Ringo! Ugh.
Customer. Big hat.
Welcome, sir. I'll bring you some tea.
It's not good tea, but it's hot, and you're frozen,
and I'll bring you a rag because when I'm frozen, my snot drips.
Then a nice big soba. We make the best soba.
Honest. Bad tea, great soba. Okay?
Stumpy! More noodles, fast.
Finish your bowls.
I paid your fathers good money for you.
The brothels will pay me even more
once you get some curve on, you skinny country nothings. Eat!
- Go! Hurry! - Huh?
If that flesh-trader kills anyone here, it'd be bad for business.
Go and don't spill!
It's good, right?
Ah.
Finally!
Eat up, girls. Eat it all!
Oh.
What are you? A dog?
You let a dog serve food!
Forgive my son. Can't go a day without breaking dishes.
Ringo, clean him!
I'm sorry.
- Ah! - Argh!
Sorry, sorry.
I should put down this lame dog.
I'm not a dog.
Did you just bark?
Do you know who I am?
I am Hachiman the Flesh-Trader.
No one messes with Hachi!
Hmm. Impressive.
I've never seen a gun like it.
Front loading, not a Japanese pistol.
A European design, isn't it?
Ugh!
That would make it illegal.
Hachiman the Flesh-Trader.
Of course, I've heard of you.
Never leaves a village without buying one of its daughters.
You must have important friends to own a weapon like that.
Why do you know so much about Hachi?
Maybe I've been following you.
The famous Hachi with the famous gun.
I'd love a gun like that.
You can tell me who sold it to you.
Hmm. Fuck off.
You will tell me who sold you that gun.
You put my bullet against your blade?
You don't deserve my blade.
You don't even deserve this blade.
Take the gun if you want it! Take it!
Ah! No!
It's a filthy gun from a filthy place. I don't want it.
I wanna know who sold it to you.
Tell me now.
Heiji Shindo. I bought it from Heiji Shindo!
Heiji Shindo.
Where is Heiji Shindo?
I don't know! I swear.
Ah!
You dead-eyed, half-blooded demon bastard.
You look like an onryō.
Hoo!
Hm?
I found you!
I'd never catch up on the path, but I remember this shortcut
'cause when we traveled to the Izushi shrine for my 7th birthday,
I went to pee and got lost,
so I slept with a family of tanuki for three days
and ate leaves and scarabs, and got to know the forest really, really well, so...
Go home.
I hate home!
Please. My whole life, I couldn't do anything right,
but now I know what I'm supposed to do.
Be a samurai, like you.
Please. Let me be your apprentice. Uh, I'll do anything.
A breeze can throw a crane off course.
You... are a typhoon.
Please! I'm strong. I can carry your things,
and you can have the best soba in the world every day!
And I'll do anything you ask... Master.
Uh, anything so I can learn to be just like you.
Like me?
You're deformed, but you're still strong.
To a man lost in the dark, an ember can light the way.
Thank you for my ember.
I was lost without course so long.
Please.
Let this ember's light brighten a path from this Heiji Shindo to the men I seek.
Please guide my steps until I find them.
Please give me the strength to kill them.
Or let me die.
Please
protect Swordfather from time and harm.
Agh!
You wanna go?
Go ahead.
Just jump.
You think you can fight us?
An orphan?
I know what you are.
Your whore mother killed herself
because your father is a white devil.
Told you.
Round eyes.
Like a dog.
Hmm. The heavens throw treasure.
One, two, and...
Hmm.
Take the bowl as you go. Thank you.
You did not go.
Hmm. Have you somewhere to go?
Yes.
Well, go then.
Now. Goodbye.
It's a strange metal.
Hmm. Cold morning.
It would be nice if someone made tea.
Hmm.
Would be nice if someone got my tongs.
The longer ones.
Hmm.
It would be nice if somebody hammered out the impurities.
Would be nice if someone kept proper time.
Come on, people. Keep it moving. Let's go.
Next!
