Hammerscale
- The two prostitutes Mizu hired to occupy Ringo find out he has never been with a woman before... so they decide to tutor him on how to handle things. An extra chuckle due to the fact he doesn't have hands, so he clearly can't do any of the things they talk about.Slim Prostitute: These, you have to be gentler, soft like ripe peaches...
[she rubs Ringo's stumps over her breasts]
Slim Prostitute: You like peaches?Ringo: Peaches... - In general, while the ease with which Mizu utterly dismantles the Shindo dojo is as awe inspiring as it is brutal, her nonchalant attitude bordering on disaffected boredom as she does so can be rather amusing.Student: How dare you! Be warned, you face my Shindo Ryu!
Mizu: The problem with Shindo Ryu is... it's trash.
Shortly followed by:
Mizu: The Swallow's Return crumbles against the Fisherman's Net of the Rogen-Ryu.
Student: Then you fight with Rogen-Ryu?
Mizu: No. It is also trash.- Eventually their sensei finally intervenes by dramatically flinging his calligraphy brush at Mizu hard enough for it to embed itself in the tatami, clearly puffing himself up as a threat as he casually dismisses her curb stomping his students as child's play. Mizu, for her part, is less than impressed by the challenge.Sensei: (Drawing his katana) You defeat children, and take a bow?
Mizu: (Picking up a wooden bokken) Do I duel the mystic Tengu themselves?note
Sensei: Put down that toy and draw your sword!
Mizu: (unfazed) But... then you'll die.- Sure enough, in the very next scene the same Sensei now sports a broken nose and sword shaped bruise across his face, which rather undercuts his dignity when he demands Taigen defend the honor of the dojo.
- This exchange when Mizu starts antagonizing Taigen (recognizing him as one of her childhood bullies):Mizu: You've climbed some heights... to be the prize of a miserable lot.
Student: Taigen has won 24 duels. How many have you won?
Mizu: [looks at the dozens of other students she put on the ground] Should I have been counting?
- Eventually their sensei finally intervenes by dramatically flinging his calligraphy brush at Mizu hard enough for it to embed itself in the tatami, clearly puffing himself up as a threat as he casually dismisses her curb stomping his students as child's play. Mizu, for her part, is less than impressed by the challenge.
- In the end, Mizu is resting in a lake to allow her wound to heal. When she hears someone approaching, she has to get up naked and grab her sword. It turns out to just be Ringo, who sees that she's a woman.Ringo: Peaches!
An Unexpected Element
- The soba shop owner complains to the Four Fangs about how Mizu spilt blood everywhere, then quickly adds "Which is fine!" given that they've just hacked to pieces two of his customers.
- The Fangs leave, leaving the owner shocked and alone in his shop... and then there is an audible plop as some squishy part of his late customers falls from the ceiling.
- When Akemi's father says his daughter's chastity has been well guarded, Akemi and Seki, who are bent over in an obsequious bow to the shogun's envoy, swivel an eye and look at each other, the latter clearly aware that Akemi had sex with Taigen not too long ago.
- After Mizu defeats the Four Fangs, Taigen emerges from his hiding place and dramatically declares that he's here to regain his honor. Mizu shouts, equally dramatically, for him to take it and charges—for about two steps before passing out from bloodloss.
A Fixed Number of Paths
- Taigen offers Ringo a position in his future kitchen after he kills Mizu. Ringo, of course, turns him down, planning to stay with Mizu:Ringo: I know I can't touch greatness any more than I can swallow the sun, but I can help. I can help greatness!
Taigen: Wha-? I'm great! - Heiji Shindo asks Mizu how she intends to get into Fowler's fortress castle. When Mizu replies that she's going to go through the front door, Taigen adds, "Really, he would."
- Mizu remarks on the bad smell of the sake barrel Shindo wants her to use to infiltrate Fowler's fort.Taigen: He wants to die in a fancy barrel.
