Shogun (2024) Episode III

Catch up on Shogun:

• Shogun (1980)

• Shogun Episodes I & II

• Shogun Episode IV

• Shogun Episode V

• Shogun Episode VI

• Shogun Episode VII

• Shogun Episode VIII

• Shogun Episode IX

• Shogun Episode X

I love the start of this episode. The fatalism of this society where the only punishment is death. Yabushige is writing his will and describes it as the best one yet, which is harrowingly funny. And oh so appropriate for a man who bends with the wind.

What I’m saying is there’s a lot packed into this moment.

Yabushige, in this single sentence, tells us much about who he is and how he is perceived by his peers, lords, and vassals. He is a man who has often faced potential death due to things he’s chosen to do. So far, he’s escaped.

When he meets Toranaga, believing he will be killed or forced to commit seppuku, he defends himself in an intriguing way. He doesn’t appeal to his loyalty, which Toranaga and everyone else must doubt, but to his own self interest.

Toranaga knows Ishido met with Yabushige in order to pull him into his sphere of influence. Yabushige doesn’t deny it. Even openly and honestly says that Ishido offered him Toranaga’s seat on the council.

But Yabushige doesn’t want that. He doesn’t want to be a great lord, ruling over the realm.

He just wants to be the lord of his own territory and to expand it.

An honest liar. That’s how I’d describe Yabushige and I believe that’s how Toranaga understands him. He cannot trust him and yet he must. And, too, despite his flexibility with regard to loyalty, he believes he can trust Yabushige’s self-interest.

Yabushige is in this life for himself.

Not for Toranaga. Not for Ishigo. Not for Japan.

He has but one life and he chooses to live it for himself.

Maybe not the best ally, but possibly one you can rely on.

And so Toranaga wants him to take Blackthorne and Mariko and Lady Kiri back to Anjiro, where the show began, where Blackthorne’s crew remains imprisoned.

Meanwhile, Captain Ferriera, the captain of the blackship, decides to set sail for China even without Toranaga’s approval, putting the entire silk trade at risk. Of course, from his view, the Japanese are subservient to the Portuguese crown. If these lords won’t obey, an army can come to make them obey.

This puts him in opposition to the church but he also doesn’t care about that, understanding that the church is there, really, only to make his job easier.

Despite what the Jesuits may want to believe, their role is not the conversion of souls but the pacification of a people.

We also meet Buntaro, Mariko’s husband, who turns out to be an ultimate badass samurai. He’s also rude to Mariko and seems to hold her in low regard

We’ll find out why eventually.

Buntaro is among the samurai escorting Blackthorne and Yabushige away from Osaka. While the party prepares for departure, Lord Ishido arrives unannounced and inspects the travelers to ensure they are who they say they are. Since noble women travel in closed carriages, it would be possible to swap one person for another.

Which, of course, is what happens after Ishido’s inspection.

I must say that I vastly prefer the way this is handled in the 1980 miniseries. I don’t know which one is more true to the novel, but the 1980 scene creates a grand comic moment when Blackthorne throws himself in the way to protect Toranaga, who is now sitting in one of the woman’s carriages, sneaking out of Osaka castle in order to escape execution.

If he’s caught, he will die. And he’ll bring death upon everyone else as well.

Here, in the 2024 version, the tension remains very high. And while there is some amount of humor in it, the scene is not meant to break the tension of the show and add levity but to ratchet the tension higher.

This is a problem, I think, in all modern dramatic storytelling.

People don’t understand the importance of register shifts, of breaking tension, of waxing and waning. And so everything remains tense all the time.

And while I prefer the overt silliness of the 1980 miniseries, the scene still works here. It, once again, demonstrates Blackthorne’s perceptiveness. He’s a clever man, a keen observer, and he’s brave.

Possibly to a fault.

Because he could have bene killed right there to protect Toranaga, a man who he barely even knows. A man who is keeping him trapped in Japan.

What’s important is that Toranaga does escape Osaka castle, but he’s escorted by Ishido’s men down to the harbor. Also worth noting is that Blackthorne is the only one who saw the swap and understands that Toranaga is sneaking out of the castle and to safety.

The entire company is ambushed by Kiyama, one of the Christian regents. Their goal is to kill Blackthorne but then they realize Toranaga is present when he starts slashing through fools with his sword.

