History YMMV / BlueEyeSamurai

** Mikio's rejection of Mizu after the end of their sparring session is supposed to be seen as a KickTheDog moment, but there's a pretty decent argument to be made that he can be seen as the more sympathetic party in that encounter, even if it's maybe in a JerkassHasAPoint kind of way because he is a dick about it both immediately after the end of the sparring and when he gives Mizu's horse away to the lord in the aftermath. (And even if you were sympathetic to him due to the way their sparring match went, it's certain to be gone when he abandons Mizu when the bounty hunters come after her.) Mikio tried to keep the sparring bout from causing injuries from the start, while Mizu gleefully escalated the danger by attacking him with a live and ''extremely'' lethal blade even when he refused to do the same, ignored his attempts to end the bout on multiple occasions (including mocking him as a coward when he refused to use a bare blade against her), and by the end she is literally holding his life in her hands by shoving the ''naginata'' blade against his throat, something that could kill him with just a bit of misapplied pressure. Also, considering the show's themes about the InterplayOfSexAndViolence, it's pretty clear that Mizu gets a sexual thrill out of at least some combat (as she ''definitely'' did against Mikio), which can make [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything her refusal to stop when a partner tries to say no and back out]] pretty... [[DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale ethically questionable at best]]. For people who see it this way, Mikio's immediate reaction is pretty understandable, even if he loses all sympathy soon afterward due to his later actions.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: Mizu allowing the Tokunobu guards to take Akemi back to Kyoto and her ArrangedMarriage leads to both [[BrokenPedestal Ringo]] and [[WhatTheHellHero Taigen]] calling Mizu out for only caring about her revenge. However, it comes off as unwarranted considering that A) Mizu is thoroughly exhausted and injured after battling the Thousand Claws army to save the lives of everyone in the brothel, including Akemi herself, and is thus in no shape to take on ''another'' group of armed enemies, B) Akemi and Mizu's meeting in the brothel begins with Akemi trying to drug and then kill Mizu, C) making an enemy of Akemi's father and the shogun by killing these men would make Mizu's quest even more dangerous, D) the new group of soldiers are legitimate guards just doing their job rather than murderous gangers intent on massacring innocent women, and E) Akemi originally sought out Mizu to get Taigen to kill her in a duel so that Akemi can marry him instead of the shogun's son, and this may still be her goal. Rather than accepting the show's assertion that Mizu is being heartless, one could easily argue that Akemi is being unreasonable to expect Mizu to stick her neck out for her.

* NightmareFuel: The near entirety of Shindo's compound as depicted in "All Evil Dreams and Angry Words". It begins with Mizu stumbling across a hallway littered with the bones of ''[[DeathOfAChild infants]]'' (who are later revealed to be Fowler's bastard offspring) and hardly gets any better from there other than some brief reprieves.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: Fowler gives [[spoiler:the Shogun]] a BreakingSpeech that mocks him for thinking he could ever keep the white man out of Japan, saying he might have succeeded for a few centuries but would end up failing in the end. That's [[UsefulNotes/MeijiRestoration exactly what ended up happening historically]] when Commodore Matthew Perry sailed into Japan and demanded Japan open up trade to the Western powers, complete with the dissolution of the Shogunate as a result when civil war broke out. Fowler is loathsome, but completely right in this case about how futile closing the country off completely was.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Akemi is consistently portrayed as a self-centered ShelteredAristocrat and acts ''incredibly'' entitled and selfish throughout the whole story, always expecting to get whatever she wants, no matter what. To the point where her arc is not about dropping the behaviour, but ''embracing it'' (which is by itself already a rather unsympathetic thing to do). And the only problems she ever has are the [[FirstWorldProblems first-world ones]]. Despite all of that, the story clearly expects the audience's sympathy to be on her side all the time. Sure, she is treated unfairly by various characters around her, but she isn't fair herself. This further ties with Mizu's status as UnintentionallySympathetic: Akemi outright ''commands'' Mizu to fight for her, as if Mizu was her personal attack dog or owed anything to Akemi in the first place. Then there is the finale of the season, which makes all prior actions by Akemi moot (and lives she put in the line) as she has a change of heart and decides to play ball with the shogunate for her personal benefit.

