Anna Sawai on Shōgun: ‘Our show taught women it was OK to stand up and say no’

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/dec/23/anna-sawai-on-shogun-our-show-taught-women-it-was-ok-to-stand-up-and-say-no

9 comments

  1. A bit from the article:

    > But the response from Japanese and Asian women and girls has brought Sawai to tears. “I feel their pain,” she says. “It has made me realise how much some Japanese women don’t even realise they’re being treated a certain way. We’re very behind when it comes to equality for women. It shocked me that our show taught them that it was OK to stand up and say no.”
    >
    > It has also resonated with women living outside Japan. “They have been struggling, too, with expectations they need to meet. Of course, in Mariko’s time it was much more severe. But women really do need to do so much more in order to prove themselves.”
    >
    > Sawai says she hadn’t set out to make a statement about women’s rights. She just wanted the show to be as authentic as possible. “But I’ve come to realise that it’s a much bigger thing that we’re doing.”

  3. Because no woman had ever done that before this show. Truly groundbreaking and awe inspiring.

  4. It’s weird because the book gave Mariko way more autonomy when it comes to the Anjin.

    As for the show, Cosmo Jarvis was a bad choice and the writing/pacing was very mid and confusing.

    I know it’s said often, but read the book. Mariko’s character is phenomenal.

  6. Shogun and The Penguin were far and above the best series in 2024. It’s not even a competition with others, just these two competing against which one was better.

  7. IMO, they were equal from an acting and writing standpoint. Shogun’s visual aesthetics might tip the scales.

  8. In this thread: a bunch of white dudes commenting that Asian women are wrong about Asian women’s lived experience.

    Ahh, good ol Reddit.

  9. I did NOT get that takeaway from the show. She was a servant of duty and fate. She was smart but let’s not pretend she ever really said no.

    If anything it showcased how everyone was beholden to duty, and that wasn’t limited to women.

    Perhaps in the book Mariko may have been stronger or defied duty but that wouldn’t be Anna Sawai’s connection because she would be the face of the film.

    Just my two cents.

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