I can always tell if something is good if I think 'bugger, Its finished and I've only just sat down' when in fact it was an hour.
It's mighty good telly.
Saw the first two over the weekend and watched episode three last night. As a longtime fan of Japanese cinema (especially samurai movies) this one hits the spot. A real breath of fresh air after all the superhero dross we've been subjected to over the past few years.
It's definitely one of the TV highlights of the week for me. I wasn't expecting it to be all that great so it's a treat after the letdown Masters of the Air is turning out to be.
My renewal comes 2 weeks before the last episode - couldn't make it up. I had already stopped the subscription reoccurrence.
Really enjoying it, and sounds daft but the quality of the series plus the subtitles means i like that i really have to concentrate on it.. only issue is that eye is drawn to the bottom of the screen for the subtitles, when the images above are often so good...
Strangely they interviewed the show runner, and he designed the sub-titles to more in the middle of screen and even designed the images so that the subtitles did not block anything mid-screen, and it shows that way in US, but we get it at the bottom!
If anyone would like to read further, this is a brilliant book upon William Adams who the story is based on, read it three times over the years...the true story is even madder!
Great shout, thank you! 🙂
I’ve just watched the first 2 episodes so far and my opinion is it’s well filmed and acted, but it feels as if it’s been a bit GOT-ified for a contemporary audience.
I had the impression that the 1980s TV version, which I watched a couple of months ago, is closer to the original book - but it’s 40 years since I read the book so I could be totally wrong.
But I am interested to watch more episodes before I make up my mind.
he designed the sub-titles to more in the middle of screen
That sounds like a terrible idea. Subtitles should always be at the bottom. In the middle would be horribly distracting.
I had the impression that the 1980s TV version, which I watched a couple of months ago, is closer to the original book – but it’s 40 years since I read the book so I could be totally wrong.
I read the book a year or so ago and think the series has done a fantastic job of translating it to the screen. I only caught bits of the 80’s version as I was very young. So can’t compare the two series. Is it worth watching? A lot of 80’s TV has not aged well.
I think I’ve developed a middle age crush on Mariko.
But more so I’d love to live in the portrayed Japanese culture of timeless elegant politeness - albeit without the risk of getting my head cut off.
Good episode this week.
the portrayed Japanese culture of timeless elegant politeness
That's one way of looking at it. It comes across to me more as formal social structures barely keeping a lid on simmering violence and savagery.
I'm still really enjoying it, and Japan looks great. Very overcast and drizzly,a nice background of pathetic fallacy there!
But more so I’d love to live in the portrayed Japanese culture of timeless elegant politeness
and killing infants because the father failed to be polite. A hard pass from me.
Not sure that the events at the end of episode 4 play into the 'culture of elegant politeness' too well.
formal social structures barely keeping a lid on simmering violence
That’s my nagging impression of modern Japan having been there lots of times and on the wrong end of an officials wrath more than once.
Absolutely loving this so far, though I think I'd be pretty bloody confused if I hadn't read the book.
Does anyone else get random moments of Tom Hardy in Taboo from Cosmo Jarvis? "Sorry about your sack-of-shit lord"... Tadanobu Asano is just fantastic, steals every scene. Wish we'd got a bit more Rodriguez though.
Does anyone else get random moments of Tom Hardy in Taboo from Cosmo Jarvis?
I just see the 'This is Democracy Manifest' bloke when he starts ranting.
J-R
Full MemberI had the impression that the 1980s TV version, which I watched a couple of months ago, is closer to the original book – but it’s 40 years since I read the book so I could be totally wrong.
I read the book fairly recently and yep, it's deviating at times but mostly I think for the better. The "I will divert the japanese by feigning insanity" scene was absolutely terrible on paper, turning that into a blustering delay of overblown faux-englishness was so much better better. OTOH there's one scene that I won't spoilerise which I think has been weakened needlessly.
Preferred the book's version of the diving scene, though this one was clever too- I liked Toranaga proving his unstoppability and bellyflopping over and over, failing his way to success. The tv version of "I will watch til I know exactly what to do" was interesting but it's not really what Toranaga does. I don't think anywhere else in the book he gets anywhere by working everything out perfectly and getting it right first time! It's all "exactly as planned" after 50 million twists and turns and strokes of luck and betrayals and deceits and diving 10 times and succeeding once where others would give up fitted that perfectly.
Just finished ep3, Brackfon was getting to be a wee bit annoyingly wide-eyed and concussed in this, it's worked great in the "I know nothing and must act decisively despite that" bits but it's going to grate a bit if he's always like that. But when it works it really works, the external monologue and such is great (and the little bits, like him changing his mind while speaking and only Mariko knowing, and choosing not to translate, are lovely. Actually all the translation bits have been great, the shifts in approach work really well, sometimes it's important to get the dialogue only, sometimes it's important to get the actual translation side and be reminded of it, and that each side might think the other understands when they've actually heard different things.
I'm loving it (as are my folks). However, I heard it's only one season long... Hopefully not.
However, I heard it’s only one season long…
That's only one book so if the series covers it all it'll be difficult to go beyond that. His other Asian books are loosely connected but set in different times and places.
