18:44 What you missed is, he raised his weapon at another lord. He risked open war and this is just seconds ago when Torunaga just declared he will not be the first to break peace with the other regents. The gravity of that situation doesn't end with him embarrassing Torunaga but making the whole situation far worse for his whole clan. Any royal court in any part of the world would judge his action very harshly and repercussion would most likely extend to his family to ensure no revenge would be carried out later.
An odd thing about “Warrior” is how the Chinese characters speak fluent English (actually Cantonese) with each other, but broken English when speaking with the native Whites.
The first seppuku is because he not only spoke up BUT because he partially drew his blade inside a Lord's castle which in Japanese custom is an offense that deserves death.
Blackthorne is a huge threat for many different reasons. And Toranqga seems to have caught on to that immediately. Because Catholics don't just despise the Protestants for not paying homage to the Pope. But also, the 1600's was when Galileo was on trial by the Catholic Church for teaching that the Sun does NOT revolve around the Earth With the Vatican at the center. Blackthorne, as a navigator who uses the stars as his map, knows that to be a lie. This makes that scene when he explains to Toranaga his understanding of the globe all the more fascinating and destabilizing. Moreover, the Buddhist Japanese see China as the "middle country" or center of the world. Another myth on the verge of being exposed.
There seems to be a misunderstanding, but in the past and now, the Japanese are neither a pure Buddhist country nor Buddhists. It is based on Shinto, which is an ethnic norm (Shinto is not a religion in the global sense), and it accepts Buddhist culture by adapting it to Japanese culture as one of the diversity that is the values of Shinto. It's not too much. However, this is difficult to understand from a Western monotheistic perspective.
@@kanshimajiri5341 So far we're getting references to reincarnation and the process of death. It's helping me see how some of the character's actions are informed by a belief system that differs from Christianity.
No, your timelines are way off. _Shogun_ takes place in the lead up to the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 (warning: don't read too many details about it yet if you're avoiding _Shogun_ spoilers). Galileo's trial by the Inquisition isn't until 1615. Heliocentrism at this point is just a theory a few intellectuals like Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo were mulling over, because it was clear the geocentric model was incorrect, but none of them actually had the mathematics to support heliocentrism, which is part of how the Inquisition are able to nail Galileo. (His trial is mostly political--even though Galileo had a cordial relationship with the Pope at the time, he'd pissed off some powerful people who were eventually in a position to prosecute him.) Even most Protestants don't accept heliocentrism in 1600. It would take a few more decades, roughly until Isaac Newton, when it was established that heliocentrism was the only cosmological model that fit all observations and calculations of the solar system. Blackthorne doesn't have any special insight into cosmology because he's a navigator. The Portugese are almost inarguably the greatest navigators in the world at this time, which is why they've been in Japan and Macau and Goa for over a century when _Shogun_ opens. Whatever Blackthorne knows about navigation or the stars, the Portugese have known for almost 200 years.
Galileo was not convicted for his heliocentrism, he was convicted for Les Majesty (disrespecting the pope) in his writing. The Catholic Church claims they were never anti science and most Catholic scholars will argue this with whim and vigor. If you ever get a rabbi and a catholic priest at your table and keep the wine flowing you are in for an interesting experience.
@@Stress-Free-K Reincarnation has its origins in Indian philosophy, which has been passed down to Buddhism, and Japanese culture shares this value, but it is not absolute. It is believed that after death, a samurai becomes a spirit and remains in this world as a guardian deity for the bereaved family. Furthermore, in Japanese culture, there is no absolute God or absolute evil. In other words, we believe that God also has faults and evils, and that even evil can be good or right. This idea is also reflected in anime, manga, historical dramas, etc. I would appreciate it if you could use this as a reference when enjoying Japanese entertainment works.
@@DecodingTV Ah, I figured out what is going on. The wildly different episode titles between YT and the podcast had me thinking some episodes were not showing up.
So far, Torunaga is our hero, don't you agree? Especially when you see the loyalty he inspires from others. And sure he does lay traps. But that's because his life and clan hang in the balance. It's great watching him outwit his opponents without having to lift a sword, first.
