Blackthorne has not so much to do - he is not familiar with anything around him. He CANNOT do much. His mind is…
That´s still the writers´choice. Like I said, what the novel and 80s show made different was to give Blackthorne the opportunity to learn more and acquire agency, even if it is still limited to the confines Toranaga has him in. And through that he became a pawn that thought he acts by his own choice, just like the falcon Toranaga grooms. That was part of the genius of Toranaga, to keep his pawns on the track he wants while still keeping them, if possible, somewhat content. In Anjin´s case, on one hand he denies him the ship and attacking the Portuguese, at the same time he draws him into the culture and gives him agency, so that he can play his role at the right time. This nuance is completely lost on the writers of this show. You say it yourself, novel and by extension 80s show Anjin gets to learn a lot more and thus also, at least he thinks, can be active more.
While I have other qualms with this Mariko, at least the Toranaga-Mariko relationship does better regarding the dynamic above.
Toranaga does not trust anybody, that´s a faulty interpretation. The only two instances in which you see his real thoughts pop up somewhat are when he talks to his son and tries to educate him, knowing that someone will need to continue his legacy at one point (btw another mistake by the writers of this tv show, Toranaga would never leave such a stupid son in a position to decide things, either he would have educated him much more or removed him from such a position). And in those instances, he underlines that you are alone in the world and everybody is there to be used.
They're not giving the protagonist much to do in the last few episodes, do they? He starts to look like a prized…
We still have three episodes left, so perhaps premature (though I don´t think so considering we are moving into the climax) and it might be too harsh, but I think the writers and showrunner were not up to it intellectually to adapt the novel for a 10 episodes show. Maybe you have read it yourself, the novel is really dense and takes a lot of time showing the culture shock of Blackthorne (Japanese is not translated at all) and his process of getting more and more accustomed to the culture before going too deep into the politics and game of thrones so to speak, but once we have seen his life and his progress, building relationships and interests and so on, including but not exclusively with Toranaga, his allegiance to Toranaga makes both sense and becomes proactive even. Both the novel and especially the 1980 tv show are almost completely told from POV of Blackthorne and we get to increase our understanding more and more with him together. The 1980 tv show concentrated a lot on this and only in the end got to the politics as main focus. And it was enhanced by the decision to stay truthful to the novel and not translate any Japanese apart from a few exceptions and only by narration, not direct translation. This 2024 tv show has made several changes that diluted a lot of the culture shock focus:
- The Japanese is translated by subtitles for the audience - Toranaga is introduced immediately without the context of Blackthorne - We immediately get into the politics
And then there are a few other things like character changes (Omi, Nagato, Buntaro, Yabu and so on) for which I see no inherent purpose within the main premise except creating unnecessary and quite frankly dumb drama. The 1980 tv series was by no means perfect and also had some minor issues but it knew how to adapt the novel for the most part truthfully.
Production value is obviously better with this one considering it´s been more than 4 decades, but I prefer the series from 1980 which in turn was less preferable than the novel which reigns supreme. I am not a purist regarding adaptations and understand that they are different media and thus have different challenges to solve but this series has made changes that are completely unnecessary
Does anyone know how well this follows the original story? My dad is a fan of the book so was thinking to recommend…
General plot progression and big events = pretty close. Obviously a novel will have much more description while the show obviously has visual and verbal aspects that a novel can´t cover. But the novel is much more brutal, uncomfortable, ugly and confronting, the culture shock is much more bigger in the novel, Blackthorne has much more character and is a little schemer as well. It´s tricky to adapt a novel with eleven hundred pages into 10 hours of TV but considering that, they are doing a pretty good job.
Halfway through 6 and I gotta let this out: Korean writers need to stop mashing up two different genres that have…
I agree partly. This is an issue for people who judge a plot point (as they should be judged in my humble opinion) by itself without the tone. Most people are led by the tone though.
Gotta applaud the writers for going very dark for a significant chunk of the episodes. At first it seemed like a drama that wants to address mental health issues in a happy-go way without involving and stressing the audience too much, but having the main character going through it herself really underlined that it can happen to anyone and that any kind of stigma or shame is unnecessary at this day and age, only for that the drama deserves 10/10.
Why people want to make it a general opinion about suicide?Is the writer mandated by SK officials to do a giant…
You reasoning does not work because
- The drama itself makes the connection to the very high suicide rate in South Korea meaning it purposely makes a connection to an existing and widely known contemporary issue.
- The reasons for his suicide were universal and nothing individual or unique, it was economic struggle and feeling of helplessness and inferiority due to his socioeconomic situation. While bullying, alienation and sexuality (LGBT) are the primary reasons for people up to 25 in age, 25+ the primary reason is socioeconomic status and the struggle that comes with it. It was not a highly fictitious and individual backstory that led to his suicide.
- The fact that in every interview, the cast said they want to convey a universal message that life is precious invalidates the argument that it´s just his life.
The ironic thing is, while he definitely was overworked and struggled, ultimately his life was not that bad to begin with considering his mother and his girlfriend who would both die for him.
I watched. It's not my country - so I don't understand everything (politics).I liked this drama.many interesting,…
What did you not understand? By giving a bit of context, I think the setup should be somewhat clear, of course the intricate character dynamics are a different issue.
