I have not read the book and have not seen the 1980s show, I have no exposure to Japanese culture, so I watched it with an open mind.
Overall it's pretty good but I have two complaints: Blackthorn and the ending.
Cosmo Jarvis is completely wrong for the role. He has a single facial expression - perplexity. He walks aimlessly from scene to scene, makes dumb decisions and generally acts stupid. He does not appear to learn much except picking up a bit of language, does not improve anything and generally has no impact on anything. After watching the series it crossed my mind that if his character is removed then absolutely nothing would change. Blackthorn is a village idiot with no purpose. Not even a comic relief.
The second complaint is the ending. It's a let down in the style of Game of Thrones. They build up the tension in episodes 1-9, and in the 10th they fell flat of the face. Instead of showing the result of Toranaga's plot they tell us bits and pieces of that it's supposed to accomplish. Could not they shoot another two episodes to show how he succeeded? Did they run out of budget?
Episode 10 is a total disappointment.
Overall it's pretty good but I have two complaints: Blackthorn and the ending.
Cosmo Jarvis is completely wrong for the role. He has a single facial expression - perplexity. He walks aimlessly from scene to scene, makes dumb decisions and generally acts stupid. He does not appear to learn much except picking up a bit of language, does not improve anything and generally has no impact on anything. After watching the series it crossed my mind that if his character is removed then absolutely nothing would change. Blackthorn is a village idiot with no purpose. Not even a comic relief.
The second complaint is the ending. It's a let down in the style of Game of Thrones. They build up the tension in episodes 1-9, and in the 10th they fell flat of the face. Instead of showing the result of Toranaga's plot they tell us bits and pieces of that it's supposed to accomplish. Could not they shoot another two episodes to show how he succeeded? Did they run out of budget?
Episode 10 is a total disappointment.