Hey Everyone,
I love Chinese Period Dramas. I don’t get into a lot of Japanese series, though I would love to. I would like to know if there are any series that I am missing that is a Period Piece. Netflix’s ‘ Age of Samurai’ is more of a documentary than an actual series but even that is right up my alley!
Thanks for any suggestions!
3 comments
I’ve never seen any Japanese period dramas but since you mentioned loving Chinese period dramas just curious if you’ve seen the glamorous imperial concubine? It’s so good. Also if you haven’t tried south Korean period dramas they are amazing also!
There are a few period drama channels on YouTube, mostly jidaigeki (Samurai shows). I recommend the channel **SAMURAI VS NINJA**. Specifically, they are uploading a show called **Zankuro**, which is a jidaigeki comedy set in the last years of the Tokugawa shogunate, which follows a distant relative of the Shogun as he does shenanigans. The final season (I believe season 8) is set during the Meiji Restoration, to give you an idea of the time period.
A strong plus is that the main character is a young Ken Watanabe, it’s one of his older shows, I think it’s his first after he beat cancer. The major supporting actors are also fantastic, I especially like Tsutakichi.
The channel is actively uploading new episodes, so you’ll have to wait for all 8 seasons of Zankuro to finish uploading, but it’s great fun. Strongly recommend! The channel also has a number of other jidaigeki shows and movies, I hear good things about Zatoichi. Watch a few of these shows and YouTube will start recommending similar channels.
Some fun things to notice: Zankuro is a low class samurai and often doesn’t speak like a Samurai, making him feel very out of place! It also means you might recognize phrases easier, since there is less samurai conjugation (I like to describe samurai language as informal keigo, でござる rather than でございます for example). He is a gokenin, the characters for that are 御家人 which signifies his direct affiliation with the Shogun, meaning his lord is a Hatamoto rather than a Daimyo. Many gokenin were quite poor, and Zankuro is the poorest of them all, yet his blood relation with the Shogun means his rank outclasses even some wealthy Daimyo. Because of Tokugawa laws, samurai were not allowed to take on violent jobs, so Zankuro comes across kind of like a NEET, lounging around and being lazy because he literally can’t be a normal, productive member of society. Once in a while he takes on odd jobs or helps out the local police, and always delivers justice while bribing his mom with food.
I don’t know if there are streams but every year NHK airs a year long Taiga Drama https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiga_drama