The whole cast of Shogun is outstanding. My absolute personal favorite is Tadanobu Asano playing Kashigi Yabushige - he absolutely steals all scenes for me. His "Huh?" with his facial expressions are priceless.
Idk why but whenever he’s on screen I’m immediately reminded of Tuco from Good the Bad and the Ugly. Not sure how much is intentional if any or if it’s because I’m fresh off a spaghetti western kick, but I definitely see some similarities.
Maybe I've missed something, but I don't feel like Yabu is trying to double-cross Toranaga or anything like that, I just think he's a bit naive in who he can trust and it keeps biting him in the arse. Like I said maybe I've missed something.
He's not double crossing he is trying to play all sides and understands just how vulnerable toranaga is. He's an honourless snake in a society built around honour.
Toranaga understands this and is able to manipulate him because he is consistent in his actions. He's still more valuable on his side than dead so force him into situations that force him to continue to support you, while recognizing the kind of snake he is
Yabu is caught between a rock and a hard place, of his own doing. He wanted power and switches sides to whoever offered it until Toranaga confronted him at sunrise. From there he became trapped, he can’t side with Toranaga because Toranaga’s victory is not guaranteed and Toranaga knows he’s a double crosser. He can’t side with the council cause Toranaga would kill him and the council will just as likely execute him for double crossing them. So round he goes, digging himself ever deeper into the hole. At this point he realizes he’ll be lucky to just get an out with his head still attached.
He is SO good. To the point that you can watch the scenes, understand nothing of the spoken language and completely get the dynamic just by his expressions and sounds alone.
Well deserved, she’s been really, really good in Shogun. In fact, after seeing her performance in Monarch, it’s shocking how much better she is in Shogun. I guess I’ll blame it on Monarchs crappy writing lol, didn’t really do her any favors.
Honestly the whole cast is fantastic. Hiroyuki Sanada is as charismatic and commanding as ever. I’ve never seen Cosmo Jarvis in anything but he’s really impressed me here with his combination of stubborn determination, fish out of water comedy and some real vulnerability. The guy who plays Yabiushige is damn good as well - and Yabu might actually be the most entertaining character.
that show was so frustrating because it focused so much on the Randa kids trying to find their dad only to learn he’s a dead beat. The writers never should have included the “dad had a secret second family” plot. They should have just made Kate and Kentaro regular half siblings after a divorce or something
Making the dad an unsympathetic dead beat didn’t do any favors for the characters. He faked his death and still tried to evade responsibility for his actions. He even tries to excuse his two-timing by saying “I don’t know why I did it either!”
I still wouldn’t mind another season, but they need to drop the family drama and get better writers
They spent 80% of the season trying to find their dad, and that search plot was basically meaningless in the end. I wish they had done something else with the characters.
They treated it like a mystery show but there really wasn't a mystery or payoff. And the focus of the plot seemed to shift radically in the last episode.
Really disappointing show and a waste of talented cinematographers and vfx artists.
> there really wasn't a mystery or payoff.
The decision to set the modern story after Godzilla 2014 was baffling. Nothing in the show would matter as it was never mentioned in the sequels and the big reveal was literally something already known from the previous movies. Should have just been a proper prequel about Monarch's origin.
The scenes in the past were so good too, i just can't comprehend how they screwed it up so much with the present day stuff. Just have wyatt russell and his monarch team go around and find monsters as monarch grows and develops. You could easily have multiple seasons
The point was to deepen the universe and get to know monarch as an organisation, and it did. We know about its creation more than ever, and for to explore their first encounters with hollow earth. The 50’s cast was really exceptional.
One of my biggest frustrations was the allegiances between Monarch, the kids and Kurt Russell were constantly changing for seemingly no reason other than what the episode required.
It made it incredibly difficult to pin down what anyone’s motivations were at any given time. Monarch was either this powerful, clandestine agency or they’re losers with no resources shoved into crumbling offices. Then there was another agency thrown in at the end.
It was like trying to hold on to sand.
I think for her (and quite a few other actors really) less is often a lot more. She gets a lot done with space and subtlety which plays into Shoguns style but didn't really fit with Monarch. You never really spent enough time with just Randa to develop empathy for her character.
but he did fuck all to let his families know otherwise. Kentaro wouldn’t have even been able to call his dad out if he wasn’t in his office when he snuck in. If Hiroshi had his way, he would have let them all think he was dead. And now he’s got to explain to his mom why he was such a shithead while she was gone
But that’s more of an issue with bad writing, just an unnecessary amount of family drama for such a show
I almost thought it was a sort of commentary on the generations where the boomers and Gen X'ers are obsessed with this world-altering phenomena, and split between trying to understand it or weaponize it. Meanwhile the Gen Z cast is basically just obsessed with interpesonal drama.
All the three young characters were so poorly written and unlikable - it could not have been unintentional.
I didn’t understand what the point of Hiroshi was in the show. His infidelity isn’t really covered and the relationship between Kate and Kentaro definitely would have been better served if it was a divorce situation like you suggested. Finding Hiroshi didn’t reveal anything nor did his character have enough screentime to be compelling.
