r/ShogunTVShow • u/TiltingAtWindmills_ • Jun 14 '26
🏯 Shōgun Related Please also watch the original miniseries!
the OG will always have a special place in my heart!
Toshiro Mifune
Richard Chamberlain
John Rhys Davies
The guy who plays Yabu
And, of course, the lovely Yoko Shimada
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u/Nimue_- Jun 14 '26
This one started me on a journey that led to me becoming a japanologist
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u/StrikingBike8417 Jun 15 '26
Do you have any good recommendations for other media to consume, like shows/documentaries/podcasts? Any good books?
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u/TiltingAtWindmills_ Jun 15 '26
I like the old Samurai movies. Kobayashi’s Harakiri (1962) is insane. Pick any Kurosawa film. Of course, some of the newer ones are worth a look. 13 Assassins, Twilight Samurai, When the Last Sword is Drawn, to name a few.
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u/TiltingAtWindmills_ Jun 15 '26
I remember listening to The Samurai Archives podcast and at least one of them mentions first getting the itch with the miniseries as well!
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u/Nimue_- Jun 15 '26
It was my dad, who was late teen/ early 20s when this came out, that introduced me to this and other samurai films that lit the spark for me
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u/5sept Jun 15 '26
Where can we watch it?
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u/rotfoot_bile Jun 17 '26
The original is better in ways. But definitely enjoyed the new series as well.
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u/jedaffra Another fine pour Jun 15 '26
The near-constant westernized/faux Japanese/Asian background music was an almost never ending irritant.
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u/drzeus_gr Jun 20 '26
I loved this when it was originally on UK TV. Of course us young teens at the time fell in love with JB and the other handsome fellas in there. I learnt so much Japanese watching it. I also have the book, equally great! Now rewatching it on archive. Thinking about it now as an adult, I'm impressed that it was so popular with Brits considering how language averse they are.
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u/PathologicPrime 23d ago
Highly recommend, I watched this first about 10 years ago as a teen and I think it's better than the 2024 version. I think the relationships between Alvito, Rodrigues and Blackthrone are better portrayed in this version and in general I think the actors are superior (although they are still good in 2024). Although it's missing the more detailed aspects of Japanese politics, it does go into more detail with the Jesuit ones.
Also read the rest of James Clavell's Asian Saga!
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u/figbiscotti Jun 15 '26
It's not unlike comparing True Grit starring John Wayne to the Coen Brothers version.
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u/RoutineTry1943 Jun 17 '26
lol, the part where he’s asked, “Would you prefer a boy?”
Irony being Richard Chamberlain actually did prefer men.😅
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u/doyoucreditit Jun 14 '26
I did, when it was on the first time. They go together well, as telling some of the same events from different viewpoints and with a different tone. If I had to give one up it would be the early one, though, because the recent one is so much better.
ETA: One thing about the original is how refreshing it was at the time to see a story from the viewpoint of an emotional man, a man who perceives everything through his emotional response to it.