- Title: Shōgun – Ladies of the Willow World
- IMDb: link
While much of “Ladies of the Willow World” takes place in Lord Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada), including the title which derives from Mariko (Anna Sawai) setting up John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) with another prostitute, in terms of events moving the larger story forward we must look to Osaka. Here we see the impact of Ochiba No Kata’s (Fumi Nikaidô) return in pushing Ishido (Takehiro Hira) to act bolder with the Regents beginning with replacing Toranaga’s open seat with a flunky and then murdering Lord Sugiyama (Toshi Toda) after the Regent refuses to go along with his plans.
Memorable moments of the episode include the series of flashback between Mariko and Ochiba revealing them to be the closest of childhood friends now on opposite sides due to Ochiba believing Toranaga was involved in her father’s death, the scenes within the brothel, Blackthorne continuing to be rewarded by Toranaga for his efforts with everything except that which he wants, scenes of Toranga’s men growing disgruntled over the favor their Lord is lavishing on the Anjin, and the reveal of a last ditch suicide plan for Toranaga to avoid being crushed by the regents by going on the offensive and attacking the home of his enemies.