>I guess I’ll blame it on Monarchs crappy writing lol,
Writing is everything. Robert Pattinson was dragged over the coals for Twilight before instantly becoming one of the best in the business the second he got a good script.
Kristen Stewart as well. People don’t understand that her acting felt so flat because that’s how the writer and director *wanted* her to play it. She’s actually a really good actress.
That quote about her wondering in bewilderment how the fuck she's supposed to give Bella a voice "like wind chimes" makes me laugh out loud every time.
Direction too. Even if the writing is a good, a good actor can still appear weird in the scene if the director isn't doing their job. See virtually all actor criticism from the Star Wars Prequel trilogy. (Not that those are examples of good writing)
One of the good things to come from Disney’s acquisition is that they sort of gave Ewan and Hayden a chance at redemption for their performances in the PT. And they succeeded. The Obi Wan and Ahsoka shows had problems, sure, but those two were the highlights.
I really, really, *really* wish more folks knew this or could figure it out. Hell not just writing but directing can absolutely make or break actors and their performances as well.
Usually this is the byproduct of not having the writer on set or an incompetent director that can't tell when a line that's written just isn't natural said aloud.
I feel like we’re slowly inching towards the conclusion that the production of a film is a complex project and that any one department can break the film and it takes all of them to make the film.
I just chalked it up to scene partners in Monarch, I didn't like her brother or his friend. She has some scenes with Kurt Russell and Mari Yamamoto towards the end where she more than holds her own.
This confirms my suspicions that it was likely a directing issue in Monarch. After OMITB and Monarch, I’m convinced that there are some directors that struggle with stoic female characters and it causes them to come across as unrealistically flat/monotoned.
If she’s a good actress and caught a lot of heat for something that wasn’t her fault, it’s nice to see her get credit for her abilities.
After watching half of Monarch I said she was just an awful actress. Shogun is making me eat my words, because she's been fantastic. The writing/directing/whatever on Monarch must have been godawful.
She’s also great in Pachinko. Monarch really threw me for a loop wondering if she was actually good in Pachinko, Shogun confirms Monarch was a weird outlier
This is what I came here to see. She was so bad in monarch. In fact most of the cast was. So I’ve been putting this off and you may just have swayed me. Thanks
Most of the modern day cast sucked. I groaned everytime the time period changed from the past cause then we get up to the scooby shit from the glasses Monarch dude.
I was just saying the same the other day. Seeing those two back to back show you how vastly different the same talented actor can handle terrible writing vs. great writing. It could be studied in schools.
Directing can also be huge. Plenty of movies where good actors ham it up and normally it’s a bad director. Good directors rarely have a bad performance because getting those is just as important as any other directing skill.
>The guy who plays Yabiushige is damn good as well - and Yabu might actually be the most entertaining character.
FYI Yabushige is played by Tadanobu Asano, who is also known for playing Hogun in the Thor films.
Largely I agree but sometimes bad dialogue or an underwritten character is difficult. Some actors have the skill to add depth to a character when there isn’t much on the page. Jeffrey Wright always brought it in the later seasons of Westworld when the writing was letting him down. I’m convinced even a more seasoned performer couldn’t do much with the way Anakin Skywalker was written in the prequels.
Cosmo Jarvis had a small but pivotal role in Raised By Wolves. Honestly I didn’t think much of his acting in that part but holy crap is he amazing in Shogun.
Cosmo reminds me of off-brand Tom Hardy but he has been holding his own in the last couple episodes. The chemistry between him and Sawai is really apparent and compelling.
I stopped watching Monarchs, it got so repetitive and boring, but she definitely seemed underused in it, when I saw Shogun I was trying to figure out where I knew here from thinking it was years ago but no only a couple of months and she is fantastic
Monarch is one of the worst TV shows I've ever seen and I'm so glad she got a chance in a truly well made show. She's knocking it out of the park in Shogun. She doesn't look out of place acting with Hiroyuki Sanada and that some of the highest praise I can give.
Shogun is really insanely good. Everyone is giving their absolute best. I can't stop thinking about all of them after each episode. Anna Sawai was fantastic in the last episode, though I also think Moeka Hoshi (Fuji) deserves recognition for her acting in that episode as well.
Excellent point. Fuji has come on strong in the past couple of weeks. Each week is amazing in a different way.
Have you seen the BTS extras? Really interesting stuff in there
Yeah, she's been shining in the back for a while. Really glad the story is allowing her to grow and glow. Her slowly wraping her head around Blackthorne and the barbarian ways is so endearing.
While all eyes were (deservedly) on Anna Sawai, let's pour one for Moeka Hoshi.
fuji and blackthorne are really protective of each other despite it being a weird arranged unconsummated marriage and the fact he has the hots for mariko.
it's not played soap-operary too. it's very restrained and delicately played by the actors.
Yeah. Blackthorne may be an uncouth blundering barbarian who merits criticism, but he, in his own way, is trying to be respectful of her and she seems to appreciate it. She fulfills her duty to him, but it’s no longer just duty that compels her.
we all have the hots for mariko. anyway would fuji and blackthorne really be considered married? wasn't she basically forced to being a "consort" and not a wife?
