The only part of The Last Samurai I found myself turning my nose up at was the ridiculous aspect of romance between Captain Algren and Taka, which truly was just unnecessary. While I love a good empowering female character (Zootopia is my favorite movie, partly because it’s adorable and partly because Judy Hopps is a strong and independent lead female character), Taka’s involvement in this unneeded romance almost ruins her character for me. As the only prominent female character in The Last Samurai, Taka represents the film’s view of women, which while initially empowering, reduces her with the introduction of romance. Although unintentional, it seems that The Last Samurai does capture society’s opinion of women in that, at the end of the
