"your bones break like a woman's" was such an incredible line for a dude who's a fucking sadistic psycho. imagine how many ribcages had this asshole broken to know the difference. a great example of brilliant writing which is present through the whole show, kudos to the authors.
Shame he, apparently, didn't actually break anything, despite all the overblown crunching and sounds of anguish. Kinda dropped the ball not adding a handicap to the lead, a physical sacrifice toreach her goal. Despite all the seeming damage she takes, nothing seems to stick, which was punctuated by that fall from the tower. Hope the first episode addresses her recovery on the long trip to Europe at least.
@@Logamer-tn6db Her plot armor is annoying As batman, who was a cool Character until they made Him overpowered for no Reason & just ruining his Character, mizu's plot Armor makes me not Care for her character Going forward, she Doesnt suffer anything Its just dissolved like a small scratch.
Fowler is a breath of fresh air to me. He's not the usual stereotype of the Irishman who hates the British, even though he personally has every reason to do so. Instead he became one of them, which not enough people realise, many did.
If you hate english-doesn't mean you can't be british. If you hate russian-doesn't mean you can't be slavic. If you hate prussians-doesn't mean you can't be germanic. Simple as that.
@@LivonianGuysorry to say but your examples are simply dumb as they aren't connected to british bit as british is a nationality so people in india were british etc. Russia and slavs is kinda dumb to as Russians can be slavs but not whole Russia is slavic and slavs from what i remember originated from either Poland or Ukraine. Prussians and germans is even weirder as if you were refering to Prussians as nationality then that's not a thing in a long time and if you were refering to prussian tribes i am not sure if they weren't slavic, but refering to be germanic you are talking to big group that definitelly includes Germans, French, English, etc. So your point is wrong as to be British by all means is a choice and not inherited thing
Aight, bet. I’ve seen some really fancy guns with all the fancy gubbins and engravings and inlay, on RU-vid and in museums. There are some beautiful guns, as perverse as that statement may sound.
@@connormclernon26 It is perverse... but no more than saying a sword is beautiful. We all can admire incredible craftsmanship... even when the object in question is made to kill.
@@connormclernon26 I think what he meant is. For swords, for spears or even bows there are martial arts. They often incorporate a philosophy. Like Iaijutsu, a art of un sheathing sword in right time and fast enough. For guns. There no exactly a martial arts. You just take it, reload, then shoot.
@@jetblackvelvet1425 100% agreed. what did he say, "every bite"? dude has a messed up past, you'd almost feel bad for him if you didn't see him act like such a monster
@@friendlyneighborhoodinquis1682 Yeah. Got resourceful in a famine. Parents died early, leaving him and his sister cathcing rats. The rats ran out quick, so he fed her on his blood; kept her alive a couple more days. When she died, he cut out her kidneys before sendoff. He decided that it would be the very last thing he would do because he had to. Now, he is in full control of his life, every bite. He enjoys any other person’s suffering plainly because he feels in even more control in whatever way he may, which keeps his most traumatic fear at bay. It’s just a tragic story for a character that makes for a beautifully horrifying monster of a man.
What makes Fowler so disturbing, to me at least, is that he never raises his voice or truly rages. He stays calm and collected, if a touch angry at times, throughout the show. Everything he does is done deliberately and with a clear head.
There is no doubt in my mind that he's a psychopath. Like you said he's deliberate and thinks with a clear head I think that's because he does not feel the same range of emotions as regular people.
When Abijah was painting and at the end of the scene, it showed the room he had been relaxing in, with a dead man’s body and his entrails thrown over and around a taxidermies bull. The insanity of this man’s evil-he literally finds it beautiful, aspirational. An art form. A meticulously gruesome murderer. In this way, Mizu and Elijah are foils. They have turned death into a craft. They have perpendicular relationships with death. One who squeezes every last drop of satisfaction out of the experience with a list for blood, and one who approaches it with an icy, unemotional detachment except for a silent screaming rage. Both with outrageous skill
Even his speech emphasis how skilled he is (wich im sad it wasnt included), he spented 10 years trying to pass the time, he cleary started with things he enjoyed (Sex, Torture, Fighting, Swordmanship) and then moved on to things he hates (painting, writting and other forms of art) because thats how bloody bored he was. Hes an incredibly fun and unredeemable villain.