This travel pass is invalid.
It's my husband's.
It's invalid without him.
Next!
He died. I make the baskets. He only sold them.
Please. Or I can't feed my children.
You know the rules. Women can't travel without a chaperone.
Next!
Travel pass.
- Next. - Please!
Excuse me. Would you perhaps be able to tell me whe...
Excuse me. Could you help me find the...
Watch it, asshole.
Apologies.
I'm looking for something, but Kyoto's very big.
Do you know where I can find the Shindo Dojo?
Shindo?
That's our dojo.
You're gonna apply?
You look like a blind beggar.
If you would please show me how to find your dojo,
I would be grateful.
Sure.
Follow the road to the shrine. Once you go around the gates,
you'll see the sign across the puppet show.
Good luck.
Hyah!
You look lost, lost boy. Come on inside.
Rest a while.
I'm looking for the Shindo Dojo.
Which... this I see is not.
This is better. This is the Shindo House.
If you wanna show off your sword skills, you can do it here.
We can polish the tip up for you.
I must decline.
My business is urgent.
Most men grab first, ask prices later.
You're different.
Polite, sweet.
But firm.
Okay, lost boy. Walk east to the Kamo River.
Take the bridge to the temple with the thousand creepy statues.
It's on the hill just past.
I wish you a successful day of business.
Uh-oh. Oh!
How much for one night?
How much for three?
It's all paid for.
Just relax and enjoy.
Have you ever been with a woman before?
You just have to learn.
Round, firm, like a pumpkin.
You can be a little rough with it.
These, you have to be gentler, soft like ripe peaches.
You like peaches?
Peaches.
Make way. Make way for Princess Akemi!
Make way!
Father, I know your wisdom is beyond reproach.
I submit to your will wholeheartedly.
I would be remiss if I didn't speak my mind about my future.
Did you talk to him, Seki? Tell me!
Uh...
I am well, Akemi-sama. Thank you for asking.
Hm.
This morning, I made indelicate mention,
and now he told me to fetch you.
When you speak to him, remember to lilt your voice.
So, I should speak like a child.
Or like a woman who intends to get what she wants.
Father, forgive my interrup...
Tomoe will make a great lord one day. He does what he wants.
Right now, Tomoe wants a mess!
But you, my pearl,
you have a different duty, no?
To create alliances by being a pleasing wife to a great man.
Now I'm told you believe
you have an opinion on who you might want to marry.
Father, I know your wisdom is beyond reproach,
and I submit to your will wholly, but I would be remiss if...
Do you know what happens when you feed a pig sweets?
Of course you don't.
Your life has been robed in silk.
You've never seen the mud of the sty.
Your father wasn't a pig farmer like mine.
When a farmer feeds his pig too many sweets,
its teeth rot. Its gums fester.
The infection goes to its brain,
and it must be slaughtered before it reaches full size.
The pig can't be blamed. He's a pig and will eat all it can.
The fault is with the farmer...
who knows better.
Am I a pig, Father?
You want sugar when there are proper options.
More than a few lords have taken notice of you and inquired.
Ah! News came just this morning.
Lord Saito's wife died in childbirth, and he needs a new bride.
He's an old man! And a drunk and a whoremonger!
Lord Saito earns 100,000 koku!
Is that your price for me?
If I don't marry you off, you'll end up in a brothel lying with him anyway.
So would you rather be his wife or his whore?
Father.
I know your wisdom is beyond reproach,
and I submit to your will wholeheartedly.
I... I spoke from fear, as these men live so far away,
and I cannot imagine a life without my father close.
Please, consider someone who lives near.
Someone you trust to protect me and the interests of our clan.
My dove.
I forget you are a simple girl.
You know nothing of the world.
Perhaps I need a husband who knows the toil of life
and battle as you have.
One who has seen the sty.
Hmm.
I do know of a fierce and undefeated young samurai Seki told me of.
Ah, but Seki exaggerates.
"Best swordsman in the best school," he said.
