The EPIC Shogun Series FINALE! - Angry Review 

"No translator." That line, that moment. I was in tears 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Yabushige grinning at Toranaga just before he was about to second him was epic. He realised it was always Toranaga's intention to become Shogun.

That last conversation between toranaga and yabushige was the highlight. It brought everything together.

It really takes masterful writers and directors to make me sad about the death of a character who started the series by boiling a human being to death.

“Why would I tell a dead man the future.” Hard ass line from Toranaga!

Historical fun facts: As we know, Toranada was based on Tokugawa Ieyasu. One epic historical story from this period is about Torii Mototada, who was a gifted general of Tokugawa. When Tokugawa returned to Edo (Eastern Capital), Toyotomi Hideyori (son of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who was successor to Oda Nobunaga) ordered Ishida Mitsunari to march east towards Edo with 40,000 soliders laying waste to everything in their way. Tokugawa then ordered Mototada to perform a rear action to halt the advance and secure time for Tokugawa's forces to reach his powerbase in Edo. Mototada peformed a Japanese equivalent of the "300" and Leonidas. Mototada held Fushimi Castle in Kyoto, which served as a choke point, with 1800 men against Ishida's 40,000. They held the castle for 12 days before the remaining 10 samurai, Mototada included, committed seppuku. During this conflict, Mototada's 1800 killed several thousand of Ishida's army. Ishida's army then continued to Edo following a scorched earth policy as they advanced. In those 12 days, Tokugawa managed to gather an army of near 90,000 and then attacked Ishida's army. This was the Battle of Sekigahara. In this battle, like hinted at in the show with Ochiba/The Heir's army, one of the major daimyos, Kobayakawa Hideaki, and his force was technically on Toyotomi/Ishida's side but had agreed to switch sides and join Tokugawa. His switching of sides is often credited as one of the major events that Tokugawa the battle. Tokugawa and his Shogunate then went on to rule Japan, as a unified nation, for 260 years.

Toranaga sacrificed all of his loyal servants throughout the whole series to become Shogun. Ruthless

Love how the end reveals that Toranaga was a political savage and basically used everyone of his vassals to get to his true goal which was to be Shogun. I mean it was hinted way back in the flashback with the previous leader and thats how you know this show is a ten when they can foreshadow and connect the opening of the show to the end of the season.

“Let your hands be the last to hold her.” - Fuji When a line like that comes back around from the beginning of the show to the finale of the show then you know that’s when the show was given great passion to. Emotional scene and yes that’s what I was okay with. I didn’t need big big action for a finale. Sorry to those who did want it but that’s wasn’t the story.

Goes to show you don’t need 24+ episodes series to tell a good story.

this is how show runners correctly used women empowerment without treating the audience dumb

the way yabushige died, i thought he was a coward, but he went straight for the stab like it was nothing, what a badass, i kinda felt sorry for him tho he was just being played by torinaga,

I got my 75 yeard old mom to watch this with me when I visited, and for context, she has a chip on her shoulder about asian countries due to her father fighting in ww2 and Korea, plus she doesn't like foreign films in-general. After the first episode I asked do you want to watch something else, she said "oh I thought we were watching more?" She was HOOKED till the very end when we both shouted "WHAT?" at the ending, wanting for it to keep going. That should tell you just how good and powerful this show is.

Ladies of the willow world. What is not as clear from the series as opposed to the book is that the Madame gives Torenaga intel on what's happening at court and that Lady Ochiba might change allegiances.

Mariko is the best character of the show, hands down !

“No translator” “Let your hands be the last to hold her”. 😢😢😢

Sanada better be in the Ghost of Tsushima movie (perfect to play the uncle). Chad Stahelski is directing, Sanada was in John Wick 4.....it's bound to happen!

Toranaga's son I noticed didn't just slip on a rock, he stepped on the guy's robe and he yanked it up pulling his foot with it which caused him to slip and hit his head.

Did you guys catch where in episode 1, Yabushige faces the ocean, after realizing he was going to drown, he was willing to take his own life to fight fate. In the final episode, he faces the sea accepting his fate with Toranaga as his second.

I would have actually liked to have seen the battle of sekigahara. It’s one of the most important battles in Japanese history. But I guess it would have been too expensive and taken too much time.

I found the ending a bit anti-climactic BUT when immediately reflecting as I watched I feel that fit, the whole purpose of the plan was to not have a battle, and the fact that we didn't get a battle means more depth is given to Toronaga's plan. Unlike the end of some, like GoT. The ending didn't betray anything that lead up to it. I think Blackthorns continued behavior is less of him being a lord (Hatamoto) and more being a foreigner. As Toronaga says at the end, he keeps him around because he makes him laugh, basically an awkward pet that is so strange in how it acts its entertaining.

