Cinepals - SHOGUN 1x5 "Broken to the Fist" Reaction & Review!

Episode Date: March 20, 2024

Shōgun, a new and adapted historical drama series, has arrived, depicting war and power in 1600s Japan. Shōgun stars: Hiroyuki Sanada (The Wolverine, 47 Ronin, Bullet Train, Mortal Kombat (2021), & John Wick: Chapter 4), Cosmo Jarvis (Calm with Horses, Lady Macbeth, & Persuasion), Anna Sawai (F9: The Fast Saga, Pachinko, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters & Girl/Haji) & Tadanobu Asano (Thor, Battleship, & Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan)    Join our Patreon www.Patreon.com/JabyKoay for the full length reaction to this show and many others ans subscribe to our YouTube channel for the cutdowns www.youtube.com/@cinepals   SOCIAL MEDIA ~CinePals~ Twitter, Instagram, & TikTok: @TheCinePals   ~Achara Kirk~ Twitter & Instagram: @AcharaKirk

Sena. We're watching Shogun Season 1, Episode 5, Broke into the Fist. Thanks so much for joining us. Let's get into it. Here we go. Oh. Uh-oh. Uh-oh.

Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Uh, but things are moving forward. I really liked this episode quite a bit. There was a lot going on. Yeah. Emotionally, psychologically.

As soon as that husband returned, it's like, we all knew that things were to get crazy in the house. At least, potentially. Potentially, but the level of crazy it went to, I wasn't expecting. I didn't know, I didn't, like, I had no idea where exactly it was going to go. I thought that maybe Blackthorne was going to try to keep, you know, his composure and do a better job. But he kind of gave into his temptations a little bit earlier than I was expecting. While I was like, ugh, maybe you shouldn't, I was also morbidly curious. I'm like, well, let's see where it goes.

You know what I mean? Yeah, right. The dude, her, Amargo's husband taking out the arrow and firing it and barely missing her nose and bullseying the same spot twice while three sheets to the wind, nuts. Yeah. Absolutely nuts. And you're right. Like, you can't get rid of him as much as you want to because he's such a jerk.

It's like he's too good to let go of. Like, you need him on your side for what's going to come, the inevitable. Yeah. I mean, even in that scene alone, just with them at dinner and everything that transpired, you know, it was like a whole roller coaster of emotions. One minute we're laughing. It's just like how ridiculous the guys are being with their whole like pissing contest and everything with the drinks and whatnot. Then it got really serious with the shooting arrows and then like forcing her to share her most traumatic story and giving us an insight into what she's carrying around.

Yeah, like all of the trauma that she's carrying around. Like that was so heavy. Yeah. Because like, yeah, I was like, why didn't she get killed as well then if her whole family was killed turns out? The only thing that saved her, as it were, was the fact that she was married and no longer belonged to her family in that way. That story was way worse than what I could. I didn't know what exactly she was about to share and divulge.

Yeah. That was way more horrifying than I could have imagined. Yeah. Because the most horrific part, I think, was the fact that her father had to execute his entire family and then kill himself. That's sick. Which is just so twisted. I mean, it's one thing.

I thought it was going to be like. Like, oh, you know, my father, he worked for the old ruler and so that when he, you know, did what he did and it was a great dishonor or whatever, he had to die. Like, okay, that's pretty bad. But the whole having to kill her family. Yeah. In my mind, it was very much akin to Jamie Lannister, you know, because like he killed the crazy king or whatever, the Targaryen or something. Oh, yeah, yeah. That stained his reputation forever.

Yeah. Right. The king slayer. There you go. In this instance, though, the repercussions were vastly different. though the ruler that was taken out of plays out of position was awful it's like it went against code it went against honor right which is crazy town to me and so you know blackthorn it's blackthorn not black horn right okay yeah like every time i say it i'm like second guessing myself but blackthorn his

freak out of the situation and like not understanding any of this i understand both sides like i get the code the honor and the conduct but i also understand his like Western perspective, being of mixed descent, it kind of helps you to see both. And I totally understand, like, him freaking out and not getting it. Like, what are you talking about? Why did you kill the gardener? Because you said so. I'm like, what?

