Shogun 1x01 'Anjin' | First Time Reaction

Patreon for Early Access: / diegesischad
Step back into the turbulent era of 1600s Japan with Arianna and Maple as they react to the opening episode of "Shogun," titled "Anjin." This gripping episode introduces us to a world of political intrigue and cultural clash as the English pilot John Blackthorne and his crew of the Dutch ship Erasmus are shipwrecked and taken prisoner by samurai on the coast of Japan. Witness the tension and survival struggles as Blackthorne navigates the hostile and unfamiliar political landscape dominated by local regents and the looming threat of the Jesuit order. React with Arianna and Maple to the complex alliances and betrayals among the Japanese regents and the unexpected bravery of Blackthorne, who must adapt quickly to preserve his life and that of his crew. This episode is a dramatic journey through power struggles and cultural exchanges, setting the stage for an epic saga.
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00:00 - Intro
00:46 - Reaction
37:08 - Review

[@ObliqueReference]

Your understanding of history will be much improved if you stop thinking of all interactions as "oppressor vs. oppressed". Japan, at this time, was a serious regional power that few could stand against.

[@alexanderg1935]

Spot on. This is not live action Pocahontas.

[@wafflekopf9429]

Precisely this ^. At the time this series is set, Spain and Portugal have had major colonial empires for around a century, but their intentions in Japan were trade and proselytism. Meanwhile, neither England nor the Netherlands have engaged in colonialism in any meaningful sense and are desperately trying to fight off Spanish imperialism at home, their arrival in Japan being to expand their own trade networks and to undermine the Spanish/Portugese. On the other hand, Japan, having just recently been unified under Nobunaga and Hideyoshi had immediately decided that the natural next step was to do an imperialism and launch a murderous and entirely unprovoked invasion of Korea that resulted in something like one million Korean deaths. The "Europeans = colonialist and imperialist oppressors/non-Europeans = victims of Europeans" model of world history is just not applicable in this time and place.

[@samwallaceart288]

Japan is naive not because they're powerless, but because they're a purposely isolationist power-cult whose archipelago is a natural fortress against invasion. There's a reason no nation has successfully invaded them. Even modern America was like 'nah fuck that' and went nuclear instead

[@Darkja]

@@wafflekopf9429 And the failed invasion to Korea from Japan plays a part on the story too, since Toranaga didnt send troops over there (Korea) unlike the other leaders, and that is the reason why they are wary and united against him, and see it as Toranaga preparing/trying something in Japan)

[@jdg9999]

@@wafflekopf9429 Nice to see that all the top comments here have seen how ridiculous they are being. (much as they seem like nice girls overtaken by a biased and simplistic worldview

[@tonyharrison2112]

It is a little funny watching as the Japanese do horrible things to others and themselves and it being brushed off as okay but the europeans view point looking at it and thinking by god these people are mad is seen as somehow bad. When two cultures so distant from one another meet for the first time it is inevtiable that neither can see the others side. What I think is great about Shogun is this show is very subtle, it shows you the wrongs both cultures have but also the beauty of learning and coming to understand to a degree.

[@GIRTHYANDITCURVES]

Fun fact. People in 1600 weren’t as forward thinking as we are today

[@user-zx9jq4pv1w]

@@GIRTHYANDITCURVES Don't pat the present on the back. You sound like one of the savages.

[@Trepanation21]

@@GIRTHYANDITCURVES Does Twitter go back that far? We should dig up tweets from 1600 and cancel historical figures 🤔

[@askechadd2473]

Dude just had fish guts poured on him and saw one of the Japanese slice their own villagers head off for speaking to him and she has a problem with the english dude calling them savages. But the English dude does essentially nothing and the Japanese call him a savage barbarian off the rip... crickets. It's funny that she thinks of this as colonialist oppressor vs opressed situation (where obviously the asian people that aren't white/european must be the victims right?) when atleast in this time of history i'm pretty sure Portugal and the Netherlands (who John was hired by) were just in Japan to trade, maybe portugal were interested in a little proselytism. Don't ask what Portugal might have been traded by the Japanese in the 16th century.

[@aSSGoblin1488]

revoking women voting rights doesn't seem so bad huh?

[@corvuslight]

At this point in time in the show, Japan had just tried and failed to invade Korea on their way to an attempt at conquering China. EVERY country/power has attempted to "colonise" others, it's not just Europeans doing it. By all means, criticize it, just keep it in perspective.

[@Rebellen007]

But but white man bad, everything else was and is just a quiet and peaceful flower field. 😂😂

[@jabbawookeez01]

i hate when idiots only act like white men are the only ones who colonized. bruh they should read a book

[@GreyMagee74]

100%, History is filled with things that make all of us and our causes hypocritical, no one seems to want to learn from any of it, we as a species keep on being an ever revolving circle in that aspect.

[@GIRTHYANDITCURVES]

They were at a point in history where they were faced with “modernization” and religious loyalty to the feudalism. These officers, generals, and royalty were seen as religious icons, with god given power.

[@nullakjg767]

japan killed over 1million + people in korea in a 5 year time span leading up to when the series takes place lol.

[@S7EVE_]

Take a shot every time Ariana says “the way” 😂😂

[@mehtevas7818]

Fr its like she developed tourettes and thats her tick its every other sentence she used to be the smart one

[@gabrielegenota1480]

Man it does feel a bit condescending how they see Japan as the oppressed nation in a scenario where they absolutely dominate this region at this time.

[@Glisern]

phew, loooot of judgement here without the ability to put yourself in the timeperiod.

[@eddhardy1054]

I find it interesting that everytime Blackthorne calls the Japanese 'savages' we get the classic Ariana stankface but when the Japanese call Blackthorne a 'barbarian' there's absolutely no reaction from her at all. It's almost like she's prejudged the situation and the Dutch and English Protestants are the villains and the Japanese and Catholics are the good guys (even though in reality it's far more nuanced than that). 🤔...🤣

[@gamemaster2311]

Don't you know? When whites are racist it's because they're evil, ignorant thugs. When any other race is racist, it's probably justified.