I want a season 2 buddy comedy, set in an alternate universe where Yabushige and John have their own adventures in London and everyone was looking forward to Crimson sky when Crimson sky is just Mariko all along..its brilliant

I really hope this show gets recognized at the Emmy’s. It deserves it. I know this show is meant to be about the characters, but I would have loved to see the battle of sekigahara.

Battles can be nice, but overall, it's the story that counts. And this show respected the history of 1600 Feudal Japan. The characters were well written, well acted, and the story was engaging and enthralled me. Amazing what can happen when you base your TV series on a completed piece of work like Shogun by James Clavell. It respected the work of Clavell's book right up to the ending. I will be rewatching this series again. Also, concerning Game of Thrones, I've been rereading the books which includes all five main books, as well as Fire & Blood as well as A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. The show sucks compared to the books, period. Yes, even the first few good seasons, but they changed SO much from the books and I enjoy the story from the book SO much more on my second reading of these books. Shogun beats the PANTS off of the HBO GoT show hands down. Amazing show! I've even gone back and watch the OG TV series from 1980. I was 14 back then, and FX's show is so much better. The 1980 show, while still good, is kind of cringy to watch. It seems to be a bit silly at times too. But then, it was made for TV back then. Kudos to FX on this TV show. The best TV show I've seen in ages since, Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.

Last Episode the silence from the grieving just looking at their facial expressions spoke a thousand words. Truly gripping it touches your soul.

Hiroyuki Sanada was also in the MCU. He played the guy who fought Hawkeye in Tokyo in "Avengers: Endgame".

As much as a big battle would probably be quite enjoyable, the reality is the war was already won the moment Mariko died, making any battle particularly pointless.

Mariko is literally the PERFECT example of a non BS obnoxious strong female character, she's intelligent and mentally fortified. Most importantly the show makes it clear that if those guys blocking her from leaving Osaka really wanted to kill her they could have easily, unlike all the movies and shows that have women beating up men.

I'm bump about with how gore the show was is that they didn't show Ishido's fate from the book. He's put into earth with only his head sticking out with a bamboo saw attached next to it and a shogun order for everyone passing next to it to cut at the most famous neck in the land. The last sentence of the book is: Ishido survived 3 days and died

Yo Alex is a real one for mentioning band of brothers. That show was great!

Last Samurai is a masterpiece, I will not tolerate any slander towards it outside of historical inaccuracies. In terms of story telling, emotion, scope, musical score, battles, etc... it's an absolute banger.

How dare you give it only 10/10! I demand you give it 11 or 12! 😂

I had friends tell me that they enjoyed Fallout more than Shogun. _I offered to second for them at sunset._ They declined for some reason.

Ultimately people give Toranaga more credit than I believe he'd give himself, there's hints towards this throughout the series. An example is his clear sign of relief after receiving the poem confirming the Heir's army was on their side or the story of him as a young lad cutting the head in one blow when in reality it was 9. Even at the end, he says I don't control the wind, I simply study it. He plans and adjusts where needed in a way he thinks will work, but he's not a God, others will do that job for him, they will mystify him.

Yabushige did everything he could to avoid death, ironically still met his end

54:00 if you go back and watch carefully you can see Toranaga greasing up the rock his son slipped on with *_ACME Slippery Grease™_*

Some days, some nights; some live, some die; in the way of the samurai; some fight, some bleed; sun up to sun down; the sons of a battlecry...

Yabushige is what an old proverb would say " dog that tried to bite two piece of meat would end up losing both" , by playing for both side thats what seal his fate, also prob my fave character in the series because as human we dealt with the card we got.

I cried so much throughout this series. Personal issues and BS. This show was a needed reprieve and honestly has helped me keep going. Constantly referring to living and pushing through is an underlying theme that i didnt know i needed. I know its dumb, but damn i would watch a spinoff of john and yabushige traveling old school england/engaging in random historical events. It felt like an experience watching this week to week. Not being spoiled and just enjoying the ride. Top 10 show all-time for me.

It’s not the typical war tv series where the under dog will actually win the war in the end. Toranaga did not just win the war, I mean he prevented it, saving thousand of lives. He brought peace in the realm. Toranaga is a master politician.

