@@josegilvano356I’m not sure I understand. My confusion could easily just be a misunderstanding, but I didn’t see in your comment anything that would actually represent bias. Just very different characters from very different cultures. If the Japanese characters believe their society is better, that means the *characters* are biased. Which of course they would be. Or if you were saying the show is biased *against* Japan simply by depicting wildly different tech levels, that’s just historical accuracy.
Real diverstity would be stories set in different countries about interesting periods in their history, like Shogun. Shows about China's Three Kingdoms, the Mughals in India or Mansa Musa would be incredible. Unfortunately Hollywood seems to have contempt for the rich history of other countries and would rather just cast a black guy from south London as as Napolean instead.
It's difficult to make historical settings and with so many non-Westerners in the roles, actually. It's easier to make European historical settings. But with Blacks put in top roles, of course. Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing - the king is turned into a Black. Hamlet - the DANISH COURT is full of Blacks. Othello - he is made Black, even though he was a Moor, but since history is hidden from Americans they think "anyone who lived in Africa must be Black." Every TV show in ancient Greece or movie in Persia - insert Blacks. "That's close to Africa!"
Remember the 90s when Disney actually did this? Lilo and Stitch, Aladin, Emperor's New Groove, even The Lion King. As a kid I found it really cool how we get stories set in different parts of the world and explore their cultures. I guess disney itself fucking missed that though.
I have the novel in my bookshelf. I got it from my grandfather, it was printed in 1984. I have the 1980s Shogun series in DVD form, and I have read Clavell's other novels. I really recommend Tai-Pan and Noble House, both set in Hong Kong and centered around the same trading house but generations apart.
asano is one of my favorite actors since i saw him in "ichi the killer" "electric dragon 80000 volts" and "Survive Style 5+". in Shogun, his portrayal of Yabushige is outstanding: he steals every single scene he's in.
I am utterly spellbound by this show. Incredible characters and scripts. Real sets, props and locations. Excellent music, pacing and sound design. Wonderful vistas, costumes and effects. A gripping, engaging, fantastic tale. The Chernobyl of 2024, far as I'm concerned.
Good post And to piggy back on it, I was really enjoyed the eye movement and facial expressions. Saying so much without saying a word On another note, have you watched "The Investigation" on HBO?
The real life story of William Adams AKA "Miura Anjin", the guy on which Blackthorne is based on, is even more crazy than " Shogun ". He is still today a highly regarded historical figure in Japan. And most other characters are also based on real life historical people.
For starters, I'm hooked. The plot, the costumes, the backdrop and last but not least Hiroyuki Sanada and his intense wanting. Highly rated and recommended. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👍🏼
With him being shell-shocked from the evil White general fighting the Indians. But of course you don't see that Indians had lots of slaves until Whites forced them to stop - for millennia they took other Indians as slaves and killed off rival tribes. They had Whites as slaves and Blacks as slaves - thousands of Black slaves on the "trail of tears," and some shipped ahead. Ah, but it's Whites who are bad. And in Japan, THE ENEMY is the White American, who wants to sign a treaty with Japan. Tom Cruise is only good because he turns against his own race. The big victory in the final scene is that the Japanese won't sign a treaty with the Whites, and thus they retain their good character or something. Yeah, great example.
After watching some of the latest shows like Night Country, The Witcher and Rings of Power I had all but lost faith in the entertainment industry, then the masterpiece that is Shogun came along and gave me an inkling of hope.
Compared to the hog-swill produced today, it was indeed a breath of fresh air. However, compared to the 1984 original mini-series, it fell short on two major points: it turned Torenaga cruel and sociopathic; and it turned Blackthorn stupid and unable to learn or adapt. All in order to make Mariko the main character of the story.
I haven't seen this Netflix version; too bad if they changed the characters that way. I am looking at the DVD collection of the original Shogun on my desk right now, and I have my grandfather's Shogun novel in my bookshelf, printed in 1984. I also recommend the equally good novels Tai-Pan and Noble House, also by James Clavell. No one writes realistic personalities, and intrigues, like he did.
