Gojo, Dr. Manhattan, All Might.
Even then, it's still important to note that there are still biases around women when they're competent and confident. We demand more from powerful female characters because we suspend less of our disbelief. It's unconscious and we've yet to unlearn it, and the sooner we stop denying it happens especially in today's era rife of identity politics, we're more conscious of its presence and more defensive when something demands we review our biases.
Anyway, if Mizu is overpowered, it's simply because the show shows us she earned it.
I think there is a reason we keep seeing the "woman discovers she has power in herself" trope, and why it tends to be popular. Yes, it could be done better, but it's there because women are still cultured to be subservient. As a group, we are doing better, but it's a trope that reflects the needs of the society.
The creators did a great job of making Mizu a memorable character. Not because of her power and skill, but because of her amorality. Mizu doesn't care about the politics, the power and status offered to her, and,in many instances, the people around her. She does some moral actions and sometimes shows remorse and concern for others, but she is so caught up in the 2x2 bubble of her life and mission, it makes her shockingly immoral at times. And that tends to stick with audiences.
Her quest for vengeance is not over her mother's murder. She is not hunting a murderer. She is hunting the only four men that could potentially be her father. Her revenge is for her own existence that she herself believes to be a crime against nature because she has suffered so much. If anything that's another extremely interesting spin on an old cliché.
I love the comparison of women in power and how they use their power. Akemi is almost an opposite of Mizu with Akemi using her feminism and intimacy to overpower men compared to Mizu hiding the fact she is a female
I love a well-written OP character!! I think like you said, most people miss the mark when writing these characters because they confuse being “over powered” with “omnipotent”. OP characters not only can but should routinely get their ass handed to them. It should never feel like a given that they’re going to survive an encounter, or at least not survive it intact. Mizu works so well because after each encounter and battle nothing about her remains intact. Whether it’s her broken ass body riddled with injuries, broken self-worth, broken moral compass, or broken heart, every single encounter leaves Mizu scarred to some degree. As the titular character, the audience knows she’s gonna make it to the end of the show…. But at what cost?
I love your videos... its how I've been seeing these shows
Your list isn't bad but it's incomplete. I've given way too much thought to this subject since one of my favourite things is reading well-written OP characters and I hate how many OP characters are badly written. It slightly ties into your power is not the point message, but I think the emphasis really needs to be on characters:
I think one of the biggest things to me is something I call character gravity. This works in two ways:
1. Is the reason your character OP because they make others looks bad, or because they excell on their own.
2. Do characters change their personality around you to make sure you're always the good guy
Why episode 5 works so well Mizu fucks up, she's OP, and now she's about to use the fact that she's OP to humiliate another character. In this situation, in examples we've seen of OP characters written horribly, the husband would have been cold towards her going into this scene and it would have been a "girl power" moment to prove she's better than him and use it as a victory. But no, her humiliating him doesn't humble him, it isn't displayed as a good thing, it changes a relationship that she was otherwise loving before that moment.
And that's what make it such a good example of an OP character written well
The 4 fangs fight was the best in the show becuase 1. Mizu was out number and thus had to use the terrain to partially nullify their advantages. She had to out smart all of them, not just out skill them. 2. She was beaten and battered after the fight, shes not invincible or unbeatable, she passed out and would have died if Ringo hadn't saved her. The rest of the show doesnt have any of these qualities. People stand around waiting to be slaughtered, Mizu is just better than everyone else despite the fact she has no formal training (meaning she was never taught what not to do, why things are done and never had anyone to practice against. It's one thing to know the moves you practice with, it's another to actually use it on someone whos fighting back, sparing is VERY important). This even shows in her movement, she is just way more accrobatic than she should be.
Oh and everyone heals way to fast. Mizu shrugs off wounds FAR too easily. At one point in fowlers castle she was stabbed through the foot, yet moments later shes running around like it never happened, she frequently has many holes poked in her, blood loss is NEVER an issue, and she is always fine by the next scene.
Brilliant analysis 👏
The title alone explained why I love Well written overpowered mcs. The point of the story isn’t how strong can the main character get, but how much internal growth can happen so that the mc knows what to do with that power
3:45 Normally, I'd agree with these kinds of statements "They shouldn't be able to slay through dozens or hundreds of goons without issue," but just now I thought "How many times have we done that in videogames?" like sure, you can die and respawn infinitely, and the enemies are programmed to behave a certain way, but then there's people who do speed runs, flawless runs, no-death runs, ability only, weapon only, melee only runs, etc. And yes, those are also restarted an incomprehensible amount of times, but people still are *Able* to do them. Now put those people into those games, with the same tools and physical abilities as the characters they control, and they'll probably have the exact same feeling of "I can roll through all of these guys with no doubt."
A person will kill is if they have all 3 of the following at any given time:
1: the motivation to kill; a reason, suspicion, threat, challenge, prize, even a declaration, etc. If there is a why there is a will
2: The means; A gun, a sword, a stick, a rock, their bare hands. Anything can be a means to an end, including your skills, talents, and knowledge. simply knowing it only takes 11 pounds of force on both carotids for 10 seconds causes unconsciousness is a means.
