Series Review: Shōgun

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Official Synopsis: When a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby fishing village, Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) discovers secrets that could tip the scales of power and devastate his enemies.

Some series don't fit the binging model and are best enjoyed week by week. This series is one of those. Each episode ended with just enough intrigue for the next, but not enough to make me lose my mind that I would have to wait. 

Lord Toranaga looms large over the series, but it's really his English captive John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) and his translator Mariko (Anna Sawai) who are our main characters. They form a strong bond together, even though they are at times at odds. I really hope we see Anna Sawai's name as an Emmy nominee this year because she's tremendous in this. Mariko is easily the most interesting character and when she's not on screen, the show is just a little less good. 

There's some pretty intense death scenes here, I don't think a single episode went by where I didn't audibly gasp at something on screen. It's very well put together. The stunt team, the costumes, all of it looks great. At times, I found the politics of the story a little hard to follow, but not enough to completely ruin the experience.

This is a limited series, so there will not be a second season. The finale is the weakest episode in my opinion. It doesn't make everything you've watched previously feel worthless, but aside from two really great scenes between Toranaga and Kashigi (the wonderful Tadanobu Asano) and Blackthorne and Fuji (Moeka Hoshi, doing the most with a small but memorable part) it just didn't live up to the rest.

Shōgun airs on both FX and Hulu, and is well worth your time. 

Comments

  1. thevoid99April 26, 2024 at 6:20 PM

    I still want to see this as I heard it is a way superior version than the mini-series from the 1980s starring Richard Chamberlain and Toshiro Mifune as that was told mainly from the perspective of white people.

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    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamApril 29, 2024 at 5:09 PM

      Oh yeah, it definitely is. Blackthorne is still a major point of view, but because he's an outsider. The majority of the story is always told through the Japanese characters. I'm pretty confident you'd like this series.

      Delete
  2. ruthApril 30, 2024 at 9:55 PM

    I absolutely LOVE this series, it stands as one of the most epic I've seen in years. I can see how people might see the finale as underwhelming, esp those who are expecting a big Crimson Sky battle, but I actually like its subtlety and how it focuses on Toranaga and explains some of the mystery surrounding his war strategy. His quote “I sent a woman to do what an army never could” gives me chills!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamMay 2, 2024 at 7:32 AM

      Yes! I think I was just sad that a certain person actually died. I didn't want them to (even though that's what they wanted)

      Delete

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