Current Events > Shogun trailer (adapted from James Clavell's novel)

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yAN5uspO_hk

*Looks at thumbnail*

Is that Hiroyuki Sanada?

I was just thinking "the same Shogun as that old PC game?" And sure enough, it was.

I googled it, and apparently, the first Shogun miniseries in the 80s(?) had the second highest amount of viewers for a miniseries after Roots.

BurmesePenguin posted...

*Looks at thumbnail*

Is that Hiroyuki Sanada?

yup.

Shotgunnova posted...

I was just thinking "the same Shogun as that old PC game?" And sure enough, it was.

I heard of the game, but I didn't know the story behind it.

Shogun Total War doesn't really have a story. Its just a strategy game where you pick a clan and conquer Japan

I only played a little bit of it back in the day; haven't read any of his novels.

Oh damn, I bought this book from a second hand shop for a buck because I was trying to break a 20 lol

I never finished it but the trailer looks interesting.

They're redoing the miniseries?

I watched the original shogun once, it was pretty good...

Damn. Was looking at the book on Amazon. Its over a thousand pages and the audio book is over 50 hours long

Also has 6 sequels

Sanada might be my favourite actor currently working so this is awesome.

Not sure if it can beat Tosjiro Mifune pretending to not understand how dancing works, though.

josiskrazy posted...

Oh damn, I bought this book from a second hand shop for a buck because I was trying to break a 20 lol

I never finished it but the trailer looks interesting.

It's a damn good read.

Clavell was an excellent writer and given that he was a Hollywood screenwriter before retiring to novels, I really hope they do this justice.

I have never gotten around to the original miniseries but I have been curious if it's a faithful adaptation.

bump

A remake of the 80s series?

NO WAY

They're making a new miniseries? The novel was one of my favorite historical fiction novels ever. Blackthorne--based on William Adams--is a real GOAT.

I should pick the book back up.

Killmonger posted...

I should pick the book back up.

Same. I bought the first one a few weeks back and started but I really need to finish. The series looks incredible.

SomeLikeItHoth posted...

Same. I bought the first one a few weeks back and started but I really need to finish. The series looks incredible.

Just remember: all the characters are historical, just renamed and dramatized.

Also, I highly suggest two other books that Clavell wrote: Taipan and Gaijin. Taipan deals with the Brits setting up shop in Hong Kong in the aftermath of the Opium Wars, specifically the story of one badass trader dude and his badass Chinese mistress. Gaijin deals with the time period of Japan being reopened to the West via gunboat diplomacy (IIRC?). The characters within are what drove it for me, much like Taipan. I can't really remember much of the overall plot, but some characters are descended from those in Taipan.

I tried reading the other books that come after that but couldn't get too far into them.

^do you think the more contemporary settings made them less interesting for you?

While still set in Asian nations during times of conflict and change, King Rat and Whirlwind are both set in the 20th century, with the latter being the most contemporary setting in his saga, taking place in Iran during Ruhollah Khomeini's return from exile.

I don't know if it's the case but I could see those being less interesting since they deal with subjects and politics that most of us have long been familiar with.

Can't wait, I got a family friend who does hair and makeup for the actors on that set and my nephew is an extra on the show. Very big production in Vancouver.

El_Marsh posted...

It's a damn good read.

Clavell was an excellent writer and given that he was a Hollywood screenwriter before retiring to novels, I really hope they do this justice.

I have never gotten around to the original miniseries but I have been curious if it's a faithful adaptation.

It is fairly faithful. You also get to see John-Rhys Davies in one of his earlier roles.

I've read the book and while it is interesting Clavell seems to have a romantic idea of... well, certain things to the point where it comes off like he's overly praising certain things because they're not like things in the West. Not because of Anjin-san's slow transformation into acclimation into Japanese society, it's just that some of the subject matter the author seems to, well, really pay attention to.

For anyone that's not familiar with the subject matter of Shogun, it's a fictionalized depiction of William Adams's time in Japan under Ieyasu Tokugawa with all the names changed (if you're wondering why there's a white guy in Feudal Japan, something of the sort did happen historically). It takes place right before the Sekigahara campaign and delves a lot into the politics of what lead up to it, particularly the ones surrounding Gracia Hosokawa.

^that's true

It was very well written but still subject to the biases of its creator, as all works are.

I had no idea this was even coming until the trailer dropped, I must be slipping. I absolutely loved the novel and am really looking forward to this.

El_Marsh posted...

^do you think the more contemporary settings made them less interesting for you?

While still set in Asian nations during times of conflict and change, King Rat and Whirlwind are both set in the 20th century, with the latter being the most contemporary setting in his saga, taking place in Iran during Ruhollah Khomeini's return from exile.

I don't know if it's the case but I could see those being less interesting since they deal with subjects and politics that most of us have long been familiar with.

Yeah, I think that was the case. The longest book in his saga--Noble House--was also decently modern and less interesting to me. Not saying it wouldn't appeal to others (King Rat literally takes place in a Japanese POW camp and is based on the author's lived experiences while being a captive, so THAT'S pretty interesting on its face and pretty heavy stuff), but it just didn't appeal to me.

That was a damn good novel. I'm gonna look into this.

Guy plays a samurai in everything.

Forty_Niners posted...

Guy plays a samurai in everything.

Is there room for Japanese actors to play anything other than samurai or yakuza in western tv or film productions?

He played an astronaughty in Sunshine.

glad to see sanada survived his charge against the US army and subsequently promoted to shogun

AsucaHayashi posted...

glad to see sanada survived his charge against the US army and subsequently promoted to shogun

He was too badass not to

AsucaHayashi posted...

glad to see sanada survived his charge against the US army and subsequently promoted to shogun

Isnt this actually set before that? So he was a Shogun and then lost his power and became just a random samurai later on

Zikten posted...

Isnt this actually set before that? So he was a Shogun and then lost his power and became just a random samurai later on

Yeah, Last Samurai was during the Meiji Restoration but before the fascists took over. Mid(?) 19th century. Shogun takes place a few years before Sekigahara. Late 16th century.

No way

AsucaHayashi posted...

glad to see sanada survived his charge against the US army and subsequently promoted to shogun

I started watching that movie again the other day.