Shogun: Anjin Show Only
February 27, 2024 1:17 PM - Season 1, Episode 1 - Subscribe
Destinies converge in Japan after a barbarian ship washes ashore in a poor fishing village. Meanwhile, in Osaka, Lord Toranaga finds himself outplayed by his enemies.
First announced in 2018, this is the second television adaptation of James Clavell's 1975 novel and part of his Asian Saga. An historical drama set in 1600's Japan during the tumultuous power struggles of 5 ruling daimyo, and the unexpected arrival of an English navigator who may be the key for one Lord's ascension to rule.
On Hulu and FX in the US, Star+ in Latin America and Disney+ everywhere else.
First announced in 2018, this is the second television adaptation of James Clavell's 1975 novel and part of his Asian Saga. An historical drama set in 1600's Japan during the tumultuous power struggles of 5 ruling daimyo, and the unexpected arrival of an English navigator who may be the key for one Lord's ascension to rule.
On Hulu and FX in the US, Star+ in Latin America and Disney+ everywhere else.
I recognized Rodrigues from the sound of his voice before I saw that it was Nestor Carbonell . Batmanuel lives!
posted by ActingTheGoat at 9:59 PM on February 27 [9 favorites]
posted by ActingTheGoat at 9:59 PM on February 27 [9 favorites]
Gorgeous!
Physical effects are much better than the cg. Costumes, sets, haircuts, the whole shebang.
Water scenes cost a lot of money. Maybe if only in-boat as here (external shots being cg), it might be a bunch less. I'm thinking this was some/ mostly physical effects.
I know by sight who the characters are, but I have a damnable time naming any of them.
Plot wise is archetypal but the source source material is what made the type in the first place. I liked that Asshole lord's behaviour set is one of the first impressions English pilot gets of the Japanese.
The execution - yuck - because it was very well done (theatrically/ cg/ makeup). Ick. and goddamn.
Loved that English is an Anglican (what other Protestant faith could he be otherwise?) and hates Catholics.
posted by porpoise at 10:14 PM on February 27 [2 favorites]
Physical effects are much better than the cg. Costumes, sets, haircuts, the whole shebang.
Water scenes cost a lot of money. Maybe if only in-boat as here (external shots being cg), it might be a bunch less. I'm thinking this was some/ mostly physical effects.
I know by sight who the characters are, but I have a damnable time naming any of them.
Plot wise is archetypal but the source source material is what made the type in the first place. I liked that Asshole lord's behaviour set is one of the first impressions English pilot gets of the Japanese.
The execution - yuck - because it was very well done (theatrically/ cg/ makeup). Ick. and goddamn.
Loved that English is an Anglican (what other Protestant faith could he be otherwise?) and hates Catholics.
posted by porpoise at 10:14 PM on February 27 [2 favorites]
I'm a huge fan of the book and most of the Asian Saga but I figured show only would be more accessible to the majority and even just from watching this first episode it's clear the focus has diverged significantly from white foreigner in a strange land who doesn't speak the language to some proper Game of Thrones court intrigue.
They may be targeting the Japanese market as well?
What I love about Clavell is that all of his heroes feel simultaneously very grounded in their own culture and time but also end up as genuine cosmopolitans. Whether European, or Asian (Japanese in this case and in Gai-Jin but Chinese in the rest of the saga) civilised and sophisticated people engage deeply with the Other, learn the language and culture and are successful on that basis.
posted by atrazine at 3:57 AM on February 28
They may be targeting the Japanese market as well?
What I love about Clavell is that all of his heroes feel simultaneously very grounded in their own culture and time but also end up as genuine cosmopolitans. Whether European, or Asian (Japanese in this case and in Gai-Jin but Chinese in the rest of the saga) civilised and sophisticated people engage deeply with the Other, learn the language and culture and are successful on that basis.
posted by atrazine at 3:57 AM on February 28
I was reluctant to commit to a series about Japan based on a mid-1970s book by a British-American, so I've been reading early reviews of this and so far the ones I've read (all by white Westerners) seem to be saying the new series does a better job of not exoticizing Japan than the original source. A couple of examples:
Slate: Shōgun Improves on a Notorious Orientalist Blockbuster
James Clavell’s hit book was a stereotype-riddled mess. FX’s new TV adaptation takes a different approach.
