Shogun Episode 6 Recap & Review 

From an Asian perspective: Lady Ochiba is the epitome of gracefulness. The fact that all her motion, gestures, heck even eye motion, were efficient and there were no wasted motions is the way to show how powerful she is. She is not the chest puff, battle cry, “I AM your queen; power is power” kind of lady. Please remember: Asian Feudal politics is all about subtlety, passive-aggressive positioning, about keeping the appearance of righteousness at all costs. It will never play out like Western/european politics

That tea house scene was EPIC. Everything was subtext. 1. First she said that “this is a private place where it can be dark if you wish it”. As if to say “I know whats going on". 2. Then Kiku mentions to his apparent ice how you notice something when its gone. Translation “this must end” 3. Then, after observing his guests says “a woman cannot look away when someone else suffers”, which subtly hints at her deducing what's going on between Mariko-sama and Blackthorne. But also hunting they can have a moment one last time. 4.Then comes the part where Kiku sits behind Mariko while she behind to explain the willow world. Where she is saying the words but Anjin can only see Mariko. Mariko, on her part, started bu translating for Kiku dono, saying “she says” etc; but gets all caught up and started translating as if she herself was saying it. 5. And it caps off with Kiku-dono asking if Mariko were to join them. It was all well staged. So well staged that, thankfully, they did not add the actual pillowing scene which would have cheapened the whole thing. Then the walk the morning after was a highly ritualized public display that was meant to dispell any rumors, and Mariko did warn Blackthorne not to make a scene. So at the end of the day, whether Anjin pillowed or not, that morning display would dispell the rumors, so its a win for Toranaga who really dont have the time for Domestic disputes thats affecting the morale of his war camp and should focus on planning the war.

Only Toranaga’s villa was set on fire; and even then, only the place where the pigeons were being kept. You even see a pigeon burning. This was done to prevent messages going out. Which is why Hiromatsu was forced to ride out and leave the women behind. And the”Actor” was a samurai Lord. If you have watched “The last samurai”, Katsumoto also participated in a Noh play.

One more thing, I couldn't stop chuckling every time Barrett kept calling it 'Willow World' like it was an amusement park or something 😂

Lady Ochiba talks like an anime villain. Like she’d be a great voice actor for an anime. I know exactly what you mean 😂

That is Noh Theatre, but it’s an art-form for high society while Kabuki is entertainment with song and dance for the commoners. Opera is more equivalent to Kabuki in this case. I’d say Noh’s status would be more equivalent to reciting poetry and dramatic performances at the royal palace in the Elizabethan times…

Hi from japan! You guys' reviews are my favorite ones of all shogun related contents. But I want to mention that Lady ochiba's tone is tipical high-born lady's one(maybe in slight western japanese accent?? I'm not sure).Of corse it is exaggerated and actress Fumi Nikaido clearly adds villan flavor, but she talks like that because she is hyper high-born lady not just because she is evil. And I really enjoyed episode 6 as a japanese woman. looking forward next episode and your review!

My thing with Lady Ochiba is that we haven't seen her DO anything yet. She starts off as "kidnapped" by toronaga, then after she's released, she just comes in and says "Ah yes you idiots have screwed up this is all mine now" then she's just in charge from there. Like why did Ishido just listen to her? What has she done to earn their respect and make them fear her? We never see her actually "look fate in the eye", she just SAYS she did... like what has this lady done to where we should fear what she is capable of??

Ruri was watching, Mariko was training.

One tiny clarification Ochiba was not a Concubine she was a Consort a Concubine is a person of low status whose only purpose is for the sexual gratification of the Lord and a Consort is a person of high status who carries all the rights and benefits of a wife

The first few minutes revealed that Mariko was unaware of his father’s plans and held contempt for Hidekatsu Toda-sama even then, and i didnt know this until this episode, she views him as below her station, or beneath her in ranking, as evidenced by her comment in the flashback about how her father is discarding him; also telling Ruri-hime (Ochiba sama) what a joke and worth less alliance it was to marry her off to the Toda family;and also by his comment to Toranaga about how his father should have married her better. And so, when Toranaga revealed truth bombs to her, clearing up her misunderstanding, i was literally shouting at the screan “YES! THANK YOU!” So much so that the next door neighbour knocked on my door to check if i was OK. Lol😅😅😅 Also, though her words were subtitled “i have failed my father”, it could have also been translated as “I have betrayed my father’s trust” as in she betrayed him for wishing for death instead of noticing the great plans and hopes she placed on her when he married her off to a lesser house. And it puts Hidekatsu Toda-sama in a more sympathetic light, though of course, we still disapprove of the Domestic violence. But put yourself in the man's shoes. Mariko looked down on her and that marriage even before they were married. Hated him for sparing her life. and have been ice cold towrds here for the length of their marriage. That would drive any man bitter and resentful. which brings into question whether or not the physical abuse is a more recent occurrence or not (still not a good look and not something to be condoned either way); and if he had always acted harshly towards her in turn from the start or not, or if that was his defence mechanism toward's mariko's cold treatment towards her. But if you like more high octane stuff; or doing other things like fielding with your phone while watching; then this show and shows like this is not for you. And thats no shade, BTW. Thats why there are different genres of media. Different people have different preferences.

