Yoshitsune (2005)

Yoshitsune is my all time favorite drama, and God knows I was expecting a lot from it because the actual samurai named Yoshitsune is a historical character that is dear to my heart and I really wanted to see a work that would do him justice. And this show did it amazingly well.

Generally speaking, the backgrounds, clothings and everything meant to immerse us into the late Heian era are awesome, and they even shot some parts of the show in places/temples where no one had ever had the right to record something. The OST is great, though I found there weren't as many tracks as there should be for a 50 episodes long show.

Now if I speak objectively, I'd say it might seem a bit boring and difficult to the people who aren't interested in Japanese history. Mostly because there are MANY characters, and because the story's a bit complex. Personally, Heian is my favourite Japanese era and the Genpei war passionates me so I already knew all the details before even watching the drama. Which also leads me to say that historically, it's pretty accurate. Yoshitsune's story has been modified through the ages so you'll never find anything that is 100% sure to be true anyway, but this drama is definitely based on the Heike Monogatari and the Gikei-ki which are the two main works that tell his story. Some things I find important have been omitted (what happened to Yoritomo's as well as Yoshitsune's daughters...) but the main story's there.

As for the acting, I must say I had no clue about who Takki was before starting the drama so I just thought "let's hope he's good" and honestly, he blew me away. Like I can't even think of anyone who'd play Yoshitsune better than him, he was BORN for this role. And I don't think I'd have been so moved and cried so many times while watching the show if it weren't for him. The rest of the cast I didn't know either, but they did hella good in my opinion.

To conclude, this isn't a drama I'd recommend to everyone but to me, it's a 10/10.

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Excellect

What a great drama. Personally ranked it behind Toshiie Matsu and Musashi. I didn't think Takizawa would pull off the Yoshitsune historical figure. But he did a fine job. Very believable as the upright, honorable, and naiive Yoshitsune. His acting still needs improvement, too dead-panned sometimes. Love the girls, can't complain there. Aya Ueto, Ishihara Satomi, Koike Eiko (man they put too much war gear on her, too bad :-( )....nice. Matsudaira Ken as Benkei is the strongest character in the movie. He really played the part well. Nakai has always been a Taiga dorama staple. Very underrated imo.

The drama theme of utter devotion between lord and vassal is interesting and touching. The ending is so emotional and heartful, you could feel the tragedy that was to become of Yoshitsune and his men. Life can be brutal even for the innocent. Very powerful ending, even more so than my two favorite Taiga dorams that I mentioned above. It's truly like a Shakespeare tragedy and I could see why the Japanese still honor and admire Yoshitsune even today. He has become one of my favorite Japanese historical figure. May his dream of a new country of peace always verberate in the hearts and minds of the people of Japan.

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