** Mizu's fighting style involves a whole lot of broken, cut-off, and torn-off limbs. Which she doesn't shy to then toss at the still alive enemies or even grab as {{Improvised Weapon}}s and continuing the carnage.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Akemi is consistently portrayed as a self-centred ShelteredAristocrat and acts ''incredibly'' entitled and selfish throughout the whole story, always expecting to get whatever she wants, no matter what. To the point where her arc is not about dropping the behaviour, but ''embracing it'' (which is by itself already a rather unsympathetic thing to do). And the only problems she ever has are the [[FirstWorldProblems first-world ones]]. Despite all of that, the story clearly expects the audience's sympathy to be on her side all the time. Sure, she is treated unfairly by various characters around her, but she isn't fair herself. This further ties with Mizu's status as UnintentionallySympathetic: Akemi outright ''commands'' Mizu to fight for her, as if Mizu was her personal attack dog or owed anything to Akemi in the first place. Then there is the finale of the season, which makes all prior actions by Akemi moot (and lives she put in the line) as she has a change of heart and decides to play ball with the shogunate for her personal benefit.

** Just about ''anything'' regarding Mikio. Does he [[NoGuyWantsAnAmazon feel humiliated due to being defeated by his wife]]? Or is he terrified of her because of that? Or maybe not terrified of Mizu's prowess, but the fact that [[BloodKnight she]] is clearly and obviously [[InterplayOfSexAndViolence aroused by combat]]? [[spoiler: Did he or did he not sell her out]]? And if so - why? Did he return because he genuinely changed his mind, or said so because it was a handy excuse?

* UnintentionallySympathetic: Mizu allowing the Tokunobu guards to take Akemi back to Kyoto and her ArrangedMarriage leads to both [[BrokenPedestal Ringo]] and [[WhatTheHellHero Taigen]] calling Mizu out for only caring about her revenge. However, it comes off as unwarranted considering that A) Mizu is thoroughly exhausted and injured after battling the Thousand Claws army to save the lives of everyone in the brothel, including Akemi herself, and is thus in no shape to take on ''another'' group of armed enemies, B) Akemi and Mizu's meeting in the brothel begins with Akemi trying to drug and then kill Mizu, C) making an enemy of Akemi's father and the shogun by killing these men would make Mizu's quest even more dangerous, and D) Akemi originally sought out Mizu to get Taigen to kill her in a duel so that Akemi can marry him instead of the shogun's son, and this may still be her goal. Rather than accepting the show's assertion that Mizu is being heartless, one could easily argue that Akemi is being unreasonable to expect Mizu to stick her neck out for her.

* BrokenBase:
** Modern music, and especially the Japanese-language cover of ''For Whom The Bell Tolls''. It either falls under the most awesome and badass things going on, or is completely out of place given the tone of the series or the rest of the traditional soundtrack, clashing with the situation. Ask around online and even long after the premiere, it's still a divisive subject.
** Akemi and her character arc - starting right with a question if it can be called an arc in the first place. She sticks it to her father and the societal expectations... by betraying, abusing and abandoning everyone that ever crossed her path. She either cunningly escaped a sorry lot society had prepared for her or is a SpoiledBrat that got away with the abuse she inflicted on others, learning nothing in the process. It is telling that fanfics portray her as either much wiser and kinder than she's in the series ''or'' a blatantly evil [[SlutShaming slut]] that will stop at nothing to achieve her goals.

* TheScrappy: Ringo, of the Annoying Comic Relief variety. Most of the humour regarding him revolves around the fact that he's a BumblingSidekick who gets himself into a deep mess he can't comprehend and feels like a character from a completely different story, if not genre. It's not helping one bit that he's also treated as annoying in-universe by various characters, who are just tired of his mere presence. It's not that he doesn't add to the story or isn't an integral part of Mizu's dynamics with the world around her, but it's the fact that he's shoehorned into being a wacky, "funny" character that undermines all his positive qualities.

** Mizu's fighting style involves a whole lot of broken, cut-off, and torn-off limbs. Which she doesn't shy to then toss at the still alive enemies or even grab as {{Improvised Weapons}} and continuing the carnage.

** Does Taigen regret his childhood bullying of Mizu because he grew up to respect "him" or because he outgrew being a haughty cunt?

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Just about ''anything'' regarding Mikio. Does he [[NoGuyWantsAnAmazon feel humiliated due to being defeated by his wife]]? Or is he terrified of her because of that? Or maybe not terrified of Mizu's prowess, but the fact that [[BloodKnight she]] is clearly and obviously [[InterplayOfSexAndViolence aroused by combat]]? [[spoiler: Did he or did he not sell her out]]? And if so - why? Did he return because he genuinely changed his mind, or said so because it was a handy excuse?