@@Stress-Free-K Saying anything beyond what the two episodes have shown so far would be spoiler territory and like I said, it's dependent on how close the show will be to the source material but vaguely speaking, he knows how to manipulate people.
@@Stress-Free-K Not just his opponents. He's several steps ahead of everyone. The monologue at the end of the first episode about every man having 3 hearts and the third one, which you never show to anyone is very apt.
Shogun is a very very easy contender for show of the year for me so far. I hope it can stick the landing, but honestly I don't have any doubt that it will and I'm just happy to be along for the ride. I read the book many many years ago and have completely forgotten anything about it so I'm choosing to enjoy the show entirely on its own merits and will go back and re-read the book at some point.
Shogun is my all time favorite book. I've read it several times and also love the original miniseries for it's faithfulness to the book. The new series is great and some changes have been made, such as using an older Japanese dialect that is more historically accurate than the original book. The new series also admits that the Japanese had access to guns way before the English showed up. At the end of the day, the more great Shogun content, the better!
Folks, nice review, but reading the book and watching the old show helps understand. What yo all do not seem to realize is that this is actually based on real history. It does take liberties, but I saw the original show, had red the book, but then also did an exchange program in Japan. Toranaga is based on Tokugawa leyasu....Beautiful major historic park that is still there and is a must visit especially after seeing the show. Just wait to see what comes next.
The samurai on the beach were not acting as cops, they were there for salvage. “Wrecking” is an old tradition in costal areas if a ship runs a shore the locals would murder the crew or just let them drown and then yoink their stuff, even the Timber and robe would have significant value to a local community, even surviving crew could have value as slaves. In medieval societies salvage and “wrecking” rights belonged to the lord of the realm and could be gifted to local lords, villages, monestaries or lucky individuals. My Grandfather had salvage rights along a patch of the coast of Jutland, he made a small fortune durring WWI after the battle of Jutland. Wrecking ended mostly when modern governments were introduced to areas, But you would be suprised how long the praxis lasted in porer areas even in the vest. Also any wrecked sailor would know they were shit out of luck if shipwrecked in a foreign land, so Blackthorne would have behaved very different in reality.
I remember the original, this Blackthorn I’m not feeling him so far. Richard was fantastic in the part. I like the show so far…but the actor playing Blackthorn, I can’t. I hope everyone else carries the story.
I read it 3 times (2 in Portuguese & 1 English) in addition to buying the video with Richard Chamberlain with captain Blackthorne (~1980). I also bought all of James Clavell's books (all fantastic)
@@dana8503 yup cared about his men, showed respect to the Japanese leaders. Sure he swore and got angry but given the situation he was in it was understandable and endearing. So I'm quite unsure how he was unlikeable! Unlikeable is the guy that boiled john's crew mate alive!
I'm halfway through and if they continue with he's one of the most unlikable characters in film history then I'm going to politely move on from their opinions. Blackthorne is absolutely a flawed character in he starts off with the usual medieval European bigotry.. but even over the course a single episode, let alone three, you can see that he opens his eyes, learns, changes and more-over evolves to become a better person and give respect where it's due often at the price of his own pride. I don't find anyone all that unlikable that can swallow his pride and show humility and modest when shown the error of his ways. As an example, no other European is bowing their forehead to the floor. In the book it takes him much longer to get to this point because the Europeans are loathe to humiliate themselves to such a degree. He bowed to Kabu out of the sheer respect he had for the man's tenacity. He's probably the most humane, empathetic character in the whole show. So much so that it becomes a hinderance and a handicap to his survival. I'm sorry, I VERY much disagree with how unlikable they find this character.
A minor disappointment was that the new anjin-san had to use contact lenses. Hes supposed to be blond too. Plus that flirty relationship, that chemistry between Anjinsan and Mariko. Its just not there.
i am so bothered by the show pretending english is portuguese that i don't know if i can watch despite loving the first episode. it's all i can think about.
Shogun - The tv show you read. Now that’s a bit of a joke, but when one of the main attractions of the show is seeing this fully realized version of the past having to read like 80-90% of the dialogue really takes away from that.
