#inoccence

They represent loss of virginity but also the end of someone’s INNOCENCE.

1# Ringo

In the middle of episode one Mizu tries to get rid of Ringo in a cunning way, that is by paying the prostitutes to “polish his sword” ^^.

Ringo happily gets rid of his virginity and for the first time in the series we see the “peaches”. In this situation they are compared to woman’s tits. Later, Ringo sees Mizu’s “peaches” and that makes him the keeper of Blue Eye Samurai’s biggest secret (I really want to see Taigen’s face, when Taigen realizes Ringo knew about Mizu BEFORE him).

BUT, seeing the peaches also marks the beginning of the whole new period in Ringo’s life. Shortly after this event he becomes Mizu’s apprentice, and because of that he has the opportunity to face dangers, experience adventures and discover darker aspects of human nature (especially his own master’s).

2# Akemi

When Akemi decides to offer her virginity to Taigen she wears a robe in peachy color. She removes her own clothes herself, which brings our (the audience’s) attention to the fact that this is HER decision from the beginning to the end. What she wants most is the control over her own life, which is why she makes such a bold (and risky) move.

But it also marks the beginning of her loosing her “innocence” – from this moment Akemi will understand that simply being determined is NOT ENOUGH. Nothing she does is going to be enough until she understands how the world works (Seki’s words) and how much her own situation is better than the other’s (Seki, Mizu and Madame Kaji’s words).

Bribing a man with compliments and sex is not enough to keep him at her side (though in case of someone other than Taigen it might work just fine).

Going to the woods in the palanquin with her trusted advisor is not enough to ensure her safety. Getting angry at the bandit who stole her money is not enough to GET BACK at this bandit.

I mean, come on, Akemi, what were you thinking? This chick has a KNIFE!  

Being brave enough to attack the demon who humiliated her fiancé is not going to be enough to actually kill the demon.

I find it so hilarious that Akemi actually BELIEVED she was capable of KILLING Mizu. Even MIZU cannot kill herself properly, even though she tries really hard by fighting whole armies, professional cutthroats and yakuza dudes.

Finally, helping the blue eyed demon ONCE and being nice to said demon is not ENOUGH to make this demon “stupidly loyal” to her and defend her from her father’s men.

I mean it was perfectly logical for Akemi to assume that Mizu would help her, because she UNDERSTOOD that Mizu is this really good and honorable person, the defender of people who cannot defend themselves.  

What she WASN’T aware of, was the fact that Mizu was p*ssed and hurt after someone (yet again!) took advantage of her good heart (the boy who snitched her) and the whole event was the reopening of her old wound (the betrayal triggered Mikio flashbacks for her), so she deliberately ignored her own conscience (she knew helping Akemi would be a right thing to do).

Akemi didn’t anticipate Mizu’s reaction because she simply doesn’t know Mizu that well. At that point of the story NOONE knows Mizu THAT WELL (not even Ringo, Taigen or Master Eiji), because NOONE knows about Mikio.

Look at Akemi further dehumanazing Mizu by refering to her using the pronoun "it" instead of "he". This is SO cruel!

In episodes five and seven Akemi still clings to her innocence, which in this case is her selfishness. The way she only thinks about HER situation and HER feelings, calling Mizu “incapable of love” at the end of the puppet show (how the hell can she know that?), and being horribly insensitive with the prostitutes, complaining to them about having to serve only one, rich and “clean” man.

The process of her getting rid of her innocence is completed ONLY at the very end of season one, when she finally knows what she wants and she understands what kind of game she needs to play to get it (check my other post about Mirrors, where I discuss Akemi’s development).

 Although I think she still needs to learn a lot about people. I really hope that the beginning of the next season will start with Akemi complaining about Mizu to Taigen, and Taigen will say something like: “Mizu was an orphan who ate from the garbage, when have YOU ever eaten from the garbage?” (I’m going to write another post about what I want from Taigen in future seasons – link will appear).

(I’m also going to write a post about why Akemi should meet a foreigner in the next season – link will appear)

3# Mizu

Finally, Mizu. Her case is the most interesting one and creators of the show made a really smart choice to reveal it to us in episode five instead of at the very beginning.

Because, yeah… who else watched episode one and ASSUMED that the events in the noodle shop were the direct continuation of Mizu and Master Eiji’s goodbye scene?

That was just… SO. SMART.

We had to wait for the middle of the season to learn that Mizu didn’t become a ruthless killer IMMEDIATELY after completing her technical training.

Because, yeah, let’s face it – that was only TECHNICAL training. But guess what? Fighting your own shadow doesn’t teach you how to defeat real people. It doesn’t give you the guts to throw your blade into the warm body and watch the blood come out.   

When Mizu begins her quest, she is so very innocent – it’s even visible in her physical appearance. She enters that place with no glasses (symbol of her mask) and no coat (the same coat Mikio used to wear – the symbol of bitter life lesson Mizu is about to receive).

She gets stabbed in that place like a complete amateur! Few scenes later she sees her mama and clings to her.

Then, her life with Mikio begins, and we have plenty of scenes with the peaches.

