Shogun (2024)
I watched the old 80s mini-series a few years back and absolutely loved it. For the time it was so well done. I could forgive the 80s TV production values because the story, setting and characters were so captivating. I also loved that all the Japanese characters spoke in Japanese and there were no subtitles.
The story of the 80s mini-series sticks closely to the English Pilot whose ship washes up on the shores of 16th century Japan, John Blackthorn. You see more or less the entire story from his perspective. For this reason I think it was a smash hit in the west, even though the Japanese home market does not look back on it kindly. It wasn’t their story, it was ours. The 80s version made me want to travel to Japan very badly.
The 2024 Shogun (based on the same source material) takes a different path. The production values are crazy good, the acting is better (for the most part), and all the Japanese characters are subtitled. For all the 2024 version does well though, it never quite hooked me the way the 80s version did.
I think the change that hurt this (for me) the most was making the story more Torunaga’s and less Blackthorn’s. Rather than being a fish-out-of-water story of a marooned Englishman in a foreign land, this show is much more centered on Torunaga and his machinations to become Shogun. I hate to say this, but I just didn’t find Torunaga that compelling. He is cold and icy, and is defined more by his rivals than by his own deeds. I was not engaged by lot of the political maneuvering.
Enjoyable show, to be sure. Very well made. Game of Thrones level political fun? I say no.
Still, recommended.