Shogun: Broken to the Fist Show Only

March 19, 2024 1:48 PM - Season 1, Episode 5

Blackthorne and Mariko struggle to contain the secret that could get them both killed. Yabushige searches for the spy who has betrayed his intentions to Lord Toranaga.

"All men are like falcons."

Nagakado's wings are clipped after his samurai turkey shoot, Blackthorne spits feathers when cuckoo'd Lord Toda disrupts his nest, Mariko explains the nature of her gilded cage, Uejirou the gardener resolves an unpheasant situation, Yabushige seemingly accepts Muraji's stool pigeon, Lord Torenaga's goose is almost cooked in a landslide.

posted by Molesome (22 comments total)

Parasite Unseen, you may now claim your £5
posted by Molesome at 1:50 PM on March 19 [3 favorites]

Parasite Unseen, you may now claim your £5

First thing I thought when I saw him was “Parasite will be stoked.”
posted by potent_cyprus at 6:40 PM on March 19 [1 favorite]

So my wife and I couldn't figure out why Blackthorne was letting the pheasant rot. Actual "one weird trick" food prep from that era, or just establishing some control in his house, or random plot point necessary to kill the gardener?
posted by Kyol at 8:07 AM on March 20

On Hanging Pheasants
posted by Uncle Ira at 8:09 AM on March 20 [11 favorites]

Molesome, those puns are unwholesome. Thank you for brightening my morning.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 8:31 AM on March 20 [2 favorites]

It is with decidedly mixed emotions that I accept my No-Prize for the return of my terrible boy.

Buntaro, I am going to need you to be either 50% less awful or 50% less entertaining, because conscience will not permit me to do the cheering in which I would otherwise fully engage.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 11:45 AM on March 20 [3 favorites]

I award you this delightful albatross necklace...
posted by Molesome at 12:31 PM on March 20 [2 favorites]

I really want to see this series, and I'm much appreciating these postings, even the pun laden!
posted by winesong at 4:07 PM on March 20

Thank you for that link on the hanging pheasants, I'll add that (along with the natto) as, generally not my sort of thing. Might skip those episodes if they end up on Binging with Babbish.

I wanted to give a shout out to the casting on the show. Each character so far has been pitch perfect. The returning husband is fucking intimidating - even before you know he can shoot bows with perfect accuracy while blind drunk and through a non-transparent cover.
posted by ssmith at 5:54 PM on March 20

Also? Also also? This is 100% absolutely a show for subtitles. I couldn't imagine this as an English language production, the amount of translation-based hijinks that are only available through subs _alone_. But the actors are 100% leaning into language as a character, too, so good.
posted by Kyol at 8:07 PM on March 20 [7 favorites]

I rewatched the earthquake scene today because I’d never seen anything quite like that in a movie or show. The way the camera stayed put relative to the actors while the entire background bucked and shifted was one of the most frightening renditions of a quake I’ve seen.
posted by migurski at 11:08 PM on March 20 [8 favorites]

That earthquake scene was definitely amazing. There was one shot in particular where a character was in mid-close focus and the distance was slightly out-of-focus, and that background hillside simply started sliding off. It was stunning.

I would love to read some background on how it came to be. If it was largely CG, it was well-done, looking about as natural and believable as I think I’ve ever seen. On the other hand, if it was, somehow, a practical effect...well...~picks jaw off floor~
posted by Thorzdad at 3:41 AM on March 21

From the Vulture recap:

"Interviewed for the official podcast, Cosmo Jarvis revealed that the show built a real cliff out of wood and foam for them to jump down in the earthquake scene, which he says was the most fun he had filming, throwing himself down the mudslide over and over again."
posted by Molesome at 6:59 AM on March 21 [4 favorites]

This was a great episode and the earthquake scene was capital-a Awesome.

