I'll lay my cards on the table here in that I was a fan from my childhood of the original. I'd expected this to be even better. And whilst it starts off being a faithful remake of the original, it soon descends into something less enjoyable. The original focused exclusively on John Blackthorns's viewpoint becoming immersed in a foreign alien culture and becoming gradually absorbed by it. This one does also but to a lesser degree. About 75% of the show is looking at the feuding between the various clans. And I dispose that's about right because after all the show is called Shogun and not John Blackthorne' Adventures in Japan. But this creates a pretty significant problem - for me at least. 95% of the show is subtitled. So you spend most of the time reading the subtitles and not the characters. Now normally I don't have a problem with subtitles for foreign films but for this I do. Then there's the lighting. Why are so many scenes set in such poorly lit indoor settings? And they're not restricted to just indoors. Then there's the weather. Does it never stop raining in Japan? Living in Ireland I've cursed our foul damp weather my whole life but we're effectively Saharan compared to these poor souls. Finally, there's the whole "They all look the same" problem. Now don't jump down my throat with this one. But the fact is that to Caucasians, who also all look the same to other ethnicities, trying to determine which character is which is so difficult especilaly when the lighting is so poor. Other filmmakers get around this by using different hair colour or style for each character to differentiate them one from another. Or dress them differently consistently. But with these characters, where the blokes all sport the same partial baldy hair and the same outfits, you spend so much time confused as to who is who. And since there are so many extras all looking the same, I found myself watching an extra thinking it was a lead character and vice versa. Maybe that's just a problem for an old timer like me. I think the only time the outfit colour is implemented is with John's love-interest. She's generally sporting a pale blue outfit. Dear love you if she ever wishes to experiment with different outfit choices. So, is it an easy watch? No. You have to seriously invest your time into persevering with the show past the first two episodes. In fact there's one episode around the middle of the show that I think the filmmakers had a chuckle putting it in. We're treated to a traditional Japanese play and "musical performance" with accompanying dancers. And it goes on forever with little relevance or benefit to the plot. It certainly has many good points but I think it's very overrated. I was close to choosing Seppuku myself.