FX’s ‘Shogun’ is Perfect TV
Just don’t call it Samurai Game of Thrones (unless it’s a compliment).
“Ohhwwgh?!” is the sound I find myself making as I putter around the house. While it may skew offensive without context, it’s really a tribute to Tadanobu Asano’s portrayal of Kashigi Yabushige, a Samurai lord on the remake of 1980’s TV miniseries Shogun of the same name (based on the 1975 novel by James Clavell). Chris Ryan, famed podcaster (The Watch) and editor at TheRinger.com, has expressed a similar awe with a character to whom we’re introduced to as someone who has abandoned beheading his prisoners in favor of boiling them alive, presumably because he’s taken so many heads that the modus mortus has become trite.
Here’s the rub, though: He is like the fifth most important character in the plot, and the actor is on par with a whole slew of new (to me) faces who are absolutely killing it in their roles. Cosmos Jarvis as the “main” character is a tour de force, though Andy Greenwald’s impression of him on The Watch is the funniest thing I’ve heard this year. (Jenny Slate’s standup special is the runner-up, though the Celtics’ second half tonight was truly a laugh-in).
“Owwghhh?!” is the dramatized, oft-comedic version of the American parlance’s “Huh?” With Yabushige, though, it conveys more than just ignorance and confusion. He is usually being told some very surprising, life-or-death information, and his befuddled vocalization reminds the viewer how annoying it is to be interrupted when you’re hard at work trying to overthrow your honorable Regent…and that brings us to the next performance that probably deserves its own rundown: Hiroyuki Sanada, 63-year-old Japanese screen legend…and singer/martial artist, the Internet contributes. I had to let that sink in a moment, as the stoic character he plays is more into falconry than crooning. Sanada, who also produces this epic end-of-winter gift, gives a star turn as Lord Yoshi Toranaga, and somewhere someone is already smelting his Emmy award.
Our other main character is Mariko (main is losing its meaning), a mystery wrapped in an enigma, and played with stellar face acting work (in addition to speaking more than one language fluently while acting) by Anna Sawai. Again I’m not familiar with her, but I would like us all to be. The character, shrouded in past tragedy, is a translator — she connects the wishes and orders of her Lord (Toranaga) with the fiery, straightforward barbarianism of the Anjin (pilot and title of Episode 1), a.k.a. John Blackthorne. If you dig the sheer-force-of-will archetype, this is your avatar. Mariko, or Miko to her close ones, is a protagonist for the self-proclaimed hopeless… who secretly still harbor some hope. No spoilers for now, but I like the slow-playing of this characters’s arc.
Yet I’m loving Yabu the most. He gives the oft-solemn show a speckling of screwball comedy, depending on your sense of humor. I’d liken him to Janusz Poha in ‘Ghostbusters 2.’ (There has got to be a newer example, right? Bardem in No Country for Old Men?) He’s a villain, and he’s got to go eventually. But damn-o arigatou did they find a groovy match of actor and character! Folks will say the same about Jarvis as Blackthorne, however, his gravelly voice is harder to imitate. And most of the audience will think they’re watching Tom Hardy. As Ryan noted on his podcast (with writer/impressionist Andy Greenwald), Yabushige is also responsible for the advent of the cucking fetish, when his courtesan (one of possibly two Lady MacBeth archetypes nestled into our tale) take a chance and seduces a servant in front of Lord Yabu (He likes it!).
There are, in my mind, three main reasons to watch streaming entertainment (f.k.a. TV): escapism (hold attention, pass some time), story immersion (more thinking; you might start to think of characters as acquaintances), and/or intellectual and emotional stimulation (watch and re-watch the show, listen to pods about the show, spread the word, read reviews, write about them, characters are now friends). You might disagree, and I’m open to that thoughtful difference in how we synthesize our stories. I’m not here to judge what is bad; I just feel compelled to share what is good. There is so much more to tell beyond the acting, but I want this to be a six-minute read so you have more time to engage. So, truncated, here’s what makes this story stand out in a media landscape replete with choices for those of us lucky enough to have a few streaming options (in this case, Hulu).
Presuming the novel is similar to the show, which my sources say it is, the show’s producers have transported a tale of exotic foreign cultures, their pleasures, their horrors, and made the viewer, myself, consider my culture and my mores in ways I never really have. Sure, part of that is being in my forties. On the other hand, I’ve known a lot of people in my life enamored with Japanese culture. I tried anime in 1997 and it didn’t take. Despite loving old samurai spoofs and Michael Crighton’s Rising Sun film adaption, I would not have picked the Land of the Rising Sun as where I’d study education, art and literature. I worked with some incredible Vietnamese exchange students in 2017; that too seemed cooler than I’d previously assumed. Like the heel Christian lords that unite against Toranaga, I’ve been converted, only my newfound appreciation for Japan only extends as far as the five hours of Shogun I’ve seen so far, and the research I’ve put into enhancing the experience. Mainly, that is peeping the Bushido Code, which emphasizes Honor and Loyalty. In cases where code is broken i.e. insulting a lord (which to us and outsider POV’s like Blackthorne’s lead to tragedy), a samurai might kill himself over something we’d sneer at and probably not even say sorry about in modern, Western times and places, solely to preserve Honor. I don’t want to elaborate because of many spoilers. I was surprised to learn, though, that sometimes seppuku isn’t enough; you may be asked to end your bloodline. That will surely fix things! (Here I’ll very quickly mention the antagonist Lord Ishido played by Takehiro Hira; also doing great work and currently holding the belt for Best Voice other than Cosmos Jarvis in the show). Here’s a great link to help one keep track of the factions: ‘Shōgun’s Families and Factions, Explained (collider.com)
Here is where art and life collide, and why I am viewing this show as a Level 3 experience replete with allusions, symbology, and a lens of cultural responsiveness: 2024 sees us, the U.S., not just as a world but as a nation, unable to even agree on what honor looks like and who we should be loyal to. Gender roles in ancient Japan may be something viewers chafe against, especially in the relationship we see between Mariko and her chauvinistic general of a husband. Yet where are we with that today? It’s an ongoing struggle. Class warfare, scheming power-mongers, and superstitions seem to have as much sway in the fictionalized world of Shogun and the one we wake up in daily. Tangentially, we live in a world where it’s nice to see some order, some routine, and YMMV predictability, so we try to make it for ourselves. But even when said villains aren’t busy looking for ways to execute you while following parliamentary procedures, the Earth itself may decide to remind you, via the nearest fire or Faultline.
Emotion is a subject inherent in nearly all others. I find it fascinating, and I’ve personally never had a ton of control over my stronger ones. Mariko teaches John about her culture’s primary coping mechanism for this, and episode one has a lovely closing monologue from a guest star about the three hearts of (hu)man. As the show moves toward its conclusion (and I’m so glad this is a weekly experience, not a binge), these themes will be worth exploring more. I may fill in the questions and comments section myself.
