The Unfettered Shogun (1978)

series

(34)

Country: Japan
Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama
Release: 1978-01-07
Director: N/A
Writers: N/A
Language: Japanese
Stars: Megumi Matsushita , Ken Matsudaira , Ken Matsudaira , Keiko Haruno , Megumi Morisaki , Shinya Hashimoto , Saburô Kitajima , Tadashi Yokouchi , Asahi Kurizuka , Masumi Harukawa , Misako Kinmura
Runtime: min
Awards: N/A
AKA: 暴れん坊将軍 (Japan) , The Unfettered Shogun (United Kingdom) , Abarenbô Shôgun (Australia) , The Unfettered Shogun , Yoshimune hyôbanki: Abarenbô Shôgun (Japan) , Abarenbô Shôgun , The Unfettered Shogun (United States of America) , Chronicle in Praise of Yoshimune: The Bold Shogun
Plot: Abarenbo Shogun revolves around one of the last Tokugawa Shoguns, Yoshimune. Yoshimune likes to mingle with the commoners under the name Shinnosuke (or Shin-san to his friends). He does so to be a better ruler. Grossly inaccurate, but still fun the same. It's a typical samurai drama, but with greatly humours characters and good acting. It ends the same in just about every episode where Yoshimune/Shin-san confronts the villain at his complex; the villain (being some government official having previously glimpsed the shogun) doesn't believe the shogun would actually come down and therefore orders his men to slay the "imposter" (though some realize it's the shogun and do it anyway), the shogun turns his blade around (so he doesn't actually kill anyone) and a big fight ensues; it comes down to his 2 ninjas, him, and the villain, and he orders his ninjas to "punish him" aka kill him. It's a great show though, a guilty pleasure if you will. The musical score does a lot to the mood and setting of the show.
IMDB:tt0220189