If you’re talking about Ochiba she’s a major figure in the book. Spoiler she is the wife of the Taiko and the mother of the heir to the Taiko. She’s considered the most beautiful woman in Japan and not only is manipulating things herself but also desired and used by other daimyos. In the book and original series she isn’t in Edo but is in Osaka and Blackthorne meets her there. He mistakes her for the “Queen of Japan”.
Ah, thanks, she is definitely more like a courtesan attractive in this TV show than the most beautiful.....but I cannot complain.
One thing that would have been period appropriate that they kind of ignore is that the average English or Portuguese man would be about 5'8 and the average Japanese man would be like 5'3. They should tower above essentially everyone.
Intriguing . . . This has been a good show I just am leaning more and more into hoping they wrap things up in a season or two I never read War and Peace because it was too big a book I am not that patient Rocket River
I was looking more into it, and yeah, this is how they depicted the European prisoners in Japan. I imagine it would be really hard to show that height disparity with modern actors though.
Great series so far. One episode left. I have a couple of predictions in the spoiler. Spoiler Toranaga will be betrayed and murdered. Ishido will also be killed and the Anjin will have a near death experience before being proclaimed a hero.
I've enjoyed the show so far. I may be an episode or two behind but will catch up once my X-girlfriend leaves town. It all sees vaguely familiar as I remember watching Shogun in the 70s.
You apparently have not read the book or seen the 80s TV series ... but I will not spoil it for you. Toranaga-sama though is one bad ass MFer ... and that is all I will say. The 80 series had Toshiro Mifune play Toranaga. Mifune kicked all sorts of ass. It was almost unbelievable that Ishido would dare **** with Mifune's Toranaga.
One thing I’ve noticed is that the feel and look of this series is much darker than both the book and the 80’s series. Also the relationship between Toranaga and Blackthorne isn’t as close as it was also in the book and previous series. The 80’s series was actually shot in Japan and the Japan shown was sunnier and more colorful. This series is shot in British Columbia but also uses an overall darker pallet. While it is generally close to the story there are some changes and seems to emphasize the darker more fatalistic aspects of the story. As such the relationships between some of the characters are more ambivalent. Spoiler One change is Blackthorne’s reunion with his crew. In the book and 80’s series he is also disgusted by how his crew is living. Particulary because his crew has decided to live with eta the untouchable caste of medieval Japan. In the current show the reunion is bitter with him beating one of his crewman but in the original the crew is happy to see him and while he’s privately disgusted he tries to get along with them. He ends up taking one of his trusted officers with him who he tries to convince to accept the Japanese lifestyle. Another big change that in original story Toranaga not only gives Blackthorne a title but a fief and a regiment of samurai. A Japanese who became a Jesuit priest but is leaves the church joins Blackthorne. This character becomes a trusted confidant of Blackthorne and saves his life. He is a target also of the Portuguese and ends up dying protecting Blackthorne in Osaka.
The series finale finished strong. I highly recommend watching the series. I like the 80s miniseries better, on the strength of the two main actors, Chamberlain and Mifune. But this series almost matches. Lastly if you have not read the book, you are missing out of one of the best works of one of the best authors of my lifetime. Spoiler The finale had Anjin’s seppuku attempt that happening much earlier in the book. It felt more forced / artificial at this point in the story line and could have been easily omitted. The series ending was short of where the book went. The ending did tie together all of the story arcs nicely. Closure was had. I think that in the book the relationship between Toranaga and Anjin was much closer. Anjin learned Japanese culture mostly through his friendship with Mariko. Anjin learned how power was wheeled from Toranaga. Another missing element from the book was how Toranaga used spies, ronin, prostitutes and ninjas for his covert operations to stay one step ahead of his rivals. The series show runners attempted to be more period authentic than the book. This might have lead to some of the changes I noticed.
i loved it, but at the same time i feel like... Spoiler we missed out on a big badass battle. they only implied it at the end. last weeks episode was called crimson sky and it was the 2nd to last episode so i thought that would be the big grand finale battle royale...then it didnt happen so i figured they were saving the big battle for the last episode, but it never happened. again, i loved the series so i dont mean to complain, but the lack of a big ass battle was a let-down. was there a big battle in the book? im wondering if they didnt have one just because of the costs of doing it. blackthorne tossed marikos cross in the lake, but in the flash-forward when he is an old man he was holding her cross. am i missing something here? was the old man scenes only in his imagination and the truth is that he never actually left japan?
Spoiler I interpreted the old man scenes as Blackthorne's dream, as the title of the episode was 'A Dream of a Dream'. And in the book he never gets home.