Spoilers warning for the final episode: Even though not getting an epic battle at the end was kinda anti-climactic but it actually makes sense for the show, since it was more of a political/bureaucratic chess game & character driven series.

"To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence. Supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting."

How can the Rings of Power writers watch this show and not be absolutely embarrassed and not think “I gotta go back to writing school “. This how you adapt an existing IP❤❤❤

How could you not put this at 11/10? Unsubscribing, disliking, unwatching, reporting, blocking, suing,

When they made such a big deal about "Edo" i had to google it and obviously, today Edo is... Tokyo

the most beautiful work of Television art that I've seen in a long time (since Better Call Saul) best show of 2024 hands down. I feel so honored to have lived through this experience

From someone who hasn't read the books I was a bit bummed out that there wasn't an epic battle in the final episode. It just felt like it was leading up to that. It was still a fantastic series though and the acting from all those involved was amazing!

The footwear are fine for this time, we can see many japanese people wear them in a lot of paintings from this period, what is NOT historically okay is the way that they get rid of the blood on the sword, the flick of the blade is not a thing before the kenjutsu get changed into a more spiritual/artistic form, but it's cooler than just using a piece of cloth. I loved that show like I loved the book and the first one. It's interesting to see the three of them and then compare with what we know about Japanese history, martial arts and how these are shown in video games, anime, series and movies. I'd really enjoy a show about the Shinsengumi.

There is a saying in Japanese history classes: “Nobunaga made the mochi, Toyotomi pummelled it, and Tokugawa ate it.” Tokugawa’s patience, strategy and luck made him the Shogun who ushered in the Edo period when Japan began its isolation policy. The novel is loosely based on historical characters and events, with plenty of creative license taken on the characters’ motivation and dialogue. Check out Metatron’s channel for historical analysis and comparison between the novel, the original 80s series and this new one. Fascinating!

It's so refreshing to have a great story and deep characters. It puts Disney and Netflix shows to shame 👌🎥

Shogun just proves that you don’t need a Dragon 🐉 to win a war

First series where when it cut to a different story/timeline I wanted to SEE IT ALL, EVERY PLOT LINE, EVERYTHING. And damn, that LOVE story HIT!

Felt so betrayed by toranaga at the end 😂. He was introduced as an honorable guy who was being set up because of his name. In the end he proved to be just as bad or worse than the other regents, sacrificing everything (including his son) for his selfish ambitions. Was actually rooting for the regents at that point lol. Anyways, great show

I grew up a huge fan of the 80s miniseries, because of that I was very unsure of what I would think of it. At first my bias made me grumble at the start, but by the end I was completely sold on it, fantastic series and for people who aren’t familiar with the material they get a great adaptation that fans of the book and old show will appreciate. Completely accurate? No, but the old mini-series wasn’t either; I’d compare this series to the Lord of the Rings trilogy as great series that was a great adaptation of a particular focus of the story. The 80s miniseries was focused on Blackthorne as an outsider for an audience of outsiders that opened a doorway to a culture that an American audience probably wasn’t ready to really look into due to recent past history. This series is for the people now accustomed to the culture but perhaps don’t know this particular story. I highly recommend watching the miniseries in addition to this if you need more, for the very least to see John Rhys Davies’ in his biggest role at the time that helped him get Indiana Jones and eventually the Lord of the Rings. With the caveat that it was more 80s TV melodrama than today’s historical epic. I would like to see what this crew would do with later books in Clavell’s Asian Saga, never read them myself, I’ve heard King Rat, at least is very good, going to start listening to the audiobooks of the series now I think.

I loved this show, but the last episode disappointed me tbh. Throughout the show, they set up things, there is a lot on the line. But nothing really happens in the last episode. They're just like, "that was crazy right? Shit is ABOUT to get wild." ~end.

Disappointed there ain't gonna be a season two wished they would of showed how he took control and some big battles. but it does make sense to leave it there has he has already really won.

39:50 Toranaga's son actually slipped on the long, white gown above the rock, to which the back-stabbing bro responded, where's the beauty in this death? A callback to the convo they had earlier about the beauty of dying for a cause.

Notice in one of the first episodes Yabushige fell of a cliff and was nearly about to kill himself before being saved by Blackthorne and at the very end, he commits seppuku and falls off the very same cliff edge. You can't run from fate. Absolute Cinema.

“There’s also a dubbed version on Hulu, so if you’re an idiot you can watch that.” How can you say something so controversial yet so brave?