I mean JB already told us that the freedom to sail the sea is his one true love. like you can't seriously expect a guy who abandoned his wife and children for the sea to now suddenly accept that he will be staying in Japan permanently right? he doesn't speak their language, he's traumatized by their natural disasters, he's absolutely stunlocked by their customs, he still has ptsd from his gardener being killed over a pheasant, he's the only protestant in a country where his religious enemies have institutional power and they're out for his life. for all JB knows he's been promised by Toranaga his ship and crew for his service, though the terms of their deal are real blurry thanks to Mariko's translation. really the only incentive for his staying is his crush on Mariko, but even she's now drawing the line and her husband pretty much wants him dead. my guy's doing pretty well all things considered, but he's trying to bail asap.

Enjoyed your review guys. I however don't think Lady Ochiba is telling the truth about Lord Toranaga,(her supposed hatred of him), I suspect that he is the one who can threaten the succession of her son to the throne because it is either he is the father of the boy or he knows something about it. There was a brief moment on the Taiko's deathbed when he mentioned that they could have been married and Toranaga dismissed it saying something about not getting distracted by beauty, And the look shared between them did not suggest one of hatred from her, something is truly amiss between those two.(they have have an unspoken history)

Thank you for every video review of Shogan!

I thought the same re finally getting a somewhat filler episode, but the ending made it lit

Hostages in this are not like the hostages like we think and everything is done through politeness and vailed intimidation. Thats what Sugiyama was complaining about during the play. This will play an important roll later in the story. They are more like political hostages meaning they are like honored guests that are politely yet strongly discouraged from leaving for their own safety because of vague threats like “bandits”. If i remember correctly in the books while Ishido has Tomonaga’s wife and courtesan hostage, Toranaga has Ishidos mom held hostage in another city saying she can’t travel because she "has a bad cold".

As for why Toranaga set up the brothel trip with Mariko being there is really just for Blackthorne to not thinking about leaving Japan. Putting Mariko there however is a test to see if she’d be strong enough to resist the temptation to have sex with Blackthorne under that situation. She succeeds to suppress her feelings by reminding herself the mission, yet Blackthorne also gets it thus his sad looks. There is yearning between them though during that scene. And Blackthorne has sex with Kiku because people are watching. He knows that he has to do it as it’s a gift from Toronaga, also solidify his motivate for this brothel trip is to show his control on Blackthorne… EDIT: just read the comments, and ah, true… the purpose for this trip is also to stop the rumour between Blackthorne and Mariko for the army’s morale recovery. Giving Blackthorne this gift not only is to show Toranaga’s answer towards Blackthorne’s request (rejection) but also giving a signal to both of them that this is once and for all, stop whatever is happening between them. Kiku’s words are all indirectly telling them that they all sense what’s going on and the ‘threesome’ proposal, as I interpret here, might be really an honest offer, but for Mariko, that’s a test to herself on every aspect to protect herself and also to protect Blackthorne. I think Blackthorne does sense that thus all those expressions. In return, the goal for both of them is not to ‘make a scene’, and as everything is done in the utmost respectful way, everyone is ‘comfortable’, showing to the others the next morning through the walk that those rumours are untrue…

As someone just said it here already, but yes, the fire is only for Toronaga’s estate, not the others; and the actor is not just an actor but a lord, so he is eligible to become the fifth regent in the council.

the fire was most likely an excuse for ishido to hold everyone hostage, basically ishido, as the caretaker of the Osaka castle, going "oh tragedy who could've done this? security is loose everyone must stay here until I find the culprit". also burning all the birds so that no one can send any messages.

..the Taiku's nephew impregnated her, and then the whole nephew's family line was executed. Whether this is Ochiba's plan or Taiku's is unclear. Ochiba was nobility, and Okuda's daughter. The Taiku was a peasant, so benefited from a link to nobility and doubly so to Okuda.