Won 24 duels with every opponent dead.
Not a noble family.
A fisherman's son from Kohama, but his rise reminds me of my own.
What was his name again?
Taigen, I believe.
If his skills match his reputation, he'll be offered a handsome salary.
Perhaps, even at the castle here,
close to your father.
I only hope he's better than I am at denying you sweets.
- One, two, three. - One, two, three.
Gold? Wow. Uh.
That's too much. I only brought candy.
Have I defeated the undefeatable Taigen?
Think of it as an engagement gift.
He said yes?
He's sure? You're sure?
The lord's daughter marrying the son of a poor fisherman.
I'd marry you if you were the son of a poor fish.
No new students. Find another school.
I'm not a student.
I bring a message for the master of the Shindo Dojo.
I must deliver it personally.
You may leave any message with me.
What must be said must be said to the master directly.
I assure you, what is for the master is for me,
as I assure you the master does not meet with messengers.
He will for me.
You stand before the Shindo School.
For 200 years, we have taught here the Shindo-Ryu,
secret methods passed down from Priest Soto,
taught to him on the peak of Mount Kurama by the mystic Tengu themselves.
Show your respect.
I must insist.
Escort him anywhere you please that is far from here.
Come on, blind beggar.
You are bound by hospitality to feed a traveler within your gates.
I came very far. I'm very hungry.
Or has the Shindo Dojo done away with etiquette?
Feed him.
Then throw him out.
Eat.
And leave.
Show me everything.
To make the right sword, I must know all that a samurai will do with it.
All his techniques.
But my Shindo-Ryu is secret.
Every secret is revealed here.
The sword is the soul of the samurai,
and so it must match the man.
His blade should be rigid and thin.
And gaudy.
We fold the steel to blend it.
We beat the blend to remove the impurities.
The more pure the steel...
...the harder it is.
But too pure, and it becomes brittle.
We must leave something of how God made it.
I thought we must beat out impurity.
Yes, yet an impurity in the right place is a quality.
Soft steel in the center. Hard steel for the edge.
These together...
...and there can be greatness.
Hmm.
This is good.
But it is not perfect.
What is a sword?
The soul of a samurai.
It is a line.
On one side of the line is life.
The other,
death.
The edge we forge cuts the line between life and death.
Good enough for cooking.
Kitchen knives.
Make a thousand kitchen knives.
Then you may be ready to make a sword.
A smith signs his name.
All these years, how many fires?
No.
No man can tame this cursed metal.
Perhaps it does not want to be a sword.
All metal wants to be a sword.
Oof.
A sword?
Are you stealing from me?
I'm not stealing.
I... am practicing.
Why does a sword maker's apprentice practice swordplay?
Because I must become a great swordsman.
I must become the greatest swordsman alive.
Is that all?
And why must you become such a swordsman?
Forgive me.
I've kept from you a secret.
One everyone else knows as plain as my face, but you do not.
I know you're ugly.
What is ugly to me?
You are blind
and so cannot see the shame of my face.
I am...
made of mixed metal.
No amount of hammering can remove my impurity.
At the time I was born, there were four white men in all of Japan.
Men who traded in weapons and opium and flesh.
One of them took my mother
and made of me...
a monster.
A creature of shame.
I do not know their names.
I do know their fate.
They will all die by my hand. I have vowed this.
What have I taught you about steel?
The strongest sword is a blend of steel.
Soft and hard.
Pure and impure.
You may be something shameful.
You may also be strong.
You may train at nights.
Hey.
Come on, beggar boy. Move it.
This will be much simpler if you allow me to speak with your master.
No one sees the master.
I cannot leave here until I speak to the master of this dojo.
Oh, good.
We get to kill you.
Argh!
How dare you?
Be warned. You face my Shindo-Ryu.
The problem with Shindo-Ryu is
it's trash.
Hyah!
A poor technique.
Easily learned.
Easily defeated.
Ugh!
