Here are the ten episodes properly ranked. My overall rating of Shogun is 8.3/10, certainly not the masterpiece everyone has been claiming, but fine enough and enjoyable. My three main critiques of the series have been its (1) a failure of nerve, omitting many of the book’s best parts for fear of controversy; (2) a failure of character evolution, as Blackthorne hardly embraces the Japanese culture to the degree he does in the book; (3) a failure of lead character development, in that Toranaga hardly bonds at all with Blackthorne until the very end — nothing like the book Toranaga who danced the English hornpipe. But I want to stress that I did enjoy the series, and some of the episodes were truly excellent. Click on the episode titles for my full reviews of each.
1. The Abyss of Life. Episode 8. The best episode comes from the best part of the book (chapters 47-51), though the title comes from a much earlier point (chapter 25), when Buntaro is cornered by Ishido’s guards at Osaka Castle and contemplates killing himself — relieved that he is finally able to escape the “abyss of life” — until he sees an escape route. Though the term isn’t used in this episode, the idea is felt in every frame, as everyone seems to feel life as an abyss. Buntaro is cruelly rejected by Mariko after he gives her a beautiful tea ceremony. Practically all of Toranaga’s generals want to die, unable to bear the shame of his submission to Ishido and the regents. Hiro-matsu actually does kill himself, slitting his belly in front of Toranaga and all the other generals. It’s a stunning departure from the book, which hit me even harder than Mariko’s sacrifice (see #2 below) and shows what Toranaga is made of. Imagine the will to shame yourself and demoralize your followers so badly that it makes the best of them kill themselves. All for sake of a facade. Rating: 9 ½.
2. Crimson Sky. Episode 9. The climax of the story (from chapters 52-57 in the book) does full justice to Mariko’s symphony, which consists of four movements: her defiance in Ishido’s audience hall, her attempt to leave Osaka castle with Toranaga’s ladies, her aborted seppuku attempt, and her sacrifice during the shinobi attack. The way she traps Ishido is simple: if he lets Mariko go, every single “guest” (hostage) in the castle will also demand to leave; if he lets her kill herself, every noble family in the city will rebel against him. But Ishido — with some treacherous help from Yabu — turns the trap around, and the tragedy of Mariko plays out as it only can be. Ever since her father’s treachery she’s been a living contradiction, embodying the worst shame while doing the most honorable things in service to her liege lord. She’s samurai but Christian; a loyal wife to the worst husband, but an adulterer in love with a foreign barbarian. Only death can bring peace to such a person, and there’s something fiercely triumphant about Mariko holding the door and getting blown to bits, if also heartbreaking. Rating: 9 ½.
3. The Eightfold Fence. Episode 4. It omits the most important scene in the book (Blackthorne’s attempted seppuku, though see #4 below), but aside from that, it’s a stand-out episode, covering the initial period of Blackthorne’s stay at Ajiro village (chapters 30-33 in the book), where for six months he must be tutored in the Japanese language and customs, as he trains Yabu’s men in the art of cannon warfare. It ends on a wonderful display of those cannon when Naga blows Jozen and his men to smithereens. Blackthorne and Mariko have their first affair, prefaced by a scene at the hot springs which is very well shot and superbly acted — proving that this glacial version of Mariko can convey emotion. And there is the great line from Blackthorne when Omi tries taking his pistols from him and he gives them to Fuji for safekeeping: “Tell this milk-dribbling fuck smear I’m ready to go.” Rating: 9.
4. A Dream of a Dream. Episode 10. The most important scene in the book has been transplanted here. Blackthrone attempts seppuku because Toranaga is slaughtering villagers on his behalf — he wants the villagers who burned down Blackthorne’s ship to fess up. Except that’s a facade, because it’s Toranaga himself who ordered the arsonists to burn the ship. Making him twice as monstrous. This finale is a great epilogue of the shogun-to-be who in the final pages of the book had come to think of Blackthorne as his one and only friend: Anjin-san, you make me laugh and I need a friend. I daren’t make friends among my people, or among the Portuguese. Yes, I will whisper it down a well at noon but only when I’m certain I’m alone: that I need one friend. The friendship between the two men is nothing like in the book, but in the end it’s compelling enough. Rating: 9.
5. Broken to the Fist. Episode 5. Blackthorne’s village live-in continues, and as with episode 4, only about four book chapters are covered (34-36, 38, and the start of 39), so there’s not a rushed feeling to it like in the early episodes. It must be stressed that the fallout from Jozen’s death in episode 4 is handled poorly, for it implies that Naga’s vengeance on Jozen would be the trigger for open warfare between Ishido and Toranaga. When insulted or dishonored (as Naga was), samurai were expected to take vengeance. By destroying Jozen and his men, Naga was acting in full accordance with the code of honor and shame. The pheasant tragedy, on the other hand, is handled superbly and capped off by a very moving moment, when Blackthorne puts the rock in the garden in honor of the house servant who died for him. The earthquake is also a great scene, though it would have been nice to see Blackthorne’s sudden grasp of the concept of karma — the moment in the book when he sheds his western fears of death. Rating: 8 ½.
