#ochiba no kata

[meikuree]

it’s insane to me that mariko and ochiba no kata/ruri are explicitly said by the creators and the characters themselves to have grown up very close, ‘like sisters’, and it’s implied they were closer than ochiba was to her actual blood sister (which was normal in terms of family dynamics and given their circumstances, I know, but still). their relationship might just be the most Homoerotic thing in the show, by pure accident, because it’s so intense and Fated that even the absence of any hint of romantic/sexual feeling ironically just magnifies how much their bond is too big to be captured by any conventional framework or labels. and I like this invention of their backstory from the original novel, it’s given ochiba lots more interiority and it’s a grounded and subtle means of saying More about them without having to spell it out. I really appreciate that their history is staged as an Entirely Platonic and Sisterly dynamic but one that had a deep formative influence on both of them, that lasted through all their years apart, right through to the tragic culmination of them as rivals.

the scene where Mariko walks into a room full of men baying for the blood of her lord/her by extension and is instead 100% focused on ochiba no kata, the only other woman in the room, whom she trusts to recognise the challenge she’s trying to pose, sent chills through me. their bond is the hidden fulcrum of the political machinations the show dwells on, more so than any number of the show’s political marriages or more conventional and visible means of politicking the many men in Shogun have, and the creators have touched on that in a similar register.

[dindjarism]

TODA MARIKO and OCHIBA-NO-KATA SHŌGUN | 1.09 Crimson Sky

[maxanor]

It was written by my friend.

SHŌGUN (2024) Chapter Ten: A Dream of a Dream

[cinematic-phosphenes]

“So I sent a woman to do what an army never could.”

Shōgun (2024) | E10 | Dir. Frederick E.O. Toye

[yocalio]

SHŌGUN Chapter Ten: A Dream of a Dream

[jiaoliqiao]

Shōgun (2024) | Episode 6 | Ladies of the Willow World

[ariadnethedragon]

SHŌGUN (2024)

Chapter 9: Crimson Sky

[clawbehavior]

something about how toranaga recognizing mariko's intellect leads to him trusting her with his true plan versus ishido seeing ochiba's cunningness and wanting to have sex and how those narrative foils reveal things about both regeants

also, the fact that mariko could keep up with toranaga in free verse poetry when her husband could barely string a line together was crazy good characterization. no wonder she felt uninspired by buntaro. she was leagues ahead of him

[ladynamie]

SHŌGUN (2024) - Chapter Nine: Crimson Sky

[redsamuraiii]

Lady Ochiba Costume Design by Carlos Rosario

Lady Ochiba was all about power and wealth. The number of layers, her cotton tabis and her luxurious fabrics determined her higher rank.

[iwasnotaslasher]

[aquitainequeen]

Reactors watching Ochiba tell Ishido that from now on, the Council of Regents will answer to her: But how does she have so much power?!?!

Me: She's one of the widows of the de facto ruler of Japan, the mother of the future de facto ruler of Japan, and while I am asexual even I can tell Ishido desires her. Next.

[dindjarism]

TODA MARIKO and OCHIBA-NO-KATA SHŌGUN | 1.09 Crimson Sky

[maxanor]

FUMI NIKAIDO as OCHIBA NO KATA in SHŌGUN (2024–) Chapter Six: Ladies of the Willow World

[cinematic-phosphenes]

Shōgun (2024) | E09 — Dir. Frederick E.O. Toye

[yocalio]

SHŌGUN Chapter Six: Ladies of the Willow World