im really looking forward to this. the book is one of my all time favorites. i loved the mini series from the 80s when i was a kid. it has not aged well though. and even at the time it was really meh compared to the book.

the book is around 2k pages iirc, and the 80s show was 4 episodes. the new show is 10 episodes! so hopefully it's a lot more true to the book.

it's on hulu and FX

I think I might try waiting until all the episodes are out and binge watch this over a couple of days like it was a two part movie. But either way, with this many episodes instead of the 6-8 episodes other shows are doing, this 10 episode format should be detailed.

yeah i want to wait too and binge it, but i doubt i can control myself lol

Internet talk makes it seem like it's the next GOT.

Definitely going to watch this.

just watched the first 10 minutes, and it's good af so far

First episode was well done

This was amazing television imo. Second episode was even better than the pilot.

finally watched episode 2. wow! it's great! i had high expectations and it's exceeding them.

cinematography is great

acting is great

they've changed it some from the book, but that's ok.

also it can be confusing for people who haven't read the book, and don't know the story and the characters

im loving the performance of yabu! really great

also loving the performance of toranaga. in the previous show he was played by the great actor toshiro mifune, but i never liked the way he played toranaga. maybe he just wasn't into it. or maybe he was too old to care. idk. but he didn't do the role justice. this actor is knocking it out of the park

i also like blackthorne. i didn't think the guy looked right for the part, and he is playing him differently than he is in the book, but that's ok. i think he's doing a great job. it's a different blackthorne, but a great one imo


not that crazy about mariko so far. granted, her character is really tricky to play because she has to be really hard in a way, and also really soft in another way. very hard to pull off. this actress has the hard part down, but i don't see the softness.

i also don't like the casting of her husband buntaro. buntaro is supposed to be a huge, burly warrior, and the guy is kinda scrawny. but he's barely been in it so far. maybe he'll show us something great later.

oh and the music is great too

I'm not impressed with the lead so far, but its solid enough I'll keep watching. Didn't do the best job of paying 100% attention so probably need to rewatch

Wow. You hit every point I had.

Mariko softens over time. Playing her inscrutable at the beginning looks right

And yeah, while it doesn't impact the story, I was a bit annoyed by the casting of Blackthorne, who is blond in the book.
In the book, the Japanese women called him "the golden ape."

Excellent so far.

oh yeah! good point about playing mariko inscrutable at first, and then showing different layers to her character later on. it'll be interesting to see how that plays out.

and yeah blackthorne was blonde in the book, and kind of a big part of how his character related to japanese culture. but for me, im ok with changing some things up, especially when it comes to portraying characters differently. cuz really it's a different version of the story, which is ok with me. i like watching different actors bring different things. i think that's part of why shakespeare has so many different productions over the years.

this blackthorne is very still on the outside, but you can see the storm raging inside... a still waters run deep kind of thing.

they also mentioned his blue eyes in the tv show, and i don't think he even has blue eyes! lol!

and another kinda stupid thing(that is totally forgivable imo) is how anytime anyone is speaking portuguese or spanish, they all just speak english and pretend like it's spanish or portuguese lol

spoilers about the relationship between toranaga and blackthorne, and how it differs in the show from the book

another difference between the book and the show with yabu and blackthorne on the cliff

and so far toranaga is smarter in the book... like with the whole jail thing...

Very solid. So far best new series this year easily.

It's nice to have a show to be excited about. Seems like it has been a while

Ah you literally nailed the only thing that's been bugging me. That was indeed mediocre casting, so far. Maybe he's going to pick it up.

the lead can act. he's going to get a lot of work.

when I saw the the trailers, I thought it was poor casting. but he won me over.

a particular good part that impressed me was his indifference when yabu was in peril on the cliff. Cosmo(the actor) played it really great! cuz on the one hand he was totally indifferent(brilliant choice), and on the other hand it was really important and exciting, and he had to be both at the same time.

it's a hard thing to pull off, even for talented, professional actors

ehh he overacts in a lot of spots

God damn! this **** is good!

ok so some of the **** in episode 3 was fake and even kinda silly BUT it's so visually pleasing, and the action is so compelling, and the story is so great, that I didn't mind the fake/silly stuff. loved it!

like my god, the armor is so cool!

great episode. again.

but I'm unimpressed with the actress playing Mariko. sad to say. obv totally subjective. I wish they would have switched casting fujiko and Mariko. the woman playing fujiko seems pretty great to me. obv a much easier part

and I don't get the Cosmo hate, the actor playing blackthorne. I think he's great. he had a bit more comedy in this episode, and he nailed the comedy parts. and very understated, in a good way.

yabu continues to impress. same with toranaga. great casting. talented actors in good roles

and I like naga too, toranaga's son. very nice performance.

and I love the scenery! the fog and the rain, mountains and the water. just beautiful.

Cosmo just stands there wide eyed and over enunciates every line. Its like hes channeling his inner Tom Hardy Bane without the charisma. Hes been better in episode 3 and 4 though


Traditional era Asian women roles don't have a lot to work with considering they have to repress 99% of their emotions. I agree that many of the male Japanese roles are really well cast. Yabu is probably my favorite character.

yeah yabu is killing it! and I love his black feather cloak, or whatever that thing is.

disagree with 1600 era Japanese women roles not having a lot to work with. Mariko is an amazing role. the woman who did it in 1980 was great!

and the fujiko role is great too!

having to repress emotions doesn't mean a role is bad. Spock on star trek has to repress all his emotions, and it's a great role!

Ya the Anjin continues to be average. But everyone else is killing it. Very enjoyable episode.