Ringo is one of the main characters in the Netflix animated action series, Blue Eye Samurai. The character is voiced by Masi Oka.
Ringo is an overeager and loyal soba maker who has had enough of his life of thankless servitude under his father at the restaurant, where he’s constantly derided, made fun of, and prejudiced against for having no hands.
Seeking greatness
At first, Ringo wishes to be a great samurai, and so when a blue-eyed samurai who can defeat even Hachi the gunman walks into his restaurant, he sees greatness firsthand.
As Mizu walks out after making quick work of the flesh trader Hachi, the soba maker with no hands wastes no time in packing up and following after the samurai.
Mizu tries to flick him off and is annoyed by his persistence, but the soba maker is no weak stick to break so easily. He follows and follows Mizu until the samurai can’t help but have him as an apprentice.
Helping greatness
Ringo wants to achieve greatness by becoming a great samurai despite having no hands. However, he also wants to be the greatest soba maker.
His illusions of grandeur in the soba-making talent are destroyed when he walks into a town where the soba makers are effortlessly way better than him at the craft.
This doesn’t mean he was ever arrogant about his skills as a cook, but he definitely gets a new perspective after this humbling discovery.
Meanwhile, witnessing greatness firsthand in the form of Mizu makes him realize he can’t touch greatness any more than he could swallow the sun. However, he realizes that he can help greatness, that he can help Mizu.
And he doesn’t just say it, he ends up helping Mizu out a great amount, even saving her life from sure death in many instances.
He proves to not just be useful, but also one who’s unafraid to dissent against his master when Mizu is blinded by her quest for revenge a bit too much.
Ringo upholds and expects his master to do the same when it comes to the honorable way of a samurai. His parting words of disappointment before he resigns from his position ring loudly in Mizu’s ears when she’s in a dire state during a bloody battle.
It helps her gain some perspective and withdraw for a while to save Taigen’s life, instead of letting themselves be killed in the heat of the vengeance-filled battle.
Ringo helps and assists his master until the very end, and when Mizu doesn’t come back to him after the battle at the Imperial castle, he returns to Mizu’s master’s place, grief-stricken and unsure in the absence of greatness.