Sorry. I disagree. Japanese sounds wonderful. Japanese and French are some of the most beautifully sounding languages ever. With Japanese, their intonations add a great deal of nuance to understanding what the words on screen convey. And it's the way they speak, which negates the need for much of a score cuz the percussive nature of Japanese fills in those emotional cues. Plus, I'm a super slow reader. So now I've become quite adept at using my mouse for a 10-second rewind. Just so I can get every word. Which makes the show even longer. And that's a good thing because I really don't want it to end.
@@Stress-Free-K I’m not complaining about how it sounds. Just that having to read subtitles all the time prevents me from spending more time taking in historical world they’ve stunningly recreated.
@@donkeysaurusrex7881 I think the producers appreciate that dilemma. That's why they begin many scenes in Japanese and then transition to strictly English being spoken. So we get the best of both worlds. But not to have any Japanese would rob us and the show of its beauty and historical authenticity, don't you think?
The 1980 series didn't use subtitles for the Japanese so you were experiencing things more through Blackthorn's experience. It also let the audience concentrate more on the performance but it is nice to get the whole story through the subtitles. That lets us get things more like the book.
18:44 What you missed is, he raised his weapon at another lord. He risked open war and this is just seconds ago when Torunaga just declared he will not be the first to break peace with the other regents. The gravity of that situation doesn't end with him embarrassing Torunaga but making the whole situation far worse for his whole clan. Any royal court in any part of the world would judge his action very harshly and repercussion would most likely extend to his family to ensure no revenge would be carried out later.
An odd thing about “Warrior” is how the Chinese characters speak fluent English (actually Cantonese) with each other, but broken English when speaking with the native Whites.
FX is underrated network. Bringing us several seasons of Fargo and now Shogun.
Atlanta as well
The first seppuku is because he not only spoke up BUT because he partially drew his blade inside a Lord's castle which in Japanese custom is an offense that deserves death.
And also because he crossed the portal and stepped on the tatami of the internal room.
Blackthorne is a huge threat for many different reasons. And Toranqga seems to have caught on to that immediately. Because Catholics don't just despise the Protestants for not paying homage to the Pope. But also, the 1600's was when Galileo was on trial by the Catholic Church for teaching that the Sun does NOT revolve around the Earth With the Vatican at the center.
Blackthorne, as a navigator who uses the stars as his map, knows that to be a lie. This makes that scene when he explains to Toranaga his understanding of the globe all the more fascinating and destabilizing.
Moreover, the Buddhist Japanese see China as the "middle country" or center of the world. Another myth on the verge of being exposed.
There seems to be a misunderstanding, but in the past and now, the Japanese are neither a pure Buddhist country nor Buddhists.
It is based on Shinto, which is an ethnic norm (Shinto is not a religion in the global sense), and it accepts Buddhist culture by adapting it to Japanese culture as one of the diversity that is the values of Shinto. It's not too much.
However, this is difficult to understand from a Western monotheistic perspective.
@@kanshimajiri5341 So far we're getting references to reincarnation and the process of death. It's helping me see how some of the character's actions are informed by a belief system that differs from Christianity.
No, your timelines are way off. _Shogun_ takes place in the lead up to the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 (warning: don't read too many details about it yet if you're avoiding _Shogun_ spoilers). Galileo's trial by the Inquisition isn't until 1615. Heliocentrism at this point is just a theory a few intellectuals like Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo were mulling over, because it was clear the geocentric model was incorrect, but none of them actually had the mathematics to support heliocentrism, which is part of how the Inquisition are able to nail Galileo. (His trial is mostly political--even though Galileo had a cordial relationship with the Pope at the time, he'd pissed off some powerful people who were eventually in a position to prosecute him.) Even most Protestants don't accept heliocentrism in 1600. It would take a few more decades, roughly until Isaac Newton, when it was established that heliocentrism was the only cosmological model that fit all observations and calculations of the solar system.
Blackthorne doesn't have any special insight into cosmology because he's a navigator. The Portugese are almost inarguably the greatest navigators in the world at this time, which is why they've been in Japan and Macau and Goa for over a century when _Shogun_ opens. Whatever Blackthorne knows about navigation or the stars, the Portugese have known for almost 200 years.
