This SHOCKED Me! SHOGUN EP. 1 In Depth Historical Review and Analysis

For my trailer analysis and first reaction I did a blind look into what was represented, meaning that at that time I hadn't watched the 1980s series and I hadn't read the book so in that case I was trying to examine strictly the historical accuracy of what was shown at face value.

But today our analysis will be much more complete. It will be structured on a comparative key, so to speak, in the sense that we won't just look at what is shown on screen and then compare it with real historical Japan, we'll do that too of course, but we will also compare this 2024 Shogun series with the original 1980 series, as well as directly to the book itself. So 3 elements of comparison.

Link to my original blind review of the trailer
Link to the video by Schola Gladiatoria about Pistols I mention on this review
Link to the Royal Armories YT Channel as mentioned

As of the filming of this video I've watched the first 4 episodes and I really like it so far, the series is very well made and if you are into Feudal Japan you should totally watch it.

As the show begins we are told that it's set in a specific time period, namely 1600 and we want to see how faithful it is to the customs, armour, weapons, clothing, religion, culture, and many other factors as we always do on this channel. However do keep in mind of course that this is not a history book, it's a novel and a good one at that, so anytime these characters or events appear to differ from the original historical ones, well it's justified. Once again historically inspired fiction.

I'll tell you this however, the level of attention to correct historical details on this show, is insane. You'll see what I mean in a second.

So for context, we are at the end of the Sengoku era, right before the beginning of the Edo period. Perhaps I should say Azuchi Momoyama period, anyways there is a lot of overlap between different terms and Japanese periodization can get a bit tiring so, 1600.

This is a time of political struggle for power, inner fragmentation. This is a land struck by roughly 150 years of relentless war. Arguably this is the time of the most battle hardened samurai, the most brutal warlords. It's also a time of change within domestic and international politics with new paradigms of interaction withing said international discourse. We see this articulated in the literature, visual arts and laws.

Moreover it's a time of cross cultural exchange with European powers, which among other things came in the form of trade, religious expansion, military evolution and as we will see, religious inner rivalry as depicted on the show, Catholics and Protestants, although this latter was not represented in the most accurate of manners in my opinion, as we will see.

Main Characters

We have a few major characters we might want to clarify from a historical perspective.

This is of course a fictional depictions of real historical characters, so much so that real historical names were swapped for fictional ones.

With that being said I think it's interesting to see how similar to the actual historical counterparts these fictional characters are. Are they loosely based or do they match almost 1 to 1?
Let's begin with:
- John Blackthorne: Played by English actor Cosmo Jarvis in the 2024 version (image John Blackthorne 2024). Played by American actor Richard Chamberlain in the 1980s version. (John Blackthorne 1980s) I can already hear the typing I know Mr. Jarvis was technically born in America, but he is English.

Blackthorne is based on the historical William Adams 1564 – 1620 aka the English samurai, born in Gillingham, Kent England in 1564. A small point of divergence with the character John Blackborne who in the tv series says he is from London, and in the book specifically says he is from the outskirts of Chatham, a small port near London. William Adams was an English navigator, pilot, chief officer working for the Dutch East India Company who ended up in Japan just like John.
The book describes John as being very tall, having very fair skin, blue eyes and golden hair.

Link for further study and reference
On Jesuits
On seppuku
On William Adams
Original European Accounts

#shogun #shogunfx #historicalanalysis

[metatronyt]

Hey noble ones! If you enjoyed this deeply researched video please consider supporting my work on Patreon so I can keep these videos coming! I'd love to review each episode from this series so thank you very much for your kindness and support on patreon. It means the world to me. Also Mild spoilers I suppose (maybe?)

[Bonatno]

I am watching with my Japanese wife and the Japanese they use is a old formal version of Japanese in which she is having a hard time understanding and has to read the subtitles to understand fully. Even the period version of Japanese is showcased in shogun. My wife is truly blown away and is enjoying shogun.

[grimmhaven]

The only thing I dislike about Shogun is having to wait a week again after finishing an episode to satisfy my craving for Shogun.

