Mariko would be the first japanese person in England and of high status. John was particularly sent to Japan to open it to England and Holland. And Queen Elizabeth I. was known for loving her sailing heroes like Sir Francis Drake - who John served with as he told in episode 1. So yes, I absolutlely beleive he could get an audience at the Queen's palace with Mariko on his side. Think of "Rule Britannia!" The second line is "Britannia rules the waves".

Fuji is not a servant, she's a noble woman.

Fuji is technically John's wife. In order to be a hatamoto, John has to become a samurai in a vassal family, so he married into her family, which is the Toda family. Thats why she says he needs to wear swords in order to become a samurai, and she is sworn to give her life to defend him.

Every new episode just keeps getting better than the last 😲🥰 sweet stuff. This show is so addicting lol yet so jam packed that letting it simmer for a week before the next episode just makes sense. I feel like bingeing all in one sitting would be information overload and would lessen the impact it has on me as a viewer. So I watch an episode one time and then wait for just two of my fave reactors for some insights that I may have missed, then if I find time, a rewatch day before the next one drops

You are one of the best “solo reaction” channels! 👏🏽

1 koku was the amount in rice needed to feed one family for one year. 1 koku = 180.39 liters. It was basically how samurai got paid.

19:11 Natural hot springs are the bomb, ever-flowing and clean, geothermal minerals good for the skin. The ideal bathing for 17h century savages, LOL. Wishing everyone to try them in Asia if they haven't already. Seem to prevalent in mountainous, Earthquake prone areas.

Thank you, Derek! 🗾 This episode contained an event that stuck out in my mind from the 44-years-old version... when the concubine was sent in to "pillow" with 'John'. In the old mini-series, it's explained that she wore the perfume that 'Mariko' usually wears. So, it was purposeful, to make him think he'd slept with her. He was insulted by the supposedly well-meaning subterfuge. It didn't come off that way in this version.

It absolutely is Mariko in his bed - he would not have done that with anyone else. But for her reputation's sake no one can know they have been doing the pillowing. So the cover story is that it was a concubine. It takes Blackthorn a minute, but he gets it. First off, no matter what titles and honor he's been shown - he's still a barbarian in everyone's eyes. Fuji and everyone else have no choice but to be outwardly respectful while still considering him a disgusting weirdo behind their Eight-Fold Fence. Mariko is the only one who has learned enough about him to respect him as a person (even if he is still a weirdo, lol). Secondly, we haven't seen Buntaro's body, so she could still be married, but even if she's single - no romancing without Toranaga's permission. Thirdly, whatever history she was hinting at with her father, it's clear her family name is ruined, so an association with Blackthorn wouldn't be good for his reputation either. Omi is definitely manipulating everyone, with Kiku only egging him on for her own reasons. His uncle will ruin himself, Toranaga's son will ruin himself - then Omi can take over the regiment and offer his services to the highest bidder or whoever he thinks will win the war. After all, he wasn't in charge of anything and had no power... Fuji, by the way, outranks Omi whether she's Blackthorn's consort or not, so he cannot openly force her to do anything, like give up those guns. I think even Blackthorn outranks Omi at this point, but Omi was trying to bluff him.

This is the best cannon reaction I've seen so far 😅😂

1 koku is a measurement equal to the amount of rice you can feed one person for an entire year.. 240 koku per year… he’s living flush ! A CONSORT is legally companion or partner of high regard.. she’s also the grand daughter of Toranaga’s best friend and right hand man Toda Hirumatsu.. the old gentleman samurai who told Lord Ishido ..that Lord Toranaga resigned from the council. Which heavily makes her of much higher importance and rank.. than the “fuck-smear” Omi.. thats why he had to back off ASAP. Thanks for a great reaction!

I do not think it could have been any other person than Mariko. She said it was Kiku, and that did happen in the book but not the way they depicted this scene. And if you remember the scene with Kiku and Omi, she had short hair. I know they had wigs but still. Great reaction.

Fuji-sama is the precious gem of this show.

Will add "Milk dribbling F*** smear" to my list of insults! 🤣

fuji W

One koku is the amount of rice it takes to feed a family of 5 for a year, conservatively. A rough modern equivalent of one koku could be valued for easy math at about $100,000 a year salary. Toranaga gave him 240 generous cuckoos, effectively giving Blackthorne a household and annual salary of almost a quarter million dollars US a year, for a large city cost of living. In the book there is a much bigger deal made about the fact that Blackthorne got the amount of money without being expected to raise any levies of Samurai families for Toranaga's armies, or manage any resources like a village for production and taxes. So while it's not billions, it's pure profit. Anjin-san now has truly 'arrived' in Japanese society. Blackthorne is an English Pilot, but he was hired by the Dutch to Pilot the expedition to Japan for their fleet. His crew and his ship are not English, they're Dutch. His ship is called the Erasmus, after the Patron Saint of Sailors, St. Erasmus of Formia, died in the early 300s. There's a phenomenon in certain weather when the ground or water has a charge build up. Very high points of a ship's mast, trees, poles, chimneys, even sometimes on the antlers of stags will glow with a plasma glow that sometimes becomes like trees of lightning reaching upward to the sky slowly. It's called St. Elmo's Fire, and St. Elmo is a different form of the name of St. Erasmus. Sailors believed it was a blessing from Saint Elmo. On land, it's one of the reasons for the folklore of Elks with white, flaming antlers appearing occasionally and imbuing them with mythic importance.

I think Omi( pee man) is trying to play all sides. He wants yashuiges position, he wants access to toranoga by removing his son, and then he wants Ishido to believe he’s on his side and competent. Babygirl, we don’t know her motivations yet so right now’s she’s the most dangerous especially using Omi

Not that I didn't like the episode at first, but I've really grown to love it through reactions like yours. I watch lots of different reactions but I only stick around for the post-episode recap from a few content creators. Loved hearing you reflect on the episodes and your thoughts. And I was also deeply touched when you said that Mariko had been rebuilt. Of course that's the essence of what John said, but hearing it put so succinctly was very sweet.

Ok, I'm just gonna leave it here. I think those are not cannon ball shots but rather chain shots where John was about to teach them (22:51) before Josen arrives on the scene.

Spoiler: That hot spring scene makes me emptional too man. It’s probably my favorite scene in the series, just a pure, wholesome imaginary date in the middle of a very dark conflict. John mentioning “doomed lovers” ended up being a devastating piece of foreshadowing :(

the way you guys westerner said Shogun is "show gun", not "sho goon"

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Poor Yabushige...

This is the food they were eating: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natt%C5%8D Great review