Regarding the subtitles, I wish the subtitles were "in-show" - not quite sure how to explain it but it seems like the subtitles that I am able to access through Disney+ are like, accessibility subtitles, so I get all the [Chuckles] and [Grunts in Japanese]. Also sometimes, about once or twice an episode, the subtitles flash on screen far, far too fast to be read - I mean blink and you miss it speed. Does anyone else have this on their streaming service? I only want subtitles of the Japanese dialogue. Certainly not interfering with how great this show is, though.
posted by Cpt. The Mango at 1:47 PM on March 21

...so I get all the [Chuckles] and [Grunts in Japanese].

That’s definitely not happening on my stream. Maybe double-check your tv settings to make sure you don’t have descriptive subtitling enabled?
posted by Thorzdad at 2:28 PM on March 21 [2 favorites]

Yeah no, I don't experience subtitles like you do, Cpt. The Mango.
posted by cooker girl at 12:28 PM on March 22

I have to admit that I almost turned it off and deleted the show from my feed over the emotional and physical abuse in this episode. I don't care if it's "realistic." I'm watching television for entertainment.

I also think there was not enough setup or exposition to make Toda-sama's apology to Blackthorne make sense. It's been decades since I saw the first series, read the book, or played the videogame, so I don't have the subtleties or nuances fresh in my mind.

I enjoyed the advancement of Blackthorne and Torenaga's real loyalty towards each other.
posted by ob1quixote at 12:27 PM on March 23

Huh, I was expecting that videogame link to go here
posted by Molesome at 3:29 PM on March 23

I also think there was not enough setup or exposition to make Toda-sama's apology to Blackthorne make sense.

I understood it to be, as seems to be usually the case, a matter of respect and the complex interpenetrating hierarchies in the society. Toda-sama is staying in what is, for all intents and purposes, Anjin-sama's house as his guest. He accepts Blackthorne's hospitality, insults him, engages in uncouth behavior unfitting of a samurai (drinking excessively, boasting, showing off), and then disturbs the peace of his home in the middle of the night with violence. Those are all serious breaches of etiquette, and as Fuji pointed out, Torenaga has effectively "civilized" Blackthorne by naming him hatamoto, so disrespect to Blackthorne is disrespect to his own lord and master. Once I realized that Toda-sama was apologizing and not challenging Blackthorne to a duel, I was actually worried he might commit seppuku right there.

Cpt. The Mango: On Hulu, the native in-show subtitles are only of the Japanese dialogue, and they are like a yellow-ish orange block letter. If I turn on Hulu's English subtitles, I get additional subtitles for the English dialogue as well as [chuckles] [indistinct chatter] etc. type. They are in a larger white font that looks more like a generic typeface. They are also usually lower on the screen than the in-show subtitles. It sounds like you've got the streaming service or TV subtitles on.
posted by Saxon Kane at 11:23 PM on March 26 [2 favorites]

Also sometimes, about once or twice an episode, the subtitles flash on screen far, far too fast to be read - I mean blink and you miss it speed.

This happens to us to, and we have the Disney+ closed captions on, not the in-show yellow text captions.
posted by hepta at 7:34 AM on March 28

That pheasant subplot is another one that survived the decades in my head. I don't remember the earthquake, though. According to Cosmo on the podcast, they had some stuntmen standing on dressed up canvas sheets that were then literally yanked out from under them.

One of the producers mentioned that "white arrows in your doorway" is a (metaphorical?) indication that trouble is coming, so #1 hubby may have been doing more than showing off.

Re. subtitles, the industry term is "forced" for just translating foreign words, and "SDH" (subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing) which includes English and often other sounds. "Forced" is usually the default and may not appear as an option (and might not be labeled "forced"if it is.)

Since the two adaptations have very different approaches to translating (the 1980 one just didn't) I wonder how the Japanese was handled in the book. Italics? Or just a lot of "she said in Japanese?"
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 9:33 PM on April 10

Jesus, Mariko’s back story is horrifying. That and the gardener’s “better death than he would’ve ordinarily had” now with extra convenient treason [sic] AND an earthquake, no wonder Blackthorne wants to run away screaming.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 1:17 PM on April 23