[@GIRTHYANDITCURVES]

ITS NOT ALWAYS BLACK AND WHITEEEE. BUT YOUR HEART ALWAYS KNOWS WHATS RIGHTT!!

[@diablohorer]

That's western privilege for you, evil is only evil when it's done by the correct race

[@diablohorer]

You can call it "interesting"....or you can call it what it is, which is blatant ignorance and racism.

[@OttoGrainer27]

@@diablohorer Hahaha, ok fine

[@a3gill]

Crazy judgemental, guys. They are all the same. Take a beat and understand things a little better first, maybe.

[@dicksonwhitesides5607]

The show is pointing out that all sides are prejudice against each other not just John..

[@red2977]

without a doubt they are all prejudiced not just one side. The Japanese are incredibly prejudiced towards all foreigners.

[@Panzer_ze_tank]

She can't see past white man bad.

[@Trepanation21]

After this ep, we need a _"The way..."_ counter for Arianna 🙃

[@fl_ak907]

Japan has a rich history that goes back thousands of years. At this point in time they are a serious and formidable power. They are not being oppressed.

[@samwallaceart288]

I see Japan and Portugal as the pointing Spiderman meme, thinking each other are the barbarian to be taken advantage of

[@MW_Asura]

@@samwallaceart288 It's exactly how it is in this show, everyone is acting on their own interests and trying to take advantage of the other in a way. And it is like that in history to a good extent too

[@samwallaceart288]

@@MW_Asura 100%. Huge respect for how this show took both halves seriously

[@lachtak42]

And they not being colonized, Japans was a colonizer.

[@askechadd2473]

Portugal and Netherlands send people to trade with Japan in the 16th and 17th century- Colonising. Japan in the 16th century tried to invade Korea and China proper- They just do things differently there.

[@zaftra]

Gets angry if they call the locals savages - zero problem whatsoever about the Japanese calling them barbarians and other derogatory remarks etc - double standards eh?

[@Trepanation21]

ypeepo bad

[@alexanderg1935]

The weebish wokery in this reaction video might be tolerable were it not for the fact that they completely disregard (even condone) the nihilistic cruelty of the Sengoku period. This is a tumultuous moment in Japanese history which presaged the long peace & prosperity of the Edo era. They're really not getting this show.

[@boogaloobaloo]

That's because the sum total of their knowledge of Japan and world history effectively condenses down to 1945 was wrong and White Christians bad.

[@michaelriddick7116]

​@@boogaloobalooI love both Maple and Adrianna but her comment on the Crusades struck me the same way. The Crusades were a necessary defensive counter to Muslim incursions in Europe and the damage their piracy caused in the Mediterranean after Rome's fall and the end of Pax Romana.

[@rax9874]

Spare me this woman flinching when savage is said by a white man but not when a Japanese guy says it RIGHT back to him, so weird

[@aSSGoblin1488]

revoking women voting rights doesn't seem so bad huh?

[@oxxce]

it’s a show and everyone is on board with it. i think it’s okay to not take offense every time the word savage gets said

[@Sig509]

Of course, because the point here (which ladies seem to miss) is that both sides see themselves as "savages".

[@samvimes2061]

Ariana knowing so little about history and having such strong opinions is peak America.

[@perseusveil9376]

I only needed this comment to convince myself to not watch this lol

[@aidanfarris8658]

saying its American to say this isnt true or fair. So many are ignorant to history. its not an American thing alone....

[@alexanderg1935]

Yep.

[@wafflekopf9429]

@@aidanfarris8658 Sure, historical ignorance certainly isn't a uniquely American phenomenon, but the combination of (ignorance of world history + application of US historical assumptions to another country's history + strong opinions about that country's history) that Ariana is displaying here tends to be peculiar to the USA. It's a shame because her other videos seem to be mostly pretty good.

[@Azabaxe80]

@@wafflekopf9429 One of the things I found funny is the idea that the Industrial Revolution is one of their least favorite periods in history. Alongside the Crusades. The irony of a person in the 21st century making that comment through internet media is about as funny as anything I've heard in a long time. That and the idea that _The Last Samurai_ , an Orientalist film with a big dose of white-savior helping, is one of their favorite films.

[@Justinroberg]

Lol ariana just not understanding anything going on but having serious opinions is hilarious.

[@wafflekopf9429]

Yeah, the combination of historical ignorance and thoughtless orientalism in this reaction is kinda rough.

[@eddhardy1054]

Her reactions are odd. Blackthorne calls Yabushige a 'savage' and she gets annoyed...even though she's just seen Yabushige order a man to be boiled alive. 🙄

[@user-xm3zm6im3k]

to me its just the way certain flakey people just dont acknowledge that order came from power, and power is violence.. in alll its flavours, colonialization, domination over tribes, endless violence in history is a river that gave us and them - all of us being lucky descendants - this bubble called ''civilization''.. a bubble that is bringing diminishing returns as its raising weak entitlement of postmodern armchair bravado

[@spacemonkeyentertainment6413]

@@eddhardy1054 "Gotta honor different traditions" or something like that.

[@CruciaLou]

Take a shot every time Ariana says “The Way”. You’ll be dead.

[@Bobamawesome]

Ariana rolling her eyes about the comment "savage horde" what he is referring to is the Portuguese and Spanish, not the Japanese.

[@courve]

whats the difference?

[@onepolishman8734]

@@OwnYourBaldSpoti definitely wouldn’t call the Japanese victims of colonialism when they literally become the most cruel colonial power in the east

[@ronweber1402]

@@onepolishman8734 Ya even at this point the Japanese had already tried and failed to conquer Korea. There are no real good guys here, only shades of gray.