6. Servants of Two Masters. Episode 2. It takes things up a notch from the premiere with the arrival at Osaka (chapters 10-18 from the book). It feels rushed that Blackthorne is here after only one episode, but that’s the pacing of Shogun in ten episodes. The best scene is Blackthorne’s drawing of the global map in the sand and explaining to Toranaga that the pope divided the world into the “Spanish half” and the “Portuguese half”, and that Japan thus “belongs” to Portugal. A close second is the assassination attempt on Blackthorne’s life at the end. The whole episode simmers with political tension as Blackthorne reveals truths that the Portuguese do their damnedest to keep secret. He gets thrown into prison, then released, then abducted and rescued, until finally the assassin comes for him. Rating: 8 ½.
7. A Stick of Time. Episode 7. The most padded episode by far — it covers only two of the sixty-one chapters in the book (42 and 44) — but what it does do it does well. Toranaga gets hoodwinked by his half-brother Saeki, who has been appointed regent (to replace Sugiyama after his murder at the end of episode 6), which means there are five regents again, who can now legally impeach Toranaga and order him to the great beyond. Saeki announces that the village is surrounded by his forces, and none will be allowed to leave unless they submit to the will of the regents. While he’s surrounded, Toranaga gives the mama-san Gyoko a special audience, and she proposes that Toranaga take control of the Tea Houses and make the Willow World like any other craft, a guild subject to policing and taxation. Also, there is an added element to this scene: Gyoko hints that she can see can see through Toranaga’s ruse, that he is not really submitting to the regents, despite his outward show of giving up. If only his generals were that wise and shrewd. Rating: 8.
8. Anjin. Episode 1. The first episode blazes through the first part of the book (chapters 1-9) a bit quickly, and noticeably sanitizes some of the characters’ actions. Yabu acts like Pontius Pilate, not wanting to boil any of Blackthorne’s crew until leaned on heavily to do so by a Portuguese priest; Toranaga punishes a wayward samurai less harshly than in the book; Yabu’s retainer does not jump off a cliff and purposely kill himself in order to get Yabu’s attention; etc. Otherwise the premiere does a good job of throwing this first-time English pilot into the alien world of medieval Japan, and it ends on a wonderful montage with Rodriguez’s voice over explaining the nature of the Japanese: “Every man has three hearts: one in his mouth, for the world to know; one in his chest, just for his friends; and a secret heart buried deep where no one can find it.” Rating: 8.
9. Tomorrow is Tomorrow. Episode 3. If “A Stick of Time” (see #7) is the most padded episode, “Tomorrow is Tomorrow” covers so many chapters from the book (18-29) that it basically had to strip them to the bone. Toranaga and Blackthorne don’t dance the hornpipe together; Mariko and Blackthorne don’t argue about sodomy; Mariko doesn’t get harassed by the bosun on Captain Ferriera’s ship. It’s just the escape from the castle; all action and none of the character moments that make Shogun such a classic. That’s not to say the escape sequence isn’t impressive. It’s well done. But it’s done at the expense of too much important source material. Even the final scene — that has Blackthorne teaching Toranaga how to dive into the ocean — doesn’t feel earned, because there’s not enough that has happened between the two men to make us feel invested in their relationship. Rating: 7.
10. Ladies of the Willow World. Episode 6. This will sound like a hollow criticism, but in an episode that focuses on the Willow World, where are the tits and ass? The book portrays nudity when warranted, and it doesn’t hold back on other things that may arouse discomfort in viewers as much as they did Blackthorne. In this case the numerous sex toys that Kiku shows Blackthorne and explains their functionality. It would have nice to see that; not because it’s gratuitous (it isn’t) but because it fits. Alas, Blackthorne’s night in the Tea House is a rather mundane affair, certainly nothing that makes Blackthorne realize (in the book) that “heaven on earth is here in Japan”. There’s a lot to this episode about Mariko’s backstory, which is a bit overdone, and some more stuff from chapters 37, 39-41 in the book to get by, but this is easily the least engaging episode of the series. Rating: 6 ½.
1. Episode 8. Rating — 9 ½ = A
2. Episode 9. Rating — 9 ½ = A
3. Episode 4. Rating — 9 = A-
4. Episode 10. Rating — 9 = A-
5. Episode 5. Rating — 8 ½ = B+
6. Episode 2. Rating — 8 ½ = B+
7. Episode 7. Rating — 8 = B
8. Episode 1. Rating — 8 = B
9. Episode 3. Rating — 7 = C+
10. Episode 6. Rating — 6 ½ = C
Overall (Average) Rating: 8.3 = B/B+
The Busybody 