Shogun Episodes 1 and 2 [Review]
FX’s new adaptation of bestselling novel Shogun is sure to be a hit.
Hiroyuki Sanada. Image credit: FX Productions
FX has produced a new adaptation of Shogun, James Clavell’s 1975 novel. The book was originally adapted in 1980 as a Golden Globe winning TV miniseries on NBC starring Richard Chamberlain, Toshiro Mifune, and Yoko Shimada. I’ve seen the first two episodes of FX Productions’ new version, and it delivers on the quality I’ve come to expect from FX.
Shogun takes place in the year 1600, at the tail end of the Azuchi–Momoyama period, just before the upheaval that would usher in the Edo period and the Tokugawa shogunate. The show opens with a marooned European ship arriving in a Japanese fishing village. John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis), the ship’s navigator, is captured and summoned by Lord Yoshii Taranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada), a fictionalized version of Tokugawa Ieyasu, to learn information that could help him get an upper hand against his enemies. The Portuguese have established trade and brought Catholicism to Japan, and Blackthorne’s British crew was trying to discover the secret Portuguese naval routes to disrupt trade and the Jesuits’ foothold. Now, Blackthorne needs a way to make himself useful and avert a death sentence; he seeks to form an alliance with Taranaga, who unknown to Blackthorne is in a precarious position himself. Their communication relies on translator Toda Mariko (Anna Sawai), a Christian noblewoman who is reluctant to help Blackthorne, a Protestant, because of her Jesuit Catholic mentors.
Anna Sawai. Image credit: FX Productions
Most of Shogun is in subtitled Japanese, while any Portuguese speech is performed in English. It was a bit shocking seeing a basic cable show that’s mostly in a foreign language and I love the decision; it makes the show feel very authentic. I imagine that the choice was made since this has become more common on streamers like Netflix and FX’s shows run on Hulu.
The show’s production value is stellar. Visual effects are of feature film quality, for example in a scene where a ship besieged by a storm. The sets and period costumes are sumptuous. It’s obvious that a lot of effort went into historical research to create the show’s world. There’s a bit of action as well that was exceptionally well shot and choreographed in the second episode’s climax that left me eager to see what will come next.
Cosmo Jarvis. Image credit: FX Productions
I don’t speak Japanese, but according to what I’ve read, the writing pays special attention to period-specific turns of phrase. I love the show’s writing in general. I’m not sure how faithful it is to the source material, but it’s got a wry wit to it, particularly in the forced politeness of some of the Japanese dialogue. Jarvis has some funny moments, rooted in the fish out of water nature of his character.
Jarvis is decent as co-lead, though he’s outperformed by the show’s Japanese cast led by Sanada and Sawai. Other highlights are Tadanobu Asano as Kashigi Yabushige, a Toranaga ally with low scruples, and Nestor Carbonell as Vasco Rodrigues, a salty, no-nonsense Spanish sailor working for the Jesuits.
These first two episodes got me hooked I’m beyond excited to watch all ten episodes of Shogun. You can catch the first two episodes on Hulu and FX on Tuesday, February 27.
