The show is beautifully shot and the story is very compelling. The Japanese cast includes some truly heavy hitters (Hiroyuki Sanada and Tadanobu Asano are legends, imo). The only thing that brings it down slightly for me is the terrible, hammy overacting of Cosmo Jarvis. I don't know if it's the script that was written for him or what, but his performance just comes off as so...unwatchable. It's like he's trying to do a third-rate channeling of Tom Hardy (who by the way would have been fantastic in this role, in my opinion). Every time Blackthorne opens his mouth I just want to cringe. Shogun is still very much worth watching because thankfully, Blackthorne is just one small part of an otherwise excellent ensemble cast. This show runs laps around "House of the Dragon" or any other recent period limited drama.

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