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Macy

~meteor dreamland~

Macy

~meteor dreamland~
Shogun japanese drama review
Completed
Shogun
2 people found this review helpful
by Macy
Jun 26, 2024
10 of 10 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 9.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 8.5
Rewatch Value 9.0

Impressive adaptation

After hearing that this series was coming out this year, I read the book and then watched the 1980 miniseries before sitting down to watch this. One of favorite things with adaptations of books and ones with multiple adaptations is comparing them. When I do this, I often find that there are things about each that I like and usually there is not one I would deem the "true" adaption. The 1980 and 2024 versions of "Shogun" are a perfect example of this.

*The 1980 version I would say is more faithful to the book plot-wise, but the 2024 version I think captures the essence better. Watching the 2024 one, I reminded of why I liked the book so much and what made me keep reading despite it being 900+ pages long.
*One of the biggest differences is that the 2024 version subtitles the Japanese characters, while the 1980 one doesn't. The reasoning was that Anjin-san doesn't understand them so we shouldn't either. I think this was fine to a point, but they should've started subtitling towards the end when Anjin-san understood them. The 2024 version allows more of the Japanese characters to shine because of the subtitles and honestly there's no way they wouldn't have subtitled them anyway in this day and age lol.
*1980 Anjin-san (played by Richard Chamberlain) is stronger than 2024 Anjin-san (Cosmo Jarvis). However, I saw some good potential in the final episode and I have faith in him for season 2. Anna Sawai and Hiroyuki Sanada were just acting rings around him.
*The 1980 version cuts some scenes (possibly for logistics) that I felt should've been kept and 2024 version covered some of the scenes in question while also adding a lot of extra scenes not in the books. Ultimately, I think these scenes will work in favor for season 2 as they helped established lore that could be expanded upon later and show the potential for this series.
*Anjin-san's and Mariko's romance is underdeveloped in the 2024 version. However, as this was my least favorite part of the book and 1980 version, I didn't particularly care that much.
*Also, Tsuji-san didn't seem to play as big a part in the 2024 version. I hope his role is expanded in the next season.

So that was just some of my thoughts, I won't do an in-depth review since there's already plenty on here. Now which was the best? I watched this and the 1980 series with my dad and he preferred the older one. Me, personally, I liked both about equally though I'm slightly inclined to the new version as I liked the visuals better. I'll say that this was the first series I've watched from FX in years and I'm actually looking forward to season 2. I believe that they can pull it off as long as they keep the same standard of quality.
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