Shogun Review : The Original Masterpiece

Here are my thoughts on the first two episodes of the new adaptation! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsPAOcLAOS4 Please subscribe to catch my next videos where I will discuss film and historical analysis ! (A section had to be trimmed due to copyright, sorry about that) (Also, “adaption” seems to be local slang, I was a bit surprised how unfamiliar it is, that was my bad for using informal language, I’ll stick to “adaptation” from now on)

A friend of mine gave me Shogun and told me to read it. I looked and said”This is over 1,000 pages. Are you crazy?” He said just read the first two hundred pages and if you don’t like it, you can stop reading it. I couldn’t put it down and then read everything that Clavel ever wrote. I’ve reread Shogun a number of times since then. My friend is gone, but I have thanked him many times for urging me to read this wonderful book.

I was in love with the character Mariko. After 40 years, i still remember what she wrote in her final letter to Anjin-san.

I loved Shogun, when I watched it in the 1980s as kid, I begged my mother and she made me a Samurai outfit for Halloween that year.

In the early 90's I was working in Japan and while at a bar I heard a young African American man speaking to the bartender in perfect Japanese. We got to talking and his story was amazing. He watched the TV series Shogun when he was 17 and fell in love with Japanese culture and decided he wanted to live and work in Japan. He didn't have the money for college so he took a nighttime job as a grocery stocker because it allowed him to listen to Japanese language tapes while he worked. It took him two years to learn the language and he used that skill to get a college scholarship in exchange for being a tutor and translator. He got a degree in computer science and also learned to read and write Japanese. After graduation he was snapped up by IBM and moved to Japan. When I met him he was working for NEC. An ambitious and successful life based on a brilliant novel and TV series is truly amazing.

Shogun has been one of my favorites for over 40 years and still a part of my library. When the miniseries came out in the early 80’s it was hard to curb the weekly anticipation. For me Mifune was Toranaga.

I was a kid when the Shogun mini series came out. My mom and I watched it together. It was THE event for TV watching as far as we were concerned. And Mariko was my first crush lol. I still to this very day say Japanese women are stunning. I fully believe Shogun had a hand in that. But what really struck me was the actors and the costumes. It was all so beautiful and well acted. Later in my life I was a soldier in the Army. I was on my 1st deployment to Iraq and I was going through a stack of DVDs the Iraqi's can burned off of movies. They even printed discs showing what the movies are. Shogun the mini series was there. I bought it and put it into my collection. I still to this day break out those DVDs and watch Shogun. And I still think its stunning and beautiful to this day. Such a great show with amazing Japanese cast and western cast. They simply don't make shows like that anymore. These shows had a soul to them.

This brings back memories. My father was transferred to Japan for work in 1980 and we stayed until 1984. We all had a good and life-changing time. As we prepared for Japan our family read and discussed the book and our first outing on arrival in Tokyo was to see the movie. I had just turned 18 and the book motivated me to study Japanese and try to immerse myself. As I look back on life at 61 I realize that the book was a guide in our life and that I am grateful to Mr. Clavell. The book showed the Japanese world respectfully, in detail and from many different angles and one could not stop reading.

Thank you! Originally, I did not intend to watch the entire video, planned to just skip around, but your thoughtful analysis quickly drew me into watching all of the video. Excellent work!!

i'm 51. my family watched the mini-series when it first aired. i kept it on beta until i was able to buy it on dvd. i have watched it more times than i could count. its been my go-to when i've been home from school or work, sick in bed, for most of my life. i was a weeb before then, tho. i was a total first gen weeb from the first episodes of Battle of the Planets and Shogun Warriors... and to this day i watch all the latest anime.

I’m disappointed in the new series. I loved the original and have watched it several times. I find Blackthorns character to be goofy and I don’t believe they cast the right actor. The dynamic between Blackthorn and Mariko is completely missing. Your video points out why the original was so good. Many of those qualities are missing in the new series.

My now girlfriend and I were both reading Shōgun in 1980, and it was one of the things that we had in common. We're still together and to this day quote lines from the book and miniseries to each other.

The death of Blackthorns fellow sailor at the end made sense to me. One of my favorite film scenes ever really. He's broken by the burning of the new ship and all hope he'll ever get home and nose dives into a mania that's enough to cause a heart attack. He uses a slur indicating his belief the Japanese are not civilized in contrast to John who has adapted enough to survive and find some kind of life there.

Toshiro Mifune doing the hornpipe dance. Best scene ever.

When this came out, my sensei canceled classes that week, and we all sat back and had viewing get togethers instead. Here’s to Sensei Jack.

I guess the series made thousands of western kids interested in asian culture and absolutely changed their life. I also watched the series as a kid and became intrigued by japanese culture. It absolutely changed my world view and made me try to understand the background of cultural differences.

Thank you for the memories. The mini series was my first introduction to this culture. As a kid, it was the first time I had ever saw Ninjas . I was mesmerized.

Mifune was in the seven samurai and he was truly amazing

Absolutely the best TV series I've ever seen, have watched this numerous time and have an original video cassette set for TV stations with spaces for adds to be played and the preview of the previous episode and when it went to CD, got that set also. Absolutely love it. A great presentation by you...thanks. I hope the remake is worthy of the original.

Did you know that James Clavell wrote the screenplay for the heart warming film, " To Sir With Love " ? He also produced and directed the film.