foreign exchange‘s shÅ gun It is a series that does not skimp on the details. The dialogue was painstakingly translated from English to Japanese, modified by a Japanese playwright, given another pass for historical accuracy, and then retranslated into English for the subtitles we see now. Japanese artisans flew to Vancouver to do everything from tying obis to working on traditional wigs. There is one detail, however, that shÅ gun Co-creator and showrunner Justin Marks is eager for fans to take notice. So much so, when Jugo Mobile was wrapping up an interview with Marks and fellow co-creator Rachel Kondo this week, taking place the day after the show ends on April 23, she asked us if we had plans to reveal a little, nerdy Easter egg. which we had talked about months before.
“I have a question for you before we go,” Marks asked, turning the tables on the usual interview. “Could you ever point out something that I really hope people notice, which is Toranaga’s color choice? Kosode?â€
Marks was referring to an off-the-record conversation Jugo Mobile had with the shÅ gun team at a party that FX organized for journalists at Winter 2024 TCA. In addition to chatting about the show’s early reception and the fact that Cosmo Jarvis improvised his hilarious Episode 7 line, “This seems to be happening,” we returned to a comment Marks had made during a previous interview. Marks had revealed on the record that the Cloud City sequence in Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back was a key source of inspiration for Saeki’s (Eita Okuno) heel turn shÅ gun Episode 7 “A stick of time.” Marks later confirmed Jugo Mobile’s suspicion that Toranaga’s costume was another homage to George Lucas’ original. Star Wars trilogy.
“We were trying to get it back to Obi-Wan. [Kenobi]”said Marks, of Toranaga’s specific shade of brown.
The extremely nerdy reason Marks wanted to draw a line between Toranaga and Obi-Wan Kenobi, ironically, has nothing to do with the Star Wars movie we know and love today, but the movie that could have been. George Lucas’ original first choice for the samurai-inspired Jedi Knight was none other than Toshiro Mifune, Japan’s most legendary star.
“I’m still hoping someone gets familiar with the color palette,” Marks said. “It was our little tribute to Mifune almost being cast as Obi-Wan. “We were trying to give Toranaga a little bit of that color scheme.”
Mifune, ironically, would eventually find his way to a major American production anyway. A few years later Star Wars Debuting in 1977, he played Toranaga in the 1980 original. shÅ gun mini series.
So it’s a layered Easter egg that pays homage not only to the ways in which samurai media influenced George Lucas’ concepts for Star Wars, but how the king of the samurai movie and the original Toranaga, Toshiro Mifune, was almost Obi-Wan Kenobi. And he now he is officially available in the world…