We see Mikio throwing his knife high to reach those peaches, we see him cut a bit of a peach with each season, all of this a metaphor of all the steps he needs to take in order to take Mizu’s (physical) virginity. First it’s something placed very high, almost unreachable. But he is an experienced man so he manages.

And Mizu eats the peaches, she laughs, savors her own innocence, she genuinely enjoys living this simple life with her imperfect husband.

When she finally loses her virginity, it’s under the peach tree (the act itself happens inside, but begins outside). It’s also under the peach tree where she loses HER INNOCENCE - where she understands that this kind of life is unavailable for her, because she will always be… well, herself.

That’s why we have A CHILD in the puppet show. Because the kid represents Mizu’s Happiness, which is the product of Her Innocence (the Bride) and Her True Self (the Ronin). You noticed how it was growing along with the story? First it was just an infant, then a preschooler maybe?

Mizu’s happiness NEVER reached the adult stage – though I believe it eventually will (possibly in season three).

But in episode five’s Flashbacks this Growing Happiness gets slaughtered. But NOT by Mikio (at least not from Mizu’s point of view).

The whole show is a metaphor for Mizu’s mind, and in her mind it was HERSELF who slaughtered her own happiness and innocence (the Ronin kills the Kid and the Bride). That’s why she was preparing to apologize to Mikio.

But she got betrayed - that’s why she transformed into onryo and slaughtered the Ronin.

The Ronin was a good fighter but not a killer. He was a good person, he had conscience and honor. He was reluctant to kill innocent people. The Ronin knew how to fight, but didn’t know how to be merciless, that’s why HE got stabbed in the venue of illegal traders. And he betrayed Mizu by revealing himself to Mikio. That’s why Mizu kills the shivering boy from the Thousand Claws Army right after she kills the Ronin in the puppet show.  

Check my other post about Windows to find out how the Ronin and the Bride could coexist through Mizu's Third Window.

BONUS PEACH

Did you know that Japanese people have a legend of a young brave warrior that was born from the peach? His name is Momotaro and because of him peaches are symbol of loyalty (among other things).

OH, AND…

The 6th TAO e-book is out and so is the cover i made for it! :D

Is it possible to regain our innocence?

In a previous post I wrote about single moments and periods when we feel our innocence is being taken from us, but now I want to ask the question: Is it possible to become a child once we are already grown? The lighthearted joy and ignorant bliss of seeing only light and goodness in every corner of the world is a childlike quality people truly miss.

There is a song I listened to in my class about holding on to innocence called There is A Light by U2 and there were a few significant lines that stuck out to me,

“When all you left is leaving

And all you got is grieving

And all you know is needing

If there is a light, we can’t always see

If there is a world

We can’t always be

If there is a dark

Now we shouldn’t doubt

And there is a light

Don’t let it go out”

(Here is a link to the entire song on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n24ms5drtAg) 

Many of my classmates argued that although it is not possible to fully regain our childhood innocence, there is a childlike outlook that can be maintained. I think the lines of this song certainly suggest searching for that simple outlook, that light that may still be there beneath sorrow and hardship.

 I wrote a poem on this topic when I was in high school! The theme is very similar to the song above; it is about trying to remember the innocence we once had, and hoping it is still there despite all the disappointments of the world. I would like to share it!

 Do You Remember?

Do you remember when we were children? When the entire world was at our fingertips? We could fly to the farthest corner of the universe, stroll along yellow brick roads, swim to the lost city of Atlantis. We were invincible children, not helpless children. For us, believing was enough.

Do you remember when we were children? Any object in our hands was magic in our eyes. Every moment was the first day of spring, one flower blooming after another, each one more beautiful than the last. We ran through life with our eyes wide open, not a single detail escaping our grasp.

Do you remember when we were children? Each one of us was Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Mangelin, Marco Polo. In our minds, the new land was untouched by human hands. Nobody but us had climbed ageless mountains and explored dark caverns. Nothing was too old for fresh minds and adventurous hearts.

Do you remember when we were children? When we were free? We sailed along the treetops not worrying about where we landed or whether we would fall. We just kept flapping our wings until we wanted to do or be something else. We changed our surroundings when they tried to change us. Imagination was wherever we were.

Do you remember when we were children? Clothed in white, never leaving trails of red. There were no stains on the path behind, not that we could remember if they were there anyway. When everyone forgives you, mistakes are easy to forget.

Do you remember when we were children? Do you remember the sentence when I grow up? We had adventure but we thought the real journey was far from starting. We would stare down the long windy road imagining a palace ahead with servants and knights and ballrooms and magic and us asking of it all. But the crown we wanted is not there and the one we already had is lost. What we thought was freedom was bondage and we ran into it with eyes open far too wide. Now we see the empty universe, the cold days of winter, the used and worn land, the trails of red, and the scattered paths of a once windy road.

If only we had stayed with Peter Pan in Neverland.

почему-то охватила и не отпускает. и знаешь, это слишком круто, чтобы....недооценить такое. 

а все почему? я вспомнила своего племянника. Этому крохе даже 3 месяцев нет. но как только я его вижу - благодать и спокойствие. хочется целовать и обнимать до невозможности. маленькое счастье,  крошечная жизнь, девственное создание.

ты - мир и невинность, чистота и вдохновение в одном теле.