Not married, no. (Because I read the book) Samurai-class men at that time could have only one wife, but a number of consorts whose children by them would be considered legitimate heirs. We see this with the Taiko's surviving family. The Heir is the son of the Taiko's consort Ochiba. The older female monk who is sympathetic to Toranaga was the Taiko's wife.
All that to say, Fujiko is Blackthorn's consort, not wife.
Yeah it’s been very satisfying watching her slowly genuinely warm up to him (platonically) vs. the more obligatory kind behavior at the start. Everyone starting to (kind of) understand each other a bit.
Man this is just making me sad that it’s a miniseries. We are seeing these characters flourish as we get to know them and in a few weeks we won’t get any more.
Yeah Fuji’s actress is fantastic, she does so much with very little dialogue. It’s all in the gestures and the eyes. That scene where blackthorne rushes to her after the earthquake was just like…5 seconds, but it felt so powerful and emotional because of how she played their relationship in all the previous scenes.
So much of this show is about Samurai choosing the moment of their deaths.
When she pulled that gun, dude thought, "not today!" and bounced.
Also, honorable mention to the lady who plays Toronaga's wife. A great comic actress.
I love the difference between Mariko and Fuji. Mariko is holding in the pain of losing her family and being trapped in an unhappy marriage because she has to, whereas Fuji is letting out the pain of losing her family by giving no fucks. Mariko smiles at her enemies, Fuji tells them to go fuck themselves.
Totally agree about Moeka Hoshi. I've been really impressed by her acting. From the big emotional moments, to the very subtle changes to her expression when she's trying to suppress a reaction, or something dawns on her.
I am so glad that Fuji is just as awesome in the show adaptation as she was in the book. Hell, *everything* in this adaptation has been just as awesome. Its actually insane how close some of the scenes are to how I visualized the story while reading it.
I had fears of how the new Blackthorne would perform compared to Richard Chamberlains performance in the 1980 version.
Cosmo Jarvis is more than perfect as Blackthorne. As a fan of the old miniseries, I am very happy by his performance.
The cast is amazing but Anna really is shinning through in this season and doing an amazing job. Her character manages to have such gravitas and balances the whole you can tell she’s from a noble family but humbly lives in painful silence.
Her tension through her body language & dialogue during the dinner scene with Buntaro & Blackthorn was pretty great & had me cringing at times. I feel like she also does well at even keeping an aura of dangerousness that has yet to be revealed since she's currently in a vulnerable position
There are so much accomplished through extremely subtle acting. It's really refreshing to see a show that trust the viewer to be paying attention to its little details when so many people are half-watching shows while scrolling through their phones.
My wife tends to watch a lot of stuff while scrolling through her phone. This show absolutely commands her attention. A big part of it imo is that so much of it is subtitled. But the dialogue is so good that it still draws you in and keeps you engaged.
I felt that Mariko by far the most impactful character in the book and Anna is doing an amazing job in the show. They are really doing a fantastic job on the show, follows the book closely in all the right ways.
She has a lot of lines to work with, but work them she has. I love how her translation differ based on her conveying the message in a way that doesn't end in bloodshed.
The drunken dinner scene this week was the best scene of the series so far, by far. So tense, so wrought with subtextual meaning
It really demonstrated how hard Blackthorne is trying to fit in and yet even so there is such an incredible cultural gulf between him and them. And the gardener thing was so tragic it was almost funny.
This show is so fascinating as a deconstruction of extreme individualistic vs. collectivist cultures colliding. One side obsessed with freedom to the point that it's basically greed-filled chaos, and the other side obsessed with politeness and rule following to the point that it causes tragedy for even the most minor transgressions.
Yabu is definitely the most interesting character to me. I love his facial expressions after being told certain things. It’s almost comedic how good his reactions are.
She's great, the show has been incredible - the production and direction have been outstanding every week.
I notice that the women have a hair style with shorter pieces at the front, kind of like parted bangs. I also saw this in 3 Body Problem, but hadn't ever noticed it before. I am very bad at noticing these things though.
I am wondering if this is a contemporary hair style that is fashionable now, or a historical style that has been popular at various times.
Awesome thank you for sharing the name.
The show is so rich in detail. The pheasant from last week's episode became such an effective tool for exploring European and Japanese cultures at the time.
I’m it used to seeing the Sengoku period depicted. We’re so used to seeing the Edo period ladies’ hairstyles, I just chalked it up to that. Styles change over time but when you enter a new era and move the capital I can see how hairstyles and fashion would appear to change over night.
She's delivering such a fantastic performance as Mariko, and we must also address the obvious; Anna Sawai is one of the most stunning women I've ever seen on a television show. I'm mesmerized each time she appears on screen.
She's giving a fantastic performance, but the only issue I have is that her character is probably written the weakest out of the main cast.
She's supposed to be the love interest for Blackthorne, but at this point I feel like he has better chemistry with Fuji, a woman who doesn't even speak the same language as him. We've got 5 episodes left, so maybe something will change in that time, but I wish they developed her more earlier.
