(TV HULU) Shōgun

[Milchshake]

Watched the first episode. Really enjoying it. The production values and the acting are superb.



Anna Sawai kills it as Mariko. She was also one of the better parts of the Monarch series.

Really makes up for the the old 80's mini series. Which was well meaning, but problematic.

[Gumble]

Really makes up for the the old 80's mini series. Which was well meaning, but problematic.

Curious what you mean by that, given that mini series adapated the book incredibly faithfully?

Did you hate the book too?

[Ihavewaffles]

why are the writers americans n not japanese?

[Snowfunk]

Really makes up for the the old 80's mini series. Which was well meaning, but problematic.

why are the writers americans n not japanese?

This is not twitter.

[Ihavewaffles]

This is not twitter.

it's not a woke statement, just wouldn't you trust Japanese to write a more true to Japanese history story?..

[Evil Midnight Bomber]

This is not twitter.

That's correct!

The Judges would also have accepted:

This is not my beautiful house.
This is not my beautiful wife.

[skakruk]

Really makes up for the the old 80's mini series. Which was well meaning, but problematic.

I really liked it. Did't know much of Japanese culture or history at the time and found the show rather interesting.

[Ayirasi]

Watched the first two episodes, and it's pretty solid.

I don't know much about the story, except that my mom once read the book and watched the miniseries with Richard Chamberlain.

Cast is good. Sets and costumes are great.

[everydaygamer]

it's not a woke statement, just wouldn't you trust Japanese to write a more true to Japanese history story?..

Considering the author of the original book wasn't Japanese it clearly doesn't matter. I'm sure they have consultants that help with making sure the sets and costumes are accurate.

[Berndorf]

why are the writers americans n not japanese?

Be more accurate to criticize the author of the book being Australian/British. I mean it's probably 99% based on the book.

[vilememory]

it's not a woke statement, just wouldn't you trust Japanese to write a more true to Japanese history story?..

And yet China flipped when they couldn't make a movie as Chinese as American's did when they made Kung Fu Panda.

[InfiniteCharger]

why are the writers americans n not japanese?

The literal story is about some of the first Westerners to gain insights into Japanese culture because at the time Japan was closed to outsiders. And it is loosely based on a true story of William Adams. So it is a Western perspective on Japanese culture of the time from an outsiders point of view.

[Cheezits]

It's really good, but I did laugh (in a good way) at the wacky council of bad guy regents all having their own gimmick.

[Kathranis]

The first two episodes are about as strong a start as I've ever seen a prestige show have.

Casting, production design, sets, costumes, locations, writing, cinematography, direction, editing--impeccable, all of it.

If anything is going to hold the show back it's that a good 60-70% of the dialogue is subtitled Japanese, which might turn away some audiences.

Recommend watching both of these:

[Ihavewaffles]

Watched 1st episode n got to 2nd where the english swine (how he manage to stay alive being so annoying!?) is in the middle of witnessing tense conversation between the two main rivals of the show.

Why is everyone so foul mouthed in this show?

Plz kill the english, the spaniard is more entertaining.

[Kyphael]

I saw it on Hulu, I might check it out. Adding to the huge list of things I have to watch. Good lord, the amount of content. Paul Dano was right.

[Kathranis]

Watched 1st episode n got to 2nd where the english swine (how he manage to stay alive being so annoying!?) is in the middle of witnessing tense conversation between the two main rivals of the show.

Why is everyone so foul mouthed in this show?

Plz kill the english, the spaniard is more entertaining.

It's closely based on the story of William Adams.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Adams_(pilot)

If you still haven't caught on, it's adapted from the famous 1975 novel by James Clavell.

[Milchshake]

The first two episodes are about as strong a start as I've ever seen a prestige show have.

Casting, production design, sets, costumes, locations, writing, cinematography, direction, editing--impeccable, all of it.

If anything is going to hold the show back it's that a good 60-70% of the dialogue is subtitled Japanese, which might turn away some audiences.

I'm enjoying the subtitles. As a veiwer it really helps with being immersed in the story. That was one of the problems of the 80s. It started with no subtitles, then magically changed to english when Anjin became fluent.
I think the current version has much more tension. Works better as an adventure thriller.

[Kathranis]

I'm enjoying the subtitles. As a veiwer it really helps with being immersed in the story. That was one of the problems of the 80s. It started with no subtitles, then magically changed to english when Anjin became fluent.
I think the current version has much more tension. Works better as an adventure thriller.

I've been watching foreign films and anime since I was in high school so I have no problem with subtitles. In fact wouldn't have minded at all if they were literally speaking entirely in Japanese and actual Portuguese.

I actually hope that instead of doing the typical thing of switching to English to convey John's fluency in Japanese, if they instead just had him speaking fully in Japanese with subtitles, reducing the amount of spoken English even more.

According to the behind the scenes they opted to use a lot of subtitled Japanese dialogue because they wanted to cast a lot of native speakers who aren't fluent in English, so I wouldn't worry about it. Since it's a limited miniseries I'm sure they're committed to carrying this level of authenticity through all ten episodes.

One of the Japanese articles I skimmed reviewing the entire series said that about 80% of the dialogue in the show is Japanese, which makes me think it'll only increase as the series progresses, because right now I'd peg it as about 60% Japanese.


https://eiga.com/news/20240301/22/

Japanese article about the show's reception in Japan. To my surprise, it's being distributed on Disney+ over there. It's getting quite a bit of press and rave reviews too, with a lot of emphasis that due to Sanada's supervision it avoids the typical "weird Japan" that Japanese audiences tend to experience with Hollywood films set in Japan.

That website mentions that it's been one of the most popular news categories on their website despite their focus being on movies.

Was also interesting that the Japanese promotional materials are leaning heavily into the historical inspiration compared to the English version, which is largely content to promote itself as a novel adaptation. For example, the Japanese character posters are presented in the style of "Hiroyuki Sanada as Yoshii Toranaga, inspired by Tokugawa Ieyasu" or "Cosmo Jarvis as Anjin, inspired by William Adams"



Apart from being praised for its cast and authenticity, there's also a lot of excitement for a Japanese period drama getting the Hollywood treatment, with the latest in technology and production quality, compared to the lower budget jigaideki productions done domestically.

[Koriani]

Well me and the hubby had a slightly different impression from watching the first episode than most of you guys looks like -

Now neither of us have read the books, and this is the first I've heard of an 80s series - so we're coming in blind.

I have to say while I agree that the all the historical stuff on the show (setting, costumes, etc) is top notch; the show in the first episode was a /very/ slow burn. I get needing an introduction for the cast of characters, but unfortunately very little in the first episode really peeked my interest to want to "find out more" about any of the characters. I don't ask to be really "invested" after one episode (though some shows certainly pull this off), but I do ask for a first episode to create interest - in an individual, or the story itself. And I can't say that I'm all that "interested" after the first episode. What the show told and showed me was pretty, but also boring.

I usually have little problems with a slow burn show; but something about this one just wasn't 'hooking' me in, I guess. I watched the hour and felt 'yup...that was an hour I watched a show..." I DO plan on giving it another episode or 2, to see if I can get 'hooked' in, but the first episode did not give me that "oh yeah this is good" vibe.

Hubby has much less patience for slow burn shows. He was just Bored. He loves this sort of historical fiction though, with this Asian time period - so he's willing to try another episode to see if he can get into it. But if the 2nd episode doesn't hook him, I know he'll be done, and I'll be on my own to see if I want to give it longer or not.

So we shall see. Not great first episode impressions, but certainly not 'horrible' either.