When i first heard fowler talk about his past and how he was forced to eat his own sister to survive, i thought the series would try and make him sympathetic. God am i glad he stayed the same unapologetic evil asshole he was meant to be
it just showed how fucked in the head he was. Imagine what a joke everything is after that. like how he finds the Japaneses’ politeness funny, he almost seems insulted by it.
The conflict that led to that famine when he was "just a boy" was most likely "The Nine Years War" in Ireland which ran from 1593 to 1603. And since this episode takes place most definitely in 1657 Fowler must be near 60 years old right?
@@philipplyanguzov9090 Bruh at least his story makes More sense then mizu which Was so convulted i didnt Know why she was after Revenge at all, her mom Wasnt her real mom & The men that made her Arent responsible for Mizu's anguish thats Japans racist culture I honeslty would find Her more interesting If she was taught to Hate herself & she Became a racist Trying to rid herself Of her "White half" Her father or people That are like her But they instead Made it seem like It was the white mens Fault not japans culture who Caused this to begin With & allowed the white Men to be there & even Hid one against his will To benefit them.
the one thing that make Fowler a good villain is that he is both charismatic and smart. Fowler is not some super emotional villain who is obsessed with revenge or is easy to provoke, he doesn't go out of his way to go after the hero. he focuses on the big goal, for him what matters is the big plan, Mizu is more like a side quest or something like that. It is very clear that he is a pragmatic businessman before being a villain he dont go " curse you Mizu, i will have my revenger not matter the cost" he is more " Well this has been fun, but if you'll excuse me I have to take care of business"
Thats his fractured Psyche from what he went through as child having to literally eat his own sister because Of the famine he went Through, its horrifying When you think about it Abijah is scarier then most Horror villains.
It's really great to see a villain that has been so fleshed out and isn't just a 1 dimensional big baddie for the main protagonist to wail on. He's intelligent, ruthless, cunning, and competent to a scary level. By the end of the season I was firmly invested in his story and didn't want him to be killed off. He hats off to the writers with this one.
When i saw the trailer i thought He was gonna be a inept goofy Racist weak white british guy that The female character was Gonna beat up easily, but instead i found a tragic complex, evil genuis Who had to fight his whole Life to survive, hes propably Been discriminated too But he instead works To be the best & works To acheiving his goals.
There was this one other live action show called 'The Terminal List' that was also about revenge and they also built up an antagonist for the first couple episodes for the audience to anticipate the confrontation. The problem with that show was the protagonist killed him off so easily and without much satisfaction. No clever back and forth struggles between the two, he was just killed off and the story moved on to another target. Shows need to understand how important it is to push the conflict to new limits and keep the audience guessing what will happen. Blue Eye Samurai does a great job with it's cast and I have high hopes for it's future success.
I feel as though villain's like Abijah have always been abundantly rare because there's only so many ways you can write them. Up until he regale's Heiji with his origin story he was just an ostentatious hedonist, psychopath and brilliant tactician. When he tells the story of his sister and family you understand in that moment why he is the way he is. Watching your own parent's starve to death, eating rats then starving after they'd gone, feeding your sister your own blood for two weeks, and to top it off cannibalizing a small part of your own sister before respectfully burying her just so you don't starve to death yourself. This is a man who knows what it is to suffer in ways most of the human race would rather turn a blind eye to. He knows people would eagerly sell their own children for a few extra gold coin's. He knows a king or a shogun smiles and waves to their people while they sit on thrones built by blood and greed. He is the definition of irredeemable, but what makes him great is that redemption is ABSOLUTELY not what he's seeking or that he even believes in it at all. A character who is a direct consequence of the world being grotesque and unfair behind it's fancy silk curtain's.
I feel like his reasoning for being evil is "sure I do bad things, but I spent my entire life watching people around me do the worst things imaginable, so what's wrong with me doing something that's normalized? Don't get mad at me for my bad actions, be mad at the world for teaching me that all the horrible things that I've seen and done are okay to do."
More like showing a big man. It wasnt and isn’t exclusive to irish, and has never been a common trait in mainland countries( the ones that live in island are big though, i dont recall their names, samoans? Was it? I dont remember)
The whole attempt to double cross fowler and take the gun shipment only for them to be smuggled in pieces in pianos and one of the conspirators to be the target practice was a good scene. Especially since there's no way Fowler didn't know that the one hand guy was in on it. The whole scene has this "this could have been you, so be grateful I didn't make it so" message
Here's a thing about Fowler I don't see brought up at all and I think is rather interesting, he a traitor to his people. Fowler is Irish but is working on behalf of the English in Japan. I don't know if the show will go into that aspect of things, but I think it'd be interesting if in season 2 when Mizu is in Britain if they run into some Irish folk who learn about Fowler working with their oppressors and justly wanting their own pound of meat off the damned traitor.