This leads Ishido’s men accompanying Yabushige’s entourage to turn on Toranaga’s men, which causes Blackthorne and Mariko to join the fight while Kiyama’s men continue to fire arrows upon everyone, sending word back to Osaka to let Ishido know that Toranaga has escaped.

I’m going to pause here to mention that the fight choreography is very bad in this scene, sadly, except when the main cast is off screen.

Anyway, they escape, but this relies on Buntaro staying behind, keeping Ishido’s men from stopping Toranaga’s escape. We assume he dies, which is a departure from the 1980 series.

All of this is great and what I love about it, especially after seeing the 1980 miniseries, is how legible everything is. In the 1980 series, because we only know what Blackthorne knows (unless you speak Japanese), we are completely in the dark with regard to who is attacking Toranga’s people and why.

I assumed Ishido discovered the plot, but that was a pure assumption. We also discover in this version that Yabushige had no idea Toranaga was with him, but he adapts well.

The clarity of the politics is a big improvement here. Or, not improvement, but it gives more dimensions to the story. While I love the closeness and claustrophobia of the 1980 miniseries, there is much to be gained by allowing the viewer to understand what is happening and why.

And so the negotiation on the blackship is also different, but I like this version better. Rather than have Blackthorne a passive part of his escape from Ferriera and the Jesuits, he, in a sense, saves himself. Still, with the help of Rodrigues.

We also see that Toranaga is willing to sacrifice Blackthorne in order to save himself, which he must do and does do in both adaptations.

In the 1980 version, though, Rodrigues gets Blackthorne drunk and throws him overboard to protect his life, while here the two pilots have a literal race.

Which is quite thrilling!

They still have their antagonistic friendship and mutual respect, but there’s more edge here than friendliness, which I think serves the story and characters better.

Of course, in order to be freed from Ishido and Kiyama’s pursuit, Toranaga must give something to the Jesuits. He promises a church in Edo (Tokyo, someday), as well as a lot of money and freedom for the blackship.

Interestingly, though, the Jesuits allow Kiyama’s men in the harbor to be drowned, their ships destroyed.

Again, this shows the limits of the Jesuits and their aims. If it was purely religious, this would have happened differently. They would not have sacrificed Christians to save Toranaga.

And yet.

Once free and on their way to Anjiro, Toranaga raises Blackthorne to the status of hatamoto, which is a samurai. He also asks him to train a new regiment in Western tactics with Western weaponry.

Back in Osaka, Toranaga’s vassal gives the regent council a letter from Toranaga announcing his resignation from the council. With only four men on the council, the council can no longer make decisions, because they’re bound to vote on nothing without all five positions filled.

This buys Toranaga time. How much time? Probably very little! But any amount of time is needed.

Back on the ship, we see Blackthorne teaching Toranaga how to dive and they then swim a race to shore.

I love moments like this, which show the growing friendship between the men, as well as bringing some amount of levity to the show. I like how this Blackthorne looks more like a pirate as well.

In general, my only complaint for this episode is that much of the humor and levity of the 1980 miniseries is stripped away, leaving just bits and pieces. Largely, the show is much more dramatic and has a sharper edge.

But I think that risks a sense of monotony to the whole thing. But there’s time for this to change as well.

There’s a scene that I think was meant to happen already or is happening soon and it was one of my favorite scenes from the 1980 adaptation. I’ll have to wait and see if this happens.

Until next week!

---

My novels:

• Glossolalia - A Le Guinian fantasy novel about an anarchic community dealing with a disaster

• Sing, Behemoth, Sing - Deadwood meets Neon Genesis Evangelion

• Howl - Vampire Hunter D meets The Book of the New Sun in this lofi cyberpunk/solarpunk monster hunting adventure

• Colony Collapse - Star Trek meets Firefly in the opening episode of this space opera

• The Blood Dancers - The standalone sequel to Colony Collapse.

• Iron Wolf - Sequel to Howl.

• Sleeping Giants - Standalone sequel to Colony Collapse and The Blood Dancers

• Broken Katana - Sequel to Iron Wolf.

• Libertatia; or, The Onion King - Standalone sequel to Colony Collapse, The Blood Dancers, and Sleeping Giants

• Noir: A Love Story - An oral history of a doomed romance.