No. It's like, don't you understand? Like, yeah, because we know, right? He's just saying that to kind of convey the gravity of the thing. Like, he wants them to not touch it. To him, it makes sense to say, like, you know, at pain of death. Yeah. Do not touch this or else you will die.

Yeah. But you didn't really mean that, but they take everything so literally there. What I love about the show is they do such a great job, especially with the characters of John Blackthorn and Mariko Sama, to show both sides of the story, right? Like both sides of the culture where he's coming from and he's saying, like, when will your life be your own? When will you start living for yourself and making choices for yourself?

And meanwhile, she is also. showing him the other side like their culture and there's beauty in both yeah which i think the show does a really great job i was yeah you're echoing whatever is in my head and heart about the show it's like it's doing a nice even hand of like showing you the pros and cons in both sides yeah exactly without feeling like it's kind of going one is better than the other i feel like it's just saying like okay well that's his point of view and maybe as westerners watching it that there's an understanding like maybe we relate more closely to that and then also it's showing us this other side to the Japanese culture and a lot of things I find very beautiful there as well although sometimes it's

difficult to understand like I like the concept of that eightfold fence you know where it's like you keep your emotions hidden inside and you you maybe don't show them as much but on the other hand And of course, there is something to be said for actually being able to express yourself. Express yourself fully. There was an interesting exchange that happened by the lake where, you know, he, Blackthorn says, you know, you're trapped inside your traditions. And basically she said, you're trapped inside your traditions. Yeah.

And they're both, in a sense, trapped in their own perspective of things. And I think the goal from our point of view is they both kind of find a bit of each other's perspectives. And I think he's already on his path to understanding their perspective. I think I would argue more than they are understanding his. Yeah, I think so at this point. I really appreciate where he's coming from because he's trying to absorb the culture at a rapid pace. Yeah, because he has to survive.

He's a survivor. Yeah. And like the way he handed the swords off to Torunaga, I was like, oh, that's really cool. Like the way he took that tradition and just kept it moving, you know, like paying it forward because he lost his swords. That was just sweet, you know. It was sweet. And it's also, I think it's an understanding, right? because Toranaaga has to present himself a certain way as the Lord, as the leader.

And so him lacking his two swords is probably not a good look. Right. So he did like a very kind gesture and in understanding of their culture to be like, here, take these swords. And so not only did he just save Toranaga's life, but he also saved his reputation and honor. Yeah. He helped him to save face. Yeah, which is super important. It's interesting, though, because it's like, I feel like everyone should be understanding of the fact that there was just an earthquake, and it's raining earth upon earth. It's like, come on, like, we can let this one slide, right?

You know, him not having the swords. Yeah. It's like he was buried. No, I mean, it was very poetic the way Mariko Sama reminded him again that, you know, about life and death in Japan. It's like, you live and you die. And then suddenly, it's like there's a massive earthquake that just. takes out the whole village and everyone's struggling and tons of people died and stuff. Oh,

it's a good reminder. I wonder if that's at all, like, traumatizing for Japanese viewers to see that, you know? I wonder. I know they suffer from a lot of earthquakes even now. I mean, we get earthquakes in California, but, like, that, I mean, it's... That level. Yeah, that level is a lot more regular, I guess, in Japan. I don't know.

Like, I don't have any clue. So I'd be curious to hear from the Japanese audience. because I know there are Japanese audience members watching based on the metrics. The little scene in the in the alley or whatever between all the houses when Black Thorn was confronting Mariko's husband and he's like, oh, it's the sake. That was a very interesting scene because I had no idea what was going to follow. Yeah, I was like, oh my God, because the way things have been going, it seemed almost logical that he might take his own life. I thought a fight was coming or something. Yeah, like I couldn't tell.

