Strick a balance. Prevent Anjin to take the guns with him (which they clearly won't allow him) and also prevent Omi from taking the guns aways forever.
The character of Yabushige is so well-written: he is a huge POS, yet wins over the audience. This is very difficult to pull off! Plus, props to his actor Tadanobu Asano!! A masterful performance!
Extremely agreed; I'd watch a whole better call Saul esque prequel on how he ended up like that. The man stole the show completely for me, and his death was the epic conclusion of the show.
Yabushige is goated.. Very relatable and realistic character. I was also very intrigued by Gin. The lady who runs the brothel. Unfortunately we saw practically only a glimpse of her character, but she had that cunning and mystery aura about her. I even thought she might play some hidden big role in the series. The actress did so well, especially the voice. And the fact that she was able to read Toranaga like an open book and even manipulate him in a way was pretty impressive.
For me personally, Buntaro. The scene at the dock where he's about to fight off the approaching army by himself, when he gets drunk with Blackthorne, what he ultimately has to help his father with, his wanting to reconcile with Mariko, and his somewhat redemption towards the end. Phenomenal character arc.
Totally agree with you… Yabushige is such a wonderful character. Even his sighs and grunts are perfectly timed! He makes me laugh, gets angry and feels sympathy for him. He’s so relatable, he’s a survivor in that moment of time. He’s not a villain but he’s one who wants to keep his head on his shoulders despite who becomes Shogun. 😅
Yabushige stood out from the very beginning. So much so, his name kept popping into my head, when I was not thinking about the show. He is probably the most Western acting, of all the Japanese characters. I laughed when he asked John to go to London. Of all the characters, Yabushige would be the one that would probably have thrived in old London town.
Yabushige being #1 on your list is a solid choice. It's hard for me to choose between Yabu, Mariko and Fuji as #1, and I've answered differently in two separate polls so far, lol. Also, that "she was cute and I had a crush on her" take is very relatable XD.
Yabu was hands down the #1 best character. He was the most relatable for the modern day audience. He had enough power to navigate through society, not too much where he can escape consequences but not too little where he doesn't have control of his fate.
Fuji...most relatable in both the book and the series. The one you wanted the most to have a happy ending, and I am glad she had a better one in the series than in the book. Moeka Hoshi was the break-out star of Shojun.
With so many great actors in the show its hard to pick one. An argument can be made for so many. If I had to pick one it would be Yabu's actor, Tadanobu Asano
The cheapest way to bring Yabushige back would be 'it was a dream' scenario. He wakes up, meets Toranaga on that cliff and tells him about the dream he had in details.
mariko is my favorite but i agree yabushige is the best character. it’s amazing how big of an improvement he is over his counterpart in the book, but the writers of the show managed to do this without making changing who he is at the center of him. i think great credit should also be given to tadanobu asano. i believe the writers re-wrote yabushige because of what the amazing actor brought to the project. having read the book previously it had made me sad knowing his fate in advance considering how much i enjoyed the performance. kudos to everyone on the show.
I really liked that Yabushige is the key character in establishing a cultural bridge between the 2 worlds for me. There are a lot of moments when I didn't get it, like their speed in resorting to seppuku for seemingly shallow reasons. By being self-interested, Yabushige is the character that made me think "we're not that different at the end of the day". That instead of a one dimensional world of perfect loyalty and honour, where everyone plays by the rules, there are imperfections, there is complexity, you see the feeling and ambition beyond the 8-fold fence, that not everyone played by the rules. And what better character to have that discussion with Toranaga in the final episode?
Buntaro lost both his wife (Mariko) and his father whom he was his 2nd all in one episode. Oh and the actress for Lady Ochiba (Fumi Nikaido), totally different physique and her resume is impressive.. very underestimated. If you look on RU-vid, its mostly JB, Toranaga & Mariko promoting the series, but honestly FX should have the remaining cast do a promo tour, it would be well worth it.
Toranaga easily. One of the best characters I've ever experienced. Also just recently getting out of a 7 year realationship, I really related to John in that last episode.
Want a shock? Look up a picture of Dan Kuramoto of the US Band 'Hiroshima', he is Yabushida's near twin! Dan also a friend of mine from way back in the late 80's.
@@MalenaLannister No that was a dream, the clue was that he was holding the cross from Mariko in the dream but we see him throw it in the water. I really think they should have left out the dream since it was confusing and didn't add anything to the story.