[@nathanlindahl8336]

@@OwnYourBaldSpotIt’s so funny how “colonizers” has become a liberal buzzword used by idiots to describe anyone white and European. Japanese were colonizers and some of the most SAVAGE people to have ever existed. They have committed some of the worst atrocities in the history of mankind. Liberals don’t like history though so they just think “whites are evil and everyone else are victims”

[@scottschofield5000]

@@onepolishman8734 Korea has entered the chat.

[@Sprayber]

When watching a period piece or reading about history it's pretty important to understand the context of the time. So to the people there the differences between Catholicism and Protestantism is going to be significant for them. It's also important to know that none of that will be of any importance to the Japanese. They will have their own set of concerns. The older tv version of this followed more of the Angin Portuguese plot while this one does not. Also, Blackthorn keeps calling them savages while the Japanese keep calling him a Barbarian.

[@Tragicarp]

Arianna's next movie watch would clearly be Kingdom of Heaven, right?

[@Darkja]

Well, i love KoH, but it is a very current year biased perspective still, painting Gui de Lusignan as a murderous madman for example. Even at the end, with Saladin alowing everyone to leave. Obviously they want to paint him as a "good" or at least "better" guy, mind you, in reality he allowed people who could pay for their freedom to pay and leave, but many where left behind to be slaves to them, so he didnt allow everyone to leave. I mean, by those times standarts that was still a rather "benevolent" thing, but nowhere near as what its painted in the movie.

[@eraldorh]

I always found it ridiculous that they kept calling the europeans barbarians while boiling a guy alive in a giant cooking pot and executing a baby!! along with the father.

[@minhuang8848]

Why though? If that's what your culture and creeds stipulate, it's going to become as accepted as crosses or other symbols denoting faith. All that it signifies, in Japanese (yabanjin) or most other language, is an uncivilized person, and cultural quirks and specifics ultimately are what determine whether you're a "wild beast" or not. So much so that it's pretty common to rank even the worst mass murderers above foreigners, as long as they vaguely follow established societal rules.

[@nullakjg767]

that baby had it coming!

[@rhhfayetteville]

With these two being among my most favorite reactors, I’m going to be optimistic and hope they actually read these comments, quickly do some research on the period of time and history, regroup, adjust, and spare us all from another dismally ignorant review of episode 2.

[@fot6771]

no, white man bad

[@Jayjay-ef2gt]

The commentary in this video depicts the consequense of being exposed to the american "education" system especially in regards to the way they fail to teach objective history and historical geopolitics.

[@nullakjg767]

this isnt from an american education system, this is from twitter/tiktok propaganda. they probably rejected their american education as "lies"

[@wh_kers]

modern americans & their d***ness

[@fen3184]

It's easily forgotten that yon dude was ultimately boiled to death because the Jesuit priest was demanding the Anjin be murdered... Priests demanding murder... nice 😉

[@red2977]

Cuz they haven't been honest with the Japanese people and they would be screwed if the Japanese found out what they really have been up to.

[@tyyala]

I think calling Blackthorne not special having navigated to the other side of the world is.a bit odd. unless you don’t value courage, intelligence, fortitude, resilience etc etc

[@tariizm1500]

38:44 learn some history girl middle east/west asia and north Africa were all Christians lands and all conquered by Muslims fastly and violently... im a Kurd even some of our cities get violently conquered such as Diyarbekir (Amed) etc and our people were not Christians... later Muslims made their way into Europe they tried conquer Europe from multiple fronts such as from Constatinople (Istanbul) and north Africa etc however Constantinople the biggest Christian city at the time was one of their main goal bcz founder of Islam prophet Muhammed famously said this “Verily, you shall conquer Constantinople. What a wonderful army will that army be, and what a wonderful commander will that conqueror be.”This is the famous “conquest hadith,” but their first attempts failed however they made an succesfull conquering in north African front with entering Spain and Portugal (Iberian peninsula) then France and Italy but they couldnt get any further due to sheer resistance and they ruled Iberian peninsula for 700 years and ofc indigenous Iberians werent happy with all of this they launched reconquista my point is crusades didnt come out of nowhere it was response to Islamic world and you did confused crusaders with reconquistadors it was reconquistadors who take back Iberian peninsula and later found the 'new world' and conquered new world not crusaders... by the way sorry for my bad English

[@_iarna_]

Wait are you annoyed that they don't like the crusades? The crusades weren't one thing, and they weren't done to free or help anyone, and they included a lot of really awful shit. Properly disliking the crusades does not diminish any other terrible things that were done around the world by other groups. (And the reconquista was suuuper super super super bad, regardless of how prior governance functioned... it does not need apologetics.)

[@tariizm1500]

@@_iarna_ i hope you and the girl will keep this energy for Islamic expansion as well but i doubt it

[@spacemonkeyentertainment6413]

@@_iarna_ The point is they don't know a single thing of the nuance that you apparently do, yet have the biggest opinions on them. Maybe you are new to the channel, but they display a very shallow understanding of politics outside of their very narrow (and i would argue extremely biased) understanding of american politics. So that nuanced conversation you might want to have, they simply are not equipped to have.

