Those of a certain age (including us) remember what a big deal the 1980 NBC miniseries was. general was. This was revolutionary for its time and presented a view of Japanese history that American audiences knew little about. However, it also focused on the character of John Blackthorne, played by Richard Chamberlain, and sacrificed subtlety when it came to the Japanese characters. Hulu’s new expansive FX miniseries version general Seems to change that.
General: Stream or skip?
Opening shot: A Dutch ship with broken masts and torn sails drifts aimlessly through the fog. The year is 1600.
Summary: The ship’s disabled British pilot, Major John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis), has no food or water, and even though he and a dozen emaciated crew members are the only crew on board, I am confident that we will be able to reach Japan. The captain is planning to give up. He would rather shoot himself than die of scurvy or dehydration.
Eventually, the ship drags toward the coast near a fishing village called Izu, and the area’s military leader, Omi Kashiki (Hiroto Kanai), has his men plunder the ship and capture the remains of the crew. Only Blackthorn challenges the fight.
Meanwhile, Yoshii Toranaga (Sanada Hiroyuki), the lord of the Kanto domain, is summoned to Osaka Castle to meet with his fellow regents. Led by feudal lord Kazunari Ishido (Takehiro Hira), they feel that in the year when their central figure was absent, he has consolidated his power, doubled his territory, and taken the heir to the throne’s mother hostage. . They seek the return of their mother, and the other four council members will then vote on whether to impeach Toranaga, but Toranaga’s right-hand man, Toda “Tekken” Hiromatsu (Toku Nishioka) It’s like a death sentence for horses. Toranaga decides that he must stay in Osaka, and upon hearing that the ship has been captured, he sends Hiromatsu to investigate.
One of Toranaga’s men became impatient during a meeting with the council and offered seppuku as compensation. This includes the severing of the family line, and his young son will also be killed. Fujiusami (Moeka Hoshi), Himoritsu’s granddaughter, is the baby’s mother and threatens to cut her own throat, but Toranaga’s messenger, Mariko Toda (Anna Sawai), is determined to keep her son safe even though her son is gone. Convince them that life has a purpose.
Returning to the fishing village, Blackthorn believes he can persuade the soldiers to release him. Assuming that Blackthorn is Portuguese and the only Westerner to have come to his shores, Omi eventually drags the pilot to his superior, Lord Kashiki Yabushige (Tadanobu Asano). , asks a Catholic priest to interpret Blackthorne. Blackthorn tries to separate Yabushige from the priest by saying that he does not follow the same religion and has no connection with the Portuguese. Almost no one knows that the order of his ships was to waste the Portuguese and establish trade relations with “Japan” at their expense. This saves Blackthorn’s life for the time being, but Yabushige, who is obsessed with the moment of his death, wishes one of Blackthorn’s other crew members to die in his stead.
Himoratsu arrives at the village and orders Yabushige to hand over the contents of the ship and Blackthorn. Yabushige reluctantly hands it all over and complains to Omi that there is a spy in the village. Himoratsu is also ordered to bring Blackthorn back to Toranaga. A Spanish pilot named Vasco Rodríguez (Nestor Carbonell) volunteers to escort the Blackthorn during its voyage to Osaka, but is caught in a storm and sustains near-fatal injuries. Blackthorn shows his abilities, but understands how Yabushige and the others are passionate about honor and pride. Toranaga believes that Blackthorn has secrets that will be useful in his fight against the other Regents, and hires Mariko as an interpreter.
Which show do you remember? This version is based on James Clavell’s 1975 novel. general The novel is a more authentic version of the historical novel on which Clavell based the novel than the novel and the very white-centric 1980 miniseries version starring Richard Chamberlain.
Our view: In this version, general, created by Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks (Marks is the showrunner and Clavell’s daughter Michaela is one of the show’s executive producers), has no interest in making Blackthorn the main character of the story. Yes, he’s a big part of the story, and the alliance that develops between Blackthorn and Toranaga is what drives it through the limited series’ 10 episodes. But what they show is that it’s just an alliance, part of a larger civil war that is about to hit Japan in the early 17th century.
Indeed, it feels like righting the ship, so to speak, compared to the version that was one of the biggest television events of the early 1980s. This story is about a civil war and depicts the attempts of a lord to not only save his domain, but also consolidate his power at the same time. The fact that he is working with this mysterious British pilot makes the story even more interesting. They are mutually beneficial. Toranaga wants to consolidate his power, and Blackthorn wants to remove the Jesuits and Portuguese from the way and open trade routes between Japan, England, and the Netherlands.
One thing that works in this version’s favor is that we are no longer looking at the story for the novelty factor. Audiences in the United States and other Western countries have been exposed to Eastern stories and cultures for the past four decades, and the advent of streaming has accelerated that trend. People are interested in the history behind the story, but the culture is no longer as much of a curiosity as it was in his 1980s. This allows the show’s producers and writers to dig deeper into the conflicts and power struggles surrounding the central story.
The cast is also great, with veteran Japanese actors able to convey the subtleties of the characters’ situations without projecting the “good guy/bad guy” sentiment that was seen in the original miniseries. It’s helping me.
Gender and skin: Kiku (Yuka Kouri), a courtesan, is stripped of her clothes by Yabushige’s men while the lord watches. Kinky!
Parting shot: Blackthorn takes Mariko to the lord’s side and is taken to Toranaga. He falls to his knees and bows his head, realizing that he is the authority figure before him.
Sleeper Star: Mariko, played by Anna Sawai, not only acts as an interpreter, but also stands by Blackthorn’s side. She is a Christian in her character, and the attraction between her faith and loyalty to Toranaga always influences her actions.
The most pilot-like line: It’s worth mentioning here that there isn’t really anything, but there are moments of sudden violence that may be shocking to some viewers.
Our call: Let’s stream.The new version has a cast, great scenery (some real, some his CGI), and a much more believable story than the original novel. general It has the potential to become an attractive watch.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting, and technology, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV geek. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Slate, Salon, Rolling Stone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company, and more.