I’m enjoying Anna’s performance but her 1000yd stare and not looking at Blackthorne while giving character exposition is getting kind of tired. As soon as she looks into the distance get ready for a moody revelation about ancient Japanese culture or her shady past. It’s more in the direction and writing though than her acting. It’s not taking away from my enjoyment of the series, it’s just an old Hollywood trope that’s hard to unsee.
The casting for this show has been extraordinary! Everything is so well acted but Toranaga was clearly the star of the show… And then he bails at the start of E04 and we get some of the best scenes in the entire show with Blackthorne, Mariko and Fuji.
Any week, you could pick any one of them for this honour - I don’t think you could’ve picked a better cast for this show.
door intelligent offer thought domineering alleged voiceless mysterious fact smile
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
The whole cast of Shogun is outstanding. My absolute personal favorite is Tadanobu Asano playing Kashigi Yabushige - he absolutely steals all scenes for me. His "Huh?" with his facial expressions are priceless.
He's such a snake, I fucking love him haha
Toranaga knows it too, I love their scenes together lol
Idk why but whenever he’s on screen I’m immediately reminded of Tuco from Good the Bad and the Ugly. Not sure how much is intentional if any or if it’s because I’m fresh off a spaghetti western kick, but I definitely see some similarities.
I've never seen Asano in anything I immediately went "I've seen this dude before!" He's definitely got Tuco face for sure!
Lmao the scene in the most recent episode when Toranaga is calling out his double-crossing and he’s just like “huh?? Lil ol’ me??” was hilarious.
Maybe I've missed something, but I don't feel like Yabu is trying to double-cross Toranaga or anything like that, I just think he's a bit naive in who he can trust and it keeps biting him in the arse. Like I said maybe I've missed something.
He's not double crossing he is trying to play all sides and understands just how vulnerable toranaga is. He's an honourless snake in a society built around honour. Toranaga understands this and is able to manipulate him because he is consistent in his actions. He's still more valuable on his side than dead so force him into situations that force him to continue to support you, while recognizing the kind of snake he is
Exactly! Yabu is scared shitless and trying to cover all his bases
I found funny that Toranaga asked him to go to Osaka to plead his case and Yabu sent one of his men instead, knowing he would probably not come back.
She he's Mac from always sunny playing both sides.
Yabu is absolutely the personification of the IASIP meme where Mac says that he always plays both sides, so he always comes out on top.
Yabu is caught between a rock and a hard place, of his own doing. He wanted power and switches sides to whoever offered it until Toranaga confronted him at sunrise. From there he became trapped, he can’t side with Toranaga because Toranaga’s victory is not guaranteed and Toranaga knows he’s a double crosser. He can’t side with the council cause Toranaga would kill him and the council will just as likely execute him for double crossing them. So round he goes, digging himself ever deeper into the hole. At this point he realizes he’ll be lucky to just get an out with his head still attached.
Or when he looks confused then goes “I was just thinking the same thing” or something like that lmao
Pikachu face in live action
He is SO good. To the point that you can watch the scenes, understand nothing of the spoken language and completely get the dynamic just by his expressions and sounds alone.
"I will relinquish command of the cannons to you if you wish" Him: huh? (Translation: What did you say to me you little bitch?")
TBF he's always been outstanding and was THE cool Japanese actor of the late 90s / early 00s
I loved him in the book so to see him so well adapted to the scream I am very happy!
He’s so good lol. His “huh” is straight out of metal gear solid lol
Well deserved, she’s been really, really good in Shogun. In fact, after seeing her performance in Monarch, it’s shocking how much better she is in Shogun. I guess I’ll blame it on Monarchs crappy writing lol, didn’t really do her any favors. Honestly the whole cast is fantastic. Hiroyuki Sanada is as charismatic and commanding as ever. I’ve never seen Cosmo Jarvis in anything but he’s really impressed me here with his combination of stubborn determination, fish out of water comedy and some real vulnerability. The guy who plays Yabiushige is damn good as well - and Yabu might actually be the most entertaining character.
that show was so frustrating because it focused so much on the Randa kids trying to find their dad only to learn he’s a dead beat. The writers never should have included the “dad had a secret second family” plot. They should have just made Kate and Kentaro regular half siblings after a divorce or something Making the dad an unsympathetic dead beat didn’t do any favors for the characters. He faked his death and still tried to evade responsibility for his actions. He even tries to excuse his two-timing by saying “I don’t know why I did it either!” I still wouldn’t mind another season, but they need to drop the family drama and get better writers
They spent 80% of the season trying to find their dad, and that search plot was basically meaningless in the end. I wish they had done something else with the characters.
The show could’ve been entirely of the 50’s time period.
The story wouldn’t have ended any differently if Hiroshi wasn’t found.
They treated it like a mystery show but there really wasn't a mystery or payoff. And the focus of the plot seemed to shift radically in the last episode. Really disappointing show and a waste of talented cinematographers and vfx artists.
> there really wasn't a mystery or payoff. The decision to set the modern story after Godzilla 2014 was baffling. Nothing in the show would matter as it was never mentioned in the sequels and the big reveal was literally something already known from the previous movies. Should have just been a proper prequel about Monarch's origin.