The thing is, we never see Fowler mention the empire or the british, i suspect that he dont work for the empire, he is just a Independent businessman, he and the other 3 were partners who saw an opportunity to explore the Japanese market and did it themselves
@@rafaelsantos-nl9jd They probably had the British crowns support. I don't think that means fowler in perticular thinks of himself as an allie to a crown the only person he has respect for is himself and Japan just happened to be in a achievable goal for him to conker not yet having firearm of their own.
I mean when it comes to colonialism the main reason it succeeds is cause the native people have a sense of self preservation. Fowler would’ve been one of the Irish that was ok with being colonized by the British cause it let him live
@@gamerstheater1187 That sense of self-preservation usually taking the form of the invading empire being less brutal or less incompetent than the one being invaded.
@@rafaelsantos-nl9jd He does include himself when talking about the British though, 1:40 " No one murders so well as the British, its OUR number one export," While I don't think he works for the crown or anything, nor do I think he's loyal, I do think he aligns himself with the British, probably because they're known for being as brutal as him. He's also most likely lived there as well and probably hates them all. I would not be shocked if we get more backstory on him, and he talks about being discriminated against in Lundon before he got to where he is now.
To be fair I think RU-vid would've instantly demonetized this video if they showed any of the brothel scenes. If you've found any that haven't been, please let me know.@@jaimebabb9968
Of all the things he did, it's the part where he makes fun of the guys studdering that made me go "Oh Come On Dude!". He's the best villain I've seen in a long time.
I love how his lines make him both completely evil and intelligent. "We invented worse first. Not fair, but here we are." Also, he's the only one who realizes Mizu's a woman due to his sadistic habits.
What gives me the most chills about Fowler? Besides him being chaos in human form... it's scary to see a man that size and with that much strength never raise his voice. Fowler may be pissed off, but he never raises his voice or freaks out or anything. Silent anger. This is more frightening than a person who vents his anger. Plus, I love hating Abijah. It's been a while since I've seen such a well-crafted villain.
I have my suspicion Abijah knew very well his partner was behind the mutiny against him but just kept him alive to use his resources n would've killed him after n if his plan had gone through.
i like how he seemingly isn't even that afraid of dying. Like an empty husk, who only exists to sow pain and misery, spiteful at the world around him. This man has been dead for years.
This guy is a bastard and easily my favorite character of the show. Here's what I think will happen in season 2. Mizu will drag him along and make him her English translator since they're in London now, so a scene will happen where Fowler will deliberately mistranslate the words being spoken to rile up Mizu and make her almost kill an innocent person. It'll happen like this. Mizu: (Speaking Japanese) Excuse me sir, have you seen or heard of a man named Skavington? Brit: What did he say? Fowler: He wants to know what you know about Mr. Skavington. Brit: Oh yeah he owns a fishing company and Blah Blah Blah. Fowler: Appreciate that. Mizu: What did he say? Fowler: Oh! Are you going to stand for that?! Mizu: what Fowler: He just called you a yellow faced, pajama wearing, worm-eyed, gobshite! And he wants to challenge you to a fight! Mizu being Mizu draws her sword and nearly raises it to his throat but then she stops to hear Fowler laughing his ass off.
You know what I think is also possible? I think Mizu might have some more “maybe” half-siblings in Europe or anyway else Fowler may have gone. After all, he didn’t how the power to bump off or imprison his illegitimate children until he went to Japan. They could be anything - a highwayman, a noblewoman, an accountant, a barmaid - and these can provide some interesting dynamics and viewpoints.
I dunno why but his introduction scene with the painting is hauntingly brilliant. He finishes it and states how much he hates it, how much wasted time being good at it represents then burns it and leaves the room. Revealing the actual gory mess he'd been painting. A man that sadistic that he'd have a man and beast killed, just to have something to paint, something that he hates doing but is so bored he feels compelled to. Something he just discards when finished. Just such an effective way to reveal how little life means to him and how evil he is.
I love how massive he is compared to everyone else in the show. It really adds believabilty to Japan thinking of white people as demons; he's practically a bull in a china shop
And I liked that his size and strength actually meant something. I don't care how skilled a fighter you are, if you go up against somebody twice your size and all muscle, you're probably going to lose. There's a reason professional fights have weight classes.