It's actually crazy how you can rewatch the show and see how much toranaga has Blackthorn on strings like a puppet. Everything he does is to get his loyalty, to even when he planned for Blackthorn to go behind his back. It's crazy how the ending completely recontextualizes his actions.

Also, Toranada, has many sons. Toranada needed time. It is not direclty told to the audience but it can be surmised that Toranada ordered his son to attack his brother knowing his son would fail, most likely expected to be cut down. However, death was the expectation because the result allowed Toranada 49 days of mourning. As noted later, this gave him time to gather his power. He also had to create and play the part of a defeated man so his surrender would be UNQUESTIONED... he needed all the lords to see him as weak as possible, which he specifically tells Mariko before he sends her off to fulfilly her duty - aka she is Crimson Sky (her death ordered to be at dawn, when the sky is red). His son and his top general was sufficient reason for any lord to believe his surrender to be truthful when in fact he was just buying time.

No translator

I thought the dubbed version was still the actors speaking, all of the actors in this show are bilingual, so its still them speaking

The novel has ended, but Japanese history is going to be interesting from now on. It would be a shame to end the Shogun series without seeing the battles with Ishido's army (Battle of Sekigahara), Ochiba who defected to Toranaga and led the unification of Japan, and later Toranaga's (Autumn Siege) (Winter Siege) where Ochiba and her son attacked Osaka Castle. They should definitely make a season 2.

This is the kind of show I'm glad I watched one episode per week. It lingered in my mind all the way until the next one.

Holy crap I just realized I have that book after seeing Alex holding it. My grandfather had given it to me years ago. Gonna have to read it now.

Read the book as a kid 20 yrs ago saw the original series from the 80*s too and still to this day is my favorite book !

Actually Buntaro's father tells him he will live knowing what it is like to be DENIED death. Like he has done to Mariko.

The son dying was the most ridiculous scene of TV in recent memory!

The 49 days mourning period stems from Buddhism, where it is believed that the body and the soul is still connected for that period of time before the deceased's spirit is finally seperated from his earthly bonds.

Blackthorne finally found the freedom to be free of himself

the finale dragged the whole show down for me. Still a good show, but nowhere near 10/10. more like 8/10. I enjoyed most of it, but it was boring at times and it ended in the middle of the story. It needed 2 more episodes with conclusion.

dead give away for the old man in bed scene was a dream, when his grandkids asked him if it was true the sword was given to him by savages. at this point Blackthorne no longer considers the japanese savages.

Look. I gotta be honest, but I really do think that this show is overrated and overhyped. If I were to review it, probably between 7 & 8/10, but nothing about the show screams masterpiece in my opinion. And the finale kinda dropped the ball.

I don't want season 2, the story is complete. BUT I do want this team to make another show.

Show was fuckin amazing I'm surprised people aren't talking about it compared to the weird fallout hype right now. This show deserves a lot more love than it's getting. Finale was great too. Masterful cinema. Every shot was pure cinematographic perfection.

I agree with AJ about the last episode in that they should've shown a little bit more of the final battle along the lines of the prologue scene in LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring, where Galadriel narrates the first war against Sauron where we actually see the elves and humans fighting Sauron and we see Isildur defeat Sauron. Just another 2 or 3 minutes of actual fighting would've gone a long way to satisfy a lot of fans looking for some action.

You all need to review The Blue Eye Samurai next.

Um no... this series was amazing but to say it was better than GoT is just wild. A 10 episode mini series has no business at all being compared to the global phenomenon of GoT. GoT literally changed tv/cinema forever. Obviously the ending of GoT divided a lot of fans, but for 70ish episodes it ruled the world.

Great ending to a great series. Will be rewatching this show. Loved everything about it. Bravo to every single person that worked on this show. The best scene for me in the finale was between Toranaga and Yabushige. I took Toranaga smile as a yes to Yabushige question about wanting to be Shugun.

Series was so good that, i am intrigued about the book.

This show was like what BG3 was for gaming last year

I dont even mind not seeing a big climactic battle between armies. Thats not what this story was about. Its about the characters. Mariko did something no army could do. Not showing the battle gives marikos sacrifice more impact.

Sunzi Art of War: the greatest generals are unknown, because they win the battle without initiating warfare (having shaped events to their advantage overwhelmingly before combat can begin). Those who want a big final battle are craving a lower level of generals 🤣

It's actually Noh, and not Kabuki. Noh was reserved for royalty while Kabuki is more for commoners

27:11 I think it’s hilarious that Joe wasn’t even exaggerating, that guy went all out during the kabuki scene

This is probably one of the best shows to come out recently

There are several types of traditional theater in Japan, but the one in the show is Noh and is quite different and older than Kabuki.