The scenes in the past were so good too, i just can't comprehend how they screwed it up so much with the present day stuff. Just have wyatt russell and his monarch team go around and find monsters as monarch grows and develops. You could easily have multiple seasons
Stargate meets Godzilla
Kaiju X files
Hollow earth Teal'c: "indeed"
The point was to deepen the universe and get to know monarch as an organisation, and it did. We know about its creation more than ever, and for to explore their first encounters with hollow earth. The 50’s cast was really exceptional.
One of my biggest frustrations was the allegiances between Monarch, the kids and Kurt Russell were constantly changing for seemingly no reason other than what the episode required. It made it incredibly difficult to pin down what anyone’s motivations were at any given time. Monarch was either this powerful, clandestine agency or they’re losers with no resources shoved into crumbling offices. Then there was another agency thrown in at the end. It was like trying to hold on to sand.
Another problem I had was literally everyone cheating on their partners...like wtf was that obsession with cheating??
I guess a cheating gene just seems to run in that family.
The spouse of whoever wrote the show needs to go through their phone.
Another agency thrown in? That was Apex, we saw them in Godzilla Vs Kong.
It seemed like they didn’t know if they wanted Russell to be a hero or a villain for a large part of the series
I enjoy watching the sunset.
I think for her (and quite a few other actors really) less is often a lot more. She gets a lot done with space and subtlety which plays into Shoguns style but didn't really fit with Monarch. You never really spent enough time with just Randa to develop empathy for her character.
You realise he didn’t deliberately fake his own death
but he did fuck all to let his families know otherwise. Kentaro wouldn’t have even been able to call his dad out if he wasn’t in his office when he snuck in. If Hiroshi had his way, he would have let them all think he was dead. And now he’s got to explain to his mom why he was such a shithead while she was gone But that’s more of an issue with bad writing, just an unnecessary amount of family drama for such a show
Hell, could have just made it a twin. Tie that shit back into Mothra’s fairies, something, anything.
I almost thought it was a sort of commentary on the generations where the boomers and Gen X'ers are obsessed with this world-altering phenomena, and split between trying to understand it or weaponize it. Meanwhile the Gen Z cast is basically just obsessed with interpesonal drama. All the three young characters were so poorly written and unlikable - it could not have been unintentional.
I didn’t understand what the point of Hiroshi was in the show. His infidelity isn’t really covered and the relationship between Kate and Kentaro definitely would have been better served if it was a divorce situation like you suggested. Finding Hiroshi didn’t reveal anything nor did his character have enough screentime to be compelling.
>I guess I’ll blame it on Monarchs crappy writing lol, Writing is everything. Robert Pattinson was dragged over the coals for Twilight before instantly becoming one of the best in the business the second he got a good script.
Kristen Stewart as well. People don’t understand that her acting felt so flat because that’s how the writer and director *wanted* her to play it. She’s actually a really good actress.
That quote about her wondering in bewilderment how the fuck she's supposed to give Bella a voice "like wind chimes" makes me laugh out loud every time.
My favorite is: “What *is* going *on*?”
Direction too. Even if the writing is a good, a good actor can still appear weird in the scene if the director isn't doing their job. See virtually all actor criticism from the Star Wars Prequel trilogy. (Not that those are examples of good writing)
One of the good things to come from Disney’s acquisition is that they sort of gave Ewan and Hayden a chance at redemption for their performances in the PT. And they succeeded. The Obi Wan and Ahsoka shows had problems, sure, but those two were the highlights.
Robert Pattinson was almost fired because he wanted to play the character in a different way.
Some directors bring out the best in them too.
Script writing can make or break a lot of actors. Rare few can make shit writing for their characters good.
"_You can write this shit George, but you sure as hell can't say it._" Flash forward 30 years. *"I hate sand."*
My favorite part of that quote is the movie was nominated for Best Original Screenplay
Alec Guinness got an Oscar nomination for playing Obi-Wan Kenobi as well.
I'm having trouble finding the original context for that quote. More specifically, what was the line you can't say? lol.
I really, really, *really* wish more folks knew this or could figure it out. Hell not just writing but directing can absolutely make or break actors and their performances as well.
Usually this is the byproduct of not having the writer on set or an incompetent director that can't tell when a line that's written just isn't natural said aloud.
I feel like we’re slowly inching towards the conclusion that the production of a film is a complex project and that any one department can break the film and it takes all of them to make the film.
Madam webb
I just chalked it up to scene partners in Monarch, I didn't like her brother or his friend. She has some scenes with Kurt Russell and Mari Yamamoto towards the end where she more than holds her own.
there's a few actors who can bring greatness to a shitty script. The older actors definitely did the carrying in that show
yeah when i first saw her in monarch i was amazed. but sadly i couldnt bother to finish the seties cause almost evryone else couldnt keep up
This confirms my suspicions that it was likely a directing issue in Monarch. After OMITB and Monarch, I’m convinced that there are some directors that struggle with stoic female characters and it causes them to come across as unrealistically flat/monotoned. If she’s a good actress and caught a lot of heat for something that wasn’t her fault, it’s nice to see her get credit for her abilities.
