A towering accomplishment of animation and storytelling. Everything that makes this show great, this episode delivers in spades. The flashback framing device is the beautifully poetic stuff of episodes that win Emmys, the visual presentation is the most lavish it's ever been, the actual story is heartbreaking, and the writing shifts gears from myth to harlequin romance to ghost story to kick-ass action epic until it's coming on like a thunderstorm.
And the FIGHTS. Man, the fights. This episode plays it close to the chest for a while, opting for the unsatisfying grittiness of realism for much of its runtime. But when it finally cuts loose and goes full anime, it SOARS. I went from tears to fist-pumping "HELL YEAH" in record time. There's a particular moment with a transforming naginata that is one of the coolest moments I've seen in anything in years.
It hits like a graphic novel. It moves like a videogame. It evokes awe like a great fantasy novel. It touches the heart and speaks to a particular corner of the human condition with all the tools of pulp and genre, like a bona fide piece of cinema.
It is a masterful piece of work.
Blue Eye Samurai ROCKS.
And the FIGHTS. Man, the fights. This episode plays it close to the chest for a while, opting for the unsatisfying grittiness of realism for much of its runtime. But when it finally cuts loose and goes full anime, it SOARS. I went from tears to fist-pumping "HELL YEAH" in record time. There's a particular moment with a transforming naginata that is one of the coolest moments I've seen in anything in years.
It hits like a graphic novel. It moves like a videogame. It evokes awe like a great fantasy novel. It touches the heart and speaks to a particular corner of the human condition with all the tools of pulp and genre, like a bona fide piece of cinema.
It is a masterful piece of work.
Blue Eye Samurai ROCKS.