Mizu's Mother

Mizu's "Mother" was a supporting female character in the Blue Eyed Samurai series, she was murdered by Mizu's late husband, Mikio.

## Synopsis

Mizu's "Mother" was a native Japanese woman and prostitute who was raped by one of the four white men in Japan during the 1630's which caused her to give birth to a mixed race daughter in 1637-1638, whom she called Mizu. At one point when Mizu was still a new-born, she was encouraged to kill the baby, due to her being considered "impure" "a monster" and "a disgrace" by society and an assassin would almost slash a baby Mizu to death, until he was knocked out. Mizu's mother would then hurriedly escape the village with her baby to live and raise her in a wooden hut in a forest, outside of Kohama village, here she would also disguise Mizu as a boy, due to many assassins being sent to track down and kill the mixed race girl. Based on one of Mizu's memories, her mother would tell a child Mizu, to not open the door of their home or go outside during a dangerous time, but a curious Mizu, would walk out of the home, exposing her and endangering her and her mother's lives. Sometime after this, Mizu assumed her mother been killed by the hands of assassins after she was unable to find her and made a memorial to her mother and vowed to live her life to avenge her murderers and kill all the white men in Japan, including the man who caused her to be born. Mizu would then live in Kohama Village alone, here everyone believed she was a boy and that the mixed race girl (who was really her) that lived close to them had been successfully assassinated. Meaning Mizu's mother's deception paid off. Mizu however was treated as an outcast, scorned and bullied by her fellow children, who insulted her for being mixed race (her blue eyes giving this away) and even beat her up, however Mizu would try her best to defend herself and physically fought her bullies.

When Mizu, would ask a black market owner about finding the white men who supplied opium, she was insulted, beaten and stabbed with a knife by the men of the shop, leaving her injured. Mizu, being left in a pitiful and desperate condition would walk the streets, begging people to help her, but everyone ignored her. She would then find a bridge lined with prostitutes who spoke to her kindly, on this bridge however Mizu would recognise the women at the very end as her mother, Mizu was surprised and happy her mother was still alive, who took her to her home, allowing Mizu to rest and tended to her wounds, Mizu's mother remarked that she had grown up to be honouranble, the two lived together happily taking care of each other, due to authorities believing she had been assassinated, Mizu could live as a woman.

One day, Mizu's mother told her that she had found Mizu a husband- a disgraced Samurai and horse trainer named Mikio. She shared he needed a strong wife to help him with the chores on the ranch. Mizu was reluctant on her mother's match and told her she did not want to be his wife, but her mother warned her that continuing to pursue her vow of vengeance would draw dangerous attention. After she threatened to go back to prostitution, Mizu reluctantly agreed to the betrothal, and they went to live with Mikio on his ranch in the mountains. Mikio and Mizu would slowly grow fond with and fall in love with each other, but Mikio's heart hardened towards Mizu, when they had a duel together, where Mizu defeated Mikio, holding a fearful Mikio down with a blade to his neck. This would make Mikio dismiss Mizu as a monster and he became distanced from her, even giving away the horse he had given to Mizu, Kai instead to his Lord.

Mizu's mother who was living with the couple in their home, spoke to Mizu expressing disappointment in the downfall of Mizu's marriage remarking "I made you tea of golden leaves, and you *spat* in it." showing that she thought her daughter had not lived up to the match she had made for her . Shortly after this conversation, Mizu found herself ambushed by assassins, similar to the ones who came to kill her as a child and in a blind fit of rage and sorrow for Mikio's rejection of her, mercilessly killed all of the assassins using Mikio's *naginata*. When Miko returned pleading forgiveness for his cowardice, she accused him of turning her in to the samurai, but he blamed her 'mother', who had returned to smoking opium. Mizu's 'mother' protested, saying she only went out to sell herself to make money for them and to get her 'medicine' while blaming Mikio to be the cause of the attack on Mizu, sharing that he probably told his lord about Mizu, to get back in good graces with him and obtain his reputation back, also remarking that she could never betray Mizu being her mother. Mikio flew into a rage when his mother-in-law called him weak, and called her a "lying whore", causing the two to get into a verbal and physical fight, Mizu ignoring the violent squabble walked away to her own heartbreak as Mikio stabbed her 'mother' to death in a blind fit of rage. As he approached Mizu from behind, insisting he loved her, Mizu turned and hurled a kitchen knife into his chest, avenging her 'mother'.