[@zeroskaterz92]

Telling people to learn history and yet here you are being islamophobe. lmao

[@Mk13267]

F kurd turd

[@samwallaceart288]

Japan is one of the few Asian countries to _never_ have been colonized. Even the Great Khans couldn't crack it. Geographically, Japan is a giant fortress, whose inhabitants were raised with a military cult mentality of reporting and isolating outsiders on-sight. Their permission of Portuguese missionaries and traders was strictly a business arrangement and the traders were only allowed within limited port areas on business-only privileges. Later on they retracted these privileges, and it was only a threat of naval bombardment from the US that made them open back up again. And even then, it was only on limited conditions. The Europification of Japan during the Meiji Restoration wasn't coerced, it was mutual. Japan's modernization right before The Pacific War wasn't Europeans "colonizing" them. Unlike French Indochina, Manchuria, the Philippines, or Singapore, no European nation owned _any_ Japanese soil. Quite the contrary, the Meiji Restoration was Japan intentionally downloading every Western technology they could get their hands on so that they could one day colonize Asia themselves with the big boys. Starting on the border islands between Russia and Japan, Japan successfully defeated the Russians in battle, with the naval technology they learned overseas then perfected. Bolstered by this, Japan realized they could easily cripple the European colonies in Asia and claim them for their own, becoming the one Asian superpower. Their main target was Singapore, which is the bottleneck between Japan and the Indian Ocean ergo their route to Europe. As an afterthought, they sent an extra attack to cripple Pearl Harbor so that America wouldn't be able to intervene. America's fervent response to Pearl Harbor triggering the Pacific War was a complete surprise to the Japanese. They expected the isolationist Americans to back off. America had to fight very hard to push Japan back to its home turf, and insodoing the Japanese themselves purposely killed a lot of local natives as cannon fodder and slave labor to say the least. After the war, once Emperor Hirohito personally begged his own people to accept the humiliation of surrender, Japan did something smart; they landed into the fact that China got overrun by Soviets, and leveraged the situation to get every benefit they could from the Americans; by giving up their nation as an American fortress against the Communists, they got preferencial treatment in foreign affairs, financial grants, American protection from any Chinese retaliation, amnesty for their long list of war crimes and genocides (including letting their human-experiment perpetrators off the hook), and easy foreign exchange and integration for their citizens. Japanese citizens moving to the US keep their Japanese names, they're not pressured to change it like the Chinese immigrants. There's a lot I like about Japan and America, but calling them "colonized" is categorically wrong and an insult to the rest of Asia that were. Japan isn't the oppressed Na'vi, they're Vegeta deciding to team up.

[@michaelallen3894]

To fill you in on where Edo is. It's Tokyo before becoming Tokyo.

[@samwallaceart288]

Tokyō is literally the "East Capitol" to the OG "Capitol City" that is Kyōto. Edo was its original name. Also Ōsaka is "Big Port"

[@jacksonconstantine5740]

@@samwallaceart288I didn’t know that. Thanks for the lesson.

[@vergil8833]

The way you guys rooted for the guy who boiled someone alive more than the english guy just because he called them savages lmao. If I just saw someone cut down in the street for standing in the way, and another man boiled alive for nothing I too would call them savage. This is his introduction to them, how else is he supposed to view them? The fact that they're both considered "very sick men" is wild when the worst thing the english guy has done is call them savage, while the small-time lord boiled someone alive for hours just because he likes it. The idea that the english are the bad guys for going after portuguese ports is also dubious at best, but since you said you don't know this part of history well I won't hold it against you. But it said in his ledger that Englands purpose in going after their bases was to open trade to the east, that should say something about what the portuguese are doing there.

[@SneedPatch]

Most historically literate zoomer women:

[@henners98]

It’s interesting how they see the Anjin as the ignorant one. During the show they learn of each other’s weaknesses

[@hematite9914]

To be fair it's just plain dumb to be in such a fucked state/situation and have any kind of sass, bro grabbed his crotch to get his disrespect towards a group of armed men through the language barrier, but Blackthrone is smart so he wisened up quickly. EDIT: bruh I watched the video it's obvious that they get both sides yall are just using too much hindsight.

[@jdg9999]

It's funny, they're so stuck in the modern American "white man bad" way of looking a the world, that they can't see that the show isn't trying to say that one way of looking at things is superior to another. The point is just to understand the different ways that different cultures see the world, whether that's Anglo protestant individualism, Catholic collectivism or Japanese Shinto/Buddhist social order.

[@spacemonkeyentertainment6413]

It is incredible how the very point of the setup for the show is completely lost on them.

[@sensibleb]

The way I'm wondering why the hell "The way I'm" is suddenly being said -every 45 seconds- *EDIT:* every 15 seconds

[@mehtevas7818]

Ariana been on tiktok wayy too much recently

[@rax9874]

She’s getting soooooo annoying

[@Trepanation21]

spongey tiktok brain.

[@elliotadams3402]

I was assuming it was for a bet

[@David-cg1lh]

No seriously can someone explain why she said that.

[@ObliqueReference]

What madness? Like, I don't know... killing a small child because their parent spoke out of turn? Or boiling someone alive for shits and giggles? Or beheading a peasant on the street for not moving fast enough?

[@TechWechSech]

I wouldn't bother, in her rascist world view only white people can be wrong.

[@vincegalila7211]

Admittedly he's only seen two of those things. And the former is done in England too, enemies of all of humanity pirates.

[@vergil8833]

@@vincegalila7211 England has never had policy of ending ones bloodline out of shame for speaking out of turn lmao...

[@vincegalila7211]

@@vergil8833 yeah but once again John wasn't witness to that, at this point in the story.

[@vergil8833]

@@vincegalila7211 No he just witnessed a peasant getting decapitated for nothing and his friend being boiled alive...

[@LacoSinfonia]

Japan wasn’t colonized. Also the hate against the Anjin by Arianna is wild. What’s the deal?

[@red2977]

I don't think she hates him. I think she is just flustered by him just making a bad situation worse at every turn. Like he is a prisoner and then he antagonizes them and without knowing anything about the Japanese just assumes they are savages when in reality he is the one sailing to make war.

[@curiousshaman2723]

Cause Shes a woke girl that hates whites

[@LacoSinfonia]

@@red2977 he wasn’t sailing to make war on the Japanese. They boiled an innocent man alive, pissed on him, beheaded an innocent man in front of him. She called him and his crew “trash bags”. There’s no nuance to her take on the English in this episode. Before anything even happened she kept shitting on him. Bizarrely aggressive from the jump and, as other commenters have pointed out, completely ignorant of history altogether.