Let's be fair..... while GoT fckd the ending, they have WAY more than 10 amazing episodes, so as good as this is.... GoT was a different animal and to simply say this is a better series seems... like an unfair comparison. If it's a 1 season limited series then I think it's better to compare to other limiteds. Not defending GoT so much as saying its just too small a sample size to fairly compare.

Its not historical accurate... the portuguese were not that evil... cmon th3y were just protecting their trade routes ...

A LOT of people are going to say it was bad bc no final battle for sure

The best show in years. 12/10 In the novel, there is an actual reason of Ochiba's hate towards Toranaga (interesting why it wasn't put in the show) which is... (SPOILER) she cheated on the taiko back then with a similar looking peasant, that's why she is the only one who could produce a successor, and Toranaga cought her in the act. For some reason Toranaga kept this secret but Ochiba always feared this secret would be revealed.

Personally, I liked Fallout better. This is an amazing series though. I felt the last episode was kinda weak. Lots of tell-don’t-show. I would be down for the unintended season 2.

This show had better visual, better action scene and better scene showing the politics. Basically, every scene between only the Japanese are better, but the old show was way closer to how the book is told. The book is basically a journey you take with John at discovering Japan of the Sengoku Jidai. All the scene that are in both shows are better in the old show when John Blackthorne is in the scene. This show was great, but for me, the old one is the best book to TV series ever made (it's not perfect, there are changes too but what is there is so close to the book!). Really, if you loved this show, watch the old one, they complete each other at telling almost everything that is in the book. This new one was a great show, the old one is one of the greatest ever! As a guy who read the book 5 times This shows the pros: Are way more Japanese characters (the five members of the council aren't in the old show). Great Japanese political scene. -Yabushige (Kasigi Yabu in the book): He's not as accurate to the book as in the old show but he's actually better than the character in the book (he's the only one who is for me). -Visual and badass action scene. The music is great (but I prefer the more "traditional music of the old show, I can sing them but I can't really remember any theme from this one. My biggest con: Blackthorne: Almost every scene with him is less good than in the book and old show. They changed so much about him, about what he does, they removed almost all his best moments of "taking back control over his life". I could go for an hour explaining how they remove all his agency in the story. The Teki Scene when he first meets Toranaga is one of the scenes I hated the most in this show. The entire "unless you win" moment (which actually happens in this scene and is the first moment Toranaga laughs and loses a bit of his rudeness) was so underwhelming in this show. The map moment was better than in the old show but way less than in the book. In the book, he is never asked to draw the map. He does it to gain "control" over the moment. He realizes that the Japanese know nothing of the world and have been lied to by the Portuguese and take the opportunity. It's the thing with the book Blackthorne, He fucking bright and uses every thing he can to his advantage. The relationship between Mariko and John is a far cry from the one in the book here too. And we skipped Mariko's funeral, Blackthorne missed it?? In the book he's there and he's also blind at that moment. But an even bigger con than Blackthorne for me was Rodrigues, The Spanish pilot. He's one if not the best characters of the book and he's the best character in the old show, played by John (Gimly) Rhys-Davies! He's doing it to perfection. The Rodrigues in this show was the most Secondary forgettable character ever and he and Blackthorne are supposed to become Friendnemies. Apart from saving their life one after the other in this show, they had no chemistry together... REALLY, watch the old show if you want to see the best character in the entire book played perfectly!

Some people online are actually complaining about the lack of a final battle. They watched 10 episodes but never really paid attention.

You guys also don't realize the actor that played Yabushige also played Raiden in the 2021 MK movie. (Tadanobu Asano)

This is what happens when you adapt the book accurately and don't try to re-imagine anything for the modern audience.

Book recommendations on feudal Japan: Taiko by Eiji Yoshikawa, Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa, Across the Nightingale Floor (series) by Liam Hearn, The Tokaido Rod by Lucia St. Clair, and the Shike series by Robert Shea. I read these to sate my hunger for feudal Japan stories after I read Shogun.

10/10 you can say that again.

There’s no excusing Buntaro’s treatment of Mariko, but I was struck with empathy for him. He’s a warrior, who no doubt suffers a form of ptsd, he scolds toranaga’s son for being eager for war. He had a political marriage to a woman who never wanted to marry him or even build a life together as she always requested suicide and wanted to die. Then he has to cut off his own fathers head. All around dude maybe never had a chance to end up any other way. He had a great character arc in the show