Taigen

**Taigen** is a character in the Netflix series, *Blue Eye Samurai*, who is voiced by Darren Barnet.

## Biography

Taigen was born the son of a fisherman in the village of Kohama, on the central eastern coast of Japan between Kyoto and Edo. His childhood was not easy, as his father was a drunk and would beat him if the day's fishing was unproductive. Disgusted with his father's 'failed' lifestyle, he resolved to one day move beyond it and leave Kohama, seeing the romanticized life of a samurai as the only way to do so. He remarks at one point that the only good thing about Kohama was its fish dumplings.

Taigen grew strong and assertive even as a boy, and soon established himself as the leader of the local children. He heard rumors about the hut at the edge of the woods, which was rumored to contain a "demon child." One day, as he and his friends were playing on the edge of the woods, they encountered Mizu (who they mistook for a boy, due to her 'mother' having shaved her head) and were frightened by her unusual appearance, due to her half-Caucasian heritage.

After Mizu's hut was burned down and her mother disappeared, she scavenged around Kohama, with Taigen remarking that he'd caught her digging through his trash at least once; he and the other children bullied her whenever they saw her. During a rainstorm one evening, they chased her through the village, finally cornerning Mizu on a nearby cliff and suggesting she jump. Taigen ripped off her makeshift mask to reveal her unusual blue eyes, saying their round shape made him think of a dog, and that her "whore mother killed herself, because your father is a white devil." Enraged, Mizu attacked him and knocked him down, landing several blows on the other children before being knocked down herself. His pride moving him to rage, Taigen lifted a heavy stone, intending to bash her head, but he and the others were suddenly frightened off when a meteorite crashed into the cliff nearby. Mizu disappeared from Kohama after that, though Taigen was unaware that she was living nearby as the apprentice of Master Eiji, a blind swordsmith whom he greatly respected.

After his father's death, Taigen eventually left Kohama and made his way to Kyoto to fulfill his dream of becoming a samurai. He became a student at the Shindo Dojo, perfecting his skills there until he was the Dojo's reigning champion, winning twenty-four officially sanctioned duels, all with his opponents dead rather than simply to first blood. While there, he won the favor of a local *daimyo*, Lord Tokunobu Daiichi (who was also common-born) and developed a mutual attraction to Daiichi's daughter, Akemi. By the start of the series, though somewhat arrogant, Taigen was well-versed in and took seriously the traditional values of *bushido* (the samurai's strict code of conduct, which they are supposed to follow though in practice many did not) and had officially obtained the social rank of samurai, though he was not a landowner.

## History/Synopsis

#### Episode 1

Taigen secretly meets with Akemi in the gardens at her family's castle, exchanging gifts (he wistfully remarks that he only brought her a candy, whereas she gifts him a decorative golden comb). Akemi informs him that her father has agreed that they can be married, and they embrace happliy.

Later, Taigen is at the Dojo, drinking and celebrating his engagement with his friends (and flirting with a pair of women) when the Dojo's Second calls him away, sporting visible bruises across his face and saying they have a problem. Peering through a hole in the screens, Taigen witnesses a strange traveler wearing tinted glasses, violently defeating several Dojo students with a *bokken*. Fitting Akemi's comb into his *chonmage* for good luck, Taigen enters the room and demands the stranger's identity (not realizing who she is, or that she is female) before knocking her down; recognizing him, she remarks he is from Kohama village, and has "risen to some heights since then... to be the prize of a *miserable* lot." Though she promises to leave as soon as she's seen the Master, Taigen claims she will only leave as a corpse for having disrespected his school. They duel evenly with *bokken* for some time, both of them using throwing maneuvers and dealing the other lumps, before Taigen throws his *bokken* and breaks hers, throwing her backward and knocking her glasses off. When she glares up at him, blue eyes uncovered, Taigen recognizes her as Mizu, and is startled. The Second insists Taigen must kill her, so that no dishonor may fall on him or the Dojo. The duelists move to the snow-covered courtyard and draw their *katanas*, Taigen noticing with surprise that Mizu's is marked with Master Eiji's insignia.