...What makes Shōgun the limited series so exceptional is how it transforms a novel laden with lazy stereotypes and Orientalism into a sweeping saga for a modern, global audience, while remaining faithful to the text...
Clavell made the tale his own. That’s a nice way of saying he wrapped the story in enough overt racism to make a certain kind of man feel both superior (because they’d never say that kind of thing, honest!) and yet seen (because they absolutely would—and do). Japanese characters stutter through European names—something Clavell seemed to get a kick out of, given how often he styled Blackthorne as some uncomfortable variation of “B’rack’forn” in a phonetic mockery of Japanese people’s accented English. That’s not to mention the book’s fascination with Blackthorne’s enormous white penis (really), just one of many strange ways that the novel reduces Japanese women to exotic, wanton dolls who apparently have no word for “love.”
Hollywood Reporter has a much more forgiving view of the novel:
The pervasive perception of the epic tome, nearly 50 years after its publication and nearly as long after its wildly popular NBC television adaptation, is that it’s dated — a colonialist Dances With Samurai that would never be made today...
In truth, read through a modern lens, Clavell’s novel is both a spectacular yarn and as thoroughly well-intentioned and well-researched a story as a popular-skewing book could be in 1975. This is evident in Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo’s fresh take, which is less a reinvention and more a carefully considered excavation of the Clavell text. Although there are very clear shifts in focus and adjustments that reflect an evolved cultural understanding, almost everything in this Shōgun hews closely to the novel, including the pieces modern viewers will interpret as most overtly progressive.
Hmm, ok. I think there's lots of reason to be skeptical of this endeavor, so I'm glad to have seen at least a few reviews that mention it does an ok job on the Orientalist front. I'll still keep looking for reviews from Japanese people.
posted by mediareport at 5:52 AM on February 28 [3 favorites]
Slate: Shōgun Improves on a Notorious Orientalist Blockbuster
James Clavell’s hit book was a stereotype-riddled mess. FX’s new TV adaptation takes a different approach.
...What makes Shōgun the limited series so exceptional is how it transforms a novel laden with lazy stereotypes and Orientalism into a sweeping saga for a modern, global audience, while remaining faithful to the text...
Clavell made the tale his own. That’s a nice way of saying he wrapped the story in enough overt racism to make a certain kind of man feel both superior (because they’d never say that kind of thing, honest!) and yet seen (because they absolutely would—and do). Japanese characters stutter through European names—something Clavell seemed to get a kick out of, given how often he styled Blackthorne as some uncomfortable variation of “B’rack’forn” in a phonetic mockery of Japanese people’s accented English. That’s not to mention the book’s fascination with Blackthorne’s enormous white penis (really), just one of many strange ways that the novel reduces Japanese women to exotic, wanton dolls who apparently have no word for “love.”
Hollywood Reporter has a much more forgiving view of the novel:
The pervasive perception of the epic tome, nearly 50 years after its publication and nearly as long after its wildly popular NBC television adaptation, is that it’s dated — a colonialist Dances With Samurai that would never be made today...
In truth, read through a modern lens, Clavell’s novel is both a spectacular yarn and as thoroughly well-intentioned and well-researched a story as a popular-skewing book could be in 1975. This is evident in Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo’s fresh take, which is less a reinvention and more a carefully considered excavation of the Clavell text. Although there are very clear shifts in focus and adjustments that reflect an evolved cultural understanding, almost everything in this Shōgun hews closely to the novel, including the pieces modern viewers will interpret as most overtly progressive.
Hmm, ok. I think there's lots of reason to be skeptical of this endeavor, so I'm glad to have seen at least a few reviews that mention it does an ok job on the Orientalist front. I'll still keep looking for reviews from Japanese people.
posted by mediareport at 5:52 AM on February 28 [3 favorites]
That Slate review is really positive, btw, noting how it pushes Blackthorne aside in favor of centering Japanese perspectives, then adding:
Language also plays a pivotal role in this recentering of the Japanese perspective. The Japanese language in Clavell’s novel is, like his grasp of history, clumsy at best. FX’s Shōgun, by contrast, takes place almost exclusively in Japanese, spoken by an overwhelmingly Japanese cast. For all its Western pomp and big-budget production value—the series was filmed in Vancouver—it is, at its heart, a Japanese series. It’s a dramatic shift, one that feels almost like a reclamation of a story that was only ever Eurocentric in the author’s narrow-minded thinking. All of this coalesces into a story that is both historically and artistically more authentic in time and place than its source material—and even, I would hazard to say, any previous depiction of Japan in Western cinema and television.
