"We live and we die. We control nothing beyond that."

Re:"We live and we die. We control nothing beyond that." by geoka9 on Friday May 03, 2024 @04:12PM (#40251849)

> Clavell’s novel was originally made into a miniseries in 1980, one that went on to earn three Golden Globes, three Emmys, and another 11 Emmy nominations. This new Shogun had big sandals to fill, which it did — and then some.

Not to this viewer, it didn't :)

Re-read the book several times over the years and watched the original TV series (which was produced by Clavell himself, BTW), I was looking forward to enjoying the new show, but stopped watching after 4-5 episodes. To me it feels too one-dimensional and grim, even despite the subject matter. The original had more charismatic characters and was more about culture than gore and action.

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Re:"We live and we die. We control nothing beyond that." by stvltvs on Friday May 03, 2024 @04:46PM (#40252204)

> The original had more charismatic characters and was more about culture than gore and action.

I get the feeling we didn't watch the same show. The clash of culture was a core theme for the new show. It meditated on the differences in every episode.

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Re:"We live and we die. We control nothing beyond that." by gary_0 on Friday May 03, 2024 @05:22PM (#40252535)

I feel like the new show covered lots of cultural ground, and would have risked bogging down if it went any deeper. Although I do think there has been an undercurrent of fascination with Japanese culture in the West for some decades now, so for some people many of the insights in Shōgun could have felt less impactful due to familiarity.

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