[@megamonster1234]

@@LacoSinfonia Just to be clear, his crew is Dutch. The English you hear him speak to them is actually Dutch, and the English you hear him speak to the Japanese or the Portuguese is Portuguese. Technically speaking, Anjin never actually speaks English in the series.

[@LacoSinfonia]

@@megamonster1234 ok.

[@kirktravis5780]

My god this is insufferable to watch.

[@jtonguam]

You guys really got to study a little more history. The Dutch, Spanish, and Portuguese did soooo much long before the english ever did. Hell, most people have no idea the Portuguese started the atlantic slave trade and accounted for the VAST majority of people taken from Africa to the Americas and Caribbean.

[@red2977]

They cover that in school with things like the Dutch Trading Company etc but soo much more weight gets put on England, since the colonies were English.

[@Quzga]

As a European i feel like a ton of Americans are quite uneducated when it comes to history outside of ww2 and America. While we study and read way more about the entire world and don't focus on our countries. I've always liked Ariana and her takes but yeah she comes off a bit ignorant for sure, I hope she chills out a bit next time and reads up on the history of Europe and Japan. It's a complex story with no right or wrong sides, just like all of human history where everyone thinks their side is true and righteous. It's totally fine to not know everything but if you don't it's usually not very smart to be discussing details of topics you are unfamiliar with, which many Americans tend to do and it is a bit annoying to hear for us Europeans/Asians who actually know this period.

[@bb.buchanan]

It's like each European country reigned supreme at some point in the past 500 years, the British were just the best at doing the whole Empire thing and did it most recently so they get all the blame.

[@jacksonconstantine5740]

@@bb.buchananthen did the most to end it. Go figure.

[@fot6771]

Morality is influenced by political outcomes. The English pilot was just merely trying to survive. Your 21st century American ideals of "oppressor white man vs oppressed minority" is ridiculous and please do more research.

[@Selendeki]

Girls, Japan wasn't colonized

[@Sig509]

More than that. Japan WAS the colonizer in Korea (at this point in time they have just failed with their invasion), and later on in China, where their atrocities were not better than the nazis. I like very much Japan, and their culture, but I am always amazed how they are perceived globally, probably due to the nukes, as "victims". Anyway the closes they came to being colonized was the Mongol invasion of Japan (Khan controlled also China back then), but they were saved by a storm, and were able to defeat the forces that landed. The word kamikaze even relates to that as it means "divine wind", the wind that saved Japan. In the book it is also one of the points that connects Toranaga and Blackthorne, as John mentions the Spanish Armada that sailed to conquer England, but was also destroyed largerly due to a storm. The narration there is that Japan and England are very much alike, both are island nations who should have a strong navy, and both "border" with far more powerful (at the time) neighbours - Japan with China, and England with Spain and France. Countries which in a pure land battle would crush them easily.

[@omega5279]

The bias against Blackthorne is insane, people from 400 years ago are going to seem intolerable by today's standards sure, but it's as though no one else in the show can do any wrong. He's not the most eloquent or polite person but I think he deserves some slack considering his limited perspective and what he's been through up to this point. As for his hatred of the Catholics you need to put it in the historical context of the Inquisition, the torturing, the burnings at the stake, the things that led to the then recent Protestant reformation, and here he is on the other side of the world still dealing with them.

[@_iarna_]

I've never heard any suggestion that the Protestant reformation was in response to the Inquisition -- do you have any pointers to something about that? (The protestants were just as keen on torturing, burning at the stake, boiling people, etc, so.... I'd be surprised, but only a little, as folks are often hypocrites.)

[@Bankrupt95]

I think instead of getting annoyed by the catholic vs protestant conflict... rather look at the many comparable idiotic conflicts we still have today?... Ethnic/Gender/political... We are not much better than the people back then, except that now we are idiots with fortnite and toilet paper😂

[@Ender4212]

The way every sentence begins with "The Way".

[@Theoissic]

The way Arianna needs a the way counter this episode

[@bewilderedbeest]

Regarding the language, when you hear English they are actually speaking Portuguese. The Portuguese currently have exclusive access to Japan and of course the only languages they have taught the Japanese are Portuguese and Latin. At present, no Japanese can speak or read or write any other European language. Also the Japanese only know one form of Christianity, and that is Catholicism. They know nothing of Protestantism. When Blackthorne stomped on the Catholic priest's cross, the Japanese thought that meant Blackthorne hated all Christians. That was why Lord Yabushige took an interest in him.

[@Tekneeks1]

The Way she played the modern NPC and villainized just the white guy while referencing colonization even though no one was being colonized

[@headoverheels88]

"Modern NPC"... My guy, you're getting triggered over reaction video on KZbin and then you wrote it down for everyone to see. You are the loser in this story.

[@kendallquinn26]

How do these people have over 150,000 subscibers? I weep for this world....

[@Vicari0us_YT]

The way I

[@spatialvacuity]

The sheer ignorance combined with the blatant favoritism makes this infuriating to watch. Educate yourselves. Please.

[@yuh-fv7ds]

The creators of the show decided to replace all the Portuguese with English to make the show more accessible to a wider audience; otherwise, the entire show would have required subtitles. But historically speaking, all the spoken English is meant to be Portuguese.

[@davidribeiro1064]

Well, there is some dutch and latin going on as well.

[@red2977]

Yea that might be confusing to some when he asks the interpreters to speak portugese and then they bust out in English.

