re: Shogun - Official Series Discussion Thread **Spoilers**

I bought the book in 1980 when the first miniseries came out. Read during the day and watched the show at night. Since then I’ve reread the book several times and rewatched on DVD twice.

The reviews of the new series consistently praise it for being made for a modern audience. They especially like that it shows the Japanese point of view, where the first series was seen through Blackthorne’s eyes - including placing him as a witness to conversations between Japanese characters.

In the first series, you learn the plot and the language through Blackthorne. In the second, it’s all spoonfed with tons of exposition. You see the full picture instead of it unfolding but by bit. They dumbed it down which I didn’t like.

The overall plot follows the book, but they completely rewrote the dialogue and changed a lot of details. So it’s not faithful- and the book dialogue was just better.

The acting’s different too. The first is more emotive; the new one is flatter. I wonder how each will age.

Interestingly, the first was filmed in Japan; the second in Vancouver. Yet modern critics say the second one is more accurate to Japanese sensibilities. Go figure.

And the new one has no sense of humor. They cut Blackthorne’s initial refusal to take a bath “a bath will make you foul sick!” They cut out his discomfort with sex and nudity.

I’m glad they made it and I will watch. It is beautifully filmed in a modern arty way. And I hope I come to love it as much as the original.

TL|DR: original version is better.