Review of Age of Samurai: Battle for Japan

PROS:

• Dramatisations are good for the most part
• The brutality is not glossed over
• Good visualisations of events
• Subject matter is interesting and mostly maintains interest

CONS:

• The series does suffer from over-dramatisation and repetition. Play a game of 'historian bingo' with me:

'It was the most decisive battle in Japanese history' - 10 points per mention 'This was the most bloody battle in the history of Japan' - 5 ppm 'It wasn't a battle, it was a MASSACRE' - 15 ppm 'There would have been battle cries and screams all around' - 5 ppm 'There was confusion among the fighting' - 10 ppm 'It would have been a brutal melee' - 5 ppm 'There were swords clashing in the fight' - 10ppm 'This would be the most important decision in all of Japanese history' - 10ppm

See how long it takes to beat 500 points...

• While initially a minor nitpick, these interjections become increasingly distracting and waffly as the series 'fills time' in the middling episodes.

• Music is nothing to write home about.

• Visible 'budget shortcuts' every now and then.

• Historians seem under-utilised as the series doesn't expore any topic in great detail, rather re-tells a storyline of events. How did these people live on a day-to-day basis? Can we see any of the sources/books/art on which these facts are based? How does the samurai armour protect them from attack? There is still so much I don't know about the samurai.

OVERALL: Good with some noticable flaws.