Peculiarities
- The brothel madam can tell Akemi is a genuine princess and not a courtesan posing as one, saying she's "barely had two cocks in her life." Akemi raises a finger to show she's had only one.
- Akemi's father mentioning the "twelve and twenty ways of lovemaking". The twelve is meant for wives while the twenty is meant for 'professionals', but as she's marrying into the shogunate she might want to learn all of them.
- Gets a humorous call back later when Madam Kaji says that anyone can study woodblocks to learn the twelve and twenty, which was exactly what Akemi's father wanted her to do.
- Mizu trolling Akemi the entire way while the princess tries to drug her. About halfway through, it's obvious she's fully aware of the ruse, but Akemi tries to play it cool, so Mizu double-downs and starts insulting Taigen in the more and more blatant way, just waiting for the princess to break the character.
- Mizu instructs Ringo to guard Akemi and kill her if she moves or screams, which makes Ringo uneasy. But he still obliges and makes an utterly ridiculous "fearsome" face to Akemi... only to smile at her the second Mizu leaves the room.Akemi: (Beat) Do you have to stare?
The Tale of the Ronin and the Bride
- Chased by the Thousand Claws, Mizu runs outside and slams the door on them, holding it shut...until she looks over her shoulder and sees the rest of the Thousand Claws standing on the street staring at her.
- The random Wilhelm the final of the Claws utters when Mizu tosses him around with a naginata and cutting him in half in the process.
All Evil Dreams and Angry Words
- A bit of Black Comedy: while laying out the plan for overthrowing the shogun, Fowler says Chiba will be the "right hand" of Heiji Shindo, but catches himself and apologizes to Shindo for using that term since Mizu cut off his hand.
- The entire damn fight between Mizu and a group of mooks. Starting with the Soundtrack Dissonance of a silly rockabilly tune while she is cutting through the soldiers, using their own swords, body parts and a nearby pit full of spikes. She then proceeds to beat them with a grenade, without detonating it, but as a bludgeon. A bunch of Wilhelms happen along the way.
- Fowler introducing cheese curds to two of his Japanese conspirators, who are very much unnerved by the existence of such a thing. Their faces practically scream, "Well, thank the gods we don't let foreigners into our country".
- At one point, a badly injured Taigen starts doing his usual "the only one allowed to kill you" bit when Mizu is about to take on a Giant Mook of a guard; she just pushes Taigen aside and fights the guy herself.
- When the Giant Mook throws Mizu on top of Taigen, instead of the usual Suggestive Collision we just have Taigen moaning to be put back in his torture cell.
- Mizu does a Super Window Jump by throwing Taigen's body through the window.
- Mizu has to leave her sword stuck in the wall so she can leap over the Spikes of Doom. After still defeating the horde of guards on the other side, the last man standing eyes the sword stuck in the wall next to him, and Mizu's stuck in the wall well out of reach of her...and sensibly helps her retrieve it.
- For added black comedy, he retrieved it by using a ribbon and the head of a soldier Mizu just beheaded moments earlier.
- Taigen has endured torture for weeks, but that doesn't stop him from keeping up a running litany of criticism of Mizu's tactics.
- In another darkly funny moment, one of Fowler's guests wants to get to safety, but the other calms him down by pointing out that attacking them, emissaries of the shogun, would be seen as an attack on on the shogun himself and nobody would dare. Immediately after, the man is impaled by Mizu through the window behind him.
Nothing Broken
- During a big dinner with Akemi's family and the shogunate, Watari, her first and only client at the brothel, happens to be in the attendance. They briefly make eye contact and recognize each other; Akemi is amused and Watari looks utterly befuddled.
The Great Fire of 1657
- When Ringo and Taigen try to find a way inside the courtyard to warn the shogun about the coup. Ringo speculates what Mizu would do in this situation to which Taigen claims Mizu would just walk through the front door... Then they proceed to do just that.
- Fowler's genuine surprise on seeing Taigen again. "Didn't I kill you?"
