The only interesting parts are Blackthorne interacting with this new culture but he's almost entirely erased from the story. All the scenes depicting the Japanese are comically cliche and superficial. They speak to eachother in almost nothing but poems and philosophical monologue and because of the secrecy and repressed nature of the characters this makes for some skin crawlingly slow and dramatically inert tv. The rush turns the political scheming and war plot into a confusing sideshow

Starts to drag towards the late episodes, but that only gives more opportunity to admire to beautiful Japanese design. The architecture, the clothes, the rituals, wow Japan is the best

Beautiful show, beautiful filmed and acted, a lot of pushing against traditional period tropes. The ending will leave many feeling a bit let down, but I don't think its because of the outcome, it just feels a bit underdeveloped, but some of the moments in its subtlety is really nice. One of the better TV series of the last 20 years.

Acting, direction, cinematography, costumes, dialogue, scenery, props, customs representation, pacing, duration, everything. Its what Game of Thrones could have been without the last 2 seasons cockup. Actors playing Toranaga, Blackthorne, Mariko Yabushige were superb and the others very good. But the standout was the acting of the character playing the Heirs mother, perfect understatement without any drama but conveying volumes. Wish it didnt end so soon.

A story about a Japanese warlord who plays 5D chess while his opponents play checkers. Breathtaking attention to detail with period appropriate language, costumes and mannerisms. There’s good and bad in every character. It’s morally muddy and often challenges Western concepts of honor and righteousness. A somewhat weak landing reduced the score from episode eight 99/100 high.

A generally elegant and well written historical drama with immaculate production values; worth watching if you enjoy stuff like Vikings or The Last Kingdom or what have you. The ending did leave me with a slightly unsatisfying feeling of “that’s it?” though.

Brilliant period drama. Very faithful to the spirit of the book, superb acting, impressive set and costume design, great photography (perhaps except for the overuse of vintage lenses). No insertion of contemporary politics so far, which is a breath of fresh air.

Pretty good. Some bits a little hackneyed but you really fall for some of the characters. And it's got some nice cinematography

Production is good with enough surprises, but then descends into "Game of Thrones" trap of "you know the real problem with our bigger picture situation is you haven't been laid in a while". I love paled-skin, nude females as much as anyone, but this lazy writing has gotten old. Shōgun is also repetitive, the dialogue doesn't reveal much, it feels like the characters are just reading from a book, and many subplots are never explored. What else you got, Writers?

Shogun gleefully subverts a lot of the expectations for a samurai-centric historical drama, constantly pushing against cultural expectations and delivering a host of morally-gray and complex characters. There are characters who would have been sidelined in past versions of this story who become central to the storyline of Shogun and I really liked how, despite having a white explorer "fish out of water" plot, the series never seems to fall into white savior themes.

Beautiful

The high production values make it almost worth the watch, but the plot is simple and the themes are shallow. The show simply repeats, without exploring, slogans such as "Japanese are too calculating", "Europeans are too emotional", "women are oppressed", and "war is bad". All decent points to make, but one needs to do more than simply state them over and over. On top of that, the protagonist plays such a small role in the show that he seems to only be there so the show could be called "Shogun".

Shōgun is a visual masterpiece with stunning locations and rich cultural details. The storm scene is breathtaking and the soundtrack deepens the atmosphere. Dialogues are sharp with Toranaga’s tense exchange with Yabushige before seppuku being a highlight. Hiroyuki Sanada excels as Toranaga while the cast delivers emotionally charged performances. Blending history, politics and honor. Shōgun is a must-watch—ambitious, immersive and masterfully crafted.

SHOOOOGGGUNNNNNNN

it was nice.

Simply epic. a rare gem of a show

very good series. great acting and story and true story to top it off

The series is unique for keeping the rough edges of Thomas Blackthorne our surrogate character leading us through the world of 17th century Feudal Japan. He is outwardly racist, in favour of sectarian violence against Spanish Catholics trading there, petty, pompous and close-minded right to the end of the series. If you've seen Tom Cruise's Last Samurai this show is even more immersive and no offence makes that seem cartoonish even though LS takes place over 150 years later. Well worth the time

A wonderful little show that doesn't overstay its welcome. Excellent writing and acting, stellar cinematography and a really interesting and, dare I say, daring pacing? But what I love about it the most is that Shogun is the rare show that puts translation at its thematic center. Bravo! The only detractor is that it's so obvious this show wasn't shot in Japan but in Canada. Something that couldn't be helped due to covid, sadly, but it does have a tangibly negative impact on immersion.

The lead actors (Cosmo Jarvis and Anna Sawai) are excellent. I am not crazy about the politics and the need to serve one's master no matter the cost. I guess it is more of a quibble with the source material than this production.

Just a great show. Perfectly shot with attention to detail, great rhythm and story.

S1: 80/100

The only bad thing about it was the blurry horizontal edges, and that it doesn't have a second season.

سریال خوبی بود، جان انگلیسی با کشتی میاد ژاپن، میگیرنش و میشه اسیر ژاپنی ها

Can't help but think of cosmo jarvis in a dimly lit, hazy bar doing a spoken word cover of the vapors. "Turning japanese...i think i am turning japanese. I really think so." A man can dream.

The production, acting, and political intrigue are fantastic. The pacing can be a bit slow at times, but the setting is so rich that it's nice to just bask in it. What makes it truly fantastic is the way it really challenges Western values and even storytelling, giving us an even deeper clash of cultures than what you typically see in these kinds of white man in a foreign land stories. The ending was a bit deflating, unfortunately.

Simply amazing. It's everything I like in one package. History, culture, beautiful scenes and characters - it has it all

Simply great. If you can stand the pacing, this is period dramas at their finest.

This is a very well crafted, very well acted series. I knew the 1980 series before watching this. I saw the high budget of this, but alas the series left me hanging. There are no great battles here and it almost ends on a cliffhanger with what coming next left unresolved. Many characters also felt not flat, but undeveloped and underused to me - and consequently I didn't love nor hate them. Or hold any strong opinion about at all.

Initially very entertaining and promising. But my interest waned as the 10 hours wore on. I don't think it ended very well.

Me every time there's a wide shot of an audience room: :-O