Galileo was not convicted for his heliocentrism, he was convicted for Les Majesty (disrespecting the pope) in his writing. The Catholic Church claims they were never anti science and most Catholic scholars will argue this with whim and vigor. If you ever get a rabbi and a catholic priest at your table and keep the wine flowing you are in for an interesting experience.
@@Stress-Free-K
Reincarnation has its origins in Indian philosophy, which has been passed down to Buddhism, and Japanese culture shares this value, but it is not absolute. It is believed that after death, a samurai becomes a spirit and remains in this world as a guardian deity for the bereaved family. Furthermore, in Japanese culture, there is no absolute God or absolute evil.
In other words, we believe that God also has faults and evils, and that even evil can be good or right. This idea is also reflected in anime, manga, historical dramas, etc. I would appreciate it if you could use this as a reference when enjoying Japanese entertainment works.
I was waiting for a reference to Hunt for the Red October regarding the point about speaking in English as a substitute for the in-world language.
These episodes are not showing up in my podcast feed. Are you changing what is available on what platform?
The decoding tv podcast is available on all platforms.
@@DecodingTV Ah, I figured out what is going on. The wildly different episode titles between YT and the podcast had me thinking some episodes were not showing up.
27:08 Because the Protestant vs. Catholic thing is inherently political that just happened to find an excuse using religion.
BTW, sanada speaks good English, just watch his interviews.😊😊😊😊
12:37 If they are following the novel closely, there are no clear-cut good guys in the show.
So far, Torunaga is our hero, don't you agree? Especially when you see the loyalty he inspires from others. And sure he does lay traps. But that's because his life and clan hang in the balance. It's great watching him outwit his opponents without having to lift a sword, first.
@@Stress-Free-K Saying anything beyond what the two episodes have shown so far would be spoiler territory and like I said, it's dependent on how close the show will be to the source material but vaguely speaking, he knows how to manipulate people.
@@RandalReid Yessss. More of that, please. A highly intelligent warrior that runs circles around their opponents will be fun to watch.
@@Stress-Free-K Not just his opponents. He's several steps ahead of everyone. The monologue at the end of the first episode about every man having 3 hearts and the third one, which you never show to anyone is very apt.
@@RandalReid Ya ... that part is kinda sad. But it's the price of leadership I guess.
Shogun is a very very easy contender for show of the year for me so far. I hope it can stick the landing, but honestly I don't have any doubt that it will and I'm just happy to be along for the ride. I read the book many many years ago and have completely forgotten anything about it so I'm choosing to enjoy the show entirely on its own merits and will go back and re-read the book at some point.
Omg Jessie is on for this show?? Yesss
Shogun is my all time favorite book. I've read it several times and also love the original miniseries for it's faithfulness to the book. The new series is great and some changes have been made, such as using an older Japanese dialect that is more historically accurate than the original book. The new series also admits that the Japanese had access to guns way before the English showed up. At the end of the day, the more great Shogun content, the better!
Folks, nice review, but reading the book and watching the old show helps understand. What yo all do not seem to realize is that this is actually based on real history. It does take liberties, but I saw the original show, had red the book, but then also did an exchange program in Japan. Toranaga is based on Tokugawa leyasu....Beautiful major historic park that is still there and is a must visit especially after seeing the show. Just wait to see what comes next.
The samurai on the beach were not acting as cops, they were there for salvage. “Wrecking” is an old tradition in costal areas if a ship runs a shore the locals would murder the crew or just let them drown and then yoink their stuff, even the Timber and robe would have significant value to a local community, even surviving crew could have value as slaves.
In medieval societies salvage and “wrecking” rights belonged to the lord of the realm and could be gifted to local lords, villages, monestaries or lucky individuals. My Grandfather had salvage rights along a patch of the coast of Jutland, he made a small fortune durring WWI after the battle of Jutland.
Wrecking ended mostly when modern governments were introduced to areas, But you would be suprised how long the praxis lasted in porer areas even in the vest.
Also any wrecked sailor would know they were shit out of luck if shipwrecked in a foreign land, so Blackthorne would have behaved very different in reality.
I mean the historical William Adams managed to not get murdered immediately by salvagers.
