Television Shogun

Blayt7hh said:
I heard it got picked up for a second season. I don’t know what they plan to do though as the book it’s based on is over. Also, the period of history it’s set in, the Sengoku civil war era ended and Japan enters a long period of peace.
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They could do the actual battle of Sekigahara and Toranaga's campaign to take over Japan.

Madmick said:
Agreed, the second two thirds of the season wasn't nearly as strong as the first 2-3 episodes. It got lost in the dynastic machination crap the same way Game of Thrones did, and too enamored with the superhero-like cleverness of its Shogun. It didn't realize what made it so gripping, early on, was the romantic tension between the translator and the Englishmen, the sense of discovery and confusion felt by a civilized man who is an alien in an equally sophisticated but strange land, and that none of these people really had a clue what the hell exactly was going on as all these empirical forces with divergent ambitions were colliding with East meeting West.

It definitely fell off.
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They completely left off all the complex political machinations Toranaga (Ieyasu) had to do to win at the Battle of Sekigahara.

GSP_37 said:
I'm almost done watching the original Shogun. Mariko and Anjin are flat out multiple times lovers, which seems different from the FX version. Anjin tells Mariko he wishes she was his designated sexual relations woman and next thing you know she shows up in the bathroom while he's in the tub and she gets buck naked in front of him while woman bathes her, then she pretends she's her maid or something and has sexual relations with him, then again later without any trickery.

The original Kiku actress wasn't bad, but only showed brief naked back and didn't have as many scenes as in FX version.

Original Anjin was like handsome James Bond, FX Anjin was like Groo the Wanderer.
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The Anjin in the books banged multiple whores and also bizarrely was constantly mentioned as having a huge penis. Like they made it a point for multiple characters to mention it. Obvious projection by the author.

It'd be kind of silly and dumb to put this in the FX series.
 
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Binged this over the extended holiday weekend. Was a good watch. I don't think I watched the original, but also didn't realize this was just a book in a series. Is the show just part of the book series, or just all of them condensed into 1 season?
 
greygoose said:
Binged this over the extended holiday weekend. Was a good watch. I don't think I watched the original, but also didn't realize this was just a book in a series. Is the show just part of the book series, or just all of them condensed into 1 season?
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Series of unrelated characters/times is what I hear.
 
Theres going to be more seasons? I got the jist the show was over from watching clips on youtube.
 
ferrisjso said:
Oh shit. I got the vibes the British guy was leaving forever.
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Even in the original, in the ending, Toranaga is like you can build another ship, but I'd fook it up again so you can't leave.

NHK World used to have a show called Imaginasian or something like that where one host was a European former K-1 fighter. This FX Anjin reminds me of him.
 
I finally got around to this.
It is well acted, looks beautiful, and has one of the strongest casts of just about any show I've seen. I'm interested in just about every character that speaks, and considering how many characters there are, they've done a good job of bringing them to life.
It does a good job at showing some of the nuances of Japanese culture, but there wasn't enough about Blackthorne and the Portuguese's culture. They show things where you can see the difference, but I didn't feel like I really knew what Blackthorne was really motivated by and who he is, and he probably had the most screen time.

It does seem uneven in parts though, and there are things I wish they focused a bit more on.
The planning that Torunaga was doing and how it all turned out went too over the top to the point that it made him look like an all knowing god.
I binged it in 2 days, so it was definitely entertaining at least.
 
I'm mad Mariko didn't show her private parts. In the original on Paramount+, she seemed more horny and the mildest hint of interest from Anjin got her to show up in his bath and get fully nude in front of him.

Also, there should have been way more Kiku nude scenes to establish she was the finest ho in the land and high in demand.
 
I finally got around to seeing this after all the hype I heard about. Not to mention I read the book as a teenager when I was super into samurai and feudal Japan. It was like a weeb's wet dream.

I had forgotten a lot of the details of the book so I can't really compare it. I definitely liked it even if I agree with some of the gripes about the show. The last episode was disappointing with no real climax. I think a season of a show should have an arc, a build up, climax, and an end even if it's a part of an ongoing series, but this season did not. There was build up and it just fizzled out. The journey was fun still at least.

I appreciate the use of Japanese actors speaking in Japanese and what looks to be very authentic costumes and set design. The confusion from the cultural difference was really captured well because it reminds me of the times traveling and going to different countries.

It was a bit weird to me that the Japanese speak Japanese but the Portuguese speak English. I know that the English is supposed tp be "Portuguese" but didn't they say in the beginning that Blackthorne didn't speak it that well? It seems like it's his native language.

Jarvis grew on me but he does not have the most charismatic screen presence or range. It seems he only knows how to brood or scream. He also acts a bit too modern for me. He didn't quite feel like an Englishman from that time period to me, but rather almost like a modern westerner who traveled back in time. The other European characters felt more authentic.
 
Just started it, show is awesome

I put it with Rome and early seasons of Vikings, wich is huge
 
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