The Swallow's Return crumbles
against the Fisherman's Net of the Rogen-Ryu.
Hyah! Hyah!
Then you fight with Rogen-Ryu?
No.
It is also trash.
What school are you?
Your name and teacher!
Announce yourself!
Hyah!
You defeat children and take a bow?
Do I duel the mystic Tengu themselves?
Put down that toy and draw your sword!
But... then you'll die.
- To Taigen! - To Taigen!
The lord's daughter.
His beautiful daughter. Not even ugly.
And head of castle security with 5,000 koku.
Who would have thought?
Me.
Taigen, come quick!
We have a problem.
Who dares challenge the Shindo Dojo?
I'm afraid no one in this dojo has offered much of a ch...
You're from Kohama Village.
Do I know you?
You've climbed some heights
to be the prize of a miserable lot.
Taigen has won 24 duels. How many have you won?
Should I have been counting?
Kill the son of a bitch, Taigen. Teach him to respect Shindo.
I've come to speak with your master and will go on my way once I have.
You won't go anywhere except in the funeral cart.
With a naked blade, you'd be dead.
You had a name for me.
Taigen. You cannot allow that to dishonor us or you.
Kill him!
Are you afraid to fight with steel?
Thank you.
No one has yet deserved my blade.
You have a blade by Master Eiji?
Death comes for everyone.
For you,
today.
Stop!
You are the master of this school?
Hmm.
Your students need better training.
You have a message for me.
A question.
Where may I find your brother, the black market merchant Heiji Shindo?
You did all this to find my brother?
Why?
Heiji Shindo is in the fortress on Tanabe Island,
protected by the Genken Clan.
Whatever business you have with him,
you will never reach him.
You're still a dog.
Thank you for my ember.
Forgive me for giving your location, my brother.
He was unstoppable.
He defeated my every student.
Hmm. Your students need better training.
The samurai, he's not human.
I saw its eyes.
The Four Fangs.
Send the Four Fangs after this samurai.
Double their price and be done with it.
It is time for me to begin my quest.
Revenge is like gold. It does not rust.
It will wait.
I am ready.
You will get yourself killed.
I am ready.
I am.
I can never repay your kindness.
When I told you my shame, you did not disown me,
even though I'm hideous to men's eyes.
I have no eyes, so...
I can accept you.
I will always be grateful to you,
Swordfather.
Before I leave, Swordfather...
there's something more I must confess.
You have spoken enough nonsense today.
We cannot part in a lie.
That is your burden to keep.
- I have made your swords unclean. - Quiet!
You came to me as a stupid lost boy.
If you insist on leaving now, it will be as a stupid lost man.
If you must do this,
take a sword.
I already have one, Swordfather.
Ah!
Peaches.
This season, on Blue Eye Samurai...
You have enemies now. Rich ones.
All Kyoto is talking about
the unnamed Samurai who cut through Shindo Dojo.
You will not find what you seek at my side.
I know why you don't want me around, but you can trust me.
I'd never, ever, ever, ever tell anyone that you're a g...
If I see you again, I will kill you.
The cut is so clean.
It's not so bad. We'll be married.
Your father will never allow it now.
It wasn't even a duel. Therefore, you never lost.
He must have left a trail.
You cost me my station and my honor.
I'll have it all back when I return with your corpse.
I've been a captive my whole life.
I won't be locked away married to a stranger.
I just have to find Taigen.
I always dreamt of greatness.
Ahh!
You think you can be great?
I've actually seen what greatness looks like.
You don't want revenge.
Revenge does not hesitate.
There's something I need to tell you.
Fowler's castle is impenetrable.
Some problems you can't kill.
An offer?
You have murder in your eyes.
He deserves to die.
Ten years I've waited for this moment.
Your guns will be ready?
They are all ready.
I want to see all of you. Show me.
Don't hold back.
I'm on the path of revenge.
There's no place on it for love or friendship.
I have no interest in money or power.
I have no interest in being happy.
Only satisfied.