@@MrClickity they manged to be him in the end but yea it was a struggle. though i would say that he didn't fight them when they were really at full strength either, they had fought their way through several people by then.
This guy is such a good villain because I felt actual fear and anxiety with him on screen. Not only are his words scary, but his appearance is scary, too. He's so unpredictable. Not much is told about him. And there are so many villains in media that are redeemed at the end, so having one that stays true to their roots is refreshing and makes it that much more anxiety provoking.
I agree. It seems like they have made every villain recently. Sympathetic, redeemable, or even relatable. They seem to lose sight of the fact that there are genuinely just evil people in the world. And often, that is the kind of person it would take to do such things. And at least from my experience, they are more common than not.
I guess this is based around when the europeans brought guns to japan, right? Because, crazily enough, japanese went so in love with matchlock arquebuses that theirs became some of the best of the time and the strategies used on the battlefield were half a century ahead on their europeans counterparts.
No this is after that, the Portuguese introduced matchlocks and was used in the Sengoku Jidai before flintlocks were made, this is during their isolation period.
The show takes some liberties with the history it's based on, the shogun absolutely had guns at the time this is set but it's more narratively satisfying for that to not be the case in the show
The Japanese have a habit of imitating, and then improving upon things they encounter. It happened with matchlocks, as you mentioned, and another notable example is Japanese whiskey. A Japanese man went to Scotland for his education, tried whiskey, and said "hmmm, nice. But I wonder if I could do better?" And then he arguably did. There's a core cultural focus in Japan on the refinement of your craft, and it shows whenever they gain an interest in an outside creation.
@@corbinpearce7686 Would only that they hadn't chosen to enter into a period of enforced isolation. They might have encountered more things and been in a more technologically advanced state when the European powers came around. Now admittedly, that didn't help China or a number of other Asian, African or South American powers, but Japan had the advantage of being an island nation. Less regional powers to worry about. Much like the British Isles. Then again, given what Japan got up to when they did get around to developing Imperial ambitions, perhaps that was for the best.
I had no idea who was voicing him right up until he said “2,000 rifles” and then I was like “oh shit that’s Kenneth Branagh” there’s juuust enough of that Walking With Dinosaurs-esque inflection that I could recognise him
The scene where he talks to Jesus in the church they made him is the moment he became Iconic for me. Such a dive into his psyche and how he sees things.
He's possibly one of the best villains I've ever seen, unapologetically evil, uncompromising, and yet not one dimensional. He has a painful and tragic background and is the definition of a man forged of hate and fury. But he is intelligent, highly skilled and even philosophical in his adamantly evil position. He reminds me of Moriarty from Sherlock Holmes if not quite so much a mirror to Holmes as a foil to our more ignorent, underestimated, innocent, Blue eye avenger.
It’s crazy how he is both irredeemably vile, yet likable. He never came off quite as a mustache twirling villain while also repeatedly showcasing just how horrible of a person he is. Season two, with presumably him and Mizu sharing one of the storylines, will be fascinating to watch.
This is why I knew he’s an awesome villain. When he found out Mizu is a woman he just found it more entertaining that she’s one who doing all the killings just to get to him. Just something to have fun in life.
such a well written villain, you know you did good when everyone loves hating him, and when you feel conflicted hearing the tragedy that made the monster
The monologue in the chapel is my favorite. His faith is shown to be genuine, but twisted by his narcissism. Its basically him treating God as a business associate, someone he has respect for because he fell for his "con" once upon a time himself. And the fact that he leaves it off trying to strike a Faustian bargain with the Son of God, shows how deliciously twisted he is. TL;DR Fowler is proof that you can write a pure evil villain and still have him be a complex character
He’s not defeated yet, plus Netflix forced them to squeeze the last 2 episodes into 1 to save budget. They did fairly well though for 2 episodes merged into a single one.