After both of them attempt to counter-predict each other's strikes, Taigen charges when a snowflake blurs Mizu's vision, but she uses her sword to create a diversionary spray of snow, disorienting him. In the initial clash, she draws first blood by grazing Taigen's neck, but when they lock blades he slices the front of her left shoulder and throws her back, disarming her. Holding his sword to her neck, he claims she will die today, then kicks her and moves away, offering her the chance to pick up her sword before he delivers the killing blow. However, Mizu suddenly unbuckles the armored training weights around her calves and forearms, revealing she was fighting with a handicap the entire time. They charge again, and this time Mizu cuts Taigen on the leg *and* side within seconds, disarms him, and pins him to the ground with her blade against his throat. Before she can kill him, she is interrupted by the Dojo Master, Lord Shindo, who finally allows her to deliver her message. Mocking that his students "need better training", Mizu reveals she actually came with a question: where to find his brother Heiji Shindo, a black market merchant. Astonished that she wreaked so much destruction on his school for one question, Shindo reluctantly answers her when she threatens to cut Taigen's throat. Having gained what she came for, Mizu starts to depart, but pauses when Taigen shouts after that she is "*still* a dog." Whirling around, she slices without fully drawing her blade and perfectly severs Taigen's *chonmage*, marking him as defeated and disgraced, to his horror; the Second and his fellow students turn away from Taigen with looks of contempt. Mizu takes Taigen's golden comb, gifting it to a starving mother and child as she leaves Kyoto.

#### Episode 2

Taigen visits Akemi in her chambers at her father's castle. Examining how precisely Mizu cut his topknot off without harming his scalp, he wonders why 'he' didn't just kill him. Akemi suggests Taigen simply shave the front of his head to disguise it (as it is fashionable for most nobles and samurai to shave the front and crown of their head) and says the Gods were sparing him for their marriage. When Taigen grimly notes that her father will never permit their marriage now, Akemi tells him she can convince him otherwise, but he declares he'd rather commit *sepukku* than live with the public shame. Akemi argues that, since the stranger (whom she refers to as "some *monster*") never *officially* made a challenge but simply 'attacked' the dojo, the defeat doesn't technically count.

Pulling off their clothes (to which the surprised Taigen asks if she is sure), she initiates sex, stoking his prideful ego (and libido) with a romantic description of a future, final duel between him and Mizu. However, her intention backfires slightly once they have finished with sex: Taigen reasons that Mizu could not have gotten far, that 'he' was looking for Heiji Shindo, and is arrogant and direct enough to go straight for him; Mizu would need to travel by sea, most likely through Mihonoseki. Believing that he can track Mizu down in short order and recover his lost honor by killing 'him' in a witnessed duel, Taigen prepares to leave, ignoring Akemi's requests to stay so they can marry first. When she blurts out "What if he *kills* you this time?", his pride is stung and he leaves even sooner.

Taigen rides west from Kyoto, following footprints in the snow until he comes upon a newly-felled tree near the road, noting the cut in it is as precise as the one that took his *chonmage*. He passes through the river checkpoint unhindered, his horse, sword and travel pass marking him as a privileged samurai. Reaching the cliffs above the nearby fishing town, he comes across Mizu and secretly watches her train. She nearly notices him, but departs unaware of his presence. Taigen then practices among the trees in preparation for their fight, cleaving several before visualizing Mizu as a giant, blue-eyed *oni*, which he attacks- only to get his sword caught in a particularly thick tree trunk, having only cut halfway through it.

During Mizu's duel with the Four Fangs, Taigen follows them down the cliffs. As Mizu duels the Fangs' leader Chiaki (having killed the other three) he runs behind a rock on the seashore, distracting Mizu and allowing Chiaki to wound her. After she kills Chiaki, Taigen emerges from behind the rock and draws his *katana*, saying he is owed his honor. Mizu replies he can come take it, and they charge each other, but she suddenly collapses from exhaustion and bloodloss, having taken several wounds. Taigen raises his sword above her, but cannot bring himself to kill a defenseless opponent.

#### Episode 3

As Taigen examines Mizu's injuries, he is suddenly tackled by her 'apprentice' Ringo, who assumes he attacked her. Taigen clarifies that he didn't, then suggests Ringo take his master to an abandoned mountain shrine nearby to recover. He follows them, carrying both Mizu's sword and the broken *katana* that Chiaki had carried. When they reach the shrine, Taigen questions Ringo's attempts to heal and feed Mizu, claiming he will kill Ringo if Mizu is allowed to die- then, has to be stopped by Ringo from accidentally eating a poisonous mushroom.