posted by mediareport at 5:59 AM on February 28 [2 favorites]
Language also plays a pivotal role in this recentering of the Japanese perspective. The Japanese language in Clavell’s novel is, like his grasp of history, clumsy at best. FX’s Shōgun, by contrast, takes place almost exclusively in Japanese, spoken by an overwhelmingly Japanese cast. For all its Western pomp and big-budget production value—the series was filmed in Vancouver—it is, at its heart, a Japanese series. It’s a dramatic shift, one that feels almost like a reclamation of a story that was only ever Eurocentric in the author’s narrow-minded thinking. All of this coalesces into a story that is both historically and artistically more authentic in time and place than its source material—and even, I would hazard to say, any previous depiction of Japan in Western cinema and television.
posted by mediareport at 5:59 AM on February 28 [2 favorites]
For those who have seen it - how will it hold up do you think for people who adored the original? Trying to gauge if I should recommend it to an older family member.
posted by corb at 2:39 PM on February 28
posted by corb at 2:39 PM on February 28
Without going too far off "show only" spoiler above, this adaptation already shows more of the daimyo machinations meaning we see less of Blackthorne acclimating to the village before going to Osaka as he's no longer the focal character. Because of this there are significantly more subtitles to read. Also Pieterszoon's execution is waaaaaaaaaaay more graphic and drawn out, although what is shown is over quickly.
I'm pushing my mother to watch so I can see if what she loved about the original was the story and setting or because she always had a huge crush on Richard Chamberlain.
posted by Molesome at 1:24 AM on February 29 [1 favorite]
I'm pushing my mother to watch so I can see if what she loved about the original was the story and setting or because she always had a huge crush on Richard Chamberlain.
posted by Molesome at 1:24 AM on February 29 [1 favorite]
As long as older family members can forgive the lack of Richard Chamberlain, and don't mind reading subtitles, I think they'll enjoy it. As someone who read the book several times, and saw the first mini series twice, I enjoyed the first episode very much.
posted by lhauser at 6:57 PM on February 29
posted by lhauser at 6:57 PM on February 29
FX’s Shōgun, by contrast, takes place almost exclusively in Japanese, spoken by an overwhelmingly Japanese cast.
I realize this is 2024, but that is still a bold and admirable choice for an American TV series.
posted by fairmettle at 10:49 PM on March 2 [2 favorites]
I realize this is 2024, but that is still a bold and admirable choice for an American TV series.
posted by fairmettle at 10:49 PM on March 2 [2 favorites]
or because she always had a huge crush on Richard Chamberlain.
She’ll forget all about him once she sees Hiroyuki Sanada.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 6:45 PM on March 3 [8 favorites]
She’ll forget all about him once she sees Hiroyuki Sanada.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 6:45 PM on March 3 [8 favorites]
Apparently they took the English script, translated it into Japanese, had it edited in Japanese and then translated that back for the subtitles.
The costuming is very very beautiful, and the scenery.
The only part that threw me out (besides the baby, going to erase that permanently now) was the guy climbing down that rope on the cliff-face and not immediately shredding his hands. GLOVES or some kind of leather wrapping because that was some proper hemp rope.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 7:28 AM on March 4
The costuming is very very beautiful, and the scenery.
The only part that threw me out (besides the baby, going to erase that permanently now) was the guy climbing down that rope on the cliff-face and not immediately shredding his hands. GLOVES or some kind of leather wrapping because that was some proper hemp rope.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 7:28 AM on March 4
Annndd I'm out. I just barely got through the baby scene, then the random peasant beheading, then comes the random death-by-torture based on a fucking whim? I'm not sticking around to see how many other helpless people get bullied, abused and/or tortured to death because all the men appear to have fragile egos and need to be catered to at all times. Fuck that.
posted by Mogur at 2:37 PM on March 5
posted by Mogur at 2:37 PM on March 5
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I absolutely was not expecting this to have as many comical moments as it did.
posted by Molesome at 1:25 PM on February 27 [1 favorite]