I read the book 20yrs ago and it is THE best book I’ve ever read. Absolutely stunning story and characters. My dad almost chose to give me the name of the main character (Toranaga) which for an English person would have been a bit silly.
But anyway - I was so excited by the book I read the last page. It basically summed up what I thought would be the climax of the story in a single paragraph.
“Oh shit” - I thought. “Then WTF is the book about?!”.
Oooooooohh let me tell you: It’s a classic case of “the journey is better than the destination” - i.e. fucking incredible!
Produced and starring Hiroyuki Sanada (Last samurai, Wolverine, Twilight Samurai, etc).
This turned me into a weeaboo that at 21 jumped off my bed swishing an imaginary katana like a nutter.
WATCH IT! Out 27th of February!
It’s loosely based on John Blackthorne the English sailor of a ship that wrecked in Japan. AKA: Anjin-san (Mr Pilot)
Reviews so far look epic: https://screenrant.com/shogun-show-reviews-reactions-fx/
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The old version was amazing. And I’m really looking forward to seeing this. !!
I’m SO fucking stoked someone else has heard of it!! I’ve not seen the original TV show (just read the book) but I heard it was a great adaptation and it’s defo on the list. With it being so long since I read it though it’ll be quite fresh cos tbh I can barely remember the story! 😃
I absolutely adore Hiroyuki Sanada since seeing him in Twilight Samurai years back.
Anjin-san must be the first British weeaboo and therefore the patron-saint of all British weeaboos!
It’s funny but so much of what the West knows about Japan is from this book! Ideas like the 3 hearts and that kami inhabit all things. Baths beign a big part of Japanese culture. Similar to how Lord of the Rings established so much fantasy - Shogun established so much Japanese culture in the West.
It’s one of my favorite books as well. You should definitely watch the original mini series.
Hmmm. I loved the series from the 1980s. There were some great performances, especially the wonderful Toshiro Mifune as Toranaga and John Rhys-Davies as Vasco Rodrigues.
This new version looks like the big set pieces will be more epic, so I hope the characterisation holds up as well.
I’m sure it will be lovely. Am I going to pay Disney to watch it? Am I fuck.
Alright
I remember finding the book on a shelf in a holiday cottage when I was younger and the TV series was solid entertainment. The trailer for this looks cracking.
I listened to the 50h audio book in preparation for the TV series. I really hope they can do a good job of visualizing the subtlety between character’s actions, thoughts and hidden motives.
The book was also pretty visceral in a few scenes it depicted (The Cellar, The Portuguese Ship, The Torture), I really hope they don’t shy away from those. The clash between civilization and barbarity is something that you don’t see very often, and my fear is that the show will spin the Feudal era of Japan as some passive golden era, when it really was a powder keg of war, death, and natural disaster.
That’s karma, eh?
As I was watching the preview I kept thinking to myself: “this had better be a series; no way they can do Shōgun—in all its depth and complexity and beauty—a faithful representation in just one film.” Glad to see that validated.
Probably my favorite book of all time. I’ll definitely give this a watch.