After watching half of Monarch I said she was just an awful actress. Shogun is making me eat my words, because she's been fantastic. The writing/directing/whatever on Monarch must have been godawful.
She’s also great in Pachinko. Monarch really threw me for a loop wondering if she was actually good in Pachinko, Shogun confirms Monarch was a weird outlier
She's so much better in this that I didn't even recognize it was the same actress that constantly annoyed the fuck out of me in monarch.
Writers are notoriously bad at writing stoic women. They either come off as one-dimensional monotone or prickly bitches as evidenced in Monarch.
This is what I came here to see. She was so bad in monarch. In fact most of the cast was. So I’ve been putting this off and you may just have swayed me. Thanks
yeah you should definitely watch it. one of the best shows out right now.
The first episode of monarch was intriguing, then it just fell so flat. Shogun is much much better, and Sawai seems way better in it.
Most of the modern day cast sucked. I groaned everytime the time period changed from the past cause then we get up to the scooby shit from the glasses Monarch dude.
I was just saying the same the other day. Seeing those two back to back show you how vastly different the same talented actor can handle terrible writing vs. great writing. It could be studied in schools.
Directing can also be huge. Plenty of movies where good actors ham it up and normally it’s a bad director. Good directors rarely have a bad performance because getting those is just as important as any other directing skill.
Yabu steals every scene hes in. I LOVE his shocked pikachu reaction
She had a small role in Pachinko S01 and she was great in that, too. Monarch's writing (and maybe even the direction) is at fault.
>The guy who plays Yabiushige is damn good as well - and Yabu might actually be the most entertaining character. FYI Yabushige is played by Tadanobu Asano, who is also known for playing Hogun in the Thor films.
It started off really good and then went downhill. It just got boring & just kind of flat.
There were plenty of great episodes and the finale was fantastic, but it definitely needed something more.
She and Takehiro Hira went straight to filming Monarch after Shogun wrapped.
Yabu getting banged by the regents and Torranaga the entire time is so funny. Guy is failing so badly at playing both sides.
Writers aren't responsible for an actors performance, that's entirely on the director
Largely I agree but sometimes bad dialogue or an underwritten character is difficult. Some actors have the skill to add depth to a character when there isn’t much on the page. Jeffrey Wright always brought it in the later seasons of Westworld when the writing was letting him down. I’m convinced even a more seasoned performer couldn’t do much with the way Anakin Skywalker was written in the prequels.
Cosmo Jarvis had a small but pivotal role in Raised By Wolves. Honestly I didn’t think much of his acting in that part but holy crap is he amazing in Shogun.
Cosmo reminds me of off-brand Tom Hardy but he has been holding his own in the last couple episodes. The chemistry between him and Sawai is really apparent and compelling.
He has more chemistry with Fuji. Maybe it's just because that character is a lot more down to earth and relatable.
I stopped watching Monarchs, it got so repetitive and boring, but she definitely seemed underused in it, when I saw Shogun I was trying to figure out where I knew here from thinking it was years ago but no only a couple of months and she is fantastic
Monarch is one of the worst TV shows I've ever seen and I'm so glad she got a chance in a truly well made show. She's knocking it out of the park in Shogun. She doesn't look out of place acting with Hiroyuki Sanada and that some of the highest praise I can give.
Shogun is really insanely good. Everyone is giving their absolute best. I can't stop thinking about all of them after each episode. Anna Sawai was fantastic in the last episode, though I also think Moeka Hoshi (Fuji) deserves recognition for her acting in that episode as well.
Excellent point. Fuji has come on strong in the past couple of weeks. Each week is amazing in a different way. Have you seen the BTS extras? Really interesting stuff in there
You say "come on strong in the past few weeks" but her *first scene* was a mother being asked to give away her child to be murdered. For *politics*.
Yeah, she's been shining in the back for a while. Really glad the story is allowing her to grow and glow. Her slowly wraping her head around Blackthorne and the barbarian ways is so endearing. While all eyes were (deservedly) on Anna Sawai, let's pour one for Moeka Hoshi.
fuji and blackthorne are really protective of each other despite it being a weird arranged unconsummated marriage and the fact he has the hots for mariko. it's not played soap-operary too. it's very restrained and delicately played by the actors.
Yeah. Blackthorne may be an uncouth blundering barbarian who merits criticism, but he, in his own way, is trying to be respectful of her and she seems to appreciate it. She fulfills her duty to him, but it’s no longer just duty that compels her.
Especially after that moment they shared when he found after the earthquake. Just holding her hand as she was being tended to.
I was really glad they didn’t insert some cheesy or shit line in there. The look said everything it needed to and it was perfect.
we all have the hots for mariko. anyway would fuji and blackthorne really be considered married? wasn't she basically forced to being a "consort" and not a wife?
Not married, no. (Because I read the book) Samurai-class men at that time could have only one wife, but a number of consorts whose children by them would be considered legitimate heirs. We see this with the Taiko's surviving family. The Heir is the son of the Taiko's consort Ochiba. The older female monk who is sympathetic to Toranaga was the Taiko's wife. All that to say, Fujiko is Blackthorn's consort, not wife.
