I know historical period pieces aren’t usually in my reviewing wheelhouse (though there have been a few series / films I’ve really loved in the genre) but I feel Shogun is close enough to several other things I cover that it’s not too big a departure. Mostly I wanted to talk about it because it was so damn good that even though every other critic is also gushing about it I still wanted to contribute to the praise this mini-series has gained. The series (and by that I mean the book it’s based on) is set in a slightly modified version of the late Sengoku period of Japan and puts a bigger emphasis on accidental visiting Brit John Blackthorne (or William Adams in real life) and makes a few other changes beyond just renaming everyone, but it does also tell a pretty good account of the actual time period (though nobody tore through waves of soldiers and threw them into the air with magic weapons! Are you telling me that BOTH Samurai Warriors and Sengoku Basara lied to me?!) Anyway, let’s take a look!