#toda mariko

[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.

[valcoutoart]

~"Flowers are only flowers because they fall..."

[lafiametta]

What's so fascinating about Toranaga's plan to employ Mariko as Crimson Sky is that it was all there right from the beginning.

When Toranaga first arrives in Osaka the regents demand that he release Ochiba, the mother of the Heir, from where she is being held in Edo. Nothing scares Toranaga quite like Ochiba (no doubt why he held her in the first place), and he knows that once she is able to return to Osaka, she's going to do everything she can to destroy him.

Enter Mariko.

Mariko is perfectly placed: she shares a history with Ochiba, a girlhood bond that grew distant due to time and circumstance, but she is completely loyal to Toranaga, willing, in fact, to die for him and his cause. If the time comes for him to have to negotiate with Ochiba — or he has some need to soften her desire for vengeance — Mariko will serve as the crucial middle ground.

Once he realizes Ochiba will soon be free to move against him, Toranaga summons Mariko, requesting that she serve as a translator to the foreign barbarian. But even more important than her role as a translator, Toranaga wants to bring her closer and cement her place in his inner circle of followers. (As a woman, she is easily overlooked, not being a general or a vassal with an army of retainers, but her importance might be even more vital.) He reminds her of his great admiration for her father and acknowledges that for many years she has been robbed of her purpose. What if he could give it back to her? Like Mariko, we assume that her purpose is to serve as a translator, but Toranaga knows it is far larger: to play her part against the regents and serve as a bridge to Ochiba, when the time comes.

Toranaga is a falconer. He knows the value of caring for a bird, feeding it by hand, having it learn to trust you until it sees you as its only master. And as Toranaga describes his falcon, Lady of Steel, he could also be describing his plan for Mariko: “Conceals herself against the sun. Conserving energy, waiting for her moment.”

[yocalio]

"We could be a great distance away. Safe. And alone."

[lasaraconor]

[jiaoliqiao]

"We all have things we must war against. Yet most of us do it with honor." "Forgive me... but most of you are men."

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

[maxanor]

SHŌGUN (2024–) Chapter Five: Broken to the Fist

[bloomsbury]

so anyone else totally normal about shogun?? and john and mariko? cool yeah me too

[dindjarism]

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

[lousolversons]

Shōgun - 1x09 - Crimson Sky

[ariadnethedragon]

Blackthorne x Mariko

SHŌGUN (2024)

[moon-yean]

Shōgun VI. Ladies of the Willow World

[cinematic-phosphenes]

John Blackthorne: To be far enough out that you look around and there's nothing but open seas. No yesterday. No tomorrow. Lady Mariko: Just today.

Anna Sawai as Lady Mariko — Shōgun (2024) | E03

[yocalio]

I've been ordered by my lord to escort his ladies to Edo. I'm sorry, but without a permit, no lord or his retinue may leave Osaka Castle. It is Lord Ishido's order. You leave me no choice.

[lasaraconor]

[jiaoliqiao]

Shōgun (2024) | Episode 4 | The Eightfold Fence