YMMV / Blue Eye Samurai S 01 E 05 The Tale Of The Ronin And The Bride

• Alternative Character Interpretation: The story of Mizu's betrayal in her flashbacks pretty much invites this, since it isn't said for certain whether it was Mizu's mother or Mikio who betrayed her, and one might argue exactly why either character might have acted the way they did.
  • If the traitor was Mikio, did he do it because of the bounty, hoping to regain status with his lord, wounded pride from how Mizu defeated him (even toying with him at times) and/or because she was treating it like a game when she was this close to killing him when she shoved a blade against his throat? If he was the traitor, why did he return afterwards? Did he hope to talk Mizu down and find some way of bringing her down? Did he regret his choice to inform on her so much that he hoped to rebuild the relationship with Mizu?
  • If the traitor was Mizu's mother, was it just for the opium money? Had she come to the conclusion that Mizu had blown the relationship with Mikio and she would no longer be able to use them as a Meal Ticket for food and lodgings, and decided she needed some way to get money for herself? How does Fowler's claim in the season finale that the woman wasn't even Mizu's mother at all, but a maid who was being paid to keep Mizu safe during her childhood, only to later abandon Mizu when the money ran out factor into things?
• Unintentionally Sympathetic: Mikio's rejection of Mizu after the end of their sparring session is supposed to be seen as a Kick the Dog moment given that he did ask her to stop hiding the extent of her skills. Still, he tried to tell her to back off several times only for her to ignore him and keep pushing the fight into genuinely risky territory. By the end she has a blade to his throat and then kisses him, either oblivious or uncaring to the fact that she's just put him in fear for his life. Continuing a theme from the previous episode about the Interplay of Sex and Violence, it's pretty clear that Mizu gets a sexual thrill out of at least some combat, as she is against Mikio. It's understandable that this would at least be something he'd want an apology for, even if it doesn't justify his abandonment of her to the bounty hunters.