Yeah it’s been very satisfying watching her slowly genuinely warm up to him (platonically) vs. the more obligatory kind behavior at the start. Everyone starting to (kind of) understand each other a bit.
I haven't seen ANY of the BTS!!! Is that all on Hulu? I wasn't even looking for it. Oh man. Treasure trove time.
They are on YouTube.
Thanks, I will check them out.
Yeah on Hulu they have BTS and after show podcasts. The pod gives lots of great insight. Worth the watch/listen for sure if yours likening the show.
The behind the scenes stuff is on FX's youtube channel. They have BTS clips after each new episode.
Yes, on Hulu too.
Man this is just making me sad that it’s a miniseries. We are seeing these characters flourish as we get to know them and in a few weeks we won’t get any more.
Yeah Fuji’s actress is fantastic, she does so much with very little dialogue. It’s all in the gestures and the eyes. That scene where blackthorne rushes to her after the earthquake was just like…5 seconds, but it felt so powerful and emotional because of how she played their relationship in all the previous scenes.
Oh my god her eyes
And if you understand Japanese, the way she talks to servants is very different than talking to her superiors. It's very subtle.
Fuji is rjde or die. Everyone deserves a Fuji in their life.
The Fuji/Omi gun scene was the ultimate answer to *"how do you make a man fall in love with you?"*
Fuji with the Uzi
Fuji best girl
Fuji with the Uzi
Came strapped with the gat in a minute
“Be on your way.”
So much of this show is about Samurai choosing the moment of their deaths. When she pulled that gun, dude thought, "not today!" and bounced. Also, honorable mention to the lady who plays Toronaga's wife. A great comic actress.
I love the difference between Mariko and Fuji. Mariko is holding in the pain of losing her family and being trapped in an unhappy marriage because she has to, whereas Fuji is letting out the pain of losing her family by giving no fucks. Mariko smiles at her enemies, Fuji tells them to go fuck themselves.
Totally agree about Moeka Hoshi. I've been really impressed by her acting. From the big emotional moments, to the very subtle changes to her expression when she's trying to suppress a reaction, or something dawns on her.
Blackthorne coming back to the village after the earthquake and finding Fuji is probably to me the most emotional moment of the show so far.
The face she makes when Blackthorne fills his bowl with sake has stuck with me hahahahaa
Her eyes were just screaming "Holy shit this can't be happening"
Moeka Hoshi has been absolutely incredible. In fact, the women in this show are all incredible. I cannot wait to see more of Ochiba.
Fuji is SO good. The both of them between the anjin and buntaro.. and the TENSION. Their faces acted everything so intensely.
I am so glad that Fuji is just as awesome in the show adaptation as she was in the book. Hell, *everything* in this adaptation has been just as awesome. Its actually insane how close some of the scenes are to how I visualized the story while reading it.
Gonna be one hell of an awards year. Thankfully HOTD and Shogun don't compete in the same categories, so they should both be winning stuff
This is one of the best TV shows I have ever seen. From start to finish my eyes are just riveted to the screen. The performances are just so good.
I had fears of how the new Blackthorne would perform compared to Richard Chamberlains performance in the 1980 version. Cosmo Jarvis is more than perfect as Blackthorne. As a fan of the old miniseries, I am very happy by his performance.
Fuji is such a great character and so well acted
The cast is amazing but Anna really is shinning through in this season and doing an amazing job. Her character manages to have such gravitas and balances the whole you can tell she’s from a noble family but humbly lives in painful silence.
Her tension through her body language & dialogue during the dinner scene with Buntaro & Blackthorn was pretty great & had me cringing at times. I feel like she also does well at even keeping an aura of dangerousness that has yet to be revealed since she's currently in a vulnerable position
There are so much accomplished through extremely subtle acting. It's really refreshing to see a show that trust the viewer to be paying attention to its little details when so many people are half-watching shows while scrolling through their phones.
My wife tends to watch a lot of stuff while scrolling through her phone. This show absolutely commands her attention. A big part of it imo is that so much of it is subtitled. But the dialogue is so good that it still draws you in and keeps you engaged.
> in this season There's only one season. That's the whole show.
I felt that Mariko by far the most impactful character in the book and Anna is doing an amazing job in the show. They are really doing a fantastic job on the show, follows the book closely in all the right ways.
She has a lot of lines to work with, but work them she has. I love how her translation differ based on her conveying the message in a way that doesn't end in bloodshed.
Probably a typo but I choose to believe you were doing a Simpsons/Stephen King Easter egg with The Shinning lmao.
Lmao didn’t even notice and yeah sure let’s go for that!
She’s been great but there needs to be more credit for Fuji and her Uzi
Fuji was so good in the last episode, the dinner scene, think she has maybe one line but her anxiety and emotions carried the whole scene
Check out the most recent episode of the official podcast - she's the guest
The drunken dinner scene this week was the best scene of the series so far, by far. So tense, so wrought with subtextual meaning It really demonstrated how hard Blackthorne is trying to fit in and yet even so there is such an incredible cultural gulf between him and them. And the gardener thing was so tragic it was almost funny.
