Finished watching Shogun on Jio Hotstar. It’s a long watch with 10 episodes of nearly one hour each. Before I arrived on the shores of this epic saga, I had been playing Ghost of Tsushima, an even bigger epic on Playstation 5. Was it going to be a Samurai overdose? Given how beautiful the setting of the video game is, I didn’t mind another Japanese visual extravaganza. While Shogun is beautifully shot, most of the story takes place indoors. One feels that it was a deliberate choice to avoid panoramic drone shots as these have become very typical of period sagas. The series is based on the 1975 novel of the same name by James Clavell. Apparently a mini series has already been made in 1980, produced by Paramount Television.

The story is set in the period 1568-1600 and begins with some British sailors being shipwrecked off the coast of Japan. The protestant British and Dutch are competing with the Catholic Portuguese for the lucrative trade route spanning from Japan to Macau. The ship’s navigator Blackthorne and some other members survive and are taken hostage. Meanwhile there is a leadership vacuum in Japan. The reigning Shogun has died, leaving an heir who is too young to rule. A scheming council of regents in Osaka wants to usurp power, but another regent – Lord Toranaga stands in their way. The Portuguese, who have somewhat entrenched themselves among the Japanese ruling class are alarmed by the presence of the protestant crew and declare Blackthorne a heretic, who should be executed. Toranaga takes Blackthorne under his umbrella hoping that the latter’s expertise with canons will help him build a powerful navy to attack the regents. In return Blackthorne is awarded with fiefdoms and a consort.

The series includes an ensemble cast, all of whom deliver very good performances. The screenplay is very well written too—very crisp and engaging. The pacing is good too, but the length could have been shortened somewhat. Many themes are explored and not all of them deserve a deep examination. In another era when we were drip fed episodes, this would have not been a problem. But now binge watching fatigue sets in. You feel that Toranaga’s departure to Osaka is being delayed too much. By the 8th episode you want him to get there already, but the realisation starts dawning that another season is to follow because there is no way the story can conclude in 2 episodes. There aren’t too many plot twists, but there are some very deep moments which take some time to register and once they do, they hit you really hard.

Rating—4.5/5

Stream it or Skip it—Definitely Stream it.