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The story
A thread sorting NHK’s year-long historical “taiga dramas” into “masterpieces” and “duds” went up on 5ch’s Livegalileo (news/variety) board. The original poster (OP — called “itchi” in 5ch slang) filed Shinsengumi!, Atsuhime, Sanada Maru, Reach Beyond the Blue Sky, and The 13 Lords of the Shogun under masterpieces, and Tenchijin, Go, Hana Moyu, and How Do You Like Ieyasu? under duds — but replies pushed back on that sorting almost immediately. Most notably, several posters rated Taira no Kiyomori — which posted the lowest ratings in the show’s 60-plus-year history when it aired — as a “total masterpiece” and even “the best taiga ever.” Meanwhile, opinion on How Do You Like Ieyasu? was split on the lead performance, but many praised the supporting cast, and quite a few pushed back on writing the whole show off as a dud.
What people said
Speaking of lowest ratings, Idaten [2019 taiga, also famously low-rated] isn't even on the list.
If you don't get it, fine, don't get it.
It went a totally different route from the 'sweets taiga' [5ch slang for romance-heavy taiga dramas].
Personally I found it surprisingly enjoyable.
I'm also a fan of Toshiie and Matsu.
Personally I think it's a masterpiece.
I'll take the criticism that the Azai Three Sisters looked way too old for the part.
In my book, it's the strongest taiga there is.
It's more of a home drama, honestly.
People do praise it for going all-in on Sekigahara for the first 10 episodes though.
Watching Sanada Maru right now — any other recommendations?
Seiten, Kamakura-dono [The 13 Lords of the Shogun].
If you like those two and haven't seen it, Masamune's a good pick.
Also Yoshimune.
Taiheiki [1991] is said to be the best of the Heisei era — top 5 of all time, even.
But that's 35 years ago now.
Taiheiki was incredible. Even the fall of the Hojo clan had a kind of beauty to it.
Re: #41
Did you catch the rerun?
Original characters running wild,
romance subplots everywhere —
it'd get absolutely torn apart if it aired today.
But Jinnai, Nezu Jinpachi, and Takeda Tetsuya were great.
It's like they dumped all the 'sweets' romance stuff into the first half, then did what they actually wanted in the back half.
It's watchable once Sena dies.
Re: #38
The parts without Naotora are good.
Funny thing is, people said the back half was watchable precisely because the writer lost motivation.
The stuff about Kyoto politics, which Yae herself barely touched, was good enough to call a masterpiece.
We don't actually know much about what the real Yae did anyway, so I thought the non-Yae parts were the good parts.
It was sad how childish the Byakkotai [White Tiger Corps, teenage samurai unit] came across.
That'd just turn into a Yoshimoto/Ujizane story anyway.
I heard Naotora was originally supposed to go in that direction.
That said, the people around him — Ujizane, Hideyori, Kazumasa — really shone.
Muro's Hideyoshi was better than the one in Toyotomi Brothers.
The script itself probably wasn't that bad, but they were bragging about cutting corners on the sets, and it was too much to sit through.
Matsujun's acting was fine, honestly.
The bad acting was from Yamada's son.
No way Heihachiro was like that.
I'd think they were strong enough to warrant it.
If it's the Ise Shinkuro [young Hojo Soun] story, I believe they'll get there eventually.
Soun through Ujimasa is a nice clean historical arc too, so it's strange they haven't done it.
Plenty of famous warlords tied into it as well.
Yoshiaki's story gets pretty heavy in places, so probably not — his clan lost its domain about 10 years after he died anyway.
Muneshige's got that Byeokjegwan [1593 battle] problem.
The issue is it's Japan fighting China on Korean soil.
By the way, the one I think is underrated is Taira no Kiyomori.
It gets treated as a dud, but I thought it was really good.
Kiyomori is a total masterpiece.
I left it off the thread title since the public doesn't rate it highly, but personally it's my favorite.
Same here — it's a toss-up between this and Kamakura-dono for best taiga ever.
Glad OP actually gets it.
Honestly I wanted someone to point out that Kiyomori aired after Go, so of course you'd have watched it — but eh, close enough.
Seriously, Kiyomori's mysterious low reputation makes no sense.
Background and Talking Points
NHK’s taiga dramas have a history spanning more than 60 years, and it’s a recurring topic that ratings and critical reputation don’t always line up. “Taira no Kiyomori” (2012), repeatedly mentioned in the thread, posted the lowest average ratings in the franchise’s history at the time and was long held up as the poster child for a flop — but in recent years, online opinion has increasingly praised its hard-edged character writing and visual craftsmanship. “Idaten” (2019), likewise known for low ratings, also came up in the thread. “Sweets taiga” (スイーツ大河) is 5ch slang for dramas that foreground romance and interpersonal melodrama, usually used with a slightly critical edge. In this thread too, opinions split depending on whether posters liked or disliked that tendency, though there was broad agreement that ratings numbers alone don’t measure a show’s quality. That said, it’s worth remembering these are individual posters’ personal opinions, not results from any official popularity poll.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Livegalileo/”nandemo jikkyo” board) thread “Masterpiece taiga dramas: ‘Shinsengumi, Atsuhime, Sanada Maru, Reach Beyond the Blue Sky, Kamakura-dono’ — Dud taiga dramas: ‘Tenchijin, Go, Hana Moyu, How Do You Like Ieyasu?’.”
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