@@Sovlstrr He's been defeated, bud. As a result of Abijah Fowler losing to his daughter, "the Blue-eyed Samurai," he was confined within a brig; presumably in preparation for a voyage to London, England. If that isn't considered defeat, I do not know what is.
i think it's somewhat intentional given the fact that depsite her personal growth away from absolute revenge, Mizu's revenge still burns down tokyo, symbolic of her revenge burning down every connection she's made, every moment of growth she's had. Mizu's revenge isn't complete until Fowler AND the two remaining targets are dead. And, as Abijah states, the other two being in London is a huge problem for Mizu. In Fowler's eyes this is just another way to meet his end goal, which was to get the fuck outta Japan and go back to England. I wouldn't be surprised if he had some sort of plan as to what to do when he and Mizu get there. I'll just be interested to see which direction they take their relationship in, whether they will continue to go for each other's throats or whether they will work together in a way.
the big thing is, Fowler is Irish, he is a minority, he spend his whole life being treated with prejudice, both in Europe and Asia, so he speaks from experience
Я поражаюсь как этот человек может одновременно быть таким серьезным, умным и ужасающим и при этом все еще смешным. Более того, как он может быть одновременно ужасным злодеем и садистом и при этом вызывать симпатию у меня как у зрителя? Браво, сценаристы!
It's like the wise men of time have said "Every generation ,has its Lucifer". And Fowler is a living, breathing incarnation of that enemy of old. But is Fowler really the enemy? Or just another pawn whose desire it is to be king? Lucifer is the same way. Cold, calculated, but he doesn't overtly disrespect his creator. He even said in the church he would allow priests and create a nation of converts. He plays with his enemies, and uses them as playthings. Fowler is not entirely evil, he just serves a greater purpose. And no matter how cruel, how messed up we think he is? There is always a reason for his madness. He serves only to his own ends. He uses others to spread his cruelty, but in the end, wasn't Japan already renowned for their cruelty in battle? He just gave them a more efficient way to kill. He doesn't spread the evil, the evil only spreads because others follow him willingly. So just as Lucifer, he only needs followers to further his goals.
There’s something I just realized:In Japanese culture, the number 4 is considered a cursed number, and if you give someone four things, the fourth thing is going to be cursed. Mizu’s mom was r@ped by four men.
.... or was it rape? Heavily implied the woman who raised mizu isn't her real mother. Someone tried to kill her as a child, but was instead killed and the woman was sent off with her. PEeps were pursuing her for years and yet we never truly learn why. the only logical explanation i can think of for her presence there is that she was some kinda maid. implying that whomever mizu's mother is was someone of a family with enough rank in society to have a maid. Could be she was some 'family shame' deal. as it seems unlikely that the four dudes could rape someone of a high rank like that and get away alive.
i loove the way he looks up and off in the distance after saying “your bones break like a woman’s” that little detail that we can see him think about what he just said and connect the dots is so cool to me. props to the animators
In the historical timeline they must arrive in Britain a few months before the death of Oliver Cromwell and fall of his regime, I wonder if they take part in it
@@brendalpinckard993 no yeah it was during the spring pilgrimage montage he then slits the guy’s throat and no yeah they’ve been in that castle 10 years together they almost certainly did some stuff during that time
@@jondoe2384But he did sleep with female prostitutes, impregnated them n proceeded to kill them n the children before they grew up. It wasn't implied that he could've been bisexual except that one time he made a prostitute eat him out with a mask on.
There's also nice part where he says to shogun that his guns spared Edo siege that would result in famine amongs children. Its nice kickback to what he been through during O'Neill uprising and seems he isn't so sadistic to want to inflict that on other people, despite him having quite a streak in sadism. His swordsplay is also mixture of european ane japanese swordfighting, using his strenght and body mass to his advantage.
I really appreciate how Fowler has this nuanced and subtle admiration for Japan's culture, and an acknowledgement of the unfair nature of imperialist practice and development of war from Europe. He's so much more than "I'll civilize you backwards savages" and is so self aware of the evil he's doing. Refreshing not to see it veiled under some delusions of virtue.
I wonder if they’re gonna go straight to London when the second season comes out or are they gonna show us them making stops around Eurasia and Africa before making it there?
In the Chapel scene, Abajah Fowler tries to bribe God into doing his bidding by offering him more followers if his plan succeeds. Is possibly a reference to a scene in the Bible where Satan tries to bribe Jesus with offers of money and power.
2:59 Is some really great characterization. He's a scumbag, but he's aware of it. He isn't relishing in racial superiority or anything like that, but just being realistic. He knows how other people will look at him and is so unbothered by it.
He literally reminds me of me of,a HUMAN,version,of LORD SHEN,and just one of the BEST way,to exemplify that,is the episode where he,stormed that fortress,AND moed down all those guards,in the process,basically he,AND,shen give a whole NEW,meaning to the saying,never bring a KNFE,to a GUN fight.
Honestly, by the end of the show he was kinda my favorite character and I was hoping he wouldn’t die, we need more villains that are just gleefully evil.
