Amph 2024 FX Series - Shogun

Back in 81 or so I remember my mother reading the book and telling me that exact same thing.

Later I remember watching the Richard Chamberlain version which I really enjoyed.

I've watched the first two episodes of this new version and it seems pretty good, though I've not yet read the book (only just bought it now it's on offer) so I don't know how faithful it is to the source. Cosmo Jarvis's Blackthorne I find a bit more abrasive than Chamberlain's, but that will probably make his arc better. One thing I do find a little distracting is his voice - it's so very Richard Burton I can't believe it's not deliberate.

 

We have watched the first two episodes and are definitely hooked. I love how the show doesn't waste time explaining everything, or providing "necessary" exposition/backstory, but expects its audience to pay attention and keep up. This is quite rare nowadays, so it's refreshing to see a show that doesn't dumb things down for its audience.

 

Third episode was a bit of a step down from the first two, IMO, but this is still a great show.

 

The first episode felt off to me like they wrote it for shock value (not only seppuku which was in fact uncommon but also ritual infanticide, boiling a random dude alive for ****s and giggles). I do appreciate that the Pilot is a pretty despicable person in his own right and it's not some white savior narrative-- not yet anyway.

 

I haven’t read the books or watched original miniseries, but I am hooked after the first two episodes. Excellent pacing to a layered story with excellent production value. Costumes are on point. The characters feel authentically pre/early-modern, I lol’d at Blackthorn’s line about getting the flux if he bathed too much. Looking forward to seeing how they handle some badass samurai fight scenes.

 

Remedy that if you are able. The book is beyond excellent. Book 2 is good also but it’s set in 1800’s Hong Kong. Book 3 is okish set in 1800’s back in Japan. I’ve not read 4-6. I also find it very rarely when readers have a negative experience with Sho Gun. Clavell was a POW in WW2 and didn’t let that affect his story telling or research into that era. Worth a read.

 

Hmm…

Not disagreeing but this time in Japan’s history (which was the case for several centuries leading up to this) was very brutal. Seppuku, uncommon sure, but it did occur.

And just largely the way samurai saw and experienced death… boiling someone alive didn’t feel like shock value, it felt like … idk, it felt like it was portraying how insignificant a life was to these men, which is VERY accurate for samurai.

 

Episode 4. Damn.

Spoiler

Dumb sons. The cause of so many problems.

 

Episode 4, and the political manoeuvrings are great, the costumes are great, the acting is good; the romance, however... I'm just not sure how that aspect is going to work.

I've not read the book yet, but I saw the 1980 miniseries a couple of times, and in their obvious embarrassment with having a European as a romantic lead, and the book's rather put-upon Japanese female lead who doesn't outwardly rail against the very male-dominated society she's living in, the current miniseries has altered the characters and set-up to fix these issues for a modern audience; however now the romance doesn't work. At least so far. Blackthorne in this mini is a pompous, arrogant buffoon; Mariko's character has been changed to make her more pro-active and less long-suffering (in the 80's mini she was regularly beaten by her husband, iirc), and rather than a quiet attraction growing between them, she is pretty contemptuous of him, Cosmo Jarvis' version of the character lacking the kind of sensitive and heroic moments Richard Chamberlin's Blackthorne had. This all comes to a head with the events of this episode:

Spoiler

In the 80's series the night Blackthorne spends with 'Mariko' comes as a natural conclusion to the building closeness between the two, and when Blackthorne discovers the deception the next morning it comes as a blow to him. Here Mariko and Blackthorne don't have a romance, in fact I think this episode is the first time I've really seen any real intimacy between them in their conversations, so Blackthorne isn't in love so much as... just horny? A really emotional event has become just Blackthorne being clueless again. I'm unsure how this sort of change will effect the overall plot, but certainly the romance seems to be suffering, and that was a major part of the story I remember.

Overall, though, I still think it's a high-quality miniseries, but like the previous version (which I've heard cut out a lot of Mariko's plotline) it's very much of its time. I'm always a bit wary of changes made to the source, but the high IMDb rating suggests they know what they're doing.

 

I also have a little difficulty buying the romance, as he's just...too much of a douche to be attractive to her, IMO. She's way out of his league.

 

True; when I think of a real lady's man, I think of Richard Chamberlain.

 

My God, was episode 6 good. Perhaps the best so far.

I get the distinct sense that the directors matter in this series. Hiromi Kamata's direction in this episode, for example, is stunning. The slow building of tension, the gorgeous firelit cinematography, the light-touch use of flashbacks, the very subtle and eerie presentation of a rising villain, the perfect staging. It's a perfect blend of historical political thriller and art film.

Then you look at the worst-directed episode, IMO (which is episode 3), directed by Charlotte Branstrom, and it's almost like a different show. Poor buildup, staging and cinematography turns what should have been a very frightening ambush and thrilling escape into...a confusing and almost B-movie, mediocre action bore, with even a heroic land stand failing to...land. It's a middling action-adventure.

Here's to hoping the next four episodes are at this level.

 

I definitely agree, the latest episode was the best so far, really adding on the tension that war is about to break at long last.

 

Great episode...

 

I’d go so far as to say it’s one of the best episodes of TV I’ve seen in a while. Since Andor, perhaps.

 

Wow, what an episode.

just wow.

 

Need to watch it tonight.

 

I haven't watched today's episode yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

I was talking about this show to a friend of mine, who's about 30 something years old, over the weekend and I asked him if he knew that this was a remake of a tv series from the early 80's, and he did not. Which, made me feel old because I remember watching with my family when it aired; back before when VCRs were a common household item. I haven't seen the original 80s Shogun since it first aired, so I'm tempted to do so.

 

Damn that was soo great...

 

Damn is right. I’ll add holy crap. This is the way…to make a show.

And Kathleen Kennedy needs to convince Hiroyuki Sanada to play a Jedi. This should be a top Lucasfilm priority.