I was like, it's either a fight or he's going to kill himself or whatever. Yeah. The way it went down, it's like they're both at a weird stalemate because he can't offend Toronaga, but Mariko's husband by killing Blackthorn as much as he'd like to. And Blackthorn can't kill him because, I mean, it's the same exact reason. Well, yeah, they're protected by tradition. Yes. And custom and politeness and all of that. Mariko, the actress, like, she's, oh, I've always thought she was cool. Like, I didn't love her. I didn't hate her. She's like, that's cool. She's just doing the thing. And she's, you know what I mean? But in this episode in particular, I thought there was a lot. a lot that she was embodying that I felt that I didn't feel in her performances up until now. Like the thing where she's got to like translate back and forth between the guy she likes and her husband. And being in that sticky spot of having to like kind of politically correct, you know, transfer the information back and forth to and from, right? Yeah.

Like not only that, but she's now got to like unload all of this trauma to Blackthorn and be vulnerable. Being forced to be vulnerable, which is like the worst thing. Yeah. And then the scene right before the earthquake, she's like saying, you know, Black Thorne wants to leave permanently. And the subtlety in her face of like, it's not exactly what I want. But, you know, you could kind of see it. Yeah. I mean, I've really enjoyed her performance from the start. I think that she does a really great job of keeping a very stoic face and showing us the audience just enough that we catch a glimpse of what might be going on behind her eightfold fence. Correct. I also really love Fuji. Her character seems to be a little bit more forthcoming with her actual emotions.

When Bontaro came back, she was doing little jabs at him without him fully realizing because she was pretty good at keeping her face quite neutral. As the audience, we could tell that she did not like her uncle at all. And the stuff that she was saying about like, oh he prefers other women you know we understood what that meant even if maybe he didn't i thought she did a really great job and like i i really enjoy her acting and and the character as well

her performance from the beginning has been strong i will agree with that i like her yeah quite a bit as an actress the move to kind of i you know i don't like the trouble making aspect of things just because i'm like why make it worse a little bit but like there's a secret like little part of me that enjoys that because as someone who can relate to not really being the most direct when it comes to my emotions, I appreciate that. I really, I really, really liked, even though it made me sad that the gardener was executed, basically. I really liked how they took what was a joke, kind of like what you said a moment ago,

where you're kind of laughing and then suddenly it gets uncomfortable, right? They took this bird thing that was a joke, and they turned it into like, something really painful. It was very interesting how they did that, because I did not see that coming. No. The show got me more than any of the previous episodes. Yeah.

You know, even the little stuff where he's just trying to offer the soup that he was so excited about sharing something from his country and it's just being rejected across the... Like, nobody's trying it. Nobody tried it. I felt really bad for him for that moment because I'm like, oh, geez, like he was trying to like connect, you know?

I tried the sticky cheese thing. You're going to try this stinky bird soup thing, you know? It's rabid. It was rabbit. Whatever. Or whatever. Yeah, no, but it's rough. I feel like the polite thing to do would have been to just like take a sip and been like,

that's quite rich for my taste, but thank you. You know? I think Mariko was quite delicate and diplomatic with her. You know, like we have very particular taste or whatever. It was heartbreaking because, you know, maybe we've all kind of been in that situation when you make something and it's like your favorite thing in the world. and you're making it for some friends or something, and they're all like,

Mmm, delicious. Shall we order pizza? Believe me. I've been there. You know, I used to love, when I was eating dairy, I used to love green tea ice cream. And I was hyping it up so much, and I shared it with someone close to me.

And he was like, it's all right. I'm like, no, it's green tea. You cannot shit on green tea ice cream. That was my favorite thing to get at Japanese restaurants as a kid. Anyways, you guys, thanks so much for hanging. I'm Jabby Kui. This is. Achara.

Cook. Peace out.