Shōgun is definitely the best show this year and the best samurai show ever made to date, but it’s only possible due to the Hollywood-Japan collaboration and the heavy influence of Hiroyuki Sanada as a producer. Past Hollywood attempts at samurai have mostly failed due to lack of understanding the Japanese culture and Japanese samurai shows don’t succeed beyond Japan due to their unique/boring Japanese pacing. The lack of “the final battle” actually showcases Toranaga’s brilliance ever more, knowing that he has won without showing the battle and his secret heart of becoming a Shōgun never shown on screen is just perfect with his personality. With how some racists saying this show lacks black characters and resorting to making a black samurai show, I think this show is going to be a one off.
I loved it. I didn’t mind the ending either. I mean, that was the plan he was slowly coordinating since the first episode: Use the bureaucrats’ rules against them and systematically defeat each regent without marching an army into Osaka. When they raise their sword to strike you, they won’t even notice you’ve already cut off their arm.
This show felt like breath of much needed fresh air after being for so long in a misma of shii with all the terrible shows and movies that are being made nowadays.
Hey Reaper , another great review , I laughed out loud while watching the reviews for Velma and the other movies and shows that you say are quote “ dog shit , wrapped in cat shit “ 😂 keep them coming !!
Just ten, anyone else remembers Tv's hay days? When shows ranged from 13 to 26 episodes per season(for whipper snappers/kids reading, this is true)! Honestly, seriously missing them. Write me!
One of the best series made in the past decade! I’ve read the book, saw the old version and this takes the cake! Acting, cinematography, editing, writing, costumes, everything was incredible!
For anyone looking to see a further development of the story, I recommend Sekigahara, a Japanese film depicting the eponymous battle. Bare in mind that the historical figures in Shogun have altered names and Sekigahara uses the real ones. Visit the Shogun Wikipedia page to know who's who.
Hiro Sanada acted in Japanese Historical Dramas so he knows what he needed to do in Shogun as a producer. Casting Fumi Nikaido as Lady Ochiba is a good choice as she portrayed the actual historical counterpart of Lady Ochiba herself, Lady Yodo.
I grew up watching the Shogun series from the 80's and have been more or less "it needs to absolute blow everyone away if I want to watch something I've already seen, or worse, it sucks so much I would leave it with a bad taste in my mouth and yet another remake sucks ass." But everyone, including Reaper seems to love it, so I think I will dare watching this!
This is how you write strong female characters. Fuji’s story arc on grief is perfect. Toranaga sending Mariko to disrupt alliance relationships and achieve what an army can’t is badass. Also Yabushige’s constant will changing is very funny XD
Mariko facing off agaisnt the guards was perfect. She only managed to slightly injure one, but the context meant it felt more earned and real than if she killed all of them with bossbitch mode.
Velma Season 2 and Tales of the Empire I know are terrible, Hoping you do one of them soon however you are going to have to watch Clone Wars to even know one of the characters in Tales of the Empire.
It's anti-climatic because history itself wasn't a movie. There was alot of politicking and moves not related to war at all. Toronaga(Leyasu) already basically predicted how the battle would play out anyways, the finale essentially was foreshadowing the reality of the outcome. Now that it's confirmed we're getting a season 2, we can finally see what the producers wanted out of that battle.
3:14 Regarding this, I strongly recommend James Clavell's fantastic novels, if you want to see "strong female characters" that are strong in a real feminine way, not a false feminist way. Especially Shogun, the equally good Tai-Pan, and Noble House. You will love these novels. They are fantastic. Regarding Shogun, the original mini series is what made old Japanese culture so popular in the West - the buildings, the kimonos, samurai, Zen Buddhism, the swords, bushido, and so on.
I've really only heard good things about the show. From the people I follow, to journos seething about the lack of diversity. I'll be sure to watch it.