[@eddhardy1054]

Also Ariana's comment on the Industrial Revolution is possibly the dumbest thing ever. I really hope she's joking but I've got a bad feeling she's not. 😳

[@wafflekopf9429]

Not "the Protestant, Catholic, crusading-type wars..." bit immediately before? I mean, not knowing anything about European history is fine if you're not interested in it but how in the Dunning-Kruger is it possible to know so little about something while having such strong opinions about it?

[@eddhardy1054]

@@wafflekopf9429 They were both awesomely stupid but based on what Ariana had said previously I kinda expected the 'Crusade' comment whereas the Industrial Revolution thing completely wrong footed me.

[@jimgillett2122]

They way the blo0nde reactor can't start a sentence without the words "The way..." is the most annoying verbal t6ic i i have ever encountered.

[@Knowingspy]

I think the point of the first few episodes is to show how alien both groups think the other are. They haven’t met before; everything is strange. They both think the other is backwards and have weird superstitions - why commit sepukku, why not bathe? That scene where they’re at opposite ends of the ladder, calling each barbarians is an example of this. But hopefully over the course of the show you’ll get to see that perspective change and morph to take on aspects of the “other.”

[@michaelriddick7116]

In 2007 I got to spend a month in Japan for work. By the time I only had a week or so left I realuzed that I had unlocked a new existential fear ... that I'll die without having ever gone back 😢 To anyone reading this, if you get the chance to go; do it. Do it or you'll regret it forever 🥰

[@TechWechSech]

Maybe you two should react to a history documentary so you could actually learn about history instead of bothering the world with your completely distorted and incorrect view of history. The fact you know so little about well known world history makes me wonder if either even graduated high school...

[@red2977]

American school systems really only prioritize US and european history and even with European history its only specific time periods/countries etc. I don't think I learned anything in school about Japan outside of the WW2 era, pretty much nothing about china and other countries in the region. All my knowledge I had to seek out history books to learn or actually spending time in those countries.

[@curiousshaman2723]

​@@red2977u just didnt pay attention because we did learn about this in school

[@red2977]

@@curiousshaman2723 maybe your school system was different. I know it wasn't taught in my school.

[@Quzga]

They should watch Bill wurtz The entire history of Japan!

[@purplegorilla9592]

@@red2977 Probably. State curriculum is different in every state. Sometimes even by county. I never understood the point of that, but it's been that way since the 1940s.

[@DarkxSonxOfxDathomir]

“The way I”

[@Quzga]

Do you know da way

[@rax9874]

Ariana has no fucking clue what she’s talking about ever man 😂 this is kinda hard to watch….

[@tonyclements1147]

Kinda hard to watch is being nice..

[@aquilifergroup]

These two airheads

[@fuzzy__dunlop]

13:39 - everyone says the same thing at the sight of Mariko. "She's beautiful." Including me. 😂

[@chance1774]

anna sawai is literally breathtaking 🥹

[@hyprmynd]

I don't disagree, but Fuji is the stunner for me.

[@Quzga]

​@@hyprmyndFuji is the real queen of the show if you ask me..

[@devinhart2418]

There is a little historical ignorance and assumption being made but still love the reactions! Like Mable said she wants to look things up now. Which is the point! sparks a curiosity of history! Also the show is really fucking good. Japanese history is long and deep. In the 1600 Japan was no push over. They tried to Invade Korea twice

[@red2977]

I honestly don't watch the video expecting them to know anything about Japanese history during this time period. Its not really covered in American schools so unless somebody goes out of their way to study it they won't have an idea. This is fine though because the show can spark an interest in Japanese history. The show isn't 100% historically accurate but it gets a lot of the broad strokes of history right.

[@MangoMann072]

This series is based on a book that is loosely based on real events which makes it more engaging of a story.

[@thepimp31]

The way I just realized Arianna says "the way I" a lot lmao

[@No1Knows]

The almost clock-like precision of the 3 second rotation of "episode full screen, episode in box w/slow screen zoom," actually started making me motion sick. I didn't even get to the stuff everybody seems to be complaining about. Note to ladies, and I'm not trying to be mean: When watching something that is not set in current time, try to open up to the fact that things were different in the past. Not suggesting you try to believe that those ways were better, but try to accept that life was not like it is today.

[@keito9158]

lol my god these 2 know literally nothing about history at all, and are clueless about what is happening in this story as a result. And won't learn it either because they already have preconceived notions of what is happening. None of which is true or actually happening. Brutal. This reaction series won't go well at all.

[@MapleDivine]

It’s always so interesting watching everyone puff up in a historical holier than though display in the comments. One of the best parts of being human is being able to learn new things! And also holding a responsibility to create a space to teach others something new!!! Also I said I love watching historically based period pieces recently because it’s allowing me to learn new things! But how disappointing and dissatisfying to want to be immersed in a new experience and hear what others know only to be met with comments like yours. Truly lame and then you wonder why people “know literally nothing about history” it’s because you’re ruining the experience of learning.

[@MapleDivine]

@@lukem1286 where was I being prejudice? I really had no formal opinion about literally anything??

[@keito9158]

@@MapleDivine "you’re ruining the experience of learning"....the person "ruining the experience of learning" is your react partner who spent the entire episode complaining about European colonizers, which both was not happening in the actual story or real life. I don't expect anyone to learn anything if she's going to be in your ear the whole time ranting about something that again....is not actually happening in both the story or real life in this time period. My comments and the hundreds of others wouldn't be so harsh if we all didn't see the inevitable result of this reaction series. Pointlessness if she's going to spend every episode ranting and raving about things that are not actually happening on the screen.

[@RichardTerry]

I don't know if Maple or Arianna read KZbin comments but I had to stand up for carrier pigeons. While we view them as rats today they used to serve a very vital function. We (humans) bread them for centuries to carry messages and we did so in a way that forced them to rely on us for every aspect of their lives. We did it for so long that it engrained us as their caretakers in their DNA. SO the reason you see pigeons flocking to human centers to this day is because they used to rely on us for everything. Once the invention of the telephone happened we stopped interacting with them, however they didn't have any other way to care for themselves as all of what they were was based on humans. As time has gone on they have become scavengers around human centers because they don't understand how to actually take care of themselves anymore and engrained in themselves is that we are important to them and they don't even know why anymore.

