Shōgun

Thanks to this show I am now depressed because I will never have a wife as perfect as Fuji

But seriously, 10/10

There were no wasted characters - all the side plots and characters are stories were worth the screen time and had real depth. Yabushige was fucking excellent at all times.

Even if Blackthorn has the mannerisms of the cockroach wearing Edgar from Men in Black, he was sincere and believable at all times at least

Great show and one that actually got me to read up more on Japanese history of that era. All the actors were really good. The interactions were spot on (Mariko and her husband, especially their last scene where he essentially is asking forgiveness was powerful). Yabushige and Torinaga's dialogue in the end was awesome:

Yabushige - How does it feel to bend the wind to your will
Torinaga - I don't control the wind, I just study it.

Also this show is so much better because they are speaking in native tongue with subtitles.

Homsar said:

I see that but the story isn't about some epic battle. I would say the budget got hit but there is never any epic fight scene that's supposed to take place. Its all just a political story, you would think Blackburns canon knowledge would do something but no

Click to expand...

I wasn't really expecting some grand battle but I did want to see him moving the chest pieces around the board so to speak. All he does on screen is grimace and grunt in the last few episodes.

So when they explain things like the mother of the heir just getting tired of Ishido and pulling the ol' switcheroo it's just kinda... "alright then, I guess"

Its kind of funny but the ending makes ishido look like the good guy. The empress siding with Toronaga seals her families doom. She should have married Ishido.

Khane said:

So when they explain things like the mother of the heir just getting tired of Ishido and pulling the ol' switcheroo it's just kinda... "alright then, I guess"

Click to expand...

AFAIK it's because Mariko was Ochiba's only friend, Ishido having her killed to avoid looking weak was kind of a smooth-brained move. ( Presumably this wasn't his actual plan, given the Ronin tried to kidnap her rather than just stab her, but she fucked it up with her suicidal tendencies )

The implication was that this *was* Toranaga's plan all along though.

Mariko living or dying would have worked in Toranaga's favor

1) Mariko leaves no problem - Ishido loses all his hostages and the other lords abandon him
2) Mariko dies - Ochiba abandons Ishido, which causes the other lords to abandon him