[Quotenwagnerianer]

What a nice change of pace seeing you gush over the historical accuarcy of a show instead of wanting to smash your head on the nearest desk over numerous blunders. ;)

[eymtebr]

Having worked on this show I can tell you that the specific Japanese is an older dialect as processed by linguistics experts in the large authenticity department they brought over form Japan to get the details right. They had a Master of movements, linguistics experts, historians... everything was scrutinized. Bit of trivia; the Dutch ship and cannon were altered set pieces from Peter Pan and Wendy .

[SarudeDanstorm]

3:37 An interesting fact I found while researching William Adams, he was not working for the Dutch East India Company because that was founded in 1602. He was working for one of the 12 'pre-companies' that independently operated out of the Netherlands before they united into the VOC.

It's a super niche fact that doesn't really need correcting, but I thought it was interesting from a geopolitical context

[combatwombat]

The fact it's older Japanese and they have dialect experts who oversee the script and scenes to make sure it stays accurate to the period was far and enough away for me to have serious hopes for the series.

[tsuneki]

As a Japanese, I want to give props to the dialog and movement.
1, it feels very 17th century, on par with any Samurai film in Japan.
2, the speech differences between the characters from Samurai (武士) and peasant background is accurately represented. (Samurai speak more formal words vs Peasants/Servants speak more casually)
3, characters, especially the “high-born” women walk in a very traditionally accurate manner during the scenes indoors.

[string]

The Title "Anjin" is also a play on the fact that the first episode of a US produced TV series is usually called "pilot"

[badwolf]

Regarding guns, I seem to recall reading in a biography of Tokugawa Ieyasu that stated his marksmanship was exceptional. It also explained that the Japanese had to keep archers instead of replacing them entirely with gunners for the simple reason that rain and high humidity can cause firearms (matchlocks) to fail because the wet or damp gunpowder would fail to ignite. I had the good luck of watching the Battle of Nagashino re-enactment years ago on a slightly drizzly day and about 1/3 of the matchlocks failed to fire.

[BobGeldofsFavouriteGroupie]

The best thing about this video is that I'm a complete AWE of your enciclopedic knowledge of everything you talk about, truly amazing. I could hear you talk for ages.

[TheAnanaki]

The show absolutely made it clear that both the Europeans and the Japanese were horrified by the Dutchman being boiled alive and that only Kashigi took pleasure in it. Might want to give that scene a rewatch. 👍

[KarlKarsnark]

The bad teeth are a tell-tale sign of Scurvy (lack of Vitamin C), which was a common problem for sailors for centuries. Hence, the expression for pirates as "scurvy naves", et. al.

[VieShaphiel]

I've also read an interview with Hiroyuki Sanada where he said he had to correct a lot of mistakes the production team originally made, and I'm glad to hear that it turned out well.

[reddherod]

Usually when I see Youtubers get so technical and scrutinous in their reviews, it's normally to tear a show down and elevate their own superior knowledge in the material being portrayed. I do not get that sense with you at all - you have a clear sense of respect and interest in history that's absolutely infectious. I have a great amount of respect for how much you know and the tact and constructive sincerity in which you share it with your audience. You've inspired a greater interest in history within myself and I am very grateful to have found your channel! I've since watched Shogun on your recommendation and have found it enormously rewarding! You're awesome, keep up the great work!

[robertgreen]

What a lovely vid. Your respect, love, and scholarship for Japanese culture shines. I subscribed, site unseen, and fully look forward to more of your insight.

[Masaq_TM]

Hi Metatron. For info, Chatham is only a couple of miles from Gillingham. And both of these villages are only about 10 miles east of Greater London and are part of an urban area in Kent known as the Medway Towns. This whole area stretches from Rochester to Dartford on the Rivers Thames and Medway. At the time England was building up her Navy in the 1700s this was an extremely important area for English shipbuilding.

So long story short, both of the series and the book are pretty accurate location wise.

And for info it’s Gillingham pronounced as in Jill, and Chatham is pronounced Ch as in Champ.

Love the channel ❤️.

[benjamininkorea]

omg. The actual density of information in this video is unlike anything I've ever seen before. Almost every sentence carries a historical fact.

What an absolutely legendary video.

[Czejenesku]

Small pointer - GRR Martin stated once that Shogun novel was one of his inspirations for political intrigue in his Song of Fire and Ice series.

[jeffspicoli]

I can't believe how good your video's are. I have an undergrad minor in medieval history and BFA in film production but your level is incredible. Great work. Love it.