Hopefully if they've run out of source material they don't make the Games of Thrones mistake and serve up something inferior just to satisfy public demand and keep the money flowing. One and done is fine for documentary dramas like Band of Brothers and Chernobyl, no reason we shouldn't accept it for fictional ones.
Using it as a jump off for one of the other novels would be good, though. I think I preferred Tai Pan to Shogun, but the lack of japanese stuff for all the weebs to drool over might weaken it as tv material 🙂
"If anyone would like to read further, this is a brilliant book upon William Adams who the story is based on, read it three times over the years…the true story is even madder!"
Just to say, 46% through Samurai William and it is FAB. 🙂
"The “I will divert the japanese by feigning insanity” scene was absolutely terrible on paper, turning that into a blustering delay of overblown faux-englishness was so much better"
Interesting! I thought the opposite, Blackthorne at that point in the TV show had no status, I could imagine him having his head lopped straight off just for the lack of manners, whereas seemingly having gone insane would be more of a distraction and make him less approachable for head-lopping. But that's how opinions work, I guess. 🙂 Absolutely loving the show. 🙂
Just watching episode 3. This and The Bear are some of the best TV I’ve seen in ages.
I hated the bear and I’ve kind of lost interest in this halfway through…
Didn’t get h the hype over The Bear. Tried it a couple of times.
I wasn’t keen at first and stopped watching it. Gave it another chance and watched it all, the Christmas dinner episode in series 2 is bloody brilliant, never seen anything quite like it.
Cousin at the three star restaurant with Olivia Coleman has been superb too.
The acting and the script are just sublime.
I can’t wait for the last two episodes.
Still loving shogun, i was going to say it's been a bit more up and down but I think it's more that they've been widening the scope a bit and doing some different things. And the changes mostly keep me on my toes.
But really I just want a spinoff series called something like "Yabu And Brackfon In A Boat". Forget Mariko, that's the love story I want to see, just 2 men with no control over their destinies whatsover careering through history and getting everything wrong. If we can somehow squeeze in Klaes Ashford from the Expanse that'd round it off nicely though, that might be a wee bit tricky
I ****in love the bear. Though this series wasn't as sharp as the first, the flashback episode was incredible and I liked the ones when they stepped away from the usual madness and we got Marcus And The Dude From Son Of Rambow's Bromance instead.
Back on topic -
Episode 9 - what a corker! I hope they can pull off that kind of tension in the finale!
The plot is so well done. Really enjoyed episode 9. I’ll be sad to see it end.
What an episode! It's really really well done.
Easily the best thing on TV. Though I get slight Boris Johnson vibes from John Blackthorne.
Forget Mariko
Sorry, not possible (fawn….). Laddish mode off; just have a Google and watch Anna Sawai and the attention she’s getting via interviews. She comes across as a really grounded, intelligent and culturally aware actor, definitely has stolen the show and I’m sure is a huge star in the making. Good for her.
P.S. Because my son has been aware I’m being held to a two week catch-up tomorrow as I wasn’t “allowed” to watch it without him, cannot wait!
whats with the photography, i think i love it but all the distortion is kinda distracting...did they use some wacky lenses or is it all in post? to me it looks more than just anamorphic + wideangle + close to subject
Yeah the frame edge is always out of focus which is distracting unless you look dead centre, hard to do when reading subtitles. I keep thinking I've got the wrong glasses on! Still excellent overall though.
The podcast is also very informative though I've not listened to them all. Maybe they cover the photographic design at some point, it's definitely a choice.
Yeah, I actually thought I was having streaming issues at first til I realised how constant it is. I guess in the bigger scenes it means they can cut down on a lot of detail in the sets and renders? Like, there's some moments of zooming over the cities where if you really look, the fx are ropey af but when it's in motion it looks fantastic.
Double post
Like others I'm loving it, though it took a few hose to really get into it. I've got the last few episodes to watch tonight.
Similarly I really liked Blue eyed samurai, similar time period but different tone and style.
That said for some reason I kept thinking of My big fat greek wedding.
"The man may be the head of the house but his wife is the neck and decides the heads direction"
That last episode was pretty bloody amazing, I could barely breathe. Not often I sit and listen to the credits music!
I hadn't quite realised til now just how much of the middle of the novel's been cut out, which is sort of interesting since it's where so much of the blackthorne/mariko love story actually happened, but it seems to work. They've done some really effective shortcuts
I hadn’t quite realised til now just how much of the middle of the novel’s been cut out, which is sort of interesting since it’s where so much of the blackthorne/mariko love story actually happened, but it seems to work. They’ve done some really effective shortcuts
You're right, it's been very well done. There's still an implied connection between them but it's not clear why there would be on the strength of what seems to have been just a brief dalliance. The emotional heft of Blackthorn stepping up as Mariko's second suffered a bit though I still found it affecting.
I was wondering how many cuts he would have needed to take her head off
He had learned how to hold the sword at least
...and so a new GIF arrives.
Blackthorn: Tell him that is warranty is nought but a cunning ruse to deceive honest good men by trickery into buying his shabby third rate so-called bicycle and also tell him that his mother is back street whore who even blind men refuse on account of her foul stench, and that the only fit end for him is by my sword; by God.
Mariko: Ajin-san says he is unhappy with the bicycle you sold him