Mariko had a part in how Buntaro felt. I am not saying that she deserved what he did to her but She made no effort to make the marriage work. Since the beginning she said that the alliance with the Toda clan (Buntaro and Hiromatsu's clan) was useless. When somebody (Ochiba?) said that her father loved her, she said that she should have been married better. Buntaro showed compassion by allowing her to live. Mariko wanted nothing to do with him and always wanted to die. Her father married her off so early (2 years prior to the assasination?) so she was no longer part of the Akechi clan and saved from execution
Mt favorite characters were Yabu and Fuji. I was sad that we didn't get to see what Clavell did for Fuji in his book, making her Mariko's confidant, and prior to her taking vows she is working as a matchmaker for Anjin San.
Yeah, I pretty much agree with at least the top 8. Probably Lady Ochiba a spot or two higher, but that's about it. And yeah, Yabushige is #1. In the end, Toranaga came off very grey and kind of subjective. The whole story is told from Toranaga's side--mostly because Blackthorne and Mariko were on Toranaga's side--but it's never completely clear why Toranaga and the Shogun is better than Ishido and the Regents. Other than the fact that Toranaga is obviously the most brilliant political tactician and military strategist in Japan. Which doesn't necessaritly make him the best ruler, or the best character. The other thing to consider is that almost all of these characters are based on real historical figures--Toranaga is Tokugawa Iayasu, Blackthorne is William Adams, Mariko is Lady Gracia--and we all know who writes history, and it ain't the losers. Like, say Ishido or Yabusige. Which is a long way of saying, it didn't really seem like Toranaga was a good guy and Yabusige was a bad guy, as much as I just kind of knew what both of their fates would be. Although at least Toranaga never boiled anybody alive. You do have to give him that!
I don’t agree with the top 3. Mariko is my number 1. Toranaga number 2 and yabushige number 3. I agree with your arguments for his character’s impact but still think it was less than Toranaga and Mariko. Yabishige was dispersed through several small scenes here and there whereas you constant had to think about what is Toranaga gonna do next. And where is Mariko in every scene
It's tricky, because some of the most interesting characters don't get much screen time, like Fuji for example. And on that note I think Kiko and her madam Gin are more interesting characters than a couple of the kids on your list.
yabu was the show stealer for sure, fuji was really good too they were probably the human characters. i liked buntaro a lot too he played his character which i thought was more complex then some might very well
I loved Yabushige number 1...❤❤❤❤ i have a friend who looks a bit like him and is as funny without saying anything. Sadly, blackthorne was ruined by cosmo jarvis who cant act . The ship is less wooden than him . Stupid richard burton accent.( no need for it ) expressionless face just the same gormless blank look in every scene . ( ive watched another film with him in it just to see....yes , he was just as bad in that too) .
Toranaga was a good character but not the number 2. I would say he's number 9 or 10. They didn't do enough to develop his character for the character he was. Too short of a series for his character. He was mostly a reveal at the end to fully realize he was the puppet master but the build up/setup to it wasn't that great.
Fujikosama was a great character. The actress is so pretty and she has a face that made me feel the pain of losing her baby every time. Yabushiga was great. That actor played the ronin in the Zaitoichi remake. I ended up liking Yabushiga even though he's a villain.
Mariko #1- even when she was not there … her presence was felt! How can you beat that?!! Toranaga #2- keeps you guessing, love his interactions with all the characters.. you get a different “version” of him with each character. #3 Blackthorn… started out as a used car salesman to developing some sense of inner peace. #4 Fuji… lost her son and her husband… winding up finding herself. #5 Hiromatsu…. Toranagas ride or die! Laid his life down for his friend and country.
This was one of the best TV series I saw past 10 years.. it surpassed Game of Thrones in character developments and unlike the latter the ending did not disappoint..
God, Fuji was beautiful inside and out. For me, my number one pick is Mariko's samurai bodyguard who was with her, as she attempted to leave the castle. The little screentime he had was all badass.
Fantastic list!! For me, the number 1 character has to be Mariko, especially because she represents the anti-woke shero in this world where we’ve gotten way too used to superficially strong female characters. If this story were written by Hollywood today, Mariko would’ve beat all the soldiers single-handedly as she led the other women to leave the castle 😆
Absolutely agree. Possibly for different reasons. Something in this guy’s countenance just makes me wish I knew him. Like even when’s he’s angry or plotting you’d want to stick around for the inevitable moment he grunts and sighs, looks around him, grins, claps his hands and orders sake all around, plenty of food, then settles in to tell outrageous jokes and stories. The kind of charisma one can be comfortable in the presence of. I’m just not sure if it’s the writing or the acting….or that what you read into his face is innate.