Later, Taigen writes out the contract for a duel between him and Mizu- who suddenly appears, holding him at swordpoint. Mockingly noting that she can barely stand let alone wield her blade now, he points out he could have easily killed her earlier but didn't. Claiming she owes him a legal rematch, he asks how long she needs before she's "well enough to die." However, Mizu quickly gets under his skin by referencing their previous battle and his severed hair, which he angrily blames on being drunk due to his now-canceled engagement- which he, in turn, blames Mizu for losing, along with his position at the dojo and his honor. He demands to know how long, to which Mizu replies "two days", and he offers three. Mizu scornfully remarks he *should* have killed her when he had the chance, reasoning "the time to kill your enemy, is when you *can*." which Taigen claims is dishonorable (for not following *bushido*). Mizu scoffs that he wants spectacle, not revenge, and that when she finds *her* target, she won't waste a second on ceremony. Taigen pridefully retorts "Then *you* are not a samurai at all... still a stray *dog*, eating out of my trash."

The next morning, Taigen is practicing with the broken *katana* he took from Chiaki's corpse (which Ringo privately remarks, is a "good fit for him".) A disturbance among the birds alerts him and Mizu to an intruder, and they both square off against a huge man with a war-club who emerges from the trees- until he offers them a scroll. Taigen reads aloud an overly-polite invitition from Heiji Shindo to meet with Mizu for tea, claiming to be a man of honor. He protests when Mizu accepts the invitation despite her injuries and the obvious possibility that the entire invitation is a trap, saying he needs her alive for their duel. However, she and Ringo still leave with Okiyama (the giant), forcing Taigen to join them.

Taigen is mesmerized by the winter beauty of the mountains they pass through, reciting a Buddhist sutra referencing Mt Sumeru (a sacred mountain in Buddhist cosmology) but Mizu remains impassive and silent. Taigen tries to make conversation about their childhood home, Kohama, describing his dislikes and reasons to forget it. Though dismissive, his emotions rise as he describes smelling fish on his father's fists when he was beaten and again at his father's deathbed. Taigen points out that according to his Buddhist ideology, there are 80,000 Dharma doors (paths of learning) but he only ever saw two as a child: the net, or the sword; hating the former and viewing it as no different from his father, he saw the latter as the only alternative. Unimpressed, Mizu curtly responds, "I *remember* Kohama" (referencing his bullying her as a child), and moves on.

At their camp that evening, noticing Mizu's wariness toward Okiyama, Taigen scoffs "He needs a weapon to kill you, like *you* need two hands to piss." He further mocks her for the near-certainty that they will be killed by ambush, either by night or tomorrow, ruining their chance to duel. Mizu offers to kill him now, if he prefers (getting a chuckle from Ringo). Taigen insinuates that Mizu let him tag along (which runs counter to her mantra of "revenge doesn't hesitate") because she needs his help, due to being 'weak' and insisting she's still "a malnourished urchin, on the street." Removing her glasses, Mizu counters that she can beat him now with any weapon he chooses, from a spear to a rock- then suddenly throws one of Ringo's chopsticks, with Taigen barely catching it before it hits his face. Taigen assumes a fighting stance and charges, but Mizu easily maneuvers around his strikes, trapping and twisting his wrist. Frustrated, Taigen strikes his free hand against her wound, momentarily gaining the initiative. However, Mizu quickly turns the tables, throwing him over her shoulder to the ground, pinning him down and holding her chopstick first against his groin, then stabbing at his face- only to retract it between her fingers, merely striking him lightly on the forehead with her knuckles.

Humiliated, Taigen angrily throws her off him, snaps both chopsticks in half and lunges at her; they roll through the snow and over the edge of the campsite. Pushing her down, Taigen sneers that he and the other children of Kohama used to scare each other with stories about the "monster boy" and his "whore mother" provoking Mizu to kick him off. She lunges at him, only for him to dodge, punch her stomach and push her against a tree, saying the children would dare each other to approach the hut, until it burned down. Taigen finally denounces her as a dog, scavenging Kohama's gutters. Enraged, Mizu suddenly knees him in the gut, then knocks him down with a punch to the face, breaking his nose; however, her hip wound has re-opened. Beaten, but content at having gotten under Mizu's skin, Taigen concedes "*Your* round", wipes the blood from his nose and walks away, leaving Ringo to attend to his Master.

As they continue the next morning, Taigen turns his attention to Ringo when the handless cook offers him a rice ball, remarking that in spite of his "ridiculous" choice of master, he is loyal. He offers Ringo a spot in his future entourage after Mizu is killed, condescendingly saying he can't have a half-limbed halfwit as an apprentice, but will find a space for him in the kitchens. Surprised, Ringo says he could never work for Taigen (to the latter's amazement), saying he always dreamt of greatness. When Taigen skeptically asks if Ringo thinks he can be great, Ringo remarks on the four fixed paths in society: farmer, artisan, merchant and warrior (samurai) and that he's never cared which he followed. Ringo claims he's now seen what greatness looks like (looking pointedly ahead of them, at Mizu) and declares that, even if he can't be great himself, he can *help* one who is. He moves ahead, leaving behind a dumbfounded Taigen protesting (half to himself) that *he* is great.