I remember the original, this Blackthorn I’m not feeling him so far. Richard was fantastic in the part. I like the show so far…but the actor playing Blackthorn, I can’t. I hope everyone else carries the story.
the book is amazing go read it
I read it 3 times (2 in Portuguese & 1 English) in addition to buying the video with Richard Chamberlain with captain Blackthorne (~1980). I also bought all of James Clavell's books (all fantastic)
Since when was John Blavkthorne unlikeable??
I found he was pretty honourable. He's probably the softest guy in the story, in the sense that he does care about others.
@@dana8503 yup cared about his men, showed respect to the Japanese leaders. Sure he swore and got angry but given the situation he was in it was understandable and endearing. So I'm quite unsure how he was unlikeable! Unlikeable is the guy that boiled john's crew mate alive!
I'm halfway through and if they continue with he's one of the most unlikable characters in film history then I'm going to politely move on from their opinions.
Blackthorne is absolutely a flawed character in he starts off with the usual medieval European bigotry.. but even over the course a single episode, let alone three, you can see that he opens his eyes, learns, changes and more-over evolves to become a better person and give respect where it's due often at the price of his own pride. I don't find anyone all that unlikable that can swallow his pride and show humility and modest when shown the error of his ways. As an example, no other European is bowing their forehead to the floor. In the book it takes him much longer to get to this point because the Europeans are loathe to humiliate themselves to such a degree. He bowed to Kabu out of the sheer respect he had for the man's tenacity.
He's probably the most humane, empathetic character in the whole show. So much so that it becomes a hinderance and a handicap to his survival.
I'm sorry, I VERY much disagree with how unlikable they find this character.
Also Mariko and Anjinsan, speak both Portughese and Latin
A minor disappointment was that the new anjin-san had to use contact lenses. Hes supposed to be blond too.
Plus that flirty relationship, that chemistry between Anjinsan and Mariko. Its just not there.
Cheating? It's called stupidity... 90% of the series in Japanese..and the rest can't be in Portuguese... not even a "Bom dia Senhor"... anyway...
i am so bothered by the show pretending english is portuguese that i don't know if i can watch despite loving the first episode. it's all i can think about.
Shogun wasn't a "prestige" show in the 80's and it STILL is not a "prestige" re-make today. BUT...everyone is entitled to their opinion.
I cant stand them speaking English instead of Portuguese. Its so distracting
If they didn't, they would have to use toy swords and wear bathrobes instead of kimonos. They would never have the finances for the show.
Absolutely a Tom Hardy knockoff lol
Shogun - The tv show you read.
Now that’s a bit of a joke, but when one of the main attractions of the show is seeing this fully realized version of the past having to read like 80-90% of the dialogue really takes away from that.
What lol
Sorry. I disagree. Japanese sounds wonderful. Japanese and French are some of the most beautifully sounding languages ever. With Japanese, their intonations add a great deal of nuance to understanding what the words on screen convey. And it's the way they speak, which negates the need for much of a score cuz the percussive nature of Japanese fills in those emotional cues.
Plus, I'm a super slow reader. So now I've become quite adept at using my mouse for a 10-second rewind. Just so I can get every word. Which makes the show even longer. And that's a good thing because I really don't want it to end.
@@Stress-Free-K I’m not complaining about how it sounds. Just that having to read subtitles all the time prevents me from spending more time taking in historical world they’ve stunningly recreated.
@@donkeysaurusrex7881 I think the producers appreciate that dilemma. That's why they begin many scenes in Japanese and then transition to strictly English being spoken. So we get the best of both worlds. But not to have any Japanese would rob us and the show of its beauty and historical authenticity, don't you think?
The 1980 series didn't use subtitles for the Japanese so you were experiencing things more through Blackthorn's experience. It also let the audience concentrate more on the performance but it is nice to get the whole story through the subtitles. That lets us get things more like the book.
hmmm,... the novel is utter garbage ...
You must have read the wrong book
Nobody agrees with you. Worth checking the history it’s based on
So is your comment
@@Reacted1991 it was shameless rip off of Japanese history with ridiculous changed names of real figures like Tokugawa and Ishida.
@@OwnYourBaldSpot and so is yours ... buzzoff ...