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Akemi is consistently portrayed as a self-centred ShelteredAristocrat and acts ''incredibly'' entitled and selfish throughout the whole story, always expecting to get whatever she wants, no matter what. To the point where her arc is not about dropping the behaviour, but ''embracing it'' (which is by itself already a rather unsympathetic thing to do). Despite all of that, the story clearly expects the audience's sympathy to be on her side all the time. Sure, she is treated unfairly by various characters around her, but she isn't fair herself. This further ties with Mizu's status as UnintentionallySympathetic: Akemi outright ''commands'' Mizu to fight for her, as if Mizu was her personal attack dog or owed anything to Akemi in the first place. Then there is the finale of the season, which makes all prior actions by Akemi moot (and lives she put in the line) as she has a change of heart and decides to play ball with the shogunate for her personal benefit.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Akemi is consistently portrayed as a self-centred ShelteredAristocrat and acts ''incredibly'' entitled and selfish throughout the whole story, always expecting to get whatever she wants, no matter what. To the point where her arc is not about dropping the behaviour, but ''embracing it'' (which is by itself already a rather unsympathetic thing to do). Sure, she is treated unfairly by various characters around her, but she isn't fair herself. This further ties with Mizu's status as UnintentionallySympathetic: Akemi outright ''commands'' Mizu to fight for her, as if Mizu was her personal attack dog or owed anything to Akemi in the first place. Then there is the finale of the season, which makes all prior actions by Akemi moot (and lives she put in the line) as she has a change of heart and decides to play ball with the shogunate for her personal benefit.

* {{Narm}}: Fowler [[IdiotBall loudly declaring his plan against the Shogun]] while [[ItMakesSenseInContext Ise has her nose up his ass]]. Aside from being a very stupid move for a mostly cunning BigBad, it sounds more like something from a raunchy parody than a straight samurai action show.

* LoveToHate: Fowler is one of the darkest and evilest animated villains to come out of Netflix since [[Series/FinalSpace the Lord Commander]]. However, said evilness, along with his subversive portrayal as a cunning, intelligent mastermind and the strength of the writing combined with [[Creator/KennethBranagh Kenneth Branagh's]] voice performance, made him an immediate fan-favorite villain who stole every scene he was in.

* LoveToHate: Fowler is a vile piece of work, but his ruthlessness and effectiveness, combined with a backstory that explains his character well, makes him a compelling and interesting villain to watch.

* UnintentionallySympathetic:
** Mizu allowing the Tokunobu guards to take Akemi back to Kyoto and her ArrangedMarriage leads to both [[BrokenPedestal Ringo]] and [[WhatTheHellHero Taigen]] calling Mizu out for only caring about her revenge. However, it comes off as unwarranted considering that A) Mizu is thoroughly exhausted and injured after battling the Thousand Claws army to save the lives of everyone in the brothel, including Akemi herself, and is thus in no shape to take on ''another'' group of armed enemies, B) Akemi and Mizu's meeting in the brothel begins with Akemi trying to drug and then kill Mizu, C) making an enemy of Akemi's father and the shogun by killing these men would make Mizu's quest even more dangerous, and D) Akemi originally sought out Mizu to get Taigen to kill her in a duel so that Akemi can marry him instead of the shogun's son, and this may still be her goal. Rather than accepting the show's assertion that Mizu is being heartless, one could easily argue that Akemi is being unreasonable to expect Mizu to stick her neck out for her.

** Mikio's rejection of Mizu after she bests him in combat is portrayed as proof of his misogyny and insecurity, but audiences have pointed out that she went far beyond the boundaries of a simple spar and any reasonable partner would be horrified and rightfully turned off by her use of a real weapon -- comparing it to a spouse teaching their partner how to box with gloves, and then going bare-knuckle just to win the duel. [[DisproportionateRetribution However, it does not justify Mikio's subsequent betrayal, regardless of whether he simply abandoned her while she was fighting for her life or outright chose to turn her in.]]
*** That being said, Mikio is an ex-professional who has certainly sparred or trained with naked blades before. His reluctance to use real blades initially came from [[UnderestimatingBadassery not wanting to hurt her]] rather than fearing being hurt himself.

* {{Anvillicious}}: Fowler's speech to the Shogun about letting the white man in is completely unsubtle in its anti-colonialist message.

* {{Narm}}: Fowler [[IdiotBall loudly declaring his plan against the Shogun]] [[ItMakesSenseInContext while Ise has her nose up his ass]]. Aside from being a very stupid move for a mostly cunning BigBad, it sounds more like something from a raunchy parody than a straight samurai action show.