It´s an entertaining watch if you don´t take it too seriously (which might be ironic considering the subject matter). If you take it seriously, a lot of problems arise, both with the logic in individual lives he has to live and also the main message if you want to call it that. It barely scratches the surface of the issue of suicide, especially in context of SK society. Of course expecting a drama to address it in a multi-faceted and profound way might be futile in the first place. In addition, I have to admit the series had a macabre layer to it in connection with the recent news of Lee Sun-Kyun.
PS: Park So-Dam could play a very convincing dominatrix, her character might be the hottest non-human in drama history :)
It is about the sacrifices people need to go through to "grow up" in Korean society (or today´s society around the world in general I guess) and a character who refuses to do so and knows what she wants and is content with it, despite the rules of society telling her she is wrong in every way.
Honestly, whatever these people do in their private lives shouldn't be dicussed, unless its a crime.SK lost an…
Regarding your first sentence, I agree in principle, but we can´t ignore the fact that the entertainment industry is mostly built on presenting individuals as stars beyond just their art form and a lot of monetary success is built on that. And that includes actors, but even more so for singers and idols.
Like I said, what the novel and 80s show made different was to give Blackthorne the opportunity to learn more and acquire agency, even if it is still limited to the confines Toranaga has him in. And through that he became a pawn that thought he acts by his own choice, just like the falcon Toranaga grooms.
That was part of the genius of Toranaga, to keep his pawns on the track he wants while still keeping them, if possible, somewhat content. In Anjin´s case, on one hand he denies him the ship and attacking the Portuguese, at the same time he draws him into the culture and gives him agency, so that he can play his role at the right time. This nuance is completely lost on the writers of this show.
You say it yourself, novel and by extension 80s show Anjin gets to learn a lot more and thus also, at least he thinks, can be active more.
While I have other qualms with this Mariko, at least the Toranaga-Mariko relationship does better regarding the dynamic above.
Toranaga does not trust anybody, that´s a faulty interpretation.
The only two instances in which you see his real thoughts pop up somewhat are when he talks to his son and tries to educate him, knowing that someone will need to continue his legacy at one point (btw another mistake by the writers of this tv show, Toranaga would never leave such a stupid son in a position to decide things, either he would have educated him much more or removed him from such a position). And in those instances, he underlines that you are alone in the world and everybody is there to be used.
Maybe you have read it yourself, the novel is really dense and takes a lot of time showing the culture shock of Blackthorne (Japanese is not translated at all) and his process of getting more and more accustomed to the culture before going too deep into the politics and game of thrones so to speak, but once we have seen his life and his progress, building relationships and interests and so on, including but not exclusively with Toranaga, his allegiance to Toranaga makes both sense and becomes proactive even. Both the novel and especially the 1980 tv show are almost completely told from POV of Blackthorne and we get to increase our understanding more and more with him together.
The 1980 tv show concentrated a lot on this and only in the end got to the politics as main focus. And it was enhanced by the decision to stay truthful to the novel and not translate any Japanese apart from a few exceptions and only by narration, not direct translation.
This 2024 tv show has made several changes that diluted a lot of the culture shock focus:
- The Japanese is translated by subtitles for the audience
- Toranaga is introduced immediately without the context of Blackthorne
- We immediately get into the politics
And then there are a few other things like character changes (Omi, Nagato, Buntaro, Yabu and so on) for which I see no inherent purpose within the main premise except creating unnecessary and quite frankly dumb drama. The 1980 tv series was by no means perfect and also had some minor issues but it knew how to adapt the novel for the most part truthfully.
I am not a purist regarding adaptations and understand that they are different media and thus have different challenges to solve but this series has made changes that are completely unnecessary
Obviously a novel will have much more description while the show obviously has visual and verbal aspects that a novel can´t cover.
But the novel is much more brutal, uncomfortable, ugly and confronting, the culture shock is much more bigger in the novel, Blackthorne has much more character and is a little schemer as well.
It´s tricky to adapt a novel with eleven hundred pages into 10 hours of TV but considering that, they are doing a pretty good job.
Btw, dont hate on Eun-Seong too much, pretty sure he would be the main character in a revenge drama...
At first it seemed like a drama that wants to address mental health issues in a happy-go way without involving and stressing the audience too much, but having the main character going through it herself really underlined that it can happen to anyone and that any kind of stigma or shame is unnecessary at this day and age, only for that the drama deserves 10/10.
Multilateral can mean both having many sides or many participants :)
- The drama itself makes the connection to the very high suicide rate in South Korea meaning it purposely makes a connection to an existing and widely known contemporary issue.
- The reasons for his suicide were universal and nothing individual or unique, it was economic struggle and feeling of helplessness and inferiority due to his socioeconomic situation. While bullying, alienation and sexuality (LGBT) are the primary reasons for people up to 25 in age, 25+ the primary reason is socioeconomic status and the struggle that comes with it. It was not a highly fictitious and individual backstory that led to his suicide.
- The fact that in every interview, the cast said they want to convey a universal message that life is precious invalidates the argument that it´s just his life.
The ironic thing is, while he definitely was overworked and struggled, ultimately his life was not that bad to begin with considering his mother and his girlfriend who would both die for him.
In addition, I have to admit the series had a macabre layer to it in connection with the recent news of Lee Sun-Kyun.
PS: Park So-Dam could play a very convincing dominatrix, her character might be the hottest non-human in drama history :)