The Checklist: Shogun’s Samurai (S1 Ep1) “The Assassination of a Shogun”
Once you’re engaged in battle, fight to win. That is the cardinal rule of battle for the Yagyu Clan. The cardinal rule of The Checklist is to grade a singular episode from a television series based on some preconceived notions I may already have on the show. It’s all very technical, I know, but even television series that are over 40 years old aren’t safe from The Checklist!!! Muah ha ha ha! That is why I chose the first episode of this series, one in which I’ve never seen, to put against he checklist in a grueling fight to the death! It’s Episode 1 of Shogun’s Samurai aka. The Yagyu Conspiracy from 1978, starring the legendary Sonny Chiba.
#1. Sword fights can’t be that common, can they?
You are damn right, they are! At least in Shogun’s Samurai! The series doesn’t just start off with a couple of dudes getting sliced and diced, it continues on with the sword play for a majority of the episode. Dismemberments are kind of the icing on the cake when it comes to samurai battles but we’re even treated to a dynamite ninja attack by the end of this episode. 1/1
#2. Is there any political intrigue in Shogun’s Samurai?
Yes, indeed. The youngest son of the Shogun is poised to jump his elder brother and become the supreme ruler of all of Japan. He and his homeboys are consolidating power and making moves in order to put him at the front of the list but suddenly the Shogun dies and now everything is thrown into chaos. The Young Master Iemitsu fears that if his older brother Tadanaga takes over the Clan that he’ll have him offed. It leads to a bit of tension, to be sure. 2/2
#3. Does Sonny Chiba get a chance to show off his sword skills?
A good portion of the episode is spent getting to know the major players in the struggle for the Shogunate. The two brothers, their advisors, and of course getting some killer sword fights. It isn’t until nearly halfway through the episode that we meet Chiba’s Jubei. Lucky for us, though, he gets in on the action immediately and become a focus for the rest of the episode with a couple of fights thrown in for good measure. 3/3
#4. There are samurai but are there any ninjas?
There most certainly are ninjas! In a scene shortly after the mysterious death of the Shogun, a group of ninjas break into the resting place of the Shogun’s body, cut out his intestines(to check it for poison), and attempt to escape through a gauntlet of samurai swords and retainers from the Yagyu Clan. It’s not often you get so see a game of “keep away” with a human organ but it’s in this scene that we finally get to see our beloved Yagyu Jubei played by Sonny Chiba. 4/4
#5. Does anyone commit Hara-kiri?
We can’t have all things in life. While the show starts off incredibly strong with enough sword fights and dismemberments, we never get to see the ceremonial ritual suicide that samurai are famous for. It’s all good, though, because I’m sure that sometime during the season there will be plenty of self mutilations. 4/5
- Final Score = 4/5 (80%) This show rocks pretty hard. In fact, I’ve been a fan of the 1978 film Yagyu Clan Conspiracy for quite some time and this uses pretty much that same exact story and many of the same actors. It’s like watching The Empire Strikes Back and then seeing a television series following the same story but given about 20 episodes. Fans of all things samurai and ninjas will love this show but it’s much more than just action, it’s like a feudal Japan version of Game of Thrones. Plenty of killing and lusting, but more politics and maneuverings than most shows twice as long. Be sure to check it out on Amazon Prime now!
