Shogun: Not a Typical Game of Thrones Set in Feudal Japan – Definitive Review

It's been a few hours since I finished it Shogun As I write this rant to express my experience and the first thing I can safely say is that this is not the Japanese Game of Thrones I expected. Nor is the Game of Thrones kind of feudal series you were expecting as you read these lines – probably. He pursues his book with such complete honesty and reverence, with due respect for Japanese culture, that his conclusion escapes the popular classical Western framework.

It's been an epic journey with Engin – It's not Tom Hardy – cosmo jarvis, Wonderful Mariko Maria Sawai And Toranaga-san Hiroyuki Sanada; It definitely was. However, a lot of splashes, a lot of action, the Kurosavi samurai battles are over and then… if you expect it.

The Disney Plus and FX-produced series, which has given us several gems lately (see The Bear), after its exciting debut has, I admit, done, what we call in common TV series parlance, a belly. Don't say everything… think. The first quartet of 10 episodes was a whirlwind and fairly up to the standards of the era of Japanese cult serials infused with their Western flavor throughout.

But do you remember how “Red Wedding-esque” the finale of Part 4 was?^Sh episode? From the point of no return for the plot itself, it's as if the tone of the series… has become kinder, quieter, and more methodical. Yes, I really liked the political conflicts that always took place within the strict Japanese principles of morality and social order, but somehow they started to weigh more heavily than the pace of the game required. As if something in the writing of the series rubbed unnecessary fat on the once-juicy flesh of the Shogun.

What to do with fats in these cases? Let's season it naturally to layer the flavor as a whole. This unfortunately did not happen and with the exception of some notable scenes in episodes 5-7 such as Toranaga's meeting with his brother, the series could have ended with two fewer episodes and been tighter in what it wanted to say and in substance. Her message. I felt completely unnecessary in the end for all the scenes invested in Bondaro and Mariko's relationship for example. She ultimately chose the more methodical approach and it didn't work out for her. I don't know how these events play out in the book, but the book is one thing and the TV series (and medium) is another.

This doesn't make it a series with a bad or average ending. The ending is great for the twist it leaves the viewer with, and the payoff to the entire journey having a gray plot style to it – especially in the way it ended with Toranaga. Its finale was clearly somewhere between The Godfather and Game of Thrones but without the budget of GoT. Maybe that's why he was so cleverly able to close out the story of the Shogun without having to show the Japanese “Battle of the Bastards.”

I realized that the budget spigot was running dry as the series reached its climax but the FX production brilliantly made up for this deficiency. How he skillfully used low natural lighting and built sets and what he added through the technique of volume. Although I find that the artificial lighting in the daytime gave it away sometimes.

Having decided not to close with great fanfare, without a bloodbath and lavish settings, he instead built the development of his finale with stately grace, as gracefully as their “accomplices” and as cunning as all those who wanted to take the place of the Shogun.

In conclusion, I maintain a really good cast, with mediocre performances from everyone, keep the viewer's identification with any character they want to identify with as another Game of Thrones (with the Toranaga-Anjin relationship) and assure that it was an excellent series that puts up a serious candidate for Now to be among the top ten for the year 2024. I would like it to be different. I will not hide it from you, and if it was as I imagined it, it would certainly be among the top ten, but I have to honor, praise and respect the broader vision of the creators, which was undoubtedly cohesive like Princess Mariko’s kimono.