'Shōgun' Gives Classic TV Miniseries A 'Game of Thrones' Level Makeover

The history of James Clavell epic novel Shogun It was first adapted for television in 1980. It starred Richard Chamberlain as John Blackthorne, an English sailor embroiled in a Japanese civil war in the early 1600s, and Japanese cinema legend Toshirô Mifune as Toranaga, a feudal lord at odds with the rest of the ruling class of his country. This NBC version did not have subtitles, so the Japanese dialogue was only translated in scenes where bilingual characters interpreted for Blackthorne. The producers defended this as a creative choice because they felt the story was meant to be told from Blackthorne's perspective. It's an incredibly myopic, local take on a book that went out of its way to fully understand and flesh out its many non-white characters, whereas the Chamberlain miniseries treated them all as exotic supporting players in Blackthorne's story.

The new FX adjustment knows better. The majority of the dialogue is in Japanese subtitles. And at the very least, it treats Blackthorne (played here by Cosmo Jarvis) and Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) as narrative equals. And in the end, Toranaga has the best argument for being the main character.

Adapted by Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks, this new Shogun digs deep into the culture of the period and the many complex ways it has shaped Toranaga, Blackthorne's translator Mariko (Anna Sawai). Mariko's cruel husband Buntaro (Shinnosuke Abe); and everyone else we meet along the way. It's beautiful to look at, it works on a much closer scale Game of Thrones than anything FX has done in the past with shows like The Americans the The bearand it works well as both a yarn and a sociological text.

The story still begins from Blackthorne's perspective, as his damaged ship ends up in a port controlled by Toranaga. He and his associates have come to pillage a land inhabited by what he says is “a savage horde,” and is surprised to learn that the Japanese instead consider him to be a disgusting barbarian. Over time, he comes to recognize the many ways that life in Japan is superior to the world he left behind, such as regular bathing or medical treatment that doesn't involve leeches. But he also learns that the nation-wide devotion to honor at all costs cuts both ways, inspiring great acts of heroism and sacrifice, but also confused, sometimes monstrous, behavior where people feel compelled to commit ritual suicide seppuku for seemingly trivial offences. Mariko warns John not to be fooled by everyone's polite demeanor, and he slowly recognizes that her own life is a constant struggle due to issues of honor and the role of women in society.

The cast is great. Sanada's charisma and intense stillness make it entirely believable that Toranaga is both an inspirational leader of men and a brilliant general who is always five moves ahead of his many enemies. Anna Sawai speaks volumes with every pained look on Mariko's face. As the dual warrior Yabushige, Tadanobu Asano entertainingly channels the young, Seven Samurai-Mifune era. Cosmo Jarvis' performance is deliberately longer, and sometimes broader, but that only emphasizes how alien he is in this beautiful place. (The more he knows and respects this strange new world, the more shaped the actor's work becomes.)

The Clavell book has an epic sweep, which the show works very hard to recreate. There are amazing, massive set pieces, like an earthquake destroying one of the armies at an inopportune moment. We also get the intersecting love story between Mariko and John, complex feuds between the various Japanese lords and vassals, interference from Catholic missionaries from Portugal, and more. The series occasionally loses its grip on some threads (Portuguese characters disappear from the narrative for long stretches), but overall it does a beautiful job of translating this massive story to the screen. He even manages to make Mariko's gift for free poetry seem as powerful a weapon as the cannons that John brought from Europe.

Mariko has converted to Catholicism and sometimes feels uncomfortable listening to the Protestant Blackthorn curse the representatives of her faith. Toranaga, needing her to stay close to this unlikely ally, questions whether her faith in God would conflict with her service to him. Mariko replies that this would be an issue if she were just a Christian: “But I have more than one heart.” This Shogun it has many hearts and many points of view, rather than fixating on the simplistic stranger in a strange story from the 80s. That's awesome.

Its first two episodes Shogun are now streaming on Hulu, with additional episodes released each week. I have seen all 10 episodes.