Upon further viewing I removed the video I posted earlier, as I realized that past the first 10 minutes its utterly terrible and highly inaccurate. In case anyone watched it, here's a few notes for me to take the piss out of this garbage.
1. The whole painting the teeth black thing hadn't been practiced for centuries and was only among certain clans. (who were known to be a bit nasty to begin with) I don't know why western people still think this was so common.
2. The samurai weapons were not often placed near the front entrance of a home, as that would be stupid in the case of banditry. Naginata-ko (a shorter version of the weapon made for women, and the correct name) were often placed in the practice hall area (dojo) and in the inner sanctum of the household where the female was likely to be when a raid took place. Most male samurai armour and weapons were also kept in a special room together, also typically in the inner sanctum. These rooms could be placed near entrances, but almost never directly at them in the first room. When outside, female samurai often had places they could hang or place the naginata for quick access.
3. This documentary is terribly biased towards the Imperialist and western-sympathetic perspective. The area of Aizu in specific was known as kind and generous by standards of the time to the common populace, with strict laws for the samurai class to ensure balance. Especially in comparison to its peers. It was far from perfect or ideal, but it had the best quality of life for its time. It's why many fled there buring the Bakumatsu in the first place.
Unrest was growing in general due the arrival of foreigners and especially, the Americans. Who just like their modern equivalent, shoot first and ask questions later, and begun indiscriminately bombarding Edo and the surrounding areas with naval fire to force the government into unfair and exploititive trade agreements. Civilian casualties were the highest, and while the Shogun wanted to mount an immediate counterattack, the Emperor did not. Fearful the Emperor would invade with his new conquerors, the Shogun withheld and waited to see what would happen while trying to consolidate Aizu defenses.
4. Foreigners, especially military, were often documented as attacking and harassing locals, especially women. As well as getting wasted and causing trouble in general and property damage. Its amazing the Aizu waited as long as they did before retaliating against abuses. A very large number of Japanese women were abducted around this time and disappeared in the coastal districts. Given the new trade agreement the Americans forced on the Emperor when he yielded to their demands, the Japanese were forbidden to come anywhwere near foreign vessels in harbor, and had no jurisdiction to search them. Crikey, I wonder where they all went. Hubris.
This series of shitty events is what led to most of the unrest in the AIzu areas, as people were demanding the Shogun protect them and drive the foreigners out, since the Emperor would not. If I were alive then, I would've felt the same way.
Anyways, if you didn't see it, consider yourself fortunate. lol I'll have to find something in English thats actually accurate now.