We should also keep in mind that Omi is half the size of Blackthorne. In every way. So I thought Ross was right. Cuz this was morning. There really was no reason for Blackthorne to spend the night if pillowing wasn't in the cards. Also, Kiku prolly doesn't tell every guy she will count the moments. The problem is once she said it, she looked at Omi and they both realized she gave it away. And that's a true fear of Japanese men. That foriengers will sometimes have more to offer downstairs than themselves.

Yeah she sounds like an anime villain. I really like her voice 😁 its cute

I think the quiet, reserved, Asian villain Barret is reaching for might be from Japanese horror movies, like Audition or Ringu? Or possibly the little Asian assassin girl in Kill Bill volume 2.

really cant add any great insight to this episode explanations are spoilers here. but about Ochiba she may look creepy and quiet to us, but to ishido shes laying the smack down extremely plainly and clearly. she thinks she outranks him and isnt willing to wait or go softly ishido needs to get his act together or hes getting removed. as in head removed from body. the man Blackthorne is based on served Queen Elizabeth the first, Ochiba sort of has the same position (not really but sort of) seemed to be an examination of how women of power acted in the different worlds. watching in the willow world. Toranaga doesn't care he just needs it resolved , setting this up Mariko+ blackthorne with Kiku, one way or another they have to deal with it hopefully that gets the situation resolved. what happens there will 100% stay there , but that may be dependant on a future charge Info is power and wealth , Madames need both. the scene where Kiku and the madame took Blackthorne home is all part of the vip service Kiku is an artist in all regards thats part of the show. sorry to be that guy but the Sardaukar in Dune had the throat singer they are the Emperors elite troops that were being sent to help the Harkonnen

mariko not able to see that her father meant to protect her makes sense though. in her eyes, her father casted her away with an unworthy marriage. she viewed buntaro's clan as being beneath her station. then after her entire family was killed, she was denied the death to join them. she didn't have a purpose for 14 years. it wasn't until toranaga made her his translator that she has a purpose again. how would she know her father's plan to stash her away for 14 years until toranaga gives her a new duty? it's obvious for us because we watch the show from multiple perspectives. for a woman who's been grieving her family for 14 years, not so obvious.

Azuchi Castle was demolished in 1582 by Akechi Mitsuhide (Mariko's Father) after he assassinated Nobunaga in the Honno-ji Incident.

Young Mario and young Ochiba were training Naginata.

Seems like Toranaga just wanted to get Blackthorne's mind off that damn ship. And left it up to Mariko and the Anjin to go play. Cuz Mr. T looked legitimately shocked that it was the Anjin again saving his life. His son and everyone else clearly didn't know what to do. And would have just let him die.

I have said the same thing on another reaction video…. Episode 5 was about the macho world of pistol packin’ white boys and sword & arrow slinging PTSD samurai… Episode 6 was about the willow world where hell hath no fury like a woman scorned… The back to back episodes balance each other out… but typical dudes like yourself prefer the former and can’t really resonate with the latter. (Not really your fault, it’s just a Y chromosome thing) But this is set in Asia and not Westeros. Balancing Yin & Yang is the way of the warrior…..

This episode is the whole point of why the ‘war’ is not the focus point of the whole show but right from the start is about your sensibility to ‘emotions’ against the political backdrop. It is strong and even further pushes the romance between Blackthorne and Mariko through us feeling the repression… This is the sexiest episode so far without showing any sex, because physicality and sensuality can give voice to the unsayable, something that can be felt and recognised without being expressed through words because there’s not much to say to explain, but ‘explaination’ can be recognised through sense of time… During the Tea House scene, us audience can feel exasperated because this ‘sensuality’ - far deeper than the pseudo one in episode 4 with lots of skin shown (from the man) - is as equally strong against the ‘politics’ around it, but is also displaced with the ‘other’, generating a sense of regret and vulnerability shared among us… We’re always Mariko and Blackthtorne, and this is the episode that suggested us we are not just to observe but immerse with their ‘feelings’. We’re no longer just watching a scene but experiencing something mutually ‘seen’ in real-time, through how they both look and touch at each other, or lack thereof… It’s our reflection on our deep feeling of solitude due to the pillowing process that bounces back to the political sphere and recognise the gravity of the situation… you need to use your skin to watch this episode, as for all episodes to be honest since this story is never about plot but always about relationships and their feelings towards others through the non-spoken subtexts so we can relate to our own situations…

I think he pillowed.

This is the most wildly off base I've ever heard Barrett

I thought the episode was boring. It was far weaker than the rest.

dude were you not paying attention at all? wtf??

I don’t think bro likes watching female characters.

I agree with Barrett.