3: Opportunity; If they can kill without being hindered by others, interrupted, distracted, caught, or anything that stops them for using whatever they have, for whatever reason to end a persons life, they will kill.
That being said, I think more characters should be shown throwing themselves at ridiculous odds, and showing us just how much raw skill, talent, and power they have at their disposal, as long as its done right. There should be an obvious degree of fear in their opponents, or maybe even a motivation to want to be better than them. The opponents should know, right from first shot or strike that they are up against something above their paygrade and react accordingly. For example: that one character in The Batman's opening scene, who didn't even think to fight batman anymore because all of his friends dropped one by one with ease. There should also be more risk than just the character's own life, because by their own judgements, they aren't even in danger to begin with. Giving them a person, object, or place to protect will make the stakes feel just as heavy, if not more. Also, if a writer is going to do this, the character needs to DOMINATE, only falling short when they are caught off guard, but still pull through. I'm tired of seeing characters that are supposed to be "OP" getting knocked around for half an hour, and only be OP when it serves the story for them to be. They are either OP all the time, or none of the time. And even if they do get knocked around, there needs to be a good reason that we already know why they suddenly become OP when the time is right. Are they hiding their identity? is it dangerous for them to use their powers around others? Do their powers only work under certain conditions? And when they DO become OP, or have always been op and just get caught off-guard, they need to get right back into the fight, and continue to DOMINATE.
If these conditions are met, I believe an OP character can fully crash out against insurmountable odds: The motive, means, and opportunity, a cognitive distinction between the mindset of the OP character and the enemies they're facing, An obvious showing as to why this person is OP that doesn't detract from the other characters' abilities despite their power being inherent or not, and the ability to continue the fight, despite setbacks that AREN'T cause by choreographed incompetence.
after watching the series the one point that I think is most important that modern overpowered female characters constantly seem to fail to include is not being resentful or embarrassed of femininity. Being in love and being a wife mattered to MIzu in a way that was so beautiful to see and so tragic to lose but having that exist at all much less be seen as a good is the antithesis of feminism that is unheard of in modern depictions of "strong female characters" which just mean what feminists think being a man is with all power and respect and none of the self-sacrifice and responsibility
It’s the way you believe this is the antithesis of feminism when it is in fact grounded in feminist theory. Because the part you failed to mention is how it ultimately betrays her.
That tragedy is like feminism 101. As soon as she showed him her full self he was disgusted and sold her out.
Yeah you do pinpoint that flaw in the ending - i love Blue Eye Samurai but Mizu's last duel with Fowler was lacking. It didn't match their first encounter !
I loved her, she's awesome
Damn early for this one here
Congrats on 100k
am I the only one who was enjoying a lot blue eyed samurai (even thinking it could be on par with Arcane after having watched only the first episode) and then got completely disappointed on how the creators starting giving her more and more plot armor until nothing made sense?
For me just watched the show, I think the show is still on par with Arcane. The finale made sense bc I feel like it’d be a waste of time for Mizu to try to find another way to London when she could just take Fowler to help her navigate London. Waste of time for next season if she travels around Japan to find someone who can get her to London so I thought that was written good. But for the plot armor before the finale I feel like she didn’t have a bad amount of plot armor but that’s just imo.
Yeah, felt kind of let down by the last episode as well. A lot of convenience that realllly stretches suspension of disbelief. Fowler not finishing off Mizu and Taigen, then not finishing Mizu off again. Even if you spin it as him realizing his coup has failed and he needs a ticket to London, that's just an insane gamble to take. And then Mizu not killing Fowler. I'm all too happy to hear more of the voice actor in season 2, but I felt like she would have killed him and tried to find the other men on her own. And then a whole crowd of soldiers couldn't push open the gates against a woman and an old man, come on. I think they really needed a way for a gun to poke through and kill Seki while also not having a whole group of gunmen there to gun down Akemi, but it feels so contrived.
That is why Spider-man is such an interesting character to me. Spidey's power is not only not absolute, it is dangerously limited at times especially when he constantly battles foes at least three times his size. It is his wit that he uses to not only uses to keep up with his foes but overpower them.
As Maxwell Tennyson once said "Don't try to muscle it, might isn't always right"
I loved the fight against the claws, yeah maybe the pile up on the door shouldve lost, but the rest of the fight was amazing and the coreography of her fighting style was amazing
Every character in
“The Marvels” is written this exact way. Powers from a mailbox…down with “the patriarchy” and higher, further, faster, with no limits, no training, and no weaknesses. The only reason “they” believed in it was the og captain marvel was shoehorned between infinity war and end game and we were meant to believe it was a necessary chapter
Really good video! 🤩
Just a quick comment to partially justify your point about some minions standing around while Mizu fights the rest:
In sword fighting, it is super dangerous for *everyone* if you have too many people cramped together when blades are swinging around. If you see ten people fighting one guy, it’s perfectly reasonable to not jump in and become guy #11. You’d be just as much a danger to your allies as to your opponent. Actually, you’d be more of a danger to your allies, because there’s a 10/11 chance that you’d hit a teammate, while only a 1/11 chance you’d hit your opponent. Gradually, as your opponent thins out the numbers, you can jump in to replenish the allies you lost, but for everyone to rush in all at once is not typically what is recommended.