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sasorikigai · 3 months

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Ever since Game of Thrones came to an end back in 2019, I've been itching for some expansive medieval political intrigue. FX's adaptation of Shōgun, James Clavell's 1975 novel, provides exactly what I've been craving. It widens its view of the original story, which follows a fictionalized version of the adventures of the first Englishman to reach Japan, to put a greater emphasis on the dangerous political world that man finds himself trapped in. This new adaptation of Shōgun is all about the machinations of feudal lords, their vassals and retainers, and their spies and confidants, as Japan careens toward civil war in 1600.

The wider scope that creators Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks give the story makes room for a wide array of characters, all of whom are trying to square the requirements of loyalty and duty with their own searches for power or even just survival. That almost makes Shōgun a political thriller, and every scene carries the undercurrent that, despite the polite strictures of the society they find themselves in, everyone is fighting a death that's inexorably sweeping toward them.

At the center of the story is Lord Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada, John Wick: Chapter 4), who is trying to navigate the dangerous politics of a degrading peace. A year after the death of the Taikō, the leader of a unified Japan, Toranaga sits on a council of five regents who share power until the rightful heir comes of age. His main rival on the council, Ishida (Takehiro Hira, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters), is already maneuvering against him when things pick up, aligning the other regents to vote to impeach Toranaga, which will mean his death.

Into that situation comes John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis), a Protestant English navigator on a Dutch ship hoping to discover a route to Japan. Up to this point, only the Portuguese and their Catholic church have known the nation's location and thus dominate trade. When Blackthorne's ship is blown ashore, he's taken prisoner with his men, but his hope is to disrupt the Portuguese and establish diplomatic connections of his own as part of a larger battle between the European nations. Where the novel sticks mostly with Blackthrone's viewpoint as he experiences and learns about Japanese culture amidst the rising political tensions, the series shows just how much he's another piece in Toranaga's grander game.

Linking Toranaga and Blackthorne is Lady Mariko (Anna Sawai, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, F9: The Fast Saga), a Christian convert who speaks Portuguese and serves as interpreter for Blackthorne. Mariko is also torn between loyalties, stuck spending time with Blackthorne, who is considered a barbarian, and bound by competing duties to Toranaga, her religion, and her family line.

Sanada stalwartly anchors the drama, and his ability to keep everything behind his eyes leaves the audience guessing at the mystery of Toranaga's plans as much as the characters. Jarvis plays foil to the more subdued characters, particularly Sawai's Mariko, and his emotional swings bring an intensity to goings-on that often have the feel of a current carrying everyone out to sea. But it's Sawai who provides Shōgun's empathetic heart more often than not, especially in scenes when her duty and her place in patriarchal society force her to sit stony against the abuse--mostly verbal but sometimes physical--of others. When she turns that purposely emotionless gaze against other people at a few key moments, it has a devastating effect.

Shōgun also features a large cast of great supporting characters, as well. Tadanobu Asano (Mortal Kombat) is the most fun to watch as Yabushige, Toranaga's scheming vassal who is by turns sadistic, boisterous, courageous, and sometimes a bit incompetent. He often brings a much-needed frankness to the other, stodgier characters. It's worth noting also that most of Shōgun is subtitled; the Japanese characters speak Japanese to one another, and English only comes up among the foreigners and when Mariko speaks to Blackthorne.

There's a lot less mustache-twirling or open plotting than you might expect here, though, often because so much of the intrigue is bound up in the honor code of the samurai culture in which the show takes place. But in similar fashion to Game of Thrones, you'll likely spend a lot of time internalizing how everyone is related, who they're bound to, and what their goals are. If there's a drawback, it's that much of Shōgun is subdued conversations between characters sitting in quiet rooms. Across the first eight episodes FX provided for this review (with 10 in total), there are a few flashes of action as war draws near, but they tend to be quick and explosive. This isn't a series that's going from battle to battle, but instead builds a consistent tension that the very world puts the characters in danger--not necessarily because of unseen schemes, but because of the rules hemming them all in.

It also just often looks great. Japan is presented with a foggy beauty running through the show's cinematography and presentation, and there's a persistent desaturated understatement to the images. Like everything else, it amplifies the ever-present feeling of death just out of view.

Shōgun provides the same thrill as some of the best moments of Game of Thrones, when the careful plots of powerful people collide in unforeseen ways. It's a gripping story of intrigue, thanks to an excellent cast and stakes the show is always finding new ways to raise.

