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!

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.

This is stunning, masterful entertainment. I don't think I've been this in-awe since season 1 of Game of Thrones or when I saw the first Pirates of the Carribean movie as a kid.

I never saw the initial 80s version of Shogun, but what I like about the first episode of this edition is the fact that there's no Japanese accents to cater to our feeble western brains. If you want to understand the plot, you have to read the subtitles. You're on the same journey John Blackthorne is on in trying to communicate and understand the culture, which makes the viewer have to really pay attention.

So excited to see where this show goes!

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.