Shogun
released 2024
www.ink2quill.com

“Shogun” is an Japanese, American historical fiction, action, drama mini series produced by Edward L. McDonnell, Hiroyuki Sanada, Erin Smith, Jamie Vega Wheeler, Tom Winchester, Shannon Goss, Michaela Clavell, Michael De Luca, Rachel Kondo, Andrew Macdonald, Justin Marks, Eriko Miyagawa, Allon Reich, Timothy Van Patten and Eugene Kelly. It was written by James Clavell, Maegan Houang, Rachel Kondo, Justin Marks, Emily Yoshida, Shannon Goss, Matt Lambert, Caillin Puente and Nigel Williams. It was directed by Frederick E.O. Toye, Jonathan van Tulleken, Charlotte Brandstrom, Takeshi Fukunaga, Hiromi Kamata and Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour. It stars a gigantic cast including Hiroyuki Sanada, Cosmo Jarvis, Anna Sawai, Tadanobu Asano, Yuki Kedoin, Eushin Lee, Hiromoto Ida, Hiroto Kanai, Jodai Suzuki, Tommy Bastow, Yuki Kura, Akiko Kobayashi, Yasunari Takeshima, Sen Mars, Emi Kamito, Kengo Hashimoto, Takehiro Hira, Moeka Hoshi, Toshi Toda, Yuka Kouri, Jaden Konishi, Tokuma Nishioka, Ako, Takeshi Kurokawa, Nobuya Shimamoto, Erisa Ichikawa, Yutaro Oka, Saeko Kimura, Paulino Nunes, Fumi Nikaido, Nestor Carbonell, Yoriko Doguchi, Hiro Kanagawa, Mako Fujimoto, Yutaka Takeuchi, Daiki Yoshizaki, Shinnosuke Abe, Louis Ferreira, Dakota Daulby, Yuki Morita, Joaquim de Almeida, Ned Dennehy, Junichi Tajiri and so many more.

Shogun IMDb webpage

“Shogun” is the story of a pirate/ privateer/ explorer / trader, (and a man who could be called so many other things), named John Blackthorne, played by Cosmo Jarvis. What John really is in terms of purpose and profession is not clear at first but the story begins with him and his surviving crew of 12 who are shipwrecked on a small fishing village in the Japan of 1600. He is called ‘Anjin‘ which means ‘pilot‘ by the Japanese. This is a time of samurai and when a fierce struggle for power is raging in a medieval Japan that is closed off and mostly hidden to the outside world. The Portuguese and Spanish have tried to keep this part of the world a secret trying to assert their dominance through Catholicism. John Blackthorne is an English, Protestant who finds himself in the middle of this very dangerous situation as soon as he arrives. His ship is smashed and in dire need of repair so he is stuck until it can be fixed. At the start of the series John and the surviving crew are in the most dire situation where they are literally starving with no way to get home. Add to this the fact that they are English and England is at war with Spain and Portugal which are strongly Catholic countries trying to spread their faith around the world. All this means that if he is to survive he had better learn the language quickly and walk the tightrope of cultural intelligence very deftly.

The series starts with John and the surviving crew members on their wrecked ship and in terrible condition. They are basically dying on a wrecked ship. Their ship mast’s are broken, sails torn and probably with quite a few leaks. The men are frail and dying from starvation, dirty, smelly and suffering the worst kinds of malnutrition like scurvy. That shot of the crew member’s scurvy gums at one point was not a pretty sight. John and his crew are at rock bottom when the story starts but John realizes that they have actually reached Japan. That is the opening scene of the story and it is good foreshadowing of difficulties to come.

As the story progresses John learns that he has much more than culture shock and a language barrier to overcome. Surviving in the feudal society of 1600s Japan is no easy task, especially since he’s a foreigner who is only beginning to learn the power struggles and politics that will dictate his survival. All of these obstacles make his survival not at all certain. The priests from the Church of Portugal, who bribed 3 of the 5 Regents make several attempts to have him killed. At this time with the death of the previous Shogun Taiko there are 5 members on the Council of Regents who run the country until the son of the Shogun is old enough. These 5 Regents quarrel amongst themselves and struggle for power and wealth. The two poles of the power struggle are the powerful daimyo of the Kanto Region named Lord Toranaga, played by Hiroyuki Sanada, and his political rivals headed by Ishido Kazunari, played by Takehiro Hira, who rules from the Osaka Castle, which is essentially the Iron Throne (from The Game of Thrones fantasy series) of the day, so to speak. John Blackthorne stumbles into this hornet nest of political turmoil and must carefully learn to navigate the subtle world of culture, diplomacy and warfare. And with the help of Mariko, played by Anna Sawai, he just might survive.

I need to say that Anna Sawai gave such a subtle and powerful performance as Toda Mariko. She doesn’t say much because that is the way of her culture back then but her expressions and micro-expressions are brilliant. What great acting. I really believe that Cosmos’ performance as John Blackthorne would not be as great and effective without her. They really compliment each other so well.

There is a very important element that Mariko reveals that I have seen too few stories tell with such eloquence. That element is the character who seems to have it all and is envied by many but who in truth is dealing with very serious difficulties that most cannot see. At the end of the episode called “The Eightfold Fence” Mariko describes her beautiful world with such realism and honesty it’s the best expression of this theme I have ever seen.

When Mariko gives John advise or explains things to him a side of her she keeps well hidden comes out. We realized that she is trapped in a system that is always gunning for her and if the people she serves fall then she most likely will be killed or forced to kill herself. Hers is a very lonely world too and that is so sad. From the point of view of the outside observer, maybe the peasant, it looks like she is the lucky one who has everything but that is not the case. You need to look past her status, wealth, power and even abilities to see that she is trapped in a dangerous system. When she talks about the eightfold fence, in my opinion, she is not only giving John advice but is also revealing her real situation and fears to him. That is a powerful talk with so many layers. She navigates her culture with such caution and skill that ‘the heart in her mouth‘, as the expression goes, almost has us fooled.

The expression is that a man (person) has 3 hearts. One in his mouth for the world. One in his chest for his friends and one that is completely hidden from everybody.

Just as a side note, I loved the scene where a man tells John “You don’t know their games.” Meaning john’s in way over his head in this foreign land. That was a good description of the state of things and quite funny. The beginning of the story is full of WTF moments for John and us.

So, check out this masterpiece. It is so well done and is probably a fairly accurate portrayal of those times in that part of the world. The costumes are beautiful. The sets and worldbuilding, people and background, historical significance are just so well done. This is truly a great masterpiece.

John Ink2Quill

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