Anjin

I have never seen the original show with Richard Chamberlain, or read the source material, so i have nothing to compare it to, and this is my first experience with this story!

The thing that struck me the most, was how authentic and well made it is! This the kind of stuff i miss sometimes! When the people behind has a clear vision and you can feel the ambition and love for the source material!

Huge plus to have the japanese characters speak japanese! It really feels like you are transported back to 1600 Japan!

A nice introduction to the characters as well! Blackthornes journey has potential to be very interesting! The japanese characters are great as well! The actors are going all out!

The story has great potential to with Blackthorne trying to survive in a foreign country with a political powergame in the making!

Definnitely has potential, its unique, authentic and nothing quite like anything else!

This is a show that has been in development for quite some time. Even before the current co-creators came onboard, FX was working on adapting James Clavell's Shogun novel and giving it the epic retelling that it deserved. This current iteration was met with much anticipation, with myself being among the people really looking forward to it because of my appreciation for the source material. It has been adapted before, but not on a scale like this and with the budget for a modern-day series. And the first episode does not disappoint as they waste no time in showing the grand scale of the show.

As someone who already knows the broad strokes of where this story is going to go, the biggest task this show had was to really sell the look of it. With FX behind them, it's clear that a lot of money was going to be available to the creators, and it definitely seems like they've put it all to good use. The look is incomparable and the show definitely feels like we've been put in a time machine and brought back into the 1600s, often showcasing the grandness of the landscapes as well as a beautiful recreation of Osaka that just blew my mind away. The VFX are sharp, despite a few notices here and there, which is something that will stand out in the first episode and then quickly fly away in subsequent episodes if the quality keeps up like this. In terms of the characters, it does feel like they've captured the essence and the nobility of the culture that the book also brought to a worldwide audience, and a lot of that is achieved through an expanded focus on the Japanese characters, which seems right in the day we live in. All of the cultural influences on the show's narrative are cool and so really gets you invested early on. They have certainly captured the beginnings of an epic story here, and they have given the material to some truly great actors, especially Hiroyuki Sanada who simply has to walk on screen and he feels noble and awesome. What a gift to have.

"Anjin" sets the tone and the mood so well through an epic scale that it beautifully shows through an incredible visual style and A-plus production value. The story is still in its early stages and the pacing can be a little slow, but given time to adjust to that, this is sure to be something unforgettable.

What a start to what seems to be shaping up to be an incredible piece of Television.

Between the gorgeous cinematography, the hair raising soundtrack, the incredible sets and a wardrobe department that deserves every award they are eligible to win, it's the nearly unbelievable attention to detail that really sets this show apart from so many others. The story is just brimming with intrigue and political guile and there isn't a single actor that lets the material down.

I really liked the decision to represent the spoken Portuguese as English. In the same way that Hawthorne must rely on the interpreters to understand the spoken Japanese, so too must the audience rely on the subtitles to follow the story. I think this creates a subtle tension that adds to the immersion of this incredible show.

I simply cannot wait to see what Shogun has yet to show us. It's Two thumbs up from me.

The potential of this show is immense. The pilot not only delivers, but it makes grand promises of what is to come. I am finding it difficult to find faults with this presentation. Cinematography is on par with the best of not only TV, but movies. Sounds are equally incredible, but there is a lot of booming bass. Character and writing are outstanding. It is incredible what they have been able to create with the sets and costume design.

FX is the only studio to go toe-to-toe against HBO. No one else is capable of doing so. And with HBO's current decline, Maybe FX is the new King of the Hill.

My only nitpick would be that English is passed off as Portuguese. It confused me for a second. This is obviously a deliberate decision. I personally would have preferred if a mix of Portuguese and English were used in the beginning to cement the main language, with Portuguese slowly being phased out to full English. There are shows that have done this to good effect. Again, a minor nit pick and surely will not come up again.

First episode cinematography 10/10, sound design 10/10, story so far 10/10, atmosphere 11/10.

The actors are superbly chosen. The scenery looks simply bombastic. The pacing is just right. I've already chosen my favorite character and I hope I won't be replaced.

The Inglese Hawthorne has a very distinctive and powerful voice that reminds me of Tom Hardy.

I'm going to watch Silence by Scorsese to understand more about the missionaries in the Togugawa dynasty.

I hope the remaining 9 episodes will be as powerful as the first one, then it's undisputedly my favorite series so far after Breaking Bad and The Last of us.