As revealed by Abijah Fowler in the Season One finale, however, Mizu's "mother" was really a maid paid to keep her hidden "until the money ran out", while her real mother had been killed not long after her birth. This means that her 'mother' had been lying to her from the start.

## Appearance

Mizu's Mother was a typical looking Japanese woman of average height and weight with beige skin, dark brown eyes and jet black hair she wore in an updo, she had a slightly wide nose and dressed in Kimonos. Many years later when an adult Mizu reunited with her she was shown to have aged, having wrinkles. She was also seen on the day she reunited with Mizu wearing a more opulent kimono than unusual with makeup- consisting of white foundation with red lipstick and red blusher.

## Personality

Mizu's 'mother' did look after her for many years, though this was at least partly due to pay from an unknown source. While she *did* keep Mizu safe, hidden and fed, and they shared some moments of warm affection during Mizu's childhood, she increasingly neglected her after becoming addicted to opium (part of this may have been due to the stress of her dangerous position, or being introduced to it at the brothel) and would hit Mizu if she even approached their hut's windows. It is unknown exactly what happened to her after the fire that destroyed their home (though the burns on her face hint at injuries from the fire, implying she most likely didn't sell Mizu out as a child), but she made no effort to find Mizu afterwards, claiming she 'would be better off on her own' when in fact Mizu was nearly killed by bullying children before Eiji took her in. but her resolve to do so faded as time went on.

Her claims that "the gods had brought them back together", complimenting Mizu's strength and honorable nature, and that she would look after Mizu again in adulthood, were in contrast to her spending Mizu's earned money on more opium, and guilt- tripping her into a marriage Mizu clearly did not want (at first). One could attribute this to her 'mother' trying to fulfill the traditional role of a woman in Japanese society, and it would have seemed borne out initially, with Mizu finally finding some stability and happiness in her marriage. however, her 'mother' showed Mizu clear resentment for trying to cure her addiction to opium, and reprimanded or scorned her every time she failed to meet Mikio's expectations of a wife, large or small.

It remains to be seen, if it was her or Mikio who gave up Mizu's location to the samurai in the end. Regardless of the fact that she was not Mizu's biological mother and that most of society considered Mizu a monster, she *did* look after her initially, and kept her safe through at least part of her childhood without giving her away; however, she gave her little to no emotional support, and her addiction to opium (and manipulation of Mizu to enable it) strained their relationship. Regardless, Mizu's emotional trust for her was destroyed, and she made no effort to save her when Mikio killed her- though she avenged her by killing Mikio herself, moments later.

## Relationships

### Mizu

She protected and raised the hated, outcast daughter of a white man and a Japanese woman who was named Mizu. She disguised the child as a boy and made her believe she was her mother, having been employed to keep her alive from assassins who wanted to kill her, in exchange for money from an unknown source. However later she would abandon her "daughter" and work as a prostitute, her and Mizu would however later cross paths and reunite when she was an adult, and the two would live together and take care of each other, she even organised Mizu's marriage to Mikio, a disgraced Samurai and lived with the couple. She appeared as a loving and caring mother to Mizu, successfully deceiving her and using this relationship to benefit her own life too. After she left Mizu as a child, she claimed that this was to let Mizu live freely. It is unknown if she truly grew to love and care for Mizu or if this was a mere act.

## Trivia

- Her personal name was never revealed in the series.

- Her ‘medicine’ is opium.

- It is unknown if she named Mizu.