[@ravenward626]

Scurvy is vitamin C deficiency. Our bodies don't make it, so we need to ingest it in our diet. The body will eventually start consuming itself to recover emergency reserves, such as those used in scar tissue. This can lead to old wounds and cuts reopening or new ones not healing.

[@boogaloobaloo]

Then you add to it starvation and dehydration which leads to the body being incapable of producing saliva and the gums begin to rot and infections occur. A truly horrific way to expire.

[@Quzga]

This is a big plotline for the show The terror (based on real events too). It's scary what happens when the ships run out of lemons and they are stuck in the oceans or ice for years..

[@williambranch4283]

Best written series so far this year. Enjoy the ride but pay close attention! Based on the first Englishman to reach Japan.

[@curiousshaman2723]

Have u seen the gentlemen show its pretty good as well

[@stuffmcstuff399]

"This isn't medieval" .. Yes, it is. Japan's Medieval period. However that period ends in a couple of years after the show is set when a certain some one becomes Shogun.

[@michaelallen3894]

Pretty much all historical. Toranaga Yoshii is based on Tokugawa Ieyasu and how he came to power.

[@tileux]

Except all out of whack, timing wise. William adams never met akeshi tama - lady maria. She died before Adams arrived in japan.

[@seanbumstead1250]

Yabushige is always smiling and he's my favorite character

[@Quzga]

Rickets was common among children in London who grew up in industrial areas where they almost never got sunlight because of all the buildings. During Arianas favorite revolution :D

[@youraveragepasser-by7367]

Damn this is gonna be a tough watch

[@phosphorescenceking6114]

This is historical fiction, and most of the cast are loosely based off real historical figures, though all their names have been changed. The previous taiko, Hideyoshi, had an heir too young to rule, so a council of 5 regents was established to keep the peace until he came of age. In real history, Tokugawa Ieyasu (the basis for Lord Toranaga in this show) betrayed the council, made an excuse to go to war with the heir, slaughtered the heir and his family, and took over Japan, after which point he ushered in a strict caste system, closed off Japan's borders completely for the next 2 centuries to keep outsiders away, and enacted various laws that kept all other lords and peoples poor and busy so they couldn't rise up to challenge his rule. He succeeded at maintaining his rule so decisively that Japan had an era of peace called the Edo period (Edo is Ieyasu/Toranaga's hometown and eventually became modern day Tokyo). Eventually, after 2 centuries of his bloodline's rule and drastic isolationism, Japan had become severely far behind other competitive countries in technology and trade, and then ushered in the Meiji Restoration, a period of starting to fix the problems Ieyasu caused the country, and moving closer to modern day Japan. Obviously the show's Toranaga is pretty different from Ieyasu, but he does of course feature one of Ieyasu's most famous traits, which is his pension for complex and clever political trickery and deception. John Blackthorne in this show is very loosely based off of a historical English sailor who became a samurai under Ieyasu's lordship. Personally, as a student of history, I think media about ignorant white people coming into contact with foreign cultures can overcorrect a bit with their portrayal of how much this Japanese culture has to teach the white man. Let's not pretend like Japan after a hundred years of brutal civil war and unrest was without it's own cultural problems and points of valid criticism. Or more accurately, that ANY culture is above being wrought with problems and valid criticism.

[@Trepanation21]

7:30 I love that Maple mentions the camera filter, as I too found it to be a compelling artistic/stylistic choice, and she had some great ideas about what that choice may represent. I also really like the way they present the subtitles (color, typeface, etc). It _feels_ very complementary to the overall style, not merely a formality of presenting dialogue to an English audience. It has a suitable vintage presentation. Great choices for this story.

[@boogaloobaloo]

It feels like an ode to the old Samurai movies and I absolutely love it. The screen edge distortion draws more attention to the center of the screen and the speakers in the scenes the same way the old Samurai and Western movies* would punch in on the eyes and faces in the intense moments. 10/10 cinematography.

[@holyguacomole4687]

"She conceals herself against the sun, and conserves her energy" this is metaphorical and literal as falcons will hide in shaded areas to conserve energy that the heat will take from them but it also refers to Toranaga hiding his true intentions and waiting for his moment to take power.

[@davidribeiro1064]

There is alegory going on here but very little metaphor. Hiding in the sun is a common bird of prey tactic that is emulated by fighter pilots. Prey can't see an attacker against the sun.

[@kukiesstuff9428]

you will realized ''who'' Toranaga alludes this metaphor later in the series

[@DoppelgangerZNCAT]

Some curiosities here! Since you guys refferenced The Last Samurai in the end. Maybe you noticed, but Lord Toranaga is interpreted by Hiroyuki Sanada, who also played Ujio in the Last Samurai, another kickass character. In here not only he is playing Toranaga but also produces the series, and he dedicated an insane amount of work to make this series super accurate to the moment of history this was: The tail end of the Sengoku Jidai - a fascinating, epic and brutal time of Japan's history. Toranaga himself is inspired by the real life Tokugawa Ieyasu, as are most of the characters in the series are also mimicking real crucial personalities of the period. He was a massive character in the history of Japan and major influence in how it evolved through the following centuries (No spoiler). For Arianna: A Shogun was the military de facto ruler of all Japan. At this time in history the Emperor was more of a symbolic figurehead with limited influence, although still playing a role (more so in the earlier years of the Sengoku Jidai). As you advance in the series you will also see who the Taiko was (based on Toyotomi Hideyoshi). And for a broader historical context, in the 1600's, every kingdom/empire on Earth was absolutely brutal in their own ways. The Protestant-Catholic wars in Europe (which were about dominion, power, control of monarchies and greed, not so much about creed/faith), The forging of those bigger European Empires, and even Japan itself had invaded Korea years prior being absolutely brutal with hundreds of thousands dead, not to mention the Sengoku Jidai itself was a savage civil war period in which all the daimyo (heads of Japanese clans) would war amongst themselves ravaging the whole country. Also, if you're interested in having deep dives into the series, FX did podcasts of each episode in which the cast and crew comment on all of this. Very cool stuff this whole series!

