I will mostly keep this review spoiler free and I will mark it as such, though it is impossible to talk about a 10 episode long mini series without at least hinting at things.
Shogun is the best series I have seen in a while now. It is masterfully shot, with great effects for a series. At times the series even got me thinking that it looks better than some big budget movies. The core of the series is about 2 things. One is the culture shock from the point of view of John Blackthorne, the second is the internal meddling and politics in Japan. The culture shock provides all of the comic relief and fun in the series, the meddling provides the intrigue, backstabbing and suspense.
I would call the series "adult". On the surface you could take that as there being nudity and gore, which there is. What I mean though, that there is a lot of things left unsaid. The series doesn't quite hold your hand and tell you everything outright. Though that leaves me somewhat unfulfilled after having finished the series, it is not really in a bad way. The conclusion feels as if two great chess players stood up from the table and walked away because they both realized the inevitable outcome, though to me, a casual viewer that is not quite clear. Even after getting an explanation that in 5 more moves that would lead to check mate, I feel a bit like I would have liked to seen those five moves. What that leads to, is me wanting to read the book and then rewatch the series to see if this time I could keep up with lord Toranaga. The ending would surely be more cathartic if all the cogwheels fell into place. I feel like the ending is dignified though and indeed fitting for the whole series. Through each episode I was entertained and so I can recommend it with no remorse.
A sidenote: I usually choose to watch dubbed versions of series, so my wife could enjoy it with me, but with this one it is somewhat pointless. If the English spoken parts were to be dubbed, that would still leave about 60-70% of the runtime in Japanese, hence subtitles. I didn't mind though, it really fits the setting. Just be prepared to read a bunch, unless you are fluent in both English and Japanese.
Shogun is the best series I have seen in a while now. It is masterfully shot, with great effects for a series. At times the series even got me thinking that it looks better than some big budget movies. The core of the series is about 2 things. One is the culture shock from the point of view of John Blackthorne, the second is the internal meddling and politics in Japan. The culture shock provides all of the comic relief and fun in the series, the meddling provides the intrigue, backstabbing and suspense.
I would call the series "adult". On the surface you could take that as there being nudity and gore, which there is. What I mean though, that there is a lot of things left unsaid. The series doesn't quite hold your hand and tell you everything outright. Though that leaves me somewhat unfulfilled after having finished the series, it is not really in a bad way. The conclusion feels as if two great chess players stood up from the table and walked away because they both realized the inevitable outcome, though to me, a casual viewer that is not quite clear. Even after getting an explanation that in 5 more moves that would lead to check mate, I feel a bit like I would have liked to seen those five moves. What that leads to, is me wanting to read the book and then rewatch the series to see if this time I could keep up with lord Toranaga. The ending would surely be more cathartic if all the cogwheels fell into place. I feel like the ending is dignified though and indeed fitting for the whole series. Through each episode I was entertained and so I can recommend it with no remorse.
A sidenote: I usually choose to watch dubbed versions of series, so my wife could enjoy it with me, but with this one it is somewhat pointless. If the English spoken parts were to be dubbed, that would still leave about 60-70% of the runtime in Japanese, hence subtitles. I didn't mind though, it really fits the setting. Just be prepared to read a bunch, unless you are fluent in both English and Japanese.
