I’ve loved that, and her stoicism. The original lady in the original Shogun was quite good, but Anna Sawai is definitely better.

I read the book and saw the original 40 years ago, so I knew it was coming, but I was (and am) super curious about how all the Shogun virgins were going to react. I’m guessing a lot of people are losing their shit that one of our leads is not making it to the final episode.

I’ve really loved that actor’s work in this show. He reminds me very much of a Yojimbo era Toshiro Mifune, if he was constantly stepping on rakes instead of winning.

Not so much focused on it, but it was definitely part of the overall picture it painted, was really probably only important with the reuniting of Blackthorne and his crew.

There are few better examples of, as the kids say, “fumbling the bag” in Hollywood today. She was a unicorn as a plus sized woman who was allowed to be characterized as both sexy, and fearsomely tough. She had the field all to herself, and would have had no competition until the arrival of Kali Reis the last couple of…

Heroes was a great show for 23/24 of a season. They fucked up the finale, and they were afraid to kill Sylar, which ruined the show. It got worse season after season until the final season which made me actively angry.

I find it interesting that they seem to have decided to drop all mention of the “Eta” or Untouchable caste of the time, although it came up multiple times in the book and original show, most notably when Blackthorne attempts to reunite with his shipmates. In the book and original show, aside from them being filthy drun…

I’ve been saying that every time I read one of these articles. It’s clear that none of these reviewers have ever read the original text or seen the original series. They just make assumptions out of whole cloth and go from there.

I am constantly confused why writers write these articles about this show acting like most, if not all of this stuff wasn’t in the original text and original show. It’s like they just assume that the women couldn’t have been important to the story 40 years ago, and that the Japanese characters couldn’t have been…

Maybe people don’t know much about Geishas anymore since it’s kind of been fading away since WWII, but that’s what Gin was talking about. She is proposing what would become the modern Geisha system, where it is more about the ceremonialism, and less about “pillowing”. In the modern day, some Geishas still offer…

We’ve had call-in TV for over 25 years now, so he nailed that one.

And of course you would have to cast Neil DeGrasse Tyson as Doctor Dubois Harris...I don’t know if Stephenson has ever straight out said it, but the character description is a slightly less nerdy NDT.

The Uplift War would be far easier to do than Startide rising...and of course Andy Serkis would have to be Fiben Bolger!

It’s the last readable book in the series...but I wouldn’t call it great...or even good, tbh.

If you want to talk about unfilmable Harlan Ellison, I’d like to see someone try “I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream”.

I’ve read the book and seen the original show...I kinda feel the same way.

I always thought that Carl Long got hosed by NASCAR looking to make an example out of someone that no one cared about. I remember that being the general opinion in the NASCAR garage at the time. The general opinion seemed to be that the reason the engine was oversized was because it was badly worn, not for any…

Yeah, they keep on making assumptions about what they were like, and then they say things that make it clear they are only guessing.

Not “Somewhat reduced in status”, but extremely reduced in status. Mariko is the daughter of someone considered a traitor, and is only alive because her husband will not allow her to commit seppeku. Fuji’s entire line was killed for her husband disrespecting Ishido(?). These are two women who are only alive as…

I get the distinct impression that most people reviewing this show and making negative comments ab0ut it’s predecessors never saw the original show, and never read the book. The main difference is the subtitling and that it is mostly(but not all) from Blackthorne’s viewpoint. In the original series, they only subtitle…