Rarely is a show a slam dunk for an Emmy, but when it comes to “Shogun”, it was obvious that the other nominees for Outstanding Drama Series were fighting for second place. 
It’s not that the other shows were bad, but “Shogun” was miles ahead of the competition. If you haven’t seen it, I’ll put it like this: “Shogun” is like all the good elements of “The Last Samurai” and everything you liked about “Game of Thrones” all put together. 
Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai won for Best Lead Actor and Best Lead Actress, respectively. I’m more surprised this show didn’t win more acting awards than it got. The Japanese actors and actresses in this show were outstanding, especially Hiroyuki Sanada in the role of Lord Yoshii Toranaga, and Anna Sawai in the role of Lady Mariko. 
My only complaint is that sometimes it seemed like the European actors were not giving 100% to their roles. I think Cosmo Jarvis did fine, but his performance as John Blackthorne was more meme than legitimate performance. I couldn’t take him seriously with all his shuffling and rambling about his ship and his men. But this complaint is a minor one, as he still did well. 

Categories: Arts & Entertainment