Shōgun episode 3 sets up its most important character by keeping him out of the limelight
In Shōgunepisode 3, Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) takes focus — sort of.
The whole conceit of the episode is, through a cunning escape plan, Toranaga remains largely distanced from immediate danger (and even people seeing him at all). But the episode “Tomorrow Is Tomorrow” lets his precise presence speak volumes about him and those he surrounds himself with.
Pretty much all of “Tomorrow Is Tomorrow” is about Toranaga’s efforts to keep himself and his people safe, namely by getting them out of Osaka entirely. Because he is not not a prisoner of Ishido (Takehiro Hira), he cannot simply walk his crew out. But while almost everyone knows he’s up to something, almost no one knows exactly what. The threat of his machinations, though, is enough to make Yabushige (Tadanobu Asano) and Ishido go along with the ruse (with a healthy side-eye) to try to beat him at his own game. Ultimately, Toranaga — with the help of his allies — proves to be too formidable an opponent. And with good reason: As Sanada himself told Polygon, Toranaga is more strategist than warrior.
“That’s why I didn’t want to fight too much. I tried to [give him] a good balance,” Sanada says. “And then all [his] action had to have a reason and emotion.”
As Sanada sees it, action is not “showtime” for Toranaga, since battle scenes typically come from the peak of drama, where words have failed. Instead, it’s trickery he prefers. Toranaga makes bold moves and even fights a bit, but largely wins because of the way he takes a backseat — having his consort pretend to have trouble with her baby so he can sneak into a palanquin and get carried out. By the time the council of regents is ready to vote to expel him, his right-hand man has already announced Toranaga’s bureaucratic trap.
It’s notable exactly how well his tactical brilliance is rewarded by those around him in this episode alone. Blackthorne steps up, showing his growing loyalty in the quiet ways he protects Mariko (Anna Sawai) on the road, as well as the
Read more on polygon.com