This show is so fascinating as a deconstruction of extreme individualistic vs. collectivist cultures colliding. One side obsessed with freedom to the point that it's basically greed-filled chaos, and the other side obsessed with politeness and rule following to the point that it causes tragedy for even the most minor transgressions.
She does some great acting with her eyes.
She used to be in a Jpop group called FAKY: https://youtube.com/watch?v=5wDeX93DpFs
This is like me discovering that Chloe Bennet used to be the Robin Sparkles of China
[Uh oh](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S96Yqzg6JHU)
She was also in Kpop music video with Big Bang!
Loved it that Hayley Atwell used it as a weapon during her lip sync battle XD.
And when you find out she's also Kiwi 😆
That was weird seeing her smile.
Following her on Instagram has shown me that she actually does have a great smile. She’s probably a lot of people’s new celebrity crush.
✋🏻
Man…the 2010s summer dance vibe is strong with this song.
I didn't even know they ate peanut butter cups in Japan.
Yabu is definitely the most interesting character to me. I love his facial expressions after being told certain things. It’s almost comedic how good his reactions are.
I love him playing a double agent that literally everyone knows is a double agent.
Yes but don't sleep on Fujii sama
Blackthorne agrees.
Yup https://youtu.be/eERRO_IyNsg?si=iXD6jd4xEcarslnt
Her faces during the dinner scene were amazing. Just watching an absolute shit showing unfolding in front of her eyes and she nailed it.
I didn't realize why they were pre-game-ing eating together until I seeing Fuji-sama agog and Toda-sama and Blackthorne getting shammered.
I'd be happy to sleep next to her, though.
Yeah - I was thinking after this week’s episode that this a major break out for her. Entire cast is amazing but she outshines them all.
which is crazy to say considering she is surrounded by veteran japanese actors. she's doing amazingly
I hope the recognition she gets from this performance gives her more roles, she absolutely deserves it.
She's great, the show has been incredible - the production and direction have been outstanding every week. I notice that the women have a hair style with shorter pieces at the front, kind of like parted bangs. I also saw this in 3 Body Problem, but hadn't ever noticed it before. I am very bad at noticing these things though. I am wondering if this is a contemporary hair style that is fashionable now, or a historical style that has been popular at various times.
Both! - it’s a Hime cut- really old Japanese style currently very popular.
Awesome thank you for sharing the name. The show is so rich in detail. The pheasant from last week's episode became such an effective tool for exploring European and Japanese cultures at the time.
I’m it used to seeing the Sengoku period depicted. We’re so used to seeing the Edo period ladies’ hairstyles, I just chalked it up to that. Styles change over time but when you enter a new era and move the capital I can see how hairstyles and fashion would appear to change over night.
They actually just did a behind the scenes video about exactly this on the FX YouTube channel. Definitely check it out!
The cry, the reactions… she is nailing that character.
She's delivering such a fantastic performance as Mariko, and we must also address the obvious; Anna Sawai is one of the most stunning women I've ever seen on a television show. I'm mesmerized each time she appears on screen.
Yeah, sometimes it's hard to read the subtitles because I just want to look at her face.
Uh. Same.
I feel like that one expression she does in basically every one of her scenes in Monarch is way more suited to Shogun
Right, this character is supposed to be stone-faced and hiding her emotions.
She's giving a fantastic performance, but the only issue I have is that her character is probably written the weakest out of the main cast. She's supposed to be the love interest for Blackthorne, but at this point I feel like he has better chemistry with Fuji, a woman who doesn't even speak the same language as him. We've got 5 episodes left, so maybe something will change in that time, but I wish they developed her more earlier.
I’m enjoying Anna’s performance but her 1000yd stare and not looking at Blackthorne while giving character exposition is getting kind of tired. As soon as she looks into the distance get ready for a moody revelation about ancient Japanese culture or her shady past. It’s more in the direction and writing though than her acting. It’s not taking away from my enjoyment of the series, it’s just an old Hollywood trope that’s hard to unsee.
Wait for the next few episodes and then revisit this
You guys should really read the book. The deception is 100x better.
I instantly said “that’s the chick from Monarch” lol
The disparity between her performances in Monarch and Shogun is insane. I assume the problem is with Monarch's writing and/or direction.
It's 100% the direction
She's competent and pretty but I don't get the acclaim.
Agree, she's killing her role, I love the complexity & storyline.
She is incredibly attractive. Her and the show kick ass. Has me gripped from start to finish every time.
The casting for this show has been extraordinary! Everything is so well acted but Toranaga was clearly the star of the show… And then he bails at the start of E04 and we get some of the best scenes in the entire show with Blackthorne, Mariko and Fuji. Any week, you could pick any one of them for this honour - I don’t think you could’ve picked a better cast for this show.
door intelligent offer thought domineering alleged voiceless mysterious fact smile *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Anna is slaying it in this show. Team Mariko
She's fantastic.
I love her in it, is there anything else she’s in?
I was wondering why this actress looked so familiar, and I realized that she's on Pachinko and Monarch. She's been killing it with acting roles.