They soon reach a dark, icy ravine between the mountains and dismount. Taigen initially refuses to enter, but when Mizu does (against his protests) he follows to keep her alive, saying only he is allowed to kill her. Leaving him behind with Ringo, they pass through the ravine to a wide, enclosed space surrounded by cliffs; Shindo is waiting for them alone at a small encampment, leading Mizu to deadpan to Taigen that she was "just in the mood for tea." Taigen scoffs that it is still a trap as they join Shindo. He remains silent and listens through most of the conversation, learning the name of one of the four illegal European traders (Abijah Fowler) and Mizu's motivation for avenging herself on him. When Shindo offers Mizu 50,000 ryu in gold, plus lordship of the Sendai domain, Taigen acknowledges just how generous that offer is, but he is alarmed by the price: Mizu must assure Shindo of her good faith by cutting off her right thumb, rendering her unable to wield a sword and robbing Taigen of his promised duel. Mizu refuses this offer, to his relief, but he is even more incredulous of Shindo's counteroffer, to smuggle Mizu into Fowler's fortress in a *sake* barrel, claiming there is no guarantee of Mizu's escape.

When Shindo tries to pressure Mizu into entering the barrel, claiming his 'joke' about archers on the cliffs earlier was in fact true, Taigen is pleased when Mizu calls his 'bluff' and chops his arm off- but then horrified when the archers begin raining fire on them. He and Mizu take shelter behind the lid of Shindo's giant iron tea kettle, with Taigen (at Mizu's instruction) counting the time between the archer's firing and reloading. Shielding behind the lid, they endure several more volleys before reaching the ravine entrance, then continue unprotected. Though the archers can no longer volley directly at them, many arrows ricochet off rocks or ice, forcing them to use their swords; Taigen cleaves one arrow in half before it can hit Mizu, but takes another in his thigh. Realizing they will be even more exposed after they escape the ravine, he urges her to use his body as a shield, saying there is no reason they both have to die. However, Ringo suddenly rides into the ravine (shielding himself and the horse with extra saddles) and rescues them, riding away into the mountains.

Ripping the arrow from his leg when they stop in the forest and laughing at being alive, Taigen claps Ringo on the shoulder, praising him for his daring maneuver and defeat of Okiyama, saying there is some greatness in him after all. He then awkwardly compliments Mizu for knowing to count the archers' timing, while she compliments his timing in stopping the arrow from hitting her, praising his skills. She tells him to keep Chiaki's broken blade, though he claims it is hers, as she won it in battle. Realizing Mizu never meant to take either of Heiji's deals, and that he inadvertently showed her a way into the castle Taigen wonders what information gave it away to her, learning it was the cheap sake. Admiring her guile, Taigen points out it's a pity their duel is set for tomorrow, as it will hinder her revenge plans- only for Mizu to suddenly knock him out.

Taigen later awakens to find Mizu gone, and the broken blade left for him with a note. In it, Mizu praises him as a worthy opponent and offers him the proper duel he deserves; she promises to meet him on the second of autumn at the shrine, once her business is complete and she can give him full focus. As he vents his frustration over this, Taigen is suddenly siezed from behind by Okiyama. Stuffed into a *sake* barrel, he is later delivered to Shindo and Fowler on Tanabe Island, where they intend to question him about Mizu.

#### Episode 4

In "Peculiarities, Taigen is strapped to a cross and tortured by Heiji's thug, suffering blows, cuts and the removal of several fingernails as Heiji interrogates him. Despite Shindo pointing out that Taigen has only suffered humiliation and loss at Mizu's hands and he has no loyalty to 'him', Taigen remains defiant, claiming Mizu deserves a better opponent than Heiji; this prompts Heiji to order the torture to resume.

## Personality

Taigen starts out in Season 1 as arrogant, desperate for revenge and to reclaim his honor after Mizu cuts off his chonmage after Taigen insulted her. As the series progresses, though his honor is tested, Taigen proves to be a fair man, refusing to strike Mizu while she’s down and instead arranging for them both to duel on a later date, when they are both unhurt and fit for battle. Despite their differences, even when tortured for information about Mizu, Taigen refuses to give any information about her, proving his loyalty.