TV #14 of 2024:
Shōgun, season 1
An exquisitely-rendered adaptation of the classic historical fiction novel about simmering political tensions and warfare in 17th-century feudal Japan. I can’t compare it to the 1980 NBC miniseries, which I haven’t seen, but I’m impressed with how closely this one hews to the original book in its plot and tone, particularly in decentering the white male lead, an Englishman who stumbles into the escalating drama and finds himself enlisted as an unwitting pawn. As our initial viewpoint character, it would be easy for the show to frame everything through his western gaze, but he’s instead positioned as only one important figure among many in the ensemble, which resists exoticization at every turn.
I’ll quote here from my own review of the source material, as so much of it still applies:
“I think it helps that Clavell presents us with a large cast of fleshed-out characters, most of them Japanese, with clear differences of philosophy and temperament across the lot. While the novel engages in some broad East/West dichotomies, neither side of the cultural exchange is portrayed as wholly good or bad, and the primary arc of the piece involves the European protagonist gaining a deeper understanding and appreciation for the people around him. Likewise, his own reputation gradually shifts from that of an uncivilized curiosity to a strange but honorable outsider, particularly after he agrees to start bathing more than once a year.
“Against that framework, the story is a slow-burning coil of intrigues and oblique threats punctuated by sudden outbursts of graphic violence a la Game of Thrones or Red Rising, with tensions among rival samurai factions as well as the respective representatives of the Anglican, Catholic, and Shinto religions. Plots are hatched, vengeance is wreaked, seppuku is required, and honor is upheld. It’s definitely a romanticized view of the era, but as an immersive and swashbuckling adventure, it holds up pretty nicely.”
HBO’s Game of Thrones is a key comparison point for the FX/Hulu series, which likewise throws audiences into an immersive world and trusts us to follow along in sorting out the various factions, personalities, and relevant backstory as the action hits the ground running. Although a dubbed edition is available via Hulu submenu, the primary broadcast is presented mostly in Japanese with English subtitles, with many scenes featuring no English speakers at all. (My one quirky complaint is that for some reason, English is used when characters are actually speaking other European languages like Portuguese or Dutch, which somewhat breaks the immersion once you realize it. But thankfully, the Japanese is left alone, as rendering that in accented English would have considerably weakened both the overall impact and the theme of cross-cultural communication difficulties.)
The acting is terrific, and the characters shine even though they’re often making their strategic moves via subtle implications in their dialogue. Blackthorne provides a necessary role in cutting through all that and forcing certain items out into the open, but it’s Toranaga’s high-stakes stone-faced maneuvers, Mariko’s quiet fatalism, and Yabushige’s desperate Littlefinger-esque scheming that really deliver the spectacle and underline the tragedy of particular developments.
This season adapts the entirety of the James Clavell novel, which the producers clearly understand inside and out. The changes they’ve made are small but categorically improve the text, such as when the Anjin mournfully volunteers for a duty in episode nine that on the page was assigned to Yabu basically by default. I don’t imagine they’ll go on to make any further seasons of this now that the storyline has reached its natural conclusion, but even as a standalone run, these ten episodes are a real wonder to behold.
[Content warning for gun violence, torture, suicide, domestic abuse, and gore.]
★★★★★
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