#(shogun)#hiroyuki sanada #tadanobu asano #(two of my fav actors! I'm most excited for those two)#(this may be the series I'm most looking forward to)#(along with Warrior season 3 when it gets on Netflix)

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linagram · 9 months

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>:D Now you have to tell me what songs you'd assign to Eiji and Miki!

OKAY OKAY so i actually did have some t2 covers for them in mind, but i don't think they're gonna get a new profile this time because uhhh, i feel like "the end of the first trial" and the pre-t2 vds show their personality changes well and also if i tried to describe their t2 personalities more, it would be like "but you will see that in one of the future vds!" or "but i can't say much about it because spoilers!", like sure, i have to keep a lot of info about my prisoners secret too, but when it's the guards who are like, literally the protagonists, it's very hard to hide everything. and i didn't want to make a whole new profile just so for their covers (and possible voicelines) soooo yeah i'll talk about them here! also i was too lazy to draw their t2 versions.

Milgram covers.

Eiji: Yeah, he gets Bring It On this time. I had to do it to him. I also thought of giving him Harrow, but let's be honest here, I like to joke about Eiji and Kotoko's similarities, since both of them are so passionate about justice and both of them punish the guilty prisoners, but.. That's where their similarities end. Also, I don't know much about Kotoko, I'm not like, her biggest fan here (though I don't dislike/hate her), so I can't say much about her, but I feel like Eiji is more.. uh.. Basically, sure, he wants to punish all criminals and he wants to see them in pain, but it's not because he wants to make this world better or anything. He's just really obsessed with revenge and he wants to feel in control for once. Honestly, it's actually kinda scary to think about, because like.. What if Eiji went "You know what, maybe I shouldn't focus only on criminals AND I SHOULD JUST HURT EVERYONE". I feel like it really could happen if after T1 there were more guilty prisoners and not the innocent ones. Also I just think his Bring It On cover would sound really cool and that last scene with Fuuta looking anxious and staring at his phone and realizing what he had done?? LITERALLY T2 EIJI SEEING EVERYONE'S VERDICTS AND DOUBTING HIMSELF.

Miki: She gets Triage! I feel like her cover would sound really soft and pretty :) The lyrics sound a lot like her T2 version: yes, she's still blaming herself for Asahi running away from home and not protecting him enough and she also wants to help the guilty prisoners, but also now she knows how much influence she has over everyone here. She can save them. She can save both innocent and guilty prisoners. So please, give her another chance. Yes, she thinks she's worse than all the prisoners here and she thinks she's the worst older sister ever, but also, she's one of the guards. Most prisoners like her and Eiji is willing to listen to her. She's indispensable.

DECO*27 covers.

Okay, this one was hard because to be honest, I was just kinda planning to make them follow in Es's footsteps and cover Hibana together dkdksdlsl. But I tried my best to assign them separate covers.

Eiji: Hmm, I don't think it sounds like something he would sing because I imagine Eiji usually covering more "loud" songs, but I decided to go with At! Now, again, as with pretty much all DECO*27 songs, this one is about a romantic relationship, but hear me out. Like, look at the lyrics. "The day after you die, I wonder what I would eat", "If I voiced it out, you would have gotten mad at me, so I'm keeping that in my head", "Why is it when I'm certain of it, I end up wanting to cry alone".. Or how about "The day after I die, I wonder who you'll rely on"? Or "And I'm surprised, you've been having the same thoughts as me"?? OR "UNTIL THE FAR, FAR FUTURE, LET'S KEEP HURTING EACH OTHER"?? OR "BECAUSE UNTIL WE GET TO UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER, I'LL NEVER LEAVE YOU"?? OR "HITTING AND SHARING THIS EXPERIENCE TOGETHER BECAUSE WE'RE WRONG, WE'RE SHINING MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE NOW, RIGHT??? Yeah, I think you know who I'm talking about. I was so shocked when I read the lyrics because?? THIS IS LITERALLY KEI AND EIJI'S RELATIONSHIP?? Like, even lyrics like "So as we feel troubled, let's tell each other "I love you"" sound a lot like them because GOD THEIR DYNAMIC IS INSANE. Eiji constantly reminding Miki how much he hates Kei for everything he did to Eiji and having understandable reasons for wanting to kill him, but instantly going "protective older brother (who is actually younger)" mode when he sees Kei suffering?? Like seriously, if he could kill Kei, he would. But he didn't. Kei is injured, but still alive. Why did Eiji hold back? Is it because he's still scared of him? Is it because he's so used to Kei's abuse that it feels weird to do the same thing to his older brother? Is it because in a very twisted and also sad way, it's too hard for him to let Kei go and he actually loves him?

