History WesternAnimation / BlueEyeSamurai

** The Four Fangs arrive at the noodle restaurant Ringo used to work at to ask his father information on where Mizu went. One of the customers tells these four armed and intimidating to shut up, and is promptly carved up like a turkey for his insolence.

* AlternateHistory: The show takes place in the early Edo Period, with the main action in 1656 and 1657. While the show is very accurate on details of Japanese life at this time, it makes three major changes to history for the plot: the Itoh clan rule instead of the Tokugawa, the highly limited Western trade of the period is done through four British criminals rather than the Dutch East India Company (who operated openly, if under strict restrictions, from the island of Dejima off the coast of Nagasaki rather than in secret), and Japan has never adopted firearms for any of its armies (Firearms appeared in Japan around 1270, as primitive metal tubes invented in China and called teppō).

* DeliberatelyMonochrome: Netflix released a version of the episode [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Za2Z_JRxCuk "All Evil Dreams and Angry Words]] that's entirely in black and white, with a few strategic [[SplashOfColor Splashes of Color]] such as blood, parts of hallucinations, a few explosions and fires, and, very briefly,[[spoiler: Abijah Fowler's eye to confirm that it's green and not Mizu's blue]]. The flashbacks are black and white tinted with a cool or warm ColorWash.

* MoralityChain: Ringo becomes this for Mizu.

* PaintedCGI: the show uses mostly-flat shading and outlines, along with painted-looking backgrounds, over 3D models for the characters.

** Fowler repeatedly refers to 'the British', in the modern sense (as in, the inhabitants of Great Britain and Northern Ireland). In the 1600s the term would've been used to refer to the 'Britons', the inhabitants of Wales and Cornwall, seen as being the last descendants of the population of pre-Roman Britain. England, Scotland, and Ireland were all separate kingdoms (Despite sharing a monarch) and the inhabitants were viewed as separate "races".

** Then there is 'Great Fire of Meireki' an actual historical event but without the attempted coup. [[note]] The fire was said to have been started accidentally by a priest who was cremating an allegedly cursed kimono. The kimono had been owned in succession by three teenage girls who all died before ever being able to wear it. When the garment was being burned, a large gust of wind fanned the flames causing the wooden temple to ignite.[[/note]]
** [[spoiler:History diverges further in the first season finale, which sees the Shogun killed by Fowler's invaders and his heirs proclaiming an even ''tighter'' embargo on any foreign contact]].
** Also, unlike historical Japan, samurai status in the 1600's is not yet as fixed as in our "timeline". Also, the indication of warrior status is limited to the topknot and a single long sword worn in the obi, not two swords.

* AnachronismStew: Fowler ships in a large shipment of pianos [[spoiler:to conceal that their legs are gun stocks]]. In 1657, the inventor of the piano was still in diapers, and the oldest known piano to be sold in Japan was made in 1823.
** He repeatedly refers to 'the British', in the modern sense (as in, the inhabitants of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), when in the 1600s the term would've been used to refer to the 'Britons', the inhabitants of Wales and Cornwall, seen as being the last descendants of the population of pre-Roman Britain.

** Mizu uses a ''bokken'' (wooden training sword) during her fight against the Shindo Dojo, even after they have demanded that she draw her sword. When Taigen comes to face her, she thanks him for finally providing somebody worthy of her sword.

** That said, it also left stuff out, like [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onna-musha Onna-musha]] not being mentioned at all in this verse.

** Fowler's castle is an impregnable fortress, and it is filled with luxuries and all the manifestations of his power, but he is atrociously bored and fed up with his isolation. Unusually for this trope, he ''could'' leave the cage if he chose to (By returning to Britain), but that would mean the end of his business in Japan and he can't bring himself to give up that money and power.

** The Four Fangs arrive at the noodle restaurant Ringo used to work at to ask his father information on where Mizu went. One of the customers tells these four armed and intimidating to shut up and is promptly carved up like a turkey for his insolence.

* CantKillYouStillNeedYou: [[spoiler:Fowler manages to convince Mizu to not murder him at the end of season one. He is the only person who can bring her to her other potential fathers, and if he's dead she'll be unable to find them or navigate in London.]]

* CentralTheme: Coping with the circumstances of one's birth seems to be one. Each member of the main cast was born in a way that, in the extremely hierarchical culture of Edo period Japan, sees them shunted into a particular role they now try to escape:
** Mizu is mixed-race, which sees her subjected to bigotry and discrimination. She only wants revenge on the people she views as responsible, the white men who may be her father.

** Fowler was born into grinding poverty, losing his family to famine, his people crushed by a colonizing power. Since then he'd been driven by insatiable greed and to control all aspects of his life, so [[NeverBeHurtAgain nothing will ever render him so helpless again.]]

* BullyingADragon: Upon seeing her blue eyes, Hachiman hurls racist insults at Mizu [[{{Fingore}} despite her having sliced off two of his fingers]]. He loses a third finger for his foolishness.

* MoralityPet: Ringo becomes this for Mizu.

** Fowler was born into grinding poverty, losing his family to famine, his people crushed by a colonizing power. Since then he'd been driven by insatiable greed and to control all aspects of his life, so nothing will ever render him so helpless again.

* ImposedHandicapTraining: Part of Mizu's training was strapping weights onto her arms and legs. She still wears them even when on her journey. Whenever a situation starts to become difficult she takes them off resulting in boost to her speed and strength.

* IKEAWeaponry: [[spoiler: Fowler manages to hide his shipment of rifles from both the shogun and his fellow co-conspirators by having the individual components disguised as furniture(stocks as piano legs, flintlock mechanisms as chess pieces, etc) and then assembling them later.]]

[[quoteright:240:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/blueeye.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:240:''Revenge does not hesitate'']]

''Blue Eye Samurai'' is an animated series from Creator/{{Netflix}}, and created by husband and wife team Michael Green and Amber Noizumi. Its first season premiered on November 3, 2023.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Even with the AlternateHistory conceit, the show does an accurate portrayal of Japanese culture during the early Edo period. This is an extremely hierarchical era, in which women could not enter large cities without a chaperone, ticking off the wrong type of samurai can be a death sentence, and having foreign blood not only made you stand out but marked you as ''non-human''.

** Then there is 'Great Fire of Meireki' an actual historical but without the attempted coup. [[note]] The fire was said to have been started accidentally by a priest who was cremating an allegedly cursed kimono. The kimono had been owned in succession by three teenage girls who all died before ever being able to wear it. When the garment was being burned, a large gust of wind fanned the flames causing the wooden temple to ignite.[[/note]]

* AlternateHistory: The show takes place in the early Edo Period, with the main action in 1656 and 1657. While the show is very accurate on details of Japanese life at this time, it makes three major changes to history for the plot: the Itoh clan rule instead of the Tokugawa, the highly limited Western trade of the period is done through four British criminals rather than the Dutch East India Company (who operated openly, if under strict restrictions, from the island of Dejima off the coast of Nagasaki rather than in secret), and Japan has never adopted firearms for any of its armies. [[spoiler:History diverges further in the first season finale, which sees the Shogun killed by Fowler's invaders and his heirs proclaiming an even ''tighter'' embargo on any foreign contact]].