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!

It is the year 1600. A Dutch ship runs aground on the shores of Japan. Leader of the few survivors of its starved, diseased crew is Englishman John Blackthorne, the pilot. The crew soon become prisoners of the Japanese who, influenced by the local Portuguese priests, enemies of the English and Dutch, treat them as savages and pirates. Unknown to Blackthorne but he has arrived at a crucial juncture in the history of the land, with political machinations shaping power.

Great start to the series. Mostly a background sketching and setup episode, as first episodes tend to be, so plot development is limited. There's really no room left in the episode for development: the information involved in the setup is quite immense - the scores of characters and their relationships, the political scene in Japan, the political machinations afoot, Japanese vs European culture and the history of the Portuguese in Japan. It's quite complex to the point of overwhelming.

There is time for a few decent dramatic scenes and even some comedy: the culture clash between Blackthorne and the Japanese is often quite humorous as is their views on each other. A fair amount of intrigue too.

Overall, a solid base from which to launch the series.

The old Shogun with Richard Chamberlain is still perfectly watchable but the differences here are apparent in the first episode. This is obviously going to be well worth watching too.

Richard Chamberlain's Blackthorne was an elegant gentleman but this new guy is a rough and tumble, profit-motivated sailor without a lot of social graces. Much more believable that a guy like that would survive a round-the-world voyage.

His harsh religious attitudes demonizing Catholics might be shocking for modern audiences but it's perfectly in line with his times. And he has noble qualities as well: loyal to friends, brave, quick to recognize and respect bravery in others.

But the real focus is on the Japanese characters. Blackthorne is just the wild card being thrown into their roiling political situation.

Other big changes: special effects, of course. The "storm" sequence in the 80s version is pretty hilarious. Here, it's hair-raising.

And Nestor Carbonell steals the show as the Spaniard Rodriegues.

Thank you, FX, for making a serious historical drama of the type we get far too infrequently.

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.

Oh, come on?! Why are the characters are not speaking portuguese? We are in 2024. It's simply stupid using english when the characters are speaking another language. Are the english native so stupid that they can't read subtitles? If that so, what are they doing when the japanese are speaking? Come on, FX! Tou guys nailed so many details; to fail in a such basic aspect is frustrating, specially for me, a portguese native speaker. That is the only reason I am rating this with 9 stars.

Regarding the setting and cinematics, whoa, outstanding! I have nothing to add. Just perfect. Clothes, architecture, everything about Japan is magnificent.

Finally, I must mention that the actors are plenty skillful on their craft.

I'll watch it until the end. I recommend you do the same. It will definitely worth it.