Catch up on Shogun:
Who is Yabushige and what does he want?
This may be the central question of the series moving forward. What does Yabushige want?
I think what we’ve seen from Yabushige demonstrate what we can expect from him, and what we should expect from anyone in this situation. Of course, this expectation flies in the face of what we’ve seen people already do in this show.
Toranaga’s samurai killed himself and his son because of the way he dishonored his lord.
At this point, we believe that this is what we should expect from a Japanese samurai. As if to punctuate this for the audience—or at least remind us—Yabushige asks Toranaga if he’s going to commit seppuku now.
Toranaga, like Yabushige, does not intend to follow the customs of Japanese honor. At least not in this.
Which has been hinted at already. He’s against all the death he sees in society. He wants to change the way Japan is. We understand that Toranaga is a bit unusual in this regard. It’s why his seeming alliance with a powerless foreigner begins to make a bit of sense. Especially if you consider him as a fulcrum of power leery of the Portuguese and the Christians.
In the 1980 version, all of this was far more opaque. The only sense of any of this that we got was Father Alvito saying that the Portuguese needed Toranaga and so they did not want him to die.
Why did they need him?
Unclear! But we assume this would be clear if we could speak or understand all the spoken Japanese floating around.
But Toranaga’s peculiar relationship with tradition and his own culture may go some way to explain his relationship with Yabushige.
Can he trust him?
No, not really. But he knows this. And, as I said, he trusts Yabushige to do what’s in his own best interest.
And I think this is reflected in Toranaga.
It serves Toranaga well to force Yabushige’s army to honor him, to view him as their lord, and so he allows them to exult him. But he also keeps his distance and his own counsel, departing to do…something before he wears out his welcome.
He leaves his son there with Yabushige, sort of as his eyes and ears, I imagine, but also as his representative.
We also get an interest look at the layers of Japanese society. Omi, Yabushige’s nephew and lord of the town, strains under Yabushige’s authority. He would prefer for his uncle to go on his way so that he can have his freedom back.
We see this exact relationship with Yabushige and Toranaga. Yabushige didn’t want Toranaga in his region and he doesn’t want to have to stand underneath the authority of his lord.
I imagine, in some ways, it’s similar to when you return to your parents house. You’re an adult with a life of your own, but you’re also the child of your parents and so you fall back, in certain ways, to that power dynamic.
And even if you like your parents, you may chafe at this.
Along with all this, we get Blackthorne chafing under what he considers a new type of imprisonment. He’s been honored, made a samurai, and so, to accommodate his new status in society, he’s given a home and household staff. This includes Usami Fuji as his consort, which he especially finds unpleasant. Even more unpleasant when he discovers that her husband and son were forced to die because they embarrassed Toranaga.
Everyone strains under these social rules, giving us a reason to desire Toranaga’s success, beyond just a matter of perspective.
I mean, Toranaga did order the death of an infant. He’s not exactly the type of character we’re primed to sympathize with.
But even this was forced on him, in a way, through the system and power structures of Japanese society.
Mariko attempts, once more, to explain to Blackthorne the layers of the heart of the Japanese. There is their public face, their private face, and then the face so private it’s meant for no one.
This is a function of this society.
Blackthorne resents being trapped in this town for six months while he waits for Toranaga to decide what to do with him. He believed his new status meant he’d be given freedom. The freedom of his ship and crew, most importantly.
But these are the last things Toranaga wants to give him access to.
There’s a lot of sweetness and humor in this episode, which I very much appreciated. His growing relationship with Mariko feels very natural here. The gifts he gives to Usami Fuji, the family swords she gives to him, and the way he learns Japanese more and more through observation, attention, and desire. Not to mention the way he digs into the cuisine.
And this is especially important because it comes after he rages about him being trapped in a place that he doesn’t understand.
Rather than continue sulking, Blackthorne decides to embrace his new situation. It’s not hurt by the fact that he’s an honored guest given power and privilege. But he could keep being a little baby about it. Instead, he chooses to make the most out of this.
We also watch as Blackthorne begins to prove his worth to these people who despise and distrust him based solely on his foreignness.
While Toranaga wants him to train troops, Blackthorne must admit that he’s not a soldier. He’s a sailor. He doesn’t know land tactics and wouldn’t be able to train a regiment even if he wanted to. But he does know artillery and he does have cannons.
And here we see, in explosive fashion, why Toranaga (and Yabushige) want this barbarian.
We also see the wily cunning of Yabushige and even Omi. Lord Ishido wants to trap Yabushige, forcing him to either kill himself or abandon Toranaga, but Omi comes up with another possibility.
Without ever telling him what to do or what not to do, he manipulates Toranaga’s son, convincing him that he must do something to protect his father, to prove himself to his father.
And the explosive (literally!) resolution is fascinating because it effectively backs everyone into a corner.
By killing Ishido’s messengers, Ishido must not act. This means Toranaga and Yabushige must also act.
And all that action, as Mariko immediately understands, will lead to war.
I love the web being woven before us here. I love how legible and clear this version of the story is.
And I especially love the way it’s embracing the humanity of this story.
This was the real strength of the 1980 version.
We come to experience and know Blackthorne, Mariko, Toranaga, and Yabushige as people. Their relationships blossom, not simply through dramatic dialogue and shared interests, but through moments of quietness, of silliness, of compassion and love, of disgust and fear.
Seeing that the show is now embracing this part of the narrative makes me very excited.
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.
House of Ghosts - Standalone sequel to Libertatia; or, the Onion King
I agree with your comments and feelings about the recent Shogun. I do however miss the relationship Blackthorn had with the "Portuguese " in the 1980 series and the book.