Quote from: SiL on Feb 07, 2024, 04:43:56 AMQuote from: Cougerboy on Feb 07, 2024, 04:17:57 AMThere is following to the 1980 series, whether its big or small is immaterial.
It's really not if we're talking about it living in its shadow. The only people for whom it would be in a shadow is that fanbase -- which is quite small, and not really worth worrying about how they compare the two.
Something like Alien or Predator or Star Wars casts shadows because they're still in the public conscience.
Something like Shogun is something I wouldn't even know existed if one of my brothers wasn't such a fan of the book.
At worst we might worry it ends up being just as forgotten as the original miniseries (which, from memory, I quite enjoyed, but completely forgot existed until this thread came up).
The 1980 series...was a byproduct of course of the Shogun the novel's popularity. The book can't be compared to Star Wars or Predator, obviously in terms of fanbase size. But it does have a devoted and passionate following. Its easy to forget now, but when the novel first came out in the mid 70's it had a huge impact on Western popular understanding of Japan. Remember, this was a time when Japan economy was zooming upwards. Japanese products were hitting Western markets, whether in terms of cars (Toyota, Honda etc) or consumer electronics (i.e. Sony Walkman), as a result, the West took an increased interest in Japan's history and culture. And Shogun was the perfect entry to that world for many of them.
There was a survey taken in the early 80's in a Japanese history college course, and most students took that course because they read Shogun.
So you may say it won't matter, but to some the comparison do matter a lot.