Miki: I decided to go with Find the Light! (Both songs are also from the same album, so yay, they match!) The lyrics sound so much like her T2 version and they actually sound a bit scary in this context: "The light slowly vanishes here in this dark world" (her talking about Milgram in general and how there's three guilty prisoners now and the prisoners' relationships are starting to become more toxic and even her relationship with Eiji is a bit different now), "Loving yesterday but hating tomorrow" (She actually gets to hang out with some prisoners sometimes and she ends up having fun, but then she remembers about Trial 2 and Trial 3.. and yeah, those thoughts scare her), "Only a monochrome black and white is reflected in my eyes" (The whole "Innocent or Guilty" thing), "Pushing back the needle of hopes with a finger" (She really is the guilty prisoners' only hope right now and the innocent prisoners also have to ask her for help too).. Some of them are kinda wholesome though, like "So that even if this voice breaks, cry out with a voice that reaches out to recolor the darkness" or "The smiles that I want to protect are right here".. Miki is such an interesting character to me, because at the same time she's a very naive girl who genuinely wants to help others, but also, just like Eiji, she really wants to be in control. Not for the sake of revenge though, but for the sake of stability. She just wants everything to be peaceful for once. And if anyone tries to disturb the peace, well, here's another reminder that she's still one of the guards.

Non-DECO*27 covers:

Again, I wanted to give them one song as a duet and that song is Punishment Game by Kururingo! Like it describes their T2 dynamic so well, or at least that's how Eiji sees their relationship now. Miki is mostly chill about it, but Eiji is slowly starting to see her as a rival. Some moments are so fun to imagine with them too, like "You're wearing that docile expression just to hide your own nervousness, am I right?", "You look like you're enjoying yourself", "You’re trying to keep up that quiet personality, but it’s falling to pieces, I can see it on your face", "No way, could it be that I was the one struggling uselessly this whole time?" and especially "Punishment game, but I'm not laughing, the person on the other end of the strings that move this world, who is it?"/"Hmm, I wonder who it is..".

But if I had to give them separate covers..

Eiji: Hitori Yurari by Kanaria and Maretu! Again, IT'S BECAUSE OF HIS DYNAMIC WITH KEI. IT'S A BIG PART OF HIS CHARACTER PLEASE UNDERSTAND ME. (Or maybe I'm just in that mood because Kei's profile is next and I'm. I'm looking away from his VD. His album trailer voiceline is also such a huge spoiler actually.) But honestly, I'd just love to hear his cover and I think it would sound so cool! The lyrics describe his and Kei's dynamic well too, like Eiji constantly repeating "There's still just no love at all" and also some hints about Kei's past are also there ("You're reeling alone, reeling alone in your dreams, you cried under the shade of a tree in an empty corner") and also lyrics like "Complaining about this and that, you looked down on me, "I love you!", "I hate you!", such an absurd character" and "The way things have gone, I'd prefer it if you'd fall down into hell" AND THE SONG ENDING WITH "I CRIED UNDER THE SHADE OF A TREE IN AN EMPTY CORNER" AND "I WANT TO LIVE WAY LONGER THAN YOU"?? YEAH.

Miki: This one is probably a bit sudden, but.. I decided to go with And Then You Became The Moon by Kikuo. I JUST HAD TO GO WITH A KIKUO SONG FOR HER THIS TIME IDK WHY LIKE I FELT LIKE I HAVE TO DO IT. Now, why this song in particular? Well, this is a cute song about two children playing in the snow and then both of them dying in a blizzard and becoming the Moon and the Star. So, uh.. Miki and Asahi <3 LIKE. THIS SONG SOUNDS SO CUTE AND SO SOFT BUT MIKI SINGING IT MAKES ME SO SAD. She literally thought her little brother died and she blamed herself for it 😭 Honestly, I feel like this song would sound cute as their duet too. I think Andou siblings' voices would sound very soft together. And also the lyrics like "At the very bottom they are together forever" are making me go :') because.. yeah.. It literally took both of them becoming a guard and a prisoner to finally reunite.. So yes, both guards get songs about their siblings this time!

#also. the way i describe their t2 dynamic may sound very epic and all like OHHHH ARE THEY GONNA FIGHT OR SOMETHING #and uh. *looking at the vds i wrote* uh. i d-don't think there will be any need for a fight.#let's just say that we already have a winner :')#❔answering asks ❔#🗡️guard 001: sanada eiji 🗡️#🌼guard 002: andou miki 🌼

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