The 10 episode series “Shogun” of Disney+ has come to an end and fans are asking for the Anna Sawai to be awarded for her outstanding performance.
Toda Mariko from our favorite series ‘Shogun’, 31, stars as “a woman of invaluable skills but dishonorable family ties who must prove her worth and subservience.”
“Shogun” is an adaptation of James Clavell’s 1975 novel of the same name, which is a fictionalization of real people and events from 17th century Japan.
Anna Sawai was born on June 11, 1992 in Wellington, New Zealand, but began her acting career at the age of 11 after moving to Japan the previous year. In 2004 she starred in a play in Tokyo and five years later made her film debut in the martial arts film Ninja Assassin.
However, Sawai took a break from acting when she was 21 and became the singer of the girl group FAKY, which made her famous in Japan.
She left the band after five years to return to her acting career and landed a role in the BBC crime series, ‘Giri/Hagi’. Her next big film role was in the film “Fast & Furious” of 2021 as Elle Lue.
Is Lady Mariko in ‘Shogun’ a real person?
The real woman behind Lady Toda Mariko is Akechi Tama, also known as Hosokawa Gracia – a 16th century Japanese aristocrat and daughter of General Akechi Mitsuhide (Akechi Jinsai in Shogun).
At the age of 15, Akechi Tama married the eldest son of Fujitaka Hosokawa (Toda Hiromatsu in Shogun), Tadaoki (Toda Buntaro in the series), another powerful warlord of the time. Tadaoki was a highly educated military commander and he and Tama had five children.
However, Tama found herself at the center of a power struggle in 1582 – she was 19 – when her father betrayed and assassinated the lord Nobunaga, before he was himself killed in battle a month later.
She herself spent two years in exile, after which she lived in Osaka. We see the tension her fame causes in episode six between Mariko and Ochiba No Kata (Fumi Nikaido).
In Osaka, Tama converted to Catholicism and took her Christian name – Gracia – causing conflict with her husband, according to recorded family history.
The producer Hiroyuki Sanada starring as Lord Yoshii Toranaga, who is fighting for his life as his enemies in the Council of Regents unite against him. When a mysterious European ship finds itself unmanned near a fishing village, its English captain, John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis), comes bearing secrets that could help Toranaga overthrow power and reduce the formidable influence of Blackthorne’s enemies, the Jesuit priests and Portuguese traders.
The fates of Toranaga and Blackthorne are inextricably linked with their translator, Toda Mariko (Anna Sawai). While serving her lord in this fraught political landscape, Mariko must balance her relationship with Blackthorne, her commitment to the faith that saved her, and her duty to her late father.
Will there be a ‘Shogun’ season 2?
There is no official word on a Season 2 of ‘Shogun’ despite its massive success and co-creator Justin Marks told ‘The Direct’ in February 2024: “I think we’re telling the full story of the book. And we’re coming to the end.”
Marks also mentioned how much time — about five years — has gone into creating the 10-episode series. This, according to him, is a good reason to leave her. The series has received an amazing -99%- rating on Rotten Tomatoes amid worldwide acclaim.
Source: skai.gr
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