bmwracer wrote:

That sounds pretty damn good. Anybody wanna recommend a book or two about this group?? Or maybe another series/movie about this clandestine group?

I don't think they were clandestine, pretty much out in the open, but like a private police force.

Some Shinsengumi related movies:

Mibu gishi den ("When the Last Sword is Drawn") http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0359692/

Gohatto ("Taboo") http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0213682/

When I was in the US Navy, our ship was tapped one year to play part in the Black Ship Festival at Shimoda. Nice little seaside town...

vibius wrote:

I don't think they were clandestine, pretty much out in the open, but like a private police force.

Right. Wrong choice of words... Stormtroopers?

Quote:

Some Shinsengumi related movies: Mibu gishi den ("When the Last Sword is Drawn") http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0359692/ Gohatto ("Taboo") http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0213682/

Thanks. I'll check 'em out.

bmwracer wrote:

My thoughts exactly. If they played it totally serious, I would've bought into it, but the funny business and silliness turned me off.

That's also the reason why I think it sucked!

I have no doubt that the story is good, but it's just the silliness that I can't take.
Even in Musasahi, at times I thought Matahachi went overboard with the silliness.

I'll try to watch it again next week though. Hopefully it can change the way I feel about the drama.
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ahochaude wrote:

Even in Musasahi, at times I thought Matahachi went overboard with the silliness.

Yeah, same here, but that's the way they portrayed his character as being a jokester... In Shinsengumi, the entire show has this underlying tongue-in-cheekness to it...

Funny, but the Kage No Gundan series, had some humor in it, but also (excellent) action sequences, so it was okay. And it wasn't historical in any way...

bmwracer wrote:

stormtroopers

Hmm that sounds too military ... they were more like peacekeepers. I hear they were pretty strict, they'd chop your head off if you looked at 'em wrong.

Maybe "militia" is better, a private police force that sprang up to fill the security vacuum during that uncertain period. I think. I'm not really a student of history.

vibius wrote:

they were more like peacekeepers. I hear they were pretty strict, they'd chop your head off if you looked at 'em wrong.

Homeland Security??

bmwracer wrote:

Homeland Security??

Pin Pon.

Jackbooted Thugs! In sandals!

bmwracer wrote:

Yeah, same here, but that's the way they portrayed his character as being a jokester... In Shinsengumi, the entire show has this underlying tongue-in-cheekness to it...

But the way Shinichi did it was too goofy, so to speak.
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Isn't it arguable that the Shinsengumi were kinda' like Kyoto-ian comic book superheroes, protecting the peace-loving/pro-Shogunate populace? After all, what? The Shinsengumi only went after samurai that supported the emperor, samurai who couldn't identify what clan or what fencing school from which they hailed, and others who ended up as ne'er do wells?

Not to make fun of your suggestion, vibius, but, "militia" sounds like "Melissa." And, if the Shinsengumi are characterized as "militia," that would assume that they are a military presence.

The Man wrote:

Not to make fun of your suggestion, vibius, but, "militia" sounds like "Melissa." And, if the Shinsengumi are characterized as "militia," that would assume that they are a military presence.

There's an armed Melissa patrolling the streets?

Well, not to be contrarian, but ok, I will and disagree. To me "military" connotes state sponsorship, but "militia" is more private sponsorship. Anyway, that's the distinction I was trying to make.

They weren't an army, but they were armed.

before i die i'd like to see all of NHK's taiga dramas starting with the first one: life of a flower, from '63 i'm ultraserious.... think it can be done?.... or has any1 done it?

lovelessemotion wrote:

before i die i'd like to see all of NHK's taiga dramas starting with the first one: life of a flower, from '63 i'm ultraserious.... think it can be done?.... or has any1 done it?

Hhaa. I was just thinking of that the other day. An NHK Taiga "timeline" boxed set would keep you busy for years; would be expensive, though.

The Oxford English Dictionary has a complete 20 volume set (a nice three grand; little under 900 bucks if you're shopping at Barnes & Noble online). Taiga drama can be done.

Taiga-based drama that take place in the 1930s-1940s gonna be mighty interesting, maybe even a bit of a challenge, to produce.

ahochaude wrote:

Even in Musasahi, at times I thought Matahachi went overboard with the silliness.

TOO silly? How could that be?

The stuff with Musashi was very serious, I think they wanted to balance it out...
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- Douglas

Itazura ichiban wrote:

TOO silly? How could that be? The stuff with Musashi was very serious, I think they wanted to balance it out...

I don't think it was a matter of balancing it out, more than it was Matahachi's character: Never serious, always kidding around, getting in trouble, not amounting to much, etc... In that way, Shinichi-san played it perfectly.

Can I get an AMEN!

In Hawai'i, the weekly Shinsengumi episode will be shown twice -- first on Tuesday nights, then again on Sunday nights.

The Tuesday airing is a "must-watch" for The Man as he is preoccupied with The Sopranos on Sunday.

By the way . . . there's a new wild west TV series called Deadwood -- that follows The Sopranos on Sundays -- which started on HBO a few weeks ago. Deadwood specifically takes place in 1876 . . . roughly a little over a decade after the demise of the Shinsengumi. Deadwood, then, basically starts about the time when Custer (who Katsumoto admires in The Last Samurai) makes his own last stand. Lots of swearing, lots of double-crossing, lots of plots of land to search for gold, lots of prostitutes, dirt and muddy roads (the town of Deadwood could've taken some lessons on town aesthetic from Kyoto, I suppose), oh, and Wild Bill Hickock and his crew are in the show as well.

Just really great to be watching two historical dramas, one samurai, one cowboy -- happening around roughly the same time, mind you -- on two different networks. Can't remember the last time that happened.

OK, useless information section over, go sleep, go study, go watch the news, go have that nightcap now.

The Man wrote:

Hhaa. I was just thinking of that the other day. An NHK Taiga "timeline" boxed set would keep you busy for years; would be expensive, though. Taiga-based drama that take place in the 1930s-1940s gonna be mighty interesting, maybe even a bit of a challenge, to produce.

damn dude.... buit why does The Oxford English Dictionary has a complete 20 volume set? does it have subtitles? .... 3k
watching all of them is still a nice dream..... a taiga box set would be enough drama for ur whole life i think..

bmwracer wrote:

I don't think it was a matter of balancing it out, more than it was Matahachi's character: Never serious, always kidding around, getting in trouble, not amounting to much, etc... In that way, Shinichi-san played it perfectly.

In a way it kind of annoyed me, he suddenly becomes a responsible and serious businessman, out of nowhere it seems...

BTW that's the actor as my avatar, it's not me!
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- Douglas

Itazura ichiban wrote:

In a way it kind of annoyed me, he suddenly becomes a responsible and serious businessman, out of nowhere it seems...

I think he sorta evolved into the businessman position, but even then his dealings were shady, and that got him in trouble. And it eventually cost him his life.

Itazura ichiban wrote:

In a way it kind of annoyed me, he suddenly becomes a responsible and serious businessman, out of nowhere it seems...

Yeah. It was always like a back and forth kind of thing though. He'd be serious one moment, and then he'd be goofing off. It was pretty irritating. (IMO) But I my opinion could be biased as well. I first seen Shinichi in Good Luck as the "asshole". A character I felt matched his personality perfectly. (IMO) I think he's better off playing the ass than a
comic.

Itazura Ichiban wrote:

BTW that's the actor as my avatar, it's not me!

Yup. That's the man himself! "Matahachi"
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