*** This review may contain spoilers ***
*Plot and ending analyzed*
The other episodes were written horribly, but this one adds a large heap of astonishing implausibility to the mix.
I mean the whole episode is so utterly useless and vapid. Anyone with analytical skills will be questioning the validity of the deficient writing.
The Englishman, Yabushige the traitor, and the Japanese translator all go to the capital.
The Japanese translator is given the limelight in this episode. I mean they really layer it up so atrociously that you'd think that the whole series was only about her. Well, in this modern version it 'is' only about her. She was complaining about living and not being allowed to die in the other episodes. Here, she is given the chance to kill herself, and she fails miserably. And the Englishman wants to help her by cutting her head off. Okay. What a great lover he is. By the way, only male samurai were given an option of ritual suicide in Japanese culture.
There is a ridiculous plan that she attempts, when she wants to leave the castle, and she shows us her uh, samurai "skills". It was absolutely ridiculous to watch. For a moment, I thought that she was actually going to be victorious against the ten guards before her, but she just gave up and lost her wind. I guess the writers actually came to their senses by not having her single-handedly killing all the male guards.
Then they threw in some ninjas, who are great for killing guards, but get killed easily by the Englishman and the Japanese translator. And then they blow her to bits when the said ninjas use explosives to crush up a door and she martyrs herself for the "great cause". But I am sure it was just a cliffhanger, and in the next episode, she will be resurrected in some nonsensical manner. Or it is just Toranaga's plan again. His "great" plan, as the writers want us to believe he is a master tactician. I can't believe how unconvincing his "plan" is. This Toranaga has sold everyone down the hole, just so he can sit on the military throne. But he's got "ethics". Whatever. Surprisingly, he is completely absent from this episode, probably still at home with that cold. In the first few episodes, Toranaga had the possibility to be a very interesting character, but the writers botched that up, and he became a torridly bland character who does nothing at all.
And we don't exactly know who sent the ninjas, because the entire series is a big deception. It is probably Toranaga who did it, since that was obviously his "hidden" plan all along. And if that truly is the case, then this series has been a major disappointment. But we are supposed to be crying tears for the death of the Japanese translator? The writers are being so fatuous, and don't stick any true sense of reality. Are Toranaga's enemies really as stupid as the writers of this episode will have us believe?
I am hoping the next episode is the last, because the entire show is so tedious and dreadful. They are just plodding us along in these extremely pointless episodes that are vacuous and unintelligent. I am not even sure that this Shogun should have been made.
In fact, I am absolutely sure of it after watching this episode.
Postscriptum: The worst acting award goes to whoever played the Japanese translator's son.
*Plot and ending analyzed*
The other episodes were written horribly, but this one adds a large heap of astonishing implausibility to the mix.
I mean the whole episode is so utterly useless and vapid. Anyone with analytical skills will be questioning the validity of the deficient writing.
The Englishman, Yabushige the traitor, and the Japanese translator all go to the capital.
The Japanese translator is given the limelight in this episode. I mean they really layer it up so atrociously that you'd think that the whole series was only about her. Well, in this modern version it 'is' only about her. She was complaining about living and not being allowed to die in the other episodes. Here, she is given the chance to kill herself, and she fails miserably. And the Englishman wants to help her by cutting her head off. Okay. What a great lover he is. By the way, only male samurai were given an option of ritual suicide in Japanese culture.
There is a ridiculous plan that she attempts, when she wants to leave the castle, and she shows us her uh, samurai "skills". It was absolutely ridiculous to watch. For a moment, I thought that she was actually going to be victorious against the ten guards before her, but she just gave up and lost her wind. I guess the writers actually came to their senses by not having her single-handedly killing all the male guards.
Then they threw in some ninjas, who are great for killing guards, but get killed easily by the Englishman and the Japanese translator. And then they blow her to bits when the said ninjas use explosives to crush up a door and she martyrs herself for the "great cause". But I am sure it was just a cliffhanger, and in the next episode, she will be resurrected in some nonsensical manner. Or it is just Toranaga's plan again. His "great" plan, as the writers want us to believe he is a master tactician. I can't believe how unconvincing his "plan" is. This Toranaga has sold everyone down the hole, just so he can sit on the military throne. But he's got "ethics". Whatever. Surprisingly, he is completely absent from this episode, probably still at home with that cold. In the first few episodes, Toranaga had the possibility to be a very interesting character, but the writers botched that up, and he became a torridly bland character who does nothing at all.
And we don't exactly know who sent the ninjas, because the entire series is a big deception. It is probably Toranaga who did it, since that was obviously his "hidden" plan all along. And if that truly is the case, then this series has been a major disappointment. But we are supposed to be crying tears for the death of the Japanese translator? The writers are being so fatuous, and don't stick any true sense of reality. Are Toranaga's enemies really as stupid as the writers of this episode will have us believe?
I am hoping the next episode is the last, because the entire show is so tedious and dreadful. They are just plodding us along in these extremely pointless episodes that are vacuous and unintelligent. I am not even sure that this Shogun should have been made.
In fact, I am absolutely sure of it after watching this episode.
Postscriptum: The worst acting award goes to whoever played the Japanese translator's son.