I read the book many years ago, and barely remember the first TV adaptation. This means I'm watching this new series for what it is, and very little, if any, expectations from either the book or the 1984 series.
Two episodes in, I was considering this to be an easy 9 stars, with the possibility of reaching 10 by the end of the series. The cast is excellent, landscapes are beautiful, wardrobe superb, and the dialogs captivating. I was very happy to hear each character speaking his original language instead of that silly thing many productions do by having everybody speaking in english with stupid accents (remember Allô, Allõ!).
And then, the show lost a star in my rating when a spanish character speaks in english with the englisman (who, at some point, claims to speak some portuguese). This becomes even more absurd when portuguese and spaniards speak english among themselves. And there are at least two portuguese actors who, again, speak english pretending to speak portuguese! Just pathetic and sad.
Another star was lost when the main character starts describing the world, and how the portuguese and the spaniards divided the world in two. The acting is great and with a strong emphasis on how presumptuous it was for those two countries to assume they could just own the world.
However, the historic innaccuracies are unacceptable in a show with so many resources available. How hard is it to do some research about the treaty of Tordesilhas?! They could've easily learn that it happened in 1494, about 100 years before the action of the show takes place and not 70 like mentioned by Blackthorne.
But that could be a minor mistake until they start talking about how the portuguese and the spanish kings are working together to control the world. That never happened because Portugal and Spain were always enemies. In fact, the english were allies with Portugal even though the first being protestants and the latter catholics. And that description by Blackthorne becomes even more incorrect because it ignores the fact that at the time of the action and for the previous 20 years, Portugal was being ruled by the spanish kings (until 1640)!
What a pity... This show could be quite better!
PS: after finishing watching the last episode, I reviewed my own rating and raised it to 9. Unlike many who were hoping for some great battle fought by vast armies like many other shows, Shogun finishes with an epilogue after an intense, multi stages, battle fought by a single woman. Epic!
Two episodes in, I was considering this to be an easy 9 stars, with the possibility of reaching 10 by the end of the series. The cast is excellent, landscapes are beautiful, wardrobe superb, and the dialogs captivating. I was very happy to hear each character speaking his original language instead of that silly thing many productions do by having everybody speaking in english with stupid accents (remember Allô, Allõ!).
And then, the show lost a star in my rating when a spanish character speaks in english with the englisman (who, at some point, claims to speak some portuguese). This becomes even more absurd when portuguese and spaniards speak english among themselves. And there are at least two portuguese actors who, again, speak english pretending to speak portuguese! Just pathetic and sad.
Another star was lost when the main character starts describing the world, and how the portuguese and the spaniards divided the world in two. The acting is great and with a strong emphasis on how presumptuous it was for those two countries to assume they could just own the world.
However, the historic innaccuracies are unacceptable in a show with so many resources available. How hard is it to do some research about the treaty of Tordesilhas?! They could've easily learn that it happened in 1494, about 100 years before the action of the show takes place and not 70 like mentioned by Blackthorne.
But that could be a minor mistake until they start talking about how the portuguese and the spanish kings are working together to control the world. That never happened because Portugal and Spain were always enemies. In fact, the english were allies with Portugal even though the first being protestants and the latter catholics. And that description by Blackthorne becomes even more incorrect because it ignores the fact that at the time of the action and for the previous 20 years, Portugal was being ruled by the spanish kings (until 1640)!
What a pity... This show could be quite better!
PS: after finishing watching the last episode, I reviewed my own rating and raised it to 9. Unlike many who were hoping for some great battle fought by vast armies like many other shows, Shogun finishes with an epilogue after an intense, multi stages, battle fought by a single woman. Epic!