[@tonyharrison2112]

It's Anamorphic lenses. Very popular right now. Gives that soft roll off around the edges of the frame as well as the traditional spherical bokeh affect being oval with Anamorphic.

[@Quzga]

I love that dreamy vibe these lenses give off! Works very well.

[@aSSGoblin1488]

yabushige is my fav also first episode we see him as a super bored asshat i love it

[@wombat5334]

I loved the 80s version, and this one is just amazing.... Cant wait to see what you think of this series! Pay attention to the translations - who is translating and how its very rarely actually translating everything is actually really important! I like how you cottoned on to the whole "they are talking past one another" shown. This keeps on going everywhere. Its all about people making assumptions and acting on what they imagine is being said..

[@williambranch4283]

But "Kingdom of Heaven" director's cut, is a wonderful Crusade ;-)

[@boogaloobaloo]

Deus Vult

[@Panzer_ze_tank]

Nothing more painful to watch than a person who acts like her shit don't stink. Gonna watch someone with a more level head.

[@ssssantos304]

if that chick on the right is gonna act as we in the latino community say, "all pique," over literal history im gonna have fun cringing at her reactions every single time. like, yeah we get it, it makes no sense to you, it doesnt make sense anyone to anyone else either. also i would love to see her having the same reactions to like the different muslim sects and how they all hate each other even to this day, at least most christians dont really gaf anymore.

[@robertbunting3117]

This show is beautiful all the way through, from the scenery, the set designs, the costumes and the acting.

[@ManuelAlejandroTorresMonroy]

Religion wars and conflicts are no joke and better you understand them. They are really a battle of narratives and values that can lead you to prosperity or doom you for a destructive society. Religions have been for all of human history the values that united all civilizations and for example the madness we're in right now is due to lack of the values derived from religious beliefs.

[@_iarna_]

religions justify beliefs, they do not foment them

[@dukerollo1116]

This is actually based on a novel.based on actual people and real events in actual history. Toranaga based in tokagowa iaousu( definitely spelled wrong)blackthorn based on william adams

[@slayerrocks2]

"Why tell a dead man the future?" That line from Yabushige only resonates as hard as it should, on a rewatch.

[@joelwillis2043]

rewatch? I guess if you have a poor memory

[@slayerrocks2]

@joelwillis2043 I think you mean, " Don't have a photographic memory." One, seemingly insignificant line, weeks apart.

[@PeterPing]

@@joelwillis2043 Please finish the show first before typing anything further.

[@joelwillis2043]

@@PeterPing I have, there are several bookends in the show. They almost hit you over the head with them.

[@Christian-el2bz]

"Why tell a dead man the future" oh how those words will give meaning at a later point in time :D

[@red2977]

This is the best show I have seen soo far this year.

[@mapache2185]

Mmmmmmmm… “why tell a deadman the future…” brooooooooo

[@ravenward626]

Bill Wurtz did a good video to summarize/introduce Japanese history. It's a fair bit entertaining too.

[@Quzga]

His videos on history are so good. They should show them in schools, they're so much easier to absorb and remember.

[@GIRTHYANDITCURVES]

The amount of dread I feel for the girls ☠️☠️☠️ this series is gonna be sumn fs

[@Quzga]

Oh man they are gonna cry so much for this series 😂

[@GIRTHYANDITCURVES]

Set them on a path of emotional destruction ☠️

[@ivancoram4735]

Im not getting why you're so against Blacktorn. If the roles were reversed, it would be the same

[@robert.donnelly]

Trying very hard to ignore Arianna giving herself a goatee and mustache at 7:10 with her water bottle

[@ariannaw6858]

😂😂😂😂😂😂 I KNOW MY NEXT COSPLAY

[@jrogers05]

4:55 reading the list of symptoms I was immediately worried for myself

[@jammyjimmy666]

I really hope Arianna (and Maple, but mostly Arianna) do some research and learn more about the actual history of this period and region before watching more of this, because it getting kinda painful to listen to the bad takes/naive comments at this point to the extent it's overpowering the enjoyment of the rest of the reaction

[@jubelbrosseau7966]

I’m so glad you’re watching this! I expected it to be decent, but it blew my expectations away. In addition to Hiroyuki Sanada (Toranaga) being handsome (as you say), in his role as a producer for this show, he wanted to take special care for historical authenticity of this fraught and fascinating period in Japanese history. Shogun is truly a hybrid UK/Japanese production, and it’s proving to be as popular in Japan as it is here. I think that’s so cool! Enjoy the ride.

[@annapires991]

I'm very excited to watch you guys react to this, because I think the storyline is right up your alley (I still think this channel had one of the better discussions on Succession I have seen online), but just for the sake of perspective, you guys need to understand that Japan has never been a colony of anybody lol I think we tend always to simplify our vision of history, conflating some narratives about who invaded whom, so just to make this part clear lol

[@Papadoc1981]

Seeing the talk of ships and pirates this channel REALLY needs to watch BLACK SAILS. It will leave you floored with it's excellent writing and amazing cast of characters.

[@chance1774]

“i been waitin for this one! turn it up!!”

[@OttoGrainer27]

_"Oh he's gonna kill himself, cause he showed weakness in front of